Vision and Mission and Stories of Heroes
Walmart is a company made with the goal to save people money and make their lives better. That is what is said in the mission statement of Walmart, “save people money so they can live better”. Walmart wasn’t always this company however, as Walmart was founded in a very different time. Walmart was founded in 1950 by Sam Walton, under the name of “Walton’s 5&10”. The different values can be seen in this name as they “nickel and dimed” their customers. Sam Walton ,the founder, was born in 1918 in Oklahoma. Walton could have developed his ideas of helping people with low prices as he was growing up, as he lived through the Great Depression. Walton had to do several different tasks for his family to make ends meet. This helped make him an expert in many different fields which he used to make Walmart a superstore, he was even voted by his high school as, “most versatile boy”. After high school Walton decided to attend the University of Missouri. He entered college as part of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Walton graduated from the University of Missouri in 1940 with a degree in economics. After college Walton worked for J. C. Penny in Iowa. He worked there for over a year before resigning to go into World War II. Walton served for three years in the US Army, and married Helen Robson in this time. After the war Walton settled down in Arkansas.
As Sam Walton lived in Arkansas he got a job running a retail store. He was able to run it successfully and decided to purchase his own store in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walton’s 5&10. After one year of running the store Walton was able to take the profits from 70 thousand dollars up to over 100 thousand dollars, with the profits growing every year. After this success Walton decided to expand. After heavy market research Walton started a second store in Ruskin Heights, a superb or Kansas City, Missouri. This second store was also a success. After this Walton open several more stores. He was able to trust his managers to runs these stores well as he encouraged them to invest in the stores as well, putting as much as one thousand dollars into there own stores. The stores succeeded with this tactic. By 1962 Walton owned 16 stores in Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. After these successes, Walton decided to open a store with his own branded. Getting the idea for the name from his assistant Bob Bogle, Sam Walton opened the first Walmart on July Second, 1962, in Rogers, Arkansas.
Walmart was extremely successful right from the start. The Walmart in Rogers brought in a lot of money. In 1962, the same year as starting Walmart, Walton founded a second Walmart in Harrison, Arkansas, inspired by other successful chains. Walmart started to focus on working with American manufacturers at this time. Around this time Walmart also adapted its policy of selling goods at a cheaper price in order to bring in more customers. This idea worked out very well for Walmart. By 1967 Walmart had reached 12 million dollars in sales. Walton also expanded Walmart to have 24 stores in the state of Arkansas alone. The very next year in 1968 Walton expanded Walmart even more, by opening stores in Sikeston, Missouri and Claremore, Oklahoma. Walmart kept growing putting stores in Kansas and Louisiana by 1972, Tennessee in 1973, Kentucky and Mississippi in 1974, and Texas in 1975. By Then there were 125 Walmart stores, 7,500 associates, and a total sales of over 340 million dollars. In 1977 Walmart bought the company Mohr and was able to operate in their area of Illinois. They also bought Hutcheson Shoe Company. Walmart then took its first step into becoming a superstore by going into new markets like its pharmacy, auto care, and jewelry. Walmart later acquired, the southeastern store Big K allowing Walmart to expand into Georgia and South Carolina. Walmart kept growing and expanding as they opened Sam’s Club in 1983. Walmart expanded into Colorado which made it the 20th state they operated in. By 1985 Walmart had passed the billion dollar mark as a company. In 1987 Walmart improved the companies efficiency as they added bar codes to their company. In 1988, with Walmart in a great position, Sam Walton stepped down as CEO of Walmart to be replaced by David Glass. Walton with stores in over half of the country, being consider nationwide now as stores were put in California and Pennsylvania, a true superstore, and the most profitable retailer in America.
After David Glass took over, Walmart grow greatly in the nineties. They grow to a 30 billion dollar company in this period. Along with the growth in the United States, Walmart was able to launch its first international company. In 1991 Walmart expanded into Mexico City. This international expansion led to Walmart creating at international division of the company. In 1995 Walmart was making over 100 billion dollars and was finally in every state in the union when the put a store in Vermont. Through the nineties and two thousands Walmart expanded into Asia. They also started to grow into South and Central America. Walmart later started to get into the European and African markets as well. Walmart makes 500 billion dollars every year and is still expanding to this day.
