Unit 6 [GB540: Economics for Global Decision Makers]
Assignment: Fortune 500 Companies
For this Assignment, you may use a Fortune 500 Company that you have already researched. The
focus here is on both domestic (American) and global operations. The Assignment incorporates how
the firm functions in different parts of the world and what it can do to maximize its effectiveness as a
global organization.
Course outcomes practiced and assessed in this Assignment:
GB540-4: Integrate concepts of regional, national, and global economic behavior with
macroeconomic theory.
PC-4.1: Assess the value of multiculturalism and diversity in a global environment.
Directions
Begin by reviewing the following websites as resources for your Assignment:
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2017). Economic indicators.
Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/std/oecdmaineconomicindicatorsmei.htm
U.S. Department of Commerce. (n.d.). Key economic indicators. Retrieved from
https://www.commerce.gov/economicindicators
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Major economic indicators. Retrieved from
https://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm
Select 6–10 macroeconomic indicators that are of particular relevance to your firm and explain how
they affect the performance of the company.
Outline strategies on how the firm should respond to the changes in the economic indicators with the
goal of maximizing revenues in the years ahead.
How have they done in the past?
What is their current state?
What kinds of plans and possibilities do they have for the future?
Is there room for improving what they do?
Should new ventures be added or old ones subtracted?
Then, discuss the firm’s global operations, and their influences on the regional and national levels.
You also need to assess the value of multiculturalism and diversity in operating (managing) a
company in a global environment.
As you can see, the field is wide open for you to construct your paper in the most relevant way you
see fit.
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Unit 6 [GB540: Economics for Global Decision Makers]
Criteria
As part of the Assignment, you will need to include the following:
● Your Assignment should have a coversheet with the following information: Title of the paper,
Your Name, Course Number and Section Number, and Date
● It must be a minimum of 5-pages long (excluding the title page, references, etc.)
● Be sure to include the criteria located in the rubric below within your paper.
● It must be APA formatted with citations to your sources and your last page should list all
references used. Review the APA formats found in the Writing Center.
● You must use a variety of three objectives, high quality, and current sources. Peer reviewed
articles, articles published in journals, textbooks, and library resources found in the Library are
examples of high quality resources.
● Note that Wikipedia, Investopedia, etc. are not considered as reliable resources for this
research.
Directions for Submitting
Submit your Assignment to the Unit 6 Assignment Dropbox by the end of Unit 6.
GB540 Unit 6 Assignment
Content and Analysis
Points
Possible
Selected a global fortune 500 company.
10
Selected and defined 6-10 macroeconomic indicators of particular
relevance to the firm chosen.
10
Discussion for each of the macroeconomic indicators includes an
explanation of its relevance to the performance of the firm.
10
Discussed strategies of how the firm will respond to changes in the
macroeconomic indicators to maximize revenue.
10
Provided an appropriate analysis of the firm’s global operations and
integrating information at the regional and national levels.
10
Examined how well the firm has operated in the past.
10
Analyzed the firm’s current financial state and performance.
10
Discussed plans and possibilities the firm has for the future.
10
Presented an appropriate explanation and analysis of where there is a
room for improvement.
10
Evaluated whether the firm should add new ventures.
10
Included an analysis of how well the firm’s strategies that have worked
to date.
10
Points
Earned
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Unit 6 [GB540: Economics for Global Decision Makers]
Assessed the value of multiculturalism and diversity in a global
environment.
10
Writing, grammar, and includes at least three reliable references in
APA formatting. In-text references are included in the contents.
10
Total
PC-4.1
130
Assess the value of multiculturalism and diversity in a global environment.
Not Assessed No work was received by the instructor.
N/A
No Progress
0
Student work demonstrates no understanding or progress towards achievement
of this outcome.
Introductory
1
Student work demonstrates the ability to identify multiculturalism and diversity
issues.
Emergent
2
Student work demonstrates the ability to identify multiculturalism and diversity
issues, and articulate them in a global context.
Practiced
3
Student work demonstrates the ability to identify, articulate, and explain a
multiculturalism and diversity issue in a global context.
Proficient
4
Student work demonstrates the ability to analyze the benefits of multiculturalism
and diversity in a global context.
Mastery
5
Student work demonstrates the ability to analyze the benefits and challenges of
multiculturalism and diversity in a global context and recommend solutions.
