Strategic Initiative Paper
A major part of a company’s success is planning. A business needs effective strategic planning to remain competitive and grow financially. For a company to reach its full financial potential, a planning process must exist. Strategic planning serves as the roadmap for a company’s financial efficiency. Wal-Mart developed the strategic planning initiative of Every Day Low Price (EDLP), which prices it products at low, affordable prices. Wal-Mart’s strategic planning has made the store one of the best known organizations and industry leaders in low prices. The strategic planning initiative effects costs and the sales within the organization that can also create risks; however, if managed effectively can make the discount giant even more profitable.
Strategic Planning Initiative, Financial Planning
Wal-Mart has grown from modest beginnings to become one of the most recognizable store chains in the world by operating almost 11,000 stores in 27 countries with more than two million employees (Wal-Mart, 2012). With such a large, well-known organization the company strives to remain competitive within a global market. To succeed, the company used strategic planning to identify an aggressive strategy within their 2012 annual report.
Wal-Mart management entitled the strategy“Delivering Everyday Low Price (EDLP). According to Wal-Mart’s 2012 annual report, the EDLP strategy represents an essential component of its message of delivering the lowest prices possible every day to its customers. As part of the EDLP plan, the company initiated what it believes the strongest competitor advertisement matching policy in the retail industry. The company goal through implementation of EDLP separates Wal-Mart from its competitors through price variance (A. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, 2013).
As part of the plan the Wal-Mart 2012 annual report identifies a