Marketing: WalMart case study (SLP)

Over the session you will conduct an analysis an organization of your choosing focusing on assessing whether and where it has a competitive advantage. This requires you to describe and analyze the marketing situation in which the firm is in, what markets it currently or potentially serves, against whom it competes, and how it competes with them for those markets. Note that it is not sufficient to simply describe what the organization does. You must apply the analytical frameworks taught in the course to analyze your selected firm and make recommendations for improvement. In order to do this effectively you must have access to relevant information so your choice of organization should be made with this in mind.

In each module you will complete a section of the marketing analysis, building on the sections previously completed in prior modules. Excluding your title page each of the parts of your SLP are to be approximately four pages. Thus the entire analysis when completed will be about twenty pages long.

Start with an Overview
See an outline of the entire project.
Examine this example.
Available at
http://www.morebusiness.com/templates_worksheets/
bplans/printpre.brc
o n January 27, 2009

Look at the primary resources on writing a marketing plan that are listed on the Background Info page.
SLP01

For Module 01, you will describe the general situation for the product you are examining. That description should be covered in no more than four pages. You will identify the primary products/services of interest, your core business, its markets, its competitors, and the major variables at work in this industry.

Excluding your title page, please write approximately a four page paper addressing the following, and using the sections as subtitles in your paper:

1) NAME the ORGANIZATION or Company you have chosen to examine, and give its address and other background information in a 1-2 paragraph summary.

2) Give the organization's MISSION STATEMENT.

If there is no mission statement, analyze information about the company and write a mission statement that includes what it does, whom it serves, and how it serves them (i.e., what value it provides, or what values underlie the organization).

3) Create an initial list or table of the major PRODUCTS, GOODS, or SERVICES (as categories) that the company produces and/or sells, with an explanation of each.

You will present more detail regarding what the company sells and to whom it sells what it sells in SLP02 #7-9.

4) Create a list of COMPETITORS for the business (if it is small) or a product category (if the company is quite large).

5) Discuss your company's POSITION in the MARKET place relative to competitors. In doing so, explain your company's strategies or COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES.

Please remember: All SLP contributions relating to a discussion of competitive advantage must be specific in that key competitors must be individually identified and described with reference to the questions posed. General observations regarding your firm's having competitive advantage (or not) over the competition are not up to the standard expected in MBA assignments!

As stated above, excluding your title page, answer these four questions in approximately a 4 page paper and submit it for grading by the end of this module. In addressing the questions, use the CAPITALIZED and BOLD words in the sections above as headings.

Note that your SLP is front-end loaded. This means that your SLP01 will take a bit more time than SLPs02-05 because your description of the target market(s) your organization serves and the competition your organization faces establishes the foundation to which you will add to your answers to the sections in SLPs02-05, and because you need to give careful consideration to your choice of organization.

Choosing the Organization

Over the session, in your SLP, since you will be examining one organization or company, it is suggested that you choose a company:

That "markets" a product or service and

For which you have access to information that will assist in analyzing its Mission, Objectives, Competitors, Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

The following caveats apply:

If you choose a small company, you may need to write a mission statement and create much of the information for the paper. If you work at that company, you may have access to important information, but you may need to organize it on behalf of that company.

If you choose a very large company, limit your analysis to one product line or category.

Choose a military unit ONLY if it is a unit that has competitors, markets itself, and has pricing, product, promotional strategies and issues in the traditional sense, (for example the PX, the officers club, or the athletic club). For many military entities, marketing may not be a part of its routine operations therefore it is recommended that you select an alternative organization.

Lastly, and only if you absolutely can not find an organization's marketing activities that can be described, discuss your situation with your instructor,

Good choices for the SLP include companies of products and services you regularly use (you could look at cars, toothbrushes, laundry soap, computers, clothing lines, etc.), or companies that you've worked for in the past.

For detailed advice on choosing an organization for your SLP see:

I can do up to 25 credits