Assignment Sample on 7BUS2039 Strategic Leadership HR Management
Introduction
Since it offered high-quality goods at affordable rates, Wal-Mart was backed by local chambers of commerce back in the 1980s and 1990s. On the other hand, critics argue that Wal-success Mart’s harms small local businesses. Although Wal-Mart has been criticized for wiping out smaller competitors, local chambers of commerce have backed the retailer. As a result, the chambers of commerce say that Wal-entry Mart’s has created employment for people and given local retailers a more comprehensive range of options to compete in the current economic climate (Bonanno and Goetz, 2021).
Critical Evaluation of the company’s business strategy
The company’s ‘everyday low price’ philosophy is a fundamental aspect of Walmart’s business strategy. As a result of its massive economies of scale, Walmart can adopt a low-cost leadership approach. This helps Walmart.com keep its retail operations as cost-effective as possible by accounting for about 75 percent of its sales from its non-store inventories. As time goes on, Walmart’s business strategy is built on increasing its goods and services’ selection, affordability, and accessibility. Walmart’s ultimate goal is to make buying as simple as possible for its customers by providing them with a wide range of purchase alternatives (Wang, 2021).
For Wal-Mart to compete, it needs to maintain prices low. Wall-Mart consistently links its edge in pricing, access, selection, and entire customer experience with its strategic level management. Three elements of Walmart’s business strategy have been significantly altered since Doug McMillion became CEO of Walmart in February 2014:
- A greater focus on providing excellent service and ensuring client happiness. Wal-Mart pledged $1 billion in pay and training increases for hourly workers in the United States at a press conference in February 2015.
- Improvements to supermarkets In light of the increasing health-consciousness of Walmart shoppers, the retailer is looking to boost its organic and fresh vegetable offerings. A more precise indication of this transition can be found in the US market, where the brand aggressively incorporates it into its marketing communication language (Xie and Cooke, 2019).
- Expanding the range of products that consumers may choose from. It’s been reported that Wal-Mart wants to merge its physical shops with online operations. Since the most recent improvements, customers may now pick up online orders from stores and receive SMS reminders from the pharmacy.
- It’s safe to say that Walmart has a long-term competitive edge in the global economic climate. We saved $150 million in China using the ‘We Operate for Less’ and ‘We Buy for Less’ initiatives.
It is Wal-competitive Mart’s strategy to dominate all of its markets. Success is measured in terms of sales and market domination. Its goal is to undercut the competition, increase sales, and broaden its customer base. In general, Wal-Mart tries to outdo its rivals. The standard Wal-Mart strategy is to create additional shops, increase the size of existing stores, and enter new markets. To the extent of throwing some of its rivals out of business, it pursues profit and dominance at every turn. Other views include “aggressive hospitality,” such as the use of door greeters to exceed consumer expectations.
Additionally, the store’s US locations offer patriotic displays and motifs. When Sears decided to focus on the middle class, it had to increase its costs. The goal of Wal-strategy Mart was to keep costs as low as possible to compete with its competitors. Compared to Sears, which had more than 6,000 distribution facilities, Wal-Mart has only 2,500 equivalent units. Before expanding into larger cities, Wal-Mart focused on small communities (Xie and Cooke, 2019).
Meanwhile, other merchants concentrated their efforts on more populated areas. Low-cost retailers became more popular as the economy deteriorated. The rise of the automobile also meant that people were more ready to drive to small towns or the suburbs in search of bargains (Philippon, 2021).
The extent to which the company’s approach to managing human resources is linked or aligned to its business strategy
Considering that it employs millions of people worldwide, Walmart Inc. is a shining example of a large-scale human resources management strategy that works. One of the world’s most significant corporations is the organizational scope and economic output. With the firm’s help, its employees can meet all of the demands and expectations of the organization. As a company, Walmart considers how commercial operations such as internal organizational procedures might benefit its employees. Employee performance is an area where the organization focuses intensely on its human resource planning and job design. Walmart’s company culture and organizational structure, recruiting and selection, retention and training, performance management, remuneration, and career development are all examined by human resource managers. A company’s human resources must be successfully managed if it is to flourish and expand. Employee growth and management practices are intertwined in Walmart’s overall strategy. When Walmart’s human resource managers foresee and solve potential issues before they develop, they assist the company and its people achieve success. Human resource development may be beneficial in a competitive economy, particularly in light of Amazon. Walmart’s ability to adapt to the constantly altering retail landscape may be aided by low employee turnover and good morale (Schuetz, 2021).
