Questions and Topics We Can Help to Answer
Paper Instructions;

Walmart – Company Profile
I have selected Walmart as a company for this week’s coursework for evaluation.

Assignment overview: Please research and write a descriptive profile with title page a table of contents with topic headings matched to the profile contents, and a reference list in APA format.  The profile body, excluding title page, table of contents, and references, should be 10  pages, double spaced. (All page estimations are guidelines only). No executive summary is required, but do provide a good conclusion that summarizes the strategic implications of company strengths and weaknesses.

Resources:
Use required reading (see bottom of description) on both the value chain and resource based views of company advantages to assess your client company's strengths and weaknesses.
Use "Why Go global" reading to infer company expansion rationale for your client company. This will be your own best assessment of the forces that are likely driving expansion efforts of your company.'
n needed for this assignment from public sources.  It will require multiple sources, including what competitors and business analysts may be saying about the company.  The depth of analysis you can perform for this assignment will depend upon the availability of information. A great deal of information is available about these companies through various sources included in our online library system.
Databases:
•    Company Web sites; annual reports
•    EDGAR (SEC filings)
•    Hoovers Online (company basic facts; news)
•    Yahoo: Finance
•    Hoovers
•    EIU databases (in ABI/Inform in UMUC library)
•    Factiva (news items from Dow Jones and Reuters)
•    The Wall Street Journal

Assignment objectives:  To understand your client company's Strengths and Weaknesses in order to assess how successfully it might be able to compete in a new international market. .
Note: The company research is intended to be completed based only on secondary sources of information since you will not have time to do primary research. However, for some of the information, you may want to contact the company itself (e.g, for product/service information, special competencies),  as long as it is not considered sensitive or proprietary information.  If you decide to do some primary research, be sure to capture the list of people interviewed along with their complete particulars (name, job title, organization, address, phone number, email address, as well as the date the information was obtained) for including proper citations in your business plan.

Assignment requirements:  This company profile  will describe:
I. The company,
1.    A short description of the type of business and the industry in which it operates (from the above industry analysis)
2.    The specific product/service that will be the focus of your market expansion.
3. The Buying proposition. What are the selling features? Why do buyers buy? What does this product/service do for the buyers or  Users? How does your client company create value, and what is the specific value created?
4. The company’s rationale for international expansion. Based on your understanding of the company position in its external environment (e.g., Opportunity and Threat), why do you believe it should be looking for new international markets? You will most likely need to infer  this goal dimension(s) for the company (e.g, financial gain, market share, volume efficiencies, brand building)
•    Consider not just “pull factors” based on potential international opportunity. 
•    Consider also what is happening in the home country market  that may be “pushing “ the company into international markets (e.g., competition, regulation)
•    
II.  The Buyer (target market) for the product/service (in the client’s current markets)
1.    Are the Buyers the USERS of the product? 
2.    If USERS are not Buyers, who buys and how do buyers get the product/service to the users?
3.    How can you characterize your Buyers so you can home in on a specific segment of the market?
•    In a B2C (business to consumer) model, the following demographic characteristics  may be relevant to describing your target buyer: age, gender, income, family status, home ownership, education level.
o    In marketing we often divide consumer groups into different psychographic and lifestyle groups. A familiar example would be "early adopters," consumers who are eager to be the first to use a new type of technology. Another example would be “green consumers” who value environmentally protective products or company policies.
•    In a B2B (business to business)  model, other types of segmentation will  be relevant, such as: retail or wholesale;  size of the business (number of employees/ revenue);  type of business structure (e.g., pharmacies, big box stores); geographic spread or locations 

Note: You may have a primary and a secondary target BUYER. For example, you may sell your items retail to consumers (business to consumer or B2C) and you may also wholesale your product to retail outlets (business to business or B2B). In that case, you'll need to select one as primary once you know more about the country market size and growth opportunities (weeks 3 and 4).
III.  The resources your client will need in order to create or maintain its value in a new country:  What will it need to manufacture, distribute, service/maintain/repair and/or market the product/service in a new country environment? For example, some factors that may be relevant for your company's operational processes:
o    In country workforce-- why needed--to do what tasks? With what skill levels, expertise?
o    Infrastructure requirements, for delivery of the product/service (e.g., internet facilities, shipping ports, airports, postal facilities)
o    In country facilities (e.g., for manufacturing, servicing, marketing)
o    Access to in country suppliers—of what inputs?
Note:  Once you identify what the company needs in a country, then you can determine whether a particular country can meet those needs! So be sure to carry these country screening factors over into your  two-country comparisons in weeks 3-4.
IV. . Competition: Specify the likely key competitors in its current markets and in new global markets.  ,
V. Company STRENGTHS  relative to competitors

1. Product features that are unique, or can set it apart from the identified competition
2. Company Resources, particularly global Resources that may strengthen the company’s competitive advantage (e.g., consider human competencies, particularly global experience; financial, geographic, contractual, political assets; any proprietary, patented or trademarkedintellectual property)
3. Company processes that may give it an advantage over its competitors in any new international markets. What does it DO better? Does it have processes that set it apart (more efficient, less expensive, more flexible/adaptable)? Does it have excess capacity that may give it a cost advantage in a new market?
VI.  Company WEAKNESSES.  relative to the competition
1 What do you see as potential competitive disadvantages for your client?
2.      How are competitors portraying your client’s weaknesses?




As with all group assignments, ONE member should post the assignment in your Group Assignment folder by the end of week 2, titled “Company Profile.” 
You have now created the data needed to populate Items 2-5 of the draft business plan.  Abstract the data from this analysis and add those relevant items to your draft business plan template. Incorporate only the necessary information required in these business plan sections --not the whole analyses! 
And you have determined the industry level Opportunities and Threats and company level Strengths and Weaknesses to populate a SWOT matrix. Next week you will create and populate your SWOTmatrix with these assessments. Country level O and T will be added to your SWOT matrix in Week 4.


Please use four sources and two from scholarly peer reviewed journals.  
Required Reading:
Required Readings and Multimedia resources: (Note if a link does not connect directly, copy paste the url into a new browser or  new window).
•    Evaluating the External Environment: Porter's five forces(industry level)
    (1) https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-strategic-management/s07-evaluating-the-external-enviro.html    OR
    (2)  http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/reference/organization/n178.xm
•    Internal analysis (company level)
(1). Resource based view of the firm: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-strategic-management/s08-managing-firm-resources.html
(2) Value Chains in company assessment: http://sk.sagepub.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/reference/organization/n551.xml
•    Strategy at Corporate, Business and Operational/functional levels
o    Why go global: strategic choices:  http://web.archive.org/web/http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/challenges-and-opportunities-in-international-business/s12-01-global-strategic-choices.html
o    Business and Corporate level strategy: http://web.archive.org/web/http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/challenges-and-opportunities-in-international-business/s14-01-business-and-corporate-strateg.html
o    Market segmenting and positioning:https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_principles-of-marketing-v2.0/s08-market-segmenting-targeting-an.html