Introduction
Wal-Mart store, Inc, is one of the largest companies in the world and has an employee work force of about two million workers worldwide. The business organization was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton and remains as a family business since the Walton family owns more than fifty percent of the company shares. Additionally, the organization operates retail outlet stores in various parts of the world. In addition, the organization operates in three divisions; the Sam’s club, the Wal-Mart U.S and the Wal-Mart international. Wal-Mart international section includes retail stores, Sam’s clubs, restaurants and on-line retail operations that are based in twenty six countries all over the world. The paper will analyze the organizational culture of Wal-Mart Company.
One of the key organizational cultures at Wal-Mart is the competitive advantage whereby the company uses the slogan “saving people money so they can live better lives." The organization utilizes the reduced prices strategy to attract customers and at the same time supplying the same quality goods to customers (Kampf, 2007). Employee partnership is another organizational culture of the company. Employees of the company are empowered to act like owners of the business organization, and they are usually referred to as associates. Employees are allowed to share the company’s profits after the predetermined expenses, profit and sales goals have been met. Employee partnership culture motivates the workers since they participate in running of the business and feel that they also own the organization. The other organizational culture is that the company managers act as servant leaders and coaches (Roberts et al., 2012). Managers are expected to set perfect examples to other employees in the lower cadres especially in terms of customer relations. Additionally, the management believes that a supervisor or manager should engage employees in already proven workable tasks.
Store managers are also expected to have personal knowledge of their employees and work as a team towards achieving the company’s ultimate goal. The company’s operations are guided by three leadership values i.e. striving for excellence, respecting each other and offering satisfactory service to the customers. In addition, Wal-Mart encourages sharing of innovative ideas from the employees and also offers financial rewards to innovative employees. Furthermore, the organization believes in communicating the business operations to the employees to enable them understand the company's position. For instance, the management shares vital information such as profit and loss statements with their employees on a regular basis. Shared information is crucial in encouraging the employees to channel their efforts towards running a profitable store so as to guarantee paychecks to them. Additionally, the company’s management positions are usually filled through promotion from the existing employee work force (Roberts et al., 2012). Furthermore, the company’s top management believes that promoting their employees increases the employees’ loyalty to the company.
Employees are expected to manage the company’s expenses as their personal expenses since the company’s profits have a positive correlation to the employees’ paychecks. Wal-Mart values their customers, and the employees are trained to halt whatever they are doing and attend to the customer. In addition, the set standards provide outstanding customer service that is unique to the company.
Lastly, the company established trust-worthy relationships with its suppliers for efficient delivery and reduced prices. Moreover, the strategy of supplier relationship enables the company to gain competitive advantage over the other player in the same industry. Additionally, the company’s corporate culture is based on shared values, beliefs and actions that guide the members’ behavior within the company.
Works Cited
Kampf, Constance. "Corporate social responsibility : WalMart, Maersk and the cultural bounds of representation in corporate web sites." Corporate Communications: An International Journal (2007): n. page. Print.
Roberts, Bryan R, and Natalie Berg. Walmart: Key Insights and Practical Lessons from the World's Largest Retailer. London: Kogan Page, 2012. Print.