Values, Ceremonies, Socialization, and Stories
Even after Walton left the company Walmart still has some of his values. The main ideas are still in Walmart according to Michael Bergdahl. First is Walton’s idea of Managers are both coaches and servant leaders. Managers are both expected to lead by example to employees and know the employees personally. This is expected to give Walmart effective and likable mangers for the store. The next value is employees are business partners. Walton put this idea in at the beginning of Walmart when he encouraged franchise owners to buy stock in his company. This is still practiced as Walmart gives incentives if the company is doing well. Walton put the values of respect for the individual, strive for excellence, and serve your customers into Walmart and it is still being followed today. He also brought in the idea of “No Sacred Cow” which is the belief that you should not be held back by tradition and instead improve everything. Walton also put in the value of stealing ideas. He said if another company is doing something well Walmart should imitate them. This can be seen as Walmart was able to quickly go online after it saw the success other companies were having. Lastly is an idea that did not just affect Walmart but the United States as a whole with the value that the customer is the boss. Even today employees at the store give a cheer saying the customer is the boss.
There is one big story that shows the success of Sam Walton and Walmart and that is how they advertise. An article from Alex Plane details how Walmart advertises so successfully. The idea is that Walmart is going to go into a new area of the country and wants to advertise there. What most companies would do is open one new store and advertise for it. What Walmart would do is they would open several stores in one market and advertise in that area. And no matter who in that area heard the advertisement they would know about the new Walmarts. This gave popularity to every new store in the area instead of just having one store. This allowed Walmart to instantly become popular in any area in went to. This in the words of Plane led Walmart to become, “the world’s biggest retailer”.
Some other values that Walmart has in are the ceremonies it does. According to employee stories from business insider, Walmart does do ceremonies. They have parties for grand openings of new stores along with some holiday parties. This leads to more socialization between workers and helps everyone get to know one another. This carries of to a lot of the workers becoming friends outside of the workplace.
Organizational Culture is another big part of Walmart. As said in the values and the mission statement, Walm
art is always look to help customers save money and live better. This leads Walmart to work towards excellent customer service. Walmart says it wants to have integrity in their work as well. Despite saying this Walmart as a whole has not always live up the these standards. Walmart has understaffed there stores at time leading to worse customer service, directly in conflict with their values. Walmart has also been caught using sweatshops and have been called out in an article from CNN. This does leave people questioning the integrity of Walmart, something that the Sam Walton would not want for his business.
Organization, Decision Making, Change, and Communication
Walmart has a functional hierarchical structure. Functional meaning workers are separated into different roles that they are experts in. Hierarchical meaning that Walmart has a tall structure with many levels of command. Despite being separated the different functions still communicate and help one another informally. For decision making Walmart leaves bigger company affecting decisions to higher management, the frontline managers are given autonomy and allowed to make choices for their own stores. This allows Walmart to manage change well as they have done well through expanding and changing leaderships in the past. They grow very well during the period where Walton left the company. While they are learning in some circumstances Walmart still runs into the same problems like being understaffed frequently.
For recruitment and selection Walmart does not need to advertise as they are a desirable job for many people. They do promote from inside the company a lot. Walmart does do background checks and gives tests to make sure you are a good fit for Walmart.
For training and development Walmart gives training to employees but it is basic and may not completely prepare them, especially with their issue with understaffing. Walmart does offer development to train skills for higher level jobs if you meet their standards. In terms of performance appraisal Walmart does use appraisals and will give workers warnings if they are performing poorly and you could be fired. For pay and benefits: Walmart has a minimum wage of $11. Walmart also give incentives to managers so they will be paid more if they perform better. Walmart give some benefits in discounts but has been criticised for not giving employees health benefits.
Abstract
Walmart is one of the most established companies in the entire world. Walmart is the largest retailer and the largest private employer in the entire United States. This paper aims to dispel the impact Walmart has on its customers and everyone else. It explains how Walmart works as a business and how it impacts the business world along with what makes Walmart so successful. This paper is to explain many aspects of Walmart such as how it was found, how technology affects it, how entrepreneurs impact Walmart, what kind of employment they have, etc.
