Walmart HR Function Case Study Analysis

Walmart HR Functions Case Study

The business started as a small discount store and with the simple idea of selling more at a discounted price has grown to become the largest retailer in the last 50 years. Each week, approximately 220 million customers and members visit approximately 10,500 stores and clubs under 48 banners in 24 countries and eCommerce websites. Walmart is known to evolve from Sam Walton’s goal of great value and great customer service. It is definitely his exceptional leadership that has helped the business grow across the globe . The company went public in 1970 and it was under his strategic leadership that the brand not only sold goods at low costs that not only attracted the customers but the associates. With fiscal year 2021 revenue of $559 billion, Walmart employs over 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart also continues to be the leader in promoting sustainability in its business operations and employs over 2.3 million associates across the globe You can get study help.

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Organizational Culture at Walmart

 The organizational culture of Walmart is identified to be heavily influenced by the founder Sam Walton and is often known as the Wal-mart Way. In this culture the leaders are seen to be practicing servant leadership and here every employee is identified as an ‘associate’. In Walmart the employees who are known as associates are always encouraged to adapt to the local circumstances and also to experiment and innovate in their work process. Employees are provided with substantial on-the-job training. The company is highly committed and invests largely on the training of its workforce through its Walmart Academies as well as with partnership with Guild Education where the associates receive college credit for paid training at Walmart Academies. There are certain core principles that actually help in defining the work culture in case study at Walmart which are:

• Service To the customers- Walmart always prioritizes its customers as well as empowers and supports the customers who can then automatically serve the customers better. Along with this the company also strongly believes in innovation and operating with flexibility
• Rest for Individuals- This is another important aspect which Walmart focuses on by being inclusive and accepting individuals differences and creating a diverse work culture
• Striving for Excellence- The organization is always focused in improving its quality of services, it is strategic in its business operations and takes complete accountability of all of its activities
• Operating with integrity- The organization has also established a standard code of conduct which shows strong reflection to integrity and function ethically where safety of the customers and the employees is maximised. The business actually aims to build trust among its associates and partners. 

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SWOT Analysis

   SWOT Analysis is a very strategic tool that is largely used by global brands to understand the micro environmental factors or the internal attributes of the business, which are its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and how the business can survive in the external competitive environment. Thus the SWOT Analysis of Walmart will focus on:

Strengths

• Walmart’s brand recognition is how the brand is extremely popular and well known among its global customers. Millions of customer prefer Walmart because of the brand reputation that it has built over the years
• Next strength is its global expansion strategy. Walmart has recently purchased ASDA, the UK based retailer and Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart. Besides, it has created a joint venture with India’s biggest retail store Bharti. These global expansions have proven to be a great success for the company. Assignmenthelp.us offers complete case study solution on Walmart Hr Functions Case Study.
• Global presence of the brand- Walmart has opened 47 new stores in Central America, followed by 15 in Chile, in the UK and 4 in China in 2019. Thus its global expansion strategy is definitely very strong
• ‘Everyday Low Price’ Strategy-  The brand very much functions on the economies of scale approach and this is exactly the reason that it can provide all its products at quite a low price in comparison to its existing competitors. It has fixed costs for thousands of products. Thus, it’s one of the cheapest shopping places in the world.
• Strong global supply chain and logistic system- The overall distribution and logistics systems forms the very core of Walmart’s competencies, It uses the latest technology available to effectively manage the same

Weakness

• Walmart has faced some criticism and lawsuits several times due to the poor working conditions and low wages of the employees
• Walmart also faces challenges owing to the fact of its cost leadership strategy which leaves the company with very thin profit margin
• Moreover it is extremely easy to copy the business model hence it does not own any competitive edge over its rivals 

Opportunities

• Expansion in other markets is one major opportunity which Walmart must focus on that is identifying those markets in which Walmart has not yet ventured. Such countries include: China, Middle East countries, and Latin America
• It should also focus on forming strategic alliances with major global firms or look for mergers with other global retailers. 
• Bringing necessary advancements in its human resource practices is also a crucial opportunity that Walmart should focus on
• Improving on the existing standards of quality and address the health concerns of the consumers related to the products is also another major area of growth and opportunity for Walmart

Threats

• Recently Walmart was involved in the controversy of “Impeach 45”. It sold T-shirts printed with the words 'Rope '. Tree. Journalist. Some Assembly Required’. These shirts claimed to entail promotion of violence. However, Walmart overturned the controversy claiming that the T-shirts were sold by third-party sellers on Walmart’s Marketplace instead of Walmart itself.
• Walmart has also been involved in the controversy of selling fake craft beer in the year 2017. Such controversies are no doubt highly damaging to the existing brand value of Walmart
• Increasing threat of competitors like Target is a direct competitor of Walmart selling similar products at similar price but with better quality. 
• Political and legal issues is definitely another major threat for the business while trying to expand in other countries
• Another major threat that is seen for Walmart is its lower online service as many customers have continuously complained of technical issues on the website. 

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PESTEL Analysis

Political Factors

Walmart is a globally known department store. Hence the global political atmosphere will no doubt have a very deep impact on the overall business performance. If the business does not get a favourable and stable political climate it becomes extremely difficult for the business to survive. For instance Walmart suffered profit loss in Chongqing, China. One store sold prohibited products to the Chinese public, and the government was quick to not only stop the selling of the product but all products sold by Walmart temporarily. Thus the government can be quick to intervene when a company fails to follow policies. The government also holds the power to pass bills and affect the revenue of the business if the brand does not meet these political and legal obligations

Economic Factors

Walmart is no doubt heavily affected by the economic climate of the countries. It has been found that the pricing strategy of Walmart is not allowing the organization for larger profit margins in comparison to its competitors. On the other hand if the brand decides to increase its price then it would not be preferred by the consumers hence it is definitely based on the economic factors like the income, the taxes, and the interest rates that Walmart has to choose a definite and strategic pricing technique 

Socio-cultural Factors

Walmart has not been very good at adjusting itself in the German market owing to being an American brand. This is one vital socio-cultural challenge that the business is currently facing. For a global brand it is extremely important to understand the taste and preferences of the global audience and accordingly adjust its products. For Walmart to effectively expand its business across the globe it has to bring in more variety and put more focus on specific market demands of individual markets. To strengthen its global market presence Walmart has to put more focus on the user interface of its e-Commerce store.

Technological Factors

It is extremely important for global business entities to focus on their technology and innovation to expand their business. This is important because to compete in the global industry market such technological expansion is very much required. Adopting automation to online shopping Walmart has been continuously focusing on developing these aspects for its sustained business growth

Environmental Factors

Walmart has been continuously focusing on developing its business on sustainable terms that is choosing eco-friendly production methods to ethical sourcing of raw materials. This global brand has shown strong commitments to reduce their carbon footprint as it is extremely important to choose sustainability not just as a means to maintain brand reputation but also to enhance the overall revenue and business performance of the organization. 

Legal Factors

It is extremely important for Walmart to abide by the laws and regulations of the world. The most common of these laws include employment regulations, data protection laws, labour laws, and health and safety laws. In the past it has faced lawsuits which have no doubt impacted the revenue and brand image. Hence to expand in the global market environment it is extremely important to operate in an ethical manner. Our law assignment help services will help you in legal problems.

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Conclusion

As you can see, when you avail our Walmart HR Function case study assignment help service, you get all-round assistance. Thus, if you want to stand out from the rest of the class, you can contact us.

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