What is geography structure?

Geography is a key part of business. Many functions within a company can be tied down to geography in some way, from what product is being sold, to where it’s sold, to the customers, etc. Understanding geography can either make a successful entrepreneur or break a business. Geographical organization structure is a company structure that focuses mainly on the certain aspects of geography that affect a company. These can vary, but the most common uses of knowing geography are in the principles of basic economics as a whole. Economics, in essence, is the study of people and their decisions. Geography is the study of places and the relationship between people and places. So, it’s easy to see how these subjects are tied together and go hand in hand. This is why companies pour in huge sums of thoughts and money into pursuing a perfect quest of finding the perfect relationship between man and land -- because if you don’t have one with the other, the relationship breaks and the business would fail. Geographical organization structures are used by every business, but are most widely used throughout businesses that operate around the world in many different cities and countries. For example, take the world’s largest company by consolidated revenue: Walmart. While you may question Walmart’s practice of geography due to it mainly being a domestic retailer across America, the sheer size of the US what can attribute it to its further success worldwide.

The mastery of the mainland United States is what makes Walmart unplayable against any other competing business -- wherever you think they aren’t, they’re already there. Walmart’s across the country can be from Anchorage to Atlanta to Austin to Albuquerque, and it’s because of understanding where their services, materials, and products need to be. Location is just one part of the equation though. Many Walmart retailers need to be constantly resupplied, and to do this, they have a vast network of transportation services through trucks and planes that help get the goods to their stores fast. Despite a company headquarters in a fairly small city like Bentonville, Arkansas, they are able to network and map the United States at such an incredible level that this headquarters isn’t even needed due to the over 2,550 cities they serve. Some of the larger supercentres they operate are found in rural cities that are far away from major population centers, such as in Boise, ID, Fairbanks, AK, and the largest one in the USA- Albany, NY. The incredible economies of scale by maintaining so many stores is what allows for Walmart to keep their prices so low.

So next time you step inside one of their 4,000+ markets or browse through their online website, think about what makes buying groceries, clothing, and office supplies possible -- the mastery of geography.