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1
Running head: WALMART
Walmart Company
Kaplan University
January 3, 2017
Marshalee Spence
WALMART
2
Walmart is a retail company that operates internationally. As an American multinational
company, the firm operates on hypermarkets, grocery, and departmental stores. The firm has its
headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. According to Global Fortune 500 in the year 2016,
Walmart company is the largest firm in the world in terms of revenue. The company continues to
grow in all spheres, and it is expected to increase its revenue in the coming years. This paper,
therefore, seeks to explore the history, political, social and economic forces affecting the
company, financial performance and SWOT analysis of the firm as well as factors needed to
predict, plan and alter the future of the retail company for the better.
Sam Walton is known as the founder of the company in the year 1962. In the year 1945,
Walton bought a branch of the Ben Franklin stores which was then under the Butler brothers.
Walton did this with the aim of selling his products at a lower price to have a higher volume of
sales while at the same time getting a small amount of profit. In actuality, his vision was to create
customer loyalty and build a firm that was to operate and meet the needs of the society of all
classes at large. In his first five years, he made an increase in revenue despite the challenges
which he faced in the first years. After some period, the lease for the location expired, and
Walton opened a new store which was located at Bentonville (Farris, Farris, Shames, Shames,
Mitchell & Mitchell, 2017). Within the first five years, the firm expanded to 24 stores in entire
Arkansas. It is during the year 1968 that the firm opened its first store outside Arkansas. As such,
stores were opened in Oklahoma, Claremore, Missouri, and Sikeston.
The year 1969 saw the company incorporated as Wal-Mart, Inc. this resulted in the
change of the name into Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1970. By this time, the company had 38 stores
with 1500 workers. Its first home office and a distribution center were then opened in
Bentonville. The company was selling stock at this particular period as a publicly held firm while
WALMART
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operating in five starts in the US. Walmart continued to grow rapidly, and in 1987, the company
had 1198 stores and sales of $15.9 billion. The following year, Walton was replaced as the CEO
by David Glass. However, Walton still remained to be the chairman of the board of the company.
Walmart moved from being number three retail company in the US to becoming number one
defeating its close competitors such as Kmart and Sears. Pennsylvania and California stores were
opened in the year 1990. This made the company the most powerful retailer in the US, and as
such, it expanded to Mexico and Canada in 1991 and 1994 respectively. From then, the company
grew internationally opening stores in north and south America. H. Lee Scott became the CEO
and president of the company in 2000 as the sales reached a whopping $165 billion. Walmart
appeared on the Fortune 500 list for the first time in 2002 as the largest corporation in America.
Since then, the company has been on the list due to its growth and expansion in different parts of
the world. Currently, Walmart is found in many parts of the world and has a high volume of sale
due to its friendly price to consumers.
Walmart company, however, faces some forces which affect its working. These are social
forces which to a large extent determine the buying behavior of consumers. For example,
consumer demographics have changed over time where the new technology has impacted on
how consumers make their purchases. On political forces, Walmart which operates
internationally is affected by the changing nature of trade laws in different nations where it
serves. Economically, the company has for a long period been affected by the currency exchange
rate especially between the US dollar and other currencies (Perkins, 2016). Additionally, labor
cost has been another economic force affecting the company. Other forces include high
unemployment rate in the US, the dynamics of tax rates in different nations and economic
stability.
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Walmart recent and current financial performance table.
Year
2014
2015
2016
2017
469.16Bilion
476.29Bilion
485.65Bilion
482.13Bilion
485.14Bilion
Cost of goods 352.49Bilion
358.07Bilion
365.09Bilion
360.98Bilion
361.26Bilion
349.2Bilion
355.91Bilion
351.53Bilion
351.18Bilion
8.5Bilion
8.87Bilion
9.17Bilion
9.45Bilion
10.08Bilion
Depreciation
8.5Bilion
8.87Bilion
9.17Bilion
9.45Bilion
10.08Bilion
Gross
116.67Bilion
118.23Bilion
120.57Bilion
121.15Bilion
123.89Bilion
Sales
2013
sold
including
D&A
Cost of goods 343.99Bilion
sold
excluding
D&A
Depreciation
and
Amortization
Expense
Income(GI)
WALMART
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From the above table, Walmart company has experienced growth in the last five years.
The statistics show there has been an increase in the number of sales in from the year 2013 until
the year 2017 (Daniel, Neves & Horta, 2017). This, in turn, has resulted in an increased gross
income in the company. This can be articulated to the integration of the new technology in some
of the nations where the company operates. Use of an online platform to enable consumers to
order and purchase products and services from the company has been integral to its rapid growth
in the year 2017.
