Wal-Mart's Strategic And Financial Planning: Since its inception about 50 years ago, Wal-Mart has continued to remarkable growth as a firm that focuses on providing customers with a wide range of merchandise at great prices. In its initial years, the company only operated in one store that has contributed to changes in the way retail works. Currently, the firm operates over 10,000 retail units within 69 distinct banners in 27 countries across the globe. The organization consists of over 2 million hard-working employees and associates who serve approximately 200 million customers and members across the globe on a weekly basis. The success, growth, and profitability of the firm can be attributed to the various strategic plans it has adopted from time to time, which have had significant impacts on its financial planning.

Wal-Mart's Strategic Planning Initiative:

While Wal-Mart has experienced decline in earnings multiple because of decreasing earnings and revenues per share growth in the past decade, the firm has been capable of maintaining cash flow generating ability. However, the organization's cash flow from operations has increased by approximately 9% every year with a corresponding increase in free cash flow by 19.1% annually. The growth in the firm's cash flow can mainly be attributed to ability of enhancing efficiency with an increase in its return on equity to 25% in 2011 from 20% about 10 years ago.

As part of its efforts towards revitalizing the growth of its cash flow and profits, Wal-Mart is currently pursuing three strategic initiatives that have positive impacts on price-to-earnings. These three major strategic planning initiatives for Wal-Mart are its entrance into e-commerce sector, acquisition of critical mass in its global segment, and its capture of more domestic market share (Daris, 2012). While e-commerce is expected to provide the firm with better returns on investments, the critical mass in global segment is geared towards contributing to meaningful expansion of its profit margin and return on invested capital.

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The customer-focused culture is the bedrock of the organization's future as evident in its tremendous efforts towards understanding existing and new customers and serving them in new ways. Through its Global Customer Insights Group, Wal-Mart is developing top-level analytics to discover customer trends in order to sustain marketing and merchandising decision-making within the business ("Walmart 2012 Annual Report," 2012).
Since they recognize the value of getting closer to its customers, the leadership team or store-level management of Wal-Mart is largely involved in home visits. This not only enables the firm to get closer to its customers but it also enables them to talk to them, listen to them, and obtain increased understanding of their needs. The insight received from these customers act as the foundation with which the next generation Wal-Mart stores will be developed.

Impact of the Initiative on Wal-Mart's Financial Planning:

The strategic planning initiatives of Wal-Mart have a significant impact on the firm's financial planning in order to be successful. The impact on financial planning originates from Wal-Mart's focus on understanding the needs of customers and designing measures that are geared towards making them to return to its stores. The need to understand customer needs is not only for the purpose of improving the firm's profitability but it's also aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Wal-Mart, particularly with the growth of rivals like Target.

In order to achieve its goal of re-invigorating customer-focused culture as the core business initiative, the company's financial planning must involve the expansion of the current store and opening new ones based on the expectations of these customers. This is also accompanied by efforts to change the locations of stores that have low performance. Wal-Mart also…