How Entrepreneurship is Encouraged
Entrepreneurship is 100% from Walmart as they aim to work together with other people and mini companies to form new ideas and new products. Walmart has an event that aims to introduce people’s new ideas to their company. It is part of the company’s U.S. Manufacturing Open Call. More than 500 entrepreneurs walk through the doors of Walmart to introduce their ideas in hopes of reaching a deal to get that product sold to the customers. The deal of deal making and networking included an incredible amount of presentations and an offer to participants to sell their products on Walmart’s official website. This was an opportunity not only for Walmart but for the participants as well so their products have an opportunity to potentially reach millions of Walmart customers. Product ideas introduced to Walmart expand from anywhere. They include categories that range from home décor, apparel, hardware, toys, health and beauty aids, sporting goods, and food. Entrepreneurs can even get jobs from these experiences. The open call does more than just introduce new products to the company. It opens up more jobs that can be available to people all around who need employment. Walmart aims to provide service among the common people. Having Walmart pick up and introduce your product can increase an entrepreneur’s popularity and sales for that product since Walmart is one of the most prestigious retailer businesses in the entire world. Walmart recently had a contest for entrepreneurs called, “Get on the Shelf” which entrepreneurs submit videos about their products. The winner’s product will be sold on Walmart.com and potentially in more stores as well. Any U.S entrepreneur is eligible to enter to the contest. Up to five winners will be able to sell their products on Walmart’s website. One grand winner be selected based on the number of pre-orders from customers and may get the opportunity to sell their products in some physical Walmart stores (Clifford, 2013)
Ethical Dilemmas Facing Walmart
Walmart
Walmart has started off with good intentions but just like other businesses has ethical violations. Numerous lawsuits in which Walmart is accused of poor employment practices and wage law violations where in some instances employees were forced to work without pay, required to work overtime and during scheduled breaks, and failed to properly compensate workers for hours worked. Walmart’s founder Sam Walton has long preached fairness to everyone, even his employees but sometimes it does not all work out that way. Walmart has been long accused of instances that involve in poor treatment of its employees and the work force. Walmart has even often been accused of child-labor violations, sexual discrimination in its regards to promotion policies and pay rates. Walmart does not realize the risks it takes sometimes in a business perspective. Walmart’s objectives include keeping labor costs down and management is key in overseeing that these objectives are met. Some managers were compensated for their loyalty to the company’s objectives, while some fell victim for the fear of being fired or demoted. Walmart’s unethical behaviors are not uncommon for a huge business corporation as many other businesses suffer from the same reasons. The company has failed to compensate its employees for over-time and mandatory meetings. Since Walmart also specializes in home improvements, sometimes they require employees to work past their scheduled daily hours which sometimes includes breaks and lunches, and then forces the employee to leave as soon as the employee hits forty hours so they will not be responsible for overtime pay. Walmart also has been accused of sexual discrimination in regards to its promotions and pay rates among male and female employees. Walmart had been favoring towards men for pay raises and rates because of the believed superiority that men had over women. In today’s world both parents have to work to support themselves but men were favored to get more pay than women. Walmart had been accused of this and been threatened to get sued before. Some statements made by management displayed an old fashioned view of this as women are less adequate than men and therefore should remain as housewives and not workers for their families. Women were seen as inferior to men and this type of backwards thinking simply does not work in today’s society. More and more people were starting to believe that the days of the man working all the time while the women stayed home and cooked all day were over. Both parents have to work and receive equal pay in order to support the household and even raise children. This is needed in today’s society.
What sources of Employment Empowerment are there
Walmart has taken noticeable steps over the years to invest in its people. Walmart has raised its starting salary for Walmart from $9 to $11 per hour. Walmart has expanded its maternity and parental lea
ve benefits to its employees. This allows females who get pregnant or males who are expecting a child to be protected and paid overtime as they go through the parenthood stage. This is crucial for female employees because they cannot work as many hours as they used to because they are pregnant and it protects them after they have the baby so that they are still employed and can work after they give birth. Walmart, surprisingly, has an adoption benefit of up to $5000 per child that may be used for expenses incurred in connection with adopting a child. Walmart has established an educational program that provides discounted college tuition, books, and fees, along with access to a coach to help guide employees through the process of choosing and apply to schools. This deals with mostly young adults who are going to school and it shows that Walmart cares about their employees and education. Walmart wants to see its employees achieve more than just working there. They want to give their employees the power to make their own decisions in life and strive. When hired by Walmart, Walmart puts together an organization called the Walmart academy. This is a two-week to six-week training program geared toward helping supervisors, department managers and assistant managers advance up the corporate ladder. The more the employees become trained and familiar with the corporate’s organizational goals, the better they are equipped to receive promotions. Through these processes, the company’s owner has demonstrated emotional intelligence by showing employees they’re serious about having their backs, and giving them the tools to be successful in the business and life (Bariso, 2018). Walmart has made it a top priority to motivate its 1.3 million store workers (Wahba, 2015). In the year of 2015, the discount chain at Walmart announced higher starting wages for thousands of workers costing the company an extra $1 billion annually. This shows the level of effort the company puts in to make their customers and their employees happy. The idea is to encourage workers to think more about a long-term career with the company. Other steps Walmart has taken is giving store associates and managers more say in what is sold locally based on their day-to day interactions with customers (Wahba, 2015).