Programs and solutions for Walmart’s human resource management come in three flavors. HR planning, for example, is within the purview of the company’s human resources department’s senior management. The company, on the other hand, has a substantial size. A designated employee at each store handles human resources. HR’s overall human resources strategy is understood differently in each location because of these differences. HR policies are understood differently by different stores. As can be seen from the disparities, genuine human resource planning at Walmart occurs at various levels of the organization’s structure.
Job Analysis and Job Design at Walmart
To analyze available positions, Walmart makes use of a matching method. Candidates, employees, and managers are all surveyed and interviewed as part of this approach. Walmart’s objective is to match existing human resources to actual demand and find gaps. A wide variety of job titles may be found in contrast at Walmart. Even though most of the company’s workers work in sales, human resource management nonetheless generates job descriptions that focus primarily on sales activities. ‘ Jobs at Walmart include anything from sales associate to supervisor to manager to store manager. Although Walmart’s job qualifications vary, many call for candidates to have a background in sales and marketing (Schuetz, 2021).
This Walmart Inc. scenario necessitates the implementation of new channels of communication to enhance the company’s job analysis and design. A variety of methods exist for managers to solicit feedback from their personnel. Employee morale will rise, and job analyses will become more precise due to this change. HR management decisions and related organizational efforts can benefit from more accuracy.
The sustainability of this strategy in the long term
Cost leadership is Walmart Inc.’s primary strategy. Michael Porter’s model defines cost leadership as a general competitive strategy that focuses on lowering the cost of production. Wal-Mart can compete by offering low-cost retail services and related business outputs. As part of Walmart Inc.’s pricing strategy, one of the company’s primary strategic goals is to keep prices as low as possible. The retail industry relies heavily on low prices as a selling element. To keep prices down while still keeping costs low, the corporation employs various strategies. By using automation and related technology and cutting back on human resources, the corporation reduces its operational expenses (Schuetz, 2021).
Figure 1- Porters Generic Model
Source- (Chang and Hu, 2020)
Low product differentiation is required for cost leadership. Low pricing is a prominent selling factor for Walmart Inc.’s retail services, making them difficult to distinguish from other retailers. This comprehensive strategy also has the drawback of not segmenting the market. Retail services are offered to all clients in each of the company’s target areas, for example. As stated in Walmart’s corporate mission and vision statements, the company’s ambition is to become the world’s largest retailer (Chang and Hu, 2020). The organization’s generic competitive strategy is achieved by using process efficiency, management approaches, and other strategies such as aggressive expansion programs. For this reason, as well as others, the corporation imports many low-priced goods from China.
Enterprises utilize RBV to develop a long-term competitive edge for their business by carefully identifying and employing the resources they have at their disposal. The RBV framework is used to review and organize an organization’s resources to help it compete more effectively.
According to the RBV, all organizations and businesses may build competitive advantage because they have access to and control over resources. Superior long-term performance is also possible with a subset of these resources. Having and controlling necessary resources can lead to a long-term competitive advantage in the long run (Burbach, 2021).
Even in unstructured worldwide marketplaces, the resource-based view (RBV) argues that enterprises are a separate package of resources and capabilities, providing the foundation for developing competitive advantages. It implies that organizations should utilize their self-owned resources. Competition from resources can only be achieved if the resources are valuable enough to exploit an external opportunity or counter a danger, according to RBV.
Figure 2- RBV model
Source- (Burbach, 2021)
Inherent in heterogeneity is the rarity of a resource, which means that competitors should not have or be able to acquire similar resources, giving one an edge over the other. The necessary condition of impaired or limited mobility of resources must be further met; imperfect resources that provide competitive advantages must not be traded between rivals. The “cross-docking” coordination mechanism of Wal-Mart ensures that product between two loading docks is carried in no more than 48 hours; this underscores the importance of capabilities as hidden drivers of competitive advantage (Nilufer, 2020). As a result, Wal-profit Mart’s margins have increased by 2 to 3 percent, reducing inventory levels, working capital cycles, and interest expenses (Nilufer, 2020). Due to its ability to meet all of the requirements above, the system described above is considered highly effective in creating value by reducing costs. It is thus recognized as a source of competitive advantage.