There are many economic forces which have affected the revenue and profit of Walmart
company. For instance, the cost of labor has been one of the major economic challenges facing
the company. Walmart has been criticized for underpaying its workers. As a result, the company
had to raise its minimum wages in the year 2015 to avoid the bad image it had to the public
regarding its salary to employees. Economic stability is another force which affects the working
of the firm. During times of recession like it happened in the year 2008, the revenue and profit of
the company were affected significantly. The 2008 economic crisis is a good example where the
net sales decreased in all its stores across the world. Change in tax rates and a high
unemployment rate especially in the US has affected the working of the company adversely.
The performance of Walmart is also affected by social forces. For example, the lifestyle,
beliefs, and culture of people in certain regions affects the performance of any company.
Walmart which operates globally is affected by such social factors in areas where people
lifestyles and culture does not favor the use of products and services produces by Walmart. Such
has been a great challenge to the company (Morillo, McNally & Block, 2015). Additionally, in
some nations, there is a trend of using cheap and local products which have become a threat to
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Walmart performance. Besides, the increased use of online shopping where millennials use their
smartphones and personal computers to shop has dealt a big challenge to Walmart which is a
physical retailer in many parts as it is yet to embrace online presence globally. Political forces
such as political instability in nations where the company operates have been a big challenge to
its performance. This is because in a nation where there is political instability the economy is
likely to deteriorate hence affecting the purchasing power of the people (Perkins, 2016). Further,
the changing nature of trade laws in different countries impacts negatively on the performance of
Walmart.
SWOT analysis gives an analysis of both the internal and external forces which are
significant to the development of a company. Walmart company has several strengths which
include its large size globally, worldwide supply chain and high efficiency in its supply chain.
The size of the company enables it to support growth and expansion. The worldwide supply
chain offers resilience to certain market risks. Weaknesses of Walmart comes from its generic
strategy. They entail the meager profit margin and its model which is easily copied. However,
the company has opportunities such as its expansion in developing nations, efficiency in human
resource practices and high-quality standards (Huang & Yu, 2015). These opportunities can be
utilized by Walmart to improve further while counteracting the threats and weaknesses. Walmart
also faces some threats like personal online selling, healthy lifestyle trend because most of the
product in Walmart are not healthful. In addition, stiff competition from other retail companies is
a challenge.
There are factors which Walmart will need to predict to enhance its performance in the
future. For instance, consumer empowerment is a necessity prediction. This is because customer
satisfaction is the main goal of retail companies and empowering customers in the future will
WALMART
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boost the performance of Walmart. Another factor is a shared value. Walmart will grow even
further in future through shared value that is of benefit to both the shareholder and the society.
As such, it is imperative to predict this factor. To plan for the future, it is imperative that
Walmart puts into considerations becoming a flexible merchant where it will incorporate
healthful products into its market. Additionally, it needs to focus on improving the use of
technology in its stores. Walmart, however, will need to change its pricing strategy to appeal to
consumers of different economic levels. Furthermore, its generic strategy which leads to its
weaknesses needs to be adjusted to lower the effects of such weaknesses.
To conclude, Walmart company has been developing and dominating the retail industry.
As noted in the above discussion, the company has been performing well in the recent past and is
still expanding to developing nations today. However, it faces political, social and economic
challenges in different regions of the world where it operates. Despite the challenges, Walmart
remains to be a dominating force in the contemporary society when it comes to retail industry.
WALMART
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References
Daniel, M., Neves, R. F., & Horta, N. (2017). Company event popularity for financial markets
using Twitter and sentiment analysis. Expert Systems with Applications, 71, 111-124.
Farris, P. W., Farris, P. W., Shames, E. R., Shames, E. R., Mitchell, J., & Mitchell, J. (2017).
Levi's at Wal-Mart?. Darden Business Publishing Cases, 1-24.
HUANG, J., & Yu, J. I. A. (2015). Wal-Mart Development in Chinese Market: Problems and
Countermeasures—Based on the Enterprise Culture and Ethics. International Business
and Management, 10(2), 11-15.
Morillo, J., McNally, C., & Block, W. E. (2015). The Real Walmart. Business and Society
Review, 120(3), 385-408.
Perkins, J. (2016). The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
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