In order to understand the reasons for Walmart's failure in the UK, it is essential to mention the concept of strategic failure. The strategic management phase requires at least three responsibilities for the management: identifying, conducting and reviewing the applicable strategy (Santos, 2015). An organization can witness failure for many reason but the most common cause is related to inappropriate strategy execution, which is why implementation is sometimes described as a weaknesses of strategic management. Unfortunately, most company's strategic attempts have struggled during this critical period, and companies nowadays are losing substantial capital investment.
Based on the FT article, Walmart Company had already experienced failure in other countries, of which the most notorious failure was in Germany. In 2006 Walmart came out of Germany after struggling with Aldi and Lidl and battling with labour unions (Knorr, 2003). Germany was perhaps the greatest example of Walmart failing and crashing (Eley A. G., 2020). However, the same strategic mistakes can be identified from this failure in the United Kingdom; Walmart did not grasp the local market; the company applied the model which was working in the United States without taking the time to analyse and consider possible side effects they might have if that strategy did not work. The UK is different, it has a variety of innovative markets available to all its inhabitants for over a decade now where competition is evident, offering shopping and delivery online.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
Another reason of failure can be found in latest media reports which acknowledge Walmart’s history of job challenges (Hotten, 2019). Employees are part of the company’s success and also recognised as a stakeholder. They have limited influence in the company’s decision making but can have a significant impact to the business directly. Walmart was considered to have ethics concerns which can be a result of their business strategy. The organization has selected the cost leadership approach that has proven effective in focusing cost and achieving competitive edge in its business. The idea that Walmart is pressured to generate profit rather than to concentrate on its workers has culminated in several concerns and the ethics problems confronting the business. As a result Walmart’s Profits in the UK-based stores suddenly suffer a decline from 2016 to 2018 as shown in the FT article which can be appreciated in figure 2 (Eley A. G., 2020). But if Walmart had to shift the corporate strategy from cost leadership to decreased negative feedback and better turnover rates, it would radically change its basis for itself and eventually go out of business.
How the failure could be avoided
The transboundary cross-cultural market, even for the largest corporations, is a challenge. Companies must be mindful of local traditions and adapt their offers to the local consumer. In order to localise their deals (Ryu, 2011), Walmart and other businesses that work internationally must carry out a cultural review of the country's people before transactions take place. This cultural appraisal can shape the foundation for both their organizational and engagement strategy. This lets businesses assess the efficacy of their efforts to identify and to make appropriate improvements to local policy and strategies if necessary. Taking into consideration the following moves, Wal-Mart or some other organization will aid in the global partnership or enterprise.
The bonus compensation of Walmart is mostly focused on superiors and executives. The business provides even benefits to lower-ranking workers, although to a smaller extent. As a consequence, benefits seem to have a stronger influence on management and subordinates. Walmart could correct this gap by implementing a current approach to retain managers and superiors' benefits, both also greatly improving incentives for low-ranking jobs. After all, these are the individuals who store their shelves of items and communicate with consumers frequently. Walmart's Human Resource Management Department would begin to examine how recruiting, benefits, preparation, success management and job growth strategies will have a beneficial effect on their retention and potentially allow the business to become more successful in the sector.
Conclusion
Walmart is a retail merchandise corporation that operates in small town America which might establish itself as a big local employer. This encouraged Walmart to exploit its dominance because workers had no other option of employers and consumers had no variety of choice for discount foods and wide stores. Walmart acquired the British food retailer Asda in 1999. Asda has seen declining revenue, heavy employee turnover, and reduced earnings since then. Still in the UK, Walmart fares better than in Germany (Eley A. G., 2020). Walmart has truly fallen into the care of its workers, leading to areas like the UK and Germany to less profitable cycles. Particularly their inconsistency to adjust to the various countries' consumer prices.
By way of the discussion and case study above it is necessary to say that Walmart struggled in the United Kingdom because of its incorrect strategy and inadequate control of its activities. The business has not been able from the very beginning and even worked without necessary analyses before joining an international market. The business often attempted to use its conventional USA strategy, which was not acceptable for British markets because each nation has its own culture and values. Cultural principles are important for efficient processes under which Walmart was unable to grasp its clients. The business could not pick the best start-up approach, so it acquired second-class operators, which often was a big fault.
To conclude, Walmart holds a strategic edge in a certain manner as its approaches, such as a regular low price, are special towards its company. These tactics are considered to build a difference between Walmart's success and its rivals, but the true power of the business resides inside its staff. Walmart has to maximise his intellectual resources by meeting corporate goals in order to continue to expand and stay successful. It did not support the workers who were crucial to a company's progress. Through maintaining and improving its human resources efficiently and effectively, Walmart can accomplish strategic business priorities and considerable consumer performance.
Stuck on your essay?