Using a cross-docking facility is a rare event. When paired with personnel, delivery trucks, transportation and communication infrastructure, it fits the requirements of impaired mobility. Wal-competitive Mart’s advantage stems from its inherent ability to erect high barriers to imitation, which is made possible by the enormous complexity and resulting difficulty competitors face in replicating it, including the coordination and communication required between vendors, distribution centers, sales depots, and outlets. As a result of the current advancements in technology, mass customization is now possible because of the Japanese techniques of flexible manufacturing, or lean production system, and adaptable marketing.
Abilities Motivation and Opportunity (AMO) model
Organizations that can use these three principles in a win-win capacity can affect employee performance, according to the Motivation-Opportunities-Ability (MOA) Model. MOA model implementation in the workplace may be a win-win situation for both the individual and the company. First, let’s make sure we all agree on these three phrases before moving on (Xie and Cooke, 2019).
Motivation: An individual’s interests and requirements might lead them to act in a particular way. A person’s motivation is what drives them to act. The reward or praise a dog hopes to earn as a result of sitting is what drives it to do so. The incentive encourages the dog to perform in the desired manner.
Figure 3- AMO Model
Source- (Li, 2020)
Opportunity: Opportunity may be described as relevant limits that allow certain behaviors. The availability of time and resources is one example of a relevant limitation that might influence behavior. Most of the time, we are looking for ways to perform work that will benefit us or others.
Ability: A person’s abilities are defined as the sum of their combined mental, emotional, financial, physical, and social resources that they can use to carry out a specific action.
Conclusion
There are several reasons why Wal-Mart is so successful, but management is one of the most critical factors. As a family-oriented and religiously conservative company, Wal-Mart values its employees and corporate culture. It is Wal-stated Mart’s goal that each employee gets the opportunity to propose changes to the company’s policies and practices. The term “associates” is used to describe retail employees at Wal-Mart.
References
Bonanno, A. and Goetz, S.J., 2021. Walmart and local economic development: A survey. Economic Development Quarterly, 26(4), pp.285-297.
Burbach, C., 2021. Walmart Strategic Analysis.
Chang, Y. and Hu, J., 2020. Analysis of the mode of multinational retail enterprises entering Chinese market—Take Walmart, Carrefour and Metro as examples. Modern Economy, 11(01), p.17.
Courtemanche, C., Carden, A., Zhou, X. and Ndirangu, M., 2019. Do Walmart supercenters improve food security?. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 41(2), pp.177-198.
Ellickson, P.B., 2019. The evolution of the supermarket industry: from A & P to Walmart. In Handbook on the Economics of Retailing and Distribution. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Hunt, I., Watts, A. and Bryant, S.K., 2018. Walmart’s international expansion: Successes and miscalculations. Journal of Business Strategy.
Jindal, R.P., Gauri, D.K., Li, W. and Ma, Y., 2021. Omnichannel battle between Amazon and Walmart: Is the focus on delivery the best strategy?. Journal of business research, 122, pp.270-280.
Kampf, C., 2020. Corporate social responsibility: Walmart, Maersk and the cultural bounds of representation in corporate web sites. Corporate Communications: An International Journal.
Li, S., 2020. ANALYSIS OF WALMART’S INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY. In Актуальные проблемы авиации и космонавтики (pp. 411-413).
Merriman, D., Persky, J., Davis, J. and Baiman, R., 2020. The impact of an urban Walmart store on area businesses: The Chicago case. Economic Development Quarterly, 26(4), pp.321-333.
Michelson, H.C., 2021. Small farmers, NGOs, and a Walmart world: Welfare effects of supermarkets operating in Nicaragua. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 95(3), pp.628-649.
Nilufer, N., 2020. Critical assessment on business strategy from aviation to retail industry during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Walmart Case. International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), 2(2), pp.8-14.
Philippon, T., 2021. Finance vs. Walmart: Why are Financial Services so Expensive?. Rethinking Finance,” A. Blinder, A. Lo and R. Solow (eds).
Schuetz, J., 2021. Why are Walmart and target next-door neighbors?. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 54, pp.38-48.
Wang, Z., 2021. Business Analysis on Sustainable Competitive Advantages. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 235). EDP Sciences.
Assignment Services Unique Submission Offers:
