Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.: How to Become the World's Largest Company (2002) Executive Summary: Objective: The goal of this case is to be able to find out how Wal-Mart stores reacted positively at the time when they faced many problems and eventually became the largest company in the world. Problem: Wal-Mart has had a very disappointing year. It was the time when stagnant consumer spending, rising unemployment, the energy crisis, and the terrorist events of September 11, 2001 combined to make the year a very difficult time for retail. How did Wal-Mart prevail in this difficult time in history? Alternative courses of action: • Be consistent in achieving company objectives. • Be persistent in treating your customers with clean, pleasant and friendly shopping experiences that are sure to satisfy their wants and needs. • Before you decide to expand stores into other countries, have a market research team study the cultures and shopping preferences of your target markets. Analysis methods:1. SWOT analysis. It is a strategic planning tool that will help evaluate the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This tool helps us understand why the company is doing better in certain areas. This tool identifies the external and internal factors of the company.2. Value chain. It is an analytical tool that describes all the benefits that constitute the economic performance and capabilities of the company. It is also used to analyze and examine activities that create value for a particular company. Recommendation: I recommend alternative number two: Wal-Mart should be persistent in treating its customers with clean, pleasant, and friendly shopping experiences that will definitely satisfy their wants and needs. I chose this alternative because as Wal-Mart continues to satisfy customers, they will gain loyalty. With these loyalists they will not run out of customers because many of these customers are satisfied and happy with the products and services offered by Wal-Mart. Conclusion: In conclusion, Wal-Mart has overcome all the difficult times of retailing for the reason that they were so good at treating their customers with satisfactory strategies. Analysis: SWOT Analysis Strengths • Well-trained employees. • Aggressive marketing strategies. • They have numerous shops and outlets. • Constantly updating their technologies. Weaknesses • Employees leave the company due to other lawsuits. Opportunities • Find new areas to increase sales and profits. • Expand stores into other countries. • Awarded titles (“Retailer of the Century,” “100 best places to work", "America's Most Admired Companies", and Global Most Admired Companies") which can increase the awareness of customers and unemployed people.• They have a variety of products sold.