SWOT Analyses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SWOT Analyses - Essay Example The head offices of the company are located in the United States where the company began its operations in 1962. Sam Walton, the founder of the multinational opened the first store in Arkansas (Wal-Mart, 2013). The organization began operating globally in 1991 when it opened a store in Mexico, and since then, the firm has expanded its operations to twenty four more countries. The founder of the store Sam Walton established the retail outlet with an aim of helping consumers to save funds. This aim led the manager to lower the price that the company charged for all its products below that of competitors. The organization maintains this strategy until today, and this has been the major source of the high growth rates of the firm. The strategy of charging prices below the market level makes Wal-Mart unique in the retail industry. Wal-Mart Current Strategies The company still aims at providing low-priced commodities to consumers all over the world. Other strategies of the firm include giv ing back to the community. Wal-Mart appreciates the community that purchases its products by contributing funds to empower women, end hunger, create employment opportunities, and sustain the environment (Wal-Mart, 2013). The company also aims at serving customers more efficiently every day by installing electronic-commerce in its stores. The electronic-commerce is a system that employees use to serve customers faster than a manual system. The firm aims at ensuring the electronic system works efficiently so that it can retain its market share. Strategic Plan A strategic plan is an objective that an organization expects to achieve at the end of a certain period, usually more than one year (Abraham, 2012). Having determined the values of Wal-Mart, the firm may aim at increasing sales by twenty percent annually, in the next three years. The techniques that the organization may use to achieve this strategy would be opening new retail outlets and advertising products. Advertising increase s the awareness of the firm’s products to consumers. New retail outlets will enable the organization to reach more consumers. The efficient utilization of the techniques will lead to an increase in sales by twenty percent or more. A SWOT analysis will enable the firm to determine the factors to rely on more while struggling to achieve the twenty percent sales target. SWOT Analysis of the Organization Strengths High Market Share Wal-Mart operates ten thousand nine hundred stores in the world with fifty of the outlets located in the United States. The numerous stores indicate that the company serves a large market in the world. The organization utilizes the market share to bargain for low prices with suppliers. Suppliers also provide the firm with quantity discounts because Wal-Mart purchases products in large quantities (Faarup, 2012). The power of the firm to purchase low-priced goods enhances the firm to charge consumers the lowest cost in the market. This enables the organi zation