Role of Technology
Walmart is one of the world’s largest companies and in order to keep that rank is always looking for ways to improve. Specifically, Walmart is looking for new, innovative ways to improve its technology. Technology is becoming a major part of the world today as almost everything is run through technology. Walmart sees this as a business and thinks of new ways to always improve their corporation’s technological ways. Walmart has stepped up its game in the innovation game to expand their business. In short order, the company made a number of e-commerce buys and has been working on new technology to fuel growth (Heller, 2018). Walmart has worked to make waves in the mobile upgrades department. New features included the store maps, which is rolling out to more stores. This enables the customers to view available in store services, make appointments and to see if certain items are available. Instead of customers using paper lists for shopping, Walmart has developed an app to complete the same tasks but with electronic devices rather than pen and paper. The app also incorporates the in-store map which will aid customers in finding the product. Technology assists customers in ways that people do not understand. When customers are not satisfied with their product or do not simply like it, they have the right to return the item. Usually when this happens, the customer has to return the item manually. With technology, customers are able to initiate a return within the app. They are able to select the item from the digital history and create a barcode on their phone. Once they reach the store, they can go to customer service and present the code to get scanned so they can get a refund. It works efficiently as the customer who bought the item gets a message that they received a refund for their purchase. Technology not only helps the customers on a daily basis. It also helps the employees who work for Walmart. Walmart has a new scheduling app which gives employees the access to their own schedule. It also gives them to swap schedules with another employee via the app. To train employees, Walmart is using a virtual reality to improve the training programs. This gives employees a virtual world to experience real life situations that will prepare them for the real thing when they start working. Technology plays a huge role nowadays in customer’s ability to shop or get items delivered to their home. These ways seem more efficient than customers coming the store, looking for the item that they want to buy, and standing in long lines to purchase their items. To deal this, Walmart has created a new system that is currently being tested in selected stores. It is called the endless aisle system. The endless aisle system aims to seamlessly integrate the in-store and online shopping experiences (Future Stores, 2018). This allows customers to place their orders at a kiosk placed at the end of the aisle. The customer is able to put an order in at the kiosk. If an item is sold out or not in stock, the customer can put an order in so they can get the item when it is available. The customer not only gets the item but they can get the item delivered to their home. The customer gets the advantage of technology being so advanced as it plays a major role in Walmart’s every day functions.
Market Control
In every successful business and company, strict goals are set in stone to be achieved. A company without goals would be unsuccessful and have no guidelines to follow. These goals are created from higher level management. There are many processes for control behind the scenes in Walmart’s successful industry and they all help serve a purpose. Walmart uses control mechanisms to help standardized processes which contribute to overall company goals.
First off, the first type of control that is essential for a smoothly run business, is market control. As stated by the Business Dictionary, market control is “Supervision or management of the distribution of goods and services by a government or other entity. Market control is an attempt to achieve specified economic or political goals through the deliberate manipulation of factors such as supply, demand, pricing, transportation, or taxation” (Business Dictionary). Market control is the reason for a functioning business. It offers a great deal of product. It keeps the products inventory in great shape and makes sure there is no sell outs. It also offers reasonable demand. For example, around Thanksgiving, butterball turkeys are going to be in higher demand more than ever. People will want to buy more and with professional market control, these factors will follow through with the mission and satisfy the needs of the customers. “Wal-Mart Stores has the biggest share of the market, with about 14.5 percent of all U.S. food and grocery sales, according to estimates and analysis from Global Data Retail” (Berk). Although 14.5 percent is a low percentage, it is high for a business’s market share. With Walmart in first place, second place is far behind with a market share of 7.17 percent from Kroger. Walmart is leading the market shares through market control, but they still have some competition. Although Amazon is very far behind, with a market share of 0.19 percent, researchers see no stopping points as amazon will continue to fight for more global sharing and compete with Walmart’s high stakes. Walmart also offers fair pricing. Walmart’s motto is “Save Money, Live Better.” This new motto is found throughout the store. It even shows up on receipts and plastic bags. The motto explains how Walmart sells their products for reasonable prices and is affordable for everyone. Walmart’s market control keeps their business succes
sful.
