The company to be analysed is Walmart Stores (using Target stores for comparative analysis) our tasks are to:
- Briefly describe the business of the Firm (i.e. industry segments, geographic service area, market position, and size as measured by revenues, employees, and market capitalisation). Describe the mission statement and strategic objectives of the Firm.
- Analyse the behaviour of expenses of the business, distinguishing between variable costs and fixed costs (or estimates thereof), describe the relationships between sales volume, costs, and profit. Estimate a break-even point for the Firm and support with relevant calculations and discussion.
- Discuss the level of the Firm's operating leverage.
- Assess the budgeting process and procedures for the Firm, bearing in mind the context of the business and its characteristics. Identify methods employed for budgeting, managerial reporting, and control, and make recommendations for improvement. Justify your recommendations.
- Summarise the Firm's performance over the past five years in terms of sales and earnings growth, return on equity, return for shareholders, and non-financial performance measures (e.g. market share, recognition, customer satisfaction).
- Analyse the fixed capital needs (i.e. capital expenditures) of the company, and discuss significant capital projects, how they fit with the strategic goals of the Firm. Evaluate risks associated with major capital projects and suggest risk mitigation strategies. Justify your suggestions.
- Briefly profile two or three key competitors and analyse the basis for competition (e.g., is it cost? Innovation? Capital intensity? Branding?). Compare the Firm with these key competitors on key performance metrics (e.g., revenue growth, profit margins, return on equity, financial leverage, receivables turnover, payables turnover, asset turnover, operating costs, market share, market share growth, etc.). Identify areas where the Firm may outperform or underperform the peer group, and suggest improvements for weaknesses.
- Design a Balanced Scorecard for the Firm.
Your Final Project should follow the given outline:
- Brief description of company
- Cost behaviour analysis
- Budgeting process review
- Firm performance analysis
- Capital investment analysis
- Competitive analysis
- Balanced scorecard sketch
- Conclusion
Your Final Project should also include a section on how and where you obtained the information sources as well as the methodology used to perform any analysis. This project should follow a structured approach and should be prepared and presented as a professional business report.