Environmental Factors
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- Date Submitted: 12/04/2011 08:07 AM
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Environmental Factors Paper
In businesses today marketing professionals are not only concerned about the marketing mix, marketing plans or targeting the right consumers, but also the rapid changes in global society. This paper will discuss Wal-Mart and describe the high-level domestic and global environmental factors that may impact the organization's marketing decisions. The discussion will also explain how Wal-Mart’s marketing decisions are affected by current technology. The paper will end with an analysis of the social responsibility and ethics of Wal-Mart in regard to organizational marketing programs.
Wal-Mart opened its doors in 1962 as a small discount store founded by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is currently one of the world’s largest retail companies. The company operates retail stores in various layouts. At the end of January 2008, the company operated 971 discount stores, 2,447 supercenters, 591 Sam’s Clubs and 132 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Wal-Mart operates in various international markets as well. These markets include the UK, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and China (Datamonitor, 2008, p. 5). Since the company operates all over the world, it must deal with environmental factors but domestically and internationally. A few of these factors are rapid changes and innovations, globalization as well as diversity (UOP, n. d.).
The world is constantly evolving and these rapid changes lead to innovations that were not heard of ten years ago. At one time, Wal-Mart received goods by freight train or boat, now with the help of super jets and mass distribution companies, Wal-Mart customers can receive goods within days after ordering them. In today’s society, marketers use these types of changes and innovations to benefit the company as well as the consumer. Customer needs are better accommodated because the product mix is more flexible to suit the specific needs of different customers around the world (UOP,...
In businesses today marketing professionals are not only concerned about the marketing mix, marketing plans or targeting the right consumers, but also the rapid changes in global society. This paper will discuss Wal-Mart and describe the high-level domestic and global environmental factors that may impact the organization's marketing decisions. The discussion will also explain how Wal-Mart’s marketing decisions are affected by current technology. The paper will end with an analysis of the social responsibility and ethics of Wal-Mart in regard to organizational marketing programs.
Wal-Mart opened its doors in 1962 as a small discount store founded by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is currently one of the world’s largest retail companies. The company operates retail stores in various layouts. At the end of January 2008, the company operated 971 discount stores, 2,447 supercenters, 591 Sam’s Clubs and 132 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Wal-Mart operates in various international markets as well. These markets include the UK, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Brazil and China (Datamonitor, 2008, p. 5). Since the company operates all over the world, it must deal with environmental factors but domestically and internationally. A few of these factors are rapid changes and innovations, globalization as well as diversity (UOP, n. d.).
The world is constantly evolving and these rapid changes lead to innovations that were not heard of ten years ago. At one time, Wal-Mart received goods by freight train or boat, now with the help of super jets and mass distribution companies, Wal-Mart customers can receive goods within days after ordering them. In today’s society, marketers use these types of changes and innovations to benefit the company as well as the consumer. Customer needs are better accommodated because the product mix is more flexible to suit the specific needs of different customers around the world (UOP,...