Organizational Behaviour Analysis of Wal
Organizational Behaviour Analysis of Wal
Organizational Behaviour Analysis of Wal
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Introduction
The subject of the current study is Walmart, whose organizational behavior will be
discussed in detail. Based on research and prior experience at Walmart, this essay will apply
organization behavioral concepts and literature review to objectively discuss the company’s
Walmart is an apt selection for the analysis because it has a large employee base who
work together to meet the consumers’ expectations. This essay argues that organizational
behavior can be used to better the efficiency of any business enterprise. The first section of the
report will focus on backdrop of the company, the second section will highlight the current
practices in the leadership and employee engagement of employees in Walmart while the last
Company Background
Walmart is the US-based world’s largest company by revenue-approximately $480
grocery stores and department stores (Fortune.com 2017). The retailer ace has its official
discount city store. The company is still owned and operated by the Walton family that owns
“The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. And really,
if you think about it from your point of view as a customer, you want everything: a wide
satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free
Walmart operates in 28 countries around the globe with 11,695 stores and 2.3 million
employees (corporate.walmart.com 2017). Having said that, its majority of the market sales
comes from the US (62.3 per cent) where it has a strong foothold. The company went public in
the year 1982 making a debut in the New York stock exchange (NYSE). In today’s digitized
world, the company leads with its heavy investment in technology owing to which it has e-
Walmart is known to use its largesse as leverage to offer low cost products to the
customers. It works with the slogan, “Save money, live better”. Some of the competitors to the
low-price pledge of the establishment are Amazon, Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Family Dollar
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(Lutz 2015). Nevertheless, the company due to its stellar market base outperforms all of them
Organizational Culture
Service to
customers
Respect for the
individual
Strive for
excellence
Action with
integrity
The organizational culture at the company stores is based on four beliefs: Service to
customers, respect for the individual, strive for excellence, and action with integrity (Lombardo
2017). As can be seen from the list, company prioritizes customers in its operations above all and
thus, makes it to be an ideal organizational culture in the world. The company contributes almost
three per cent to the US economy and for decades, it has built an image to have impeccable
logistics with everyday low prices (Mourdoukoutas 2016). There is retail, hourly, corporate,
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Walmart leaves no stone unturned to make its employees feel an integral part of the
company. Right from the recruitment, employees are motivated to participate in company’s
growth in myriads of forms. To symbolize this, it came with the slogan, “Our people make the
The company boasts of striving to enhance the employee engagement using both intrinsic
and extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic rewards are supposed to be driven solely by interest and
enjoyment in the work and has no dependence on rewards or external management pressure. On
the other hand, extrinsic rewards include monetary incentives, gifts or recognitions etc. Put
another way, these benefits are given in the form of healthcare or financial benefits. For instance,
following are some of the explicit endeavors by the company in the present context.
Discount Cards
All the associates are given a ‘Walmart discount card’ that offers a 10 per cent off on
regularly priced general merchandise and fresh produce at any Walmart store in the country. To
motivate the new employees, they are given the discount cards only after the three-month
Profit-Sharing
The profit-sharing depends on the store’s performance from May through July of a given
year when the store’s performance exceeds expectation and customer service goals of that
particular store (news.walmart.com 2017). In the year 2015, the company announced a two-year
budget for the profit sharing plan at an estimated investment of $200 million in cash bonuses.
This concept of sharