External Audit - Efe Matrix for Wal-Mart

ANALYSIS

OPPORTUNITIES

O1. increasing internet shopping weight: 0.15пј› Wal-Martпјљ4

1. An opportunity facing the industry is that internet shopping is growing. To take advantage of internet shopping, the industry is focused around the customer. The customer receives friendly site designs, efficient order fulfillment, fast delivery and professional customer response. They process returns, refunds, and rebates quickly. It's weighted 0.15.

2. Wal-Mart's website has been a huge success with it contributing additional revenue to the bottom line; we rated this as a 4.

By Tiger

O2. Customers want ease of shopping weight: 0.10 ; Wal-Martпјљ4

1. An opportunity facing the industry is that customers want ease of shopping. To provide the ease of shopping the industry is guaranteeing that the customers will find what they want when they want it. This is supported by convenient presentation and the right level of service every time the customer shops. It's weighted 0.10.

2. The response to consumer demand for one-stop shopping has also been a success. The fact that you can buy a vast majority of everyday needs such as groceries, clothes, personal care products, electronics, among manyother products shows the commitment Wal-Mart is making to the one-stop shopping idea. We also rated this 4.

By Tiger

O3. The industry is the free trade zone weight: 0.10пј›Wal-Martпјљ3

1. An opportunity available to the industry is the free trade zone. When the government enters into new trade agreements with foreign countries, businesses in the United States have the ability to offer products from these countries in their stores. This simply increases the markets available to retailers. So we weighted 0.10.

2. Wal-Mart has caught this opportunity. It Chain store can be seen in many foreign counties. Just in China the number of Wal-Mart stores is more than 80. So the rating is 3.

By Lucas

O4. Chinese markets weight: 0.10пј›Wal-Martпјљ2

1. China now is a free-traded country. With a largest population, China is such a tough market to enter for the industry. So we weighted the opportunity as 0.10

2. Because China is heavily regulated, we rated their response to the opportunities available in China a 2. This is still a very good score because chiese market is very Complex.

By Lucas

O5. the value of the dollar is weakening weight: 0.03 ; Wal-Mart: 3

1. An opportunity facing the industry is that the value of money is weakening. The weakening value of dollar will help the industry because it reduces the ability of foreign manufactures to offer discounts. So we weighted it 0.03.

2. Wal-Mart's reaction to the dollar weakening has been above average because of its worldwide coverage. They have been able to take advantage of this economic factor with ease and we rated it a 3.

By Leem

O6. The Asian market is virtually untapped by the retail world.

weight: 0.02 ; Wal-Mart: 3

1. An opportunity facing the industry is that the Asian market is virtually untapped by the retail world. By having an untapped market it gives a huge opportunity for companies to expand. It promises unlimited potential for growth and profits. So the weight is 0.02.

2. Wal-Mart stores can be found in most asian countires .We felt that Wal-Mart's continued expansion into foreign countries to be above average and thus rated it a 3.

By Leem

O7. Customer loyalty weight: 0.10 ; Wal-Mart: 1

1. Nowadays customers tend to have their favourate company brand. If he love and trust a company, he would choose it 's products among other companies of the industry. So the customer loyalty is an opportunities for the discount retail industry, but most retail companies do not have top brand products. People tend to go other places for what they want because of the better selection and quality. So the opportunity is very small and the weight is 0.10.

2. Wal-Mart doesn’t take advantage of this opportunity .They have few own top brand products and they don’t spend much time and attention developing it 's customer loyalty. As we all know, most people go to Wal-Mart for the lower price ,not for “it is Wal-Mart”! So the rating is 1.

By Galads

O8. Advertising weight: 0.10 ; Wal-Mart: 3

1. Advertising for the competition is very critical if the retail companies want to compete against each other for the best quality products at low prices. Advertising makes your products fully kown by customers so they will buy them. However, advertising can not be used widely in the industry because of the all kinds of different products. So for retail industry, advertising is a small opportunity weighted 0.10.

2. In Wa-Mart stores, you can see many advertising such as placards “always low prices” . More and more people getting to know about Wal-Mart and it 's advantage due to the good advertising. But Target does a lot more advertising than Wal-Mart ,it do best in advertising. So we think Wal-Mart catch the opportunity and do fairly well, rating 3.

By Galads

THREATS

T1. Customer theft weight: 0.10 ; Wal-Mart: 2

1. There are always hundreds of customers in supermarkets shopping everyday. Customer theft happens so frequently. It is a serious threat for the industry. So we weighted