Clan Control
Walmart’s clan control is what brings the people together. “Clan control refers to the values and beliefs of an organization that operates more like a family than a company” (Kennedy). Clan control gives the people freedom to say what they think is feasible. In clan control, workers see their “bosses” more so as mentors. This higher level of management gives the workers a trusted relationship and has no set rules. Walmart does not strictly issue these policies, because they assume the employees will make the right decision. Walmart is a family owned business. This all trickles down to the fact that their level of production is based off of trust. Walmart’s clan all shares common interests since they are based on family. “A disadvantage is that some employees may take advantage of the lack of structure and not perform at their full capacity” (Kennedy). This is where the hiring process is crucial to the business’s success. When hiring employees at Walmart, they have to make sure they are aware of the flexibility in job schedules and tasks. If they hire just any average joe, they may slack off and still earn their pay, but their performance levels will be very low, and nothing will get accomplished. They have to take this hiring process seriously and make sure these future employees will be willing to self-motivate themselves to get their specific tasks completed. Also, this gives empowerment to the employees. They will start to feel like they are their own boss and feel more involved in the organization. When they learn how to get their tasks completed in a timely manner without a boss breathing down their neck, they will instantly be motivated to keep striving on their own. This could even lead to better pay rates and benefits.
Output Control
Walmart’s output control is the flashing indicator of how their business is running. Output control states the number of products going out. This statistic depends on how much product is being bought. Walmart sets targets to reach and monitors them regularly to make sure they are on track. It is a design of goods and services and develops a strategic characterization of products by emphasizing the variables of efficiency and cost effectiveness. “In each of these cases, executives must decide what level of performance is acceptable, communicate expectations to the relevant employees, track whether performance meets expectations, and then make any needed changes” (Mastering Strategic Management). This quote verifies that there are many circumstances that go into how successful Walmart is.
Behavior Control
Walmart’s behavior control is a big part of how respectful their employees are. No shopper wants to go to a store where the employees are rude and do not give their full attention or offer help finding things. Walmart’s employee behavior comes from their control system. This sets strict boundaries to ensure their employees are offering superb professionalism. “In terms of service to customers, the company prioritizes customers in its operations. Walmart also recognizes the contributions of each employee to the success of the business” (Lombardo). Customers come first in any circumstance and the worker has to be able to suit all of their needs. This also come down to the recruitment process. Specific questions and a more precise thought process are needed to ensure that all corners of the spectrum have been touched to ensure that only highly qualified people are hired for this job.
Cultural Control
As one walks into Walmart, they may tend to notice that there is a very diverse group of employees that work there. There is even a diverse group of customers since the prices are very low and is affordable for anyone. “Organizational culture is a term that defines specific patterns of behavior, including rituals, rules and identity within a professional environment. Culture specifically is a means of controlling behavior, providing stability within the organization and a sense of belonging” (Cross). With there being such a diverse group of customers, language barriers are created that may slow service down. To solve the barrier problem, employers will have to hire employees who also speak other languages. This will not only speed up the customer service process, but also add communication between all people in the store.
Information Systems
A big part of Walmart’s information systems is their online shopping. It saves the customers from having to leave home to shop. They can simply search for the store online and begin shopping with the touch of a button. Their information systems are designed to interact with each other in order to increase the efficiency of interdepartmental relations. Also, this helps support their supply chain. These systems help create clear goals and objectives. “The company is well recognized for their innovation when it comes to utilizing the latest technologies and information systems to maximize their profitability” (Walmart Information Systems). Let’s face it, the company or organization with the higher advanced technology is going to be more successful. The world is moving fast in terms of technology advancement and people are going to be more interested in things that are easier for them. For example, people would rather a robot do something for them, rather than doing it themselves. “This technology allows for Walmart’s operations to function efficiently and effectively, as they are capable of sending real time data to the networks” (Walmart Information Systems). This quote explains how they are able to relay information back and forth to retailers and manufacturers resulting in Walmart obtaining a competitive advantage. Walmart’s processes for control shape the way they thrive in this industry. Without its strict controls, Walmart would not be leading the nation in market shares.
Future Outlook
Walmart has a good outlook for the future. They are a huge company making billions of dollars and not likely to fail. The company has proven they are good learners and can adapt to changes in the market. Walmart will likely grow more as the expand into more countries and get even more money.
When looking at if I would like to work at Walmart I have to look at the different levels of the company. If I look at the retail positions it could be a good job while in school but not as a career. The job is not a great pay to live off of and it is a pretty boring job. When look at the higher positions it could be a good job. Walmart pays well to its top employees and has a habit of promoting from within so you could move up in the company. With the constant expansion there are plenty of jobs that will be available. This makes higher management at Walmart a good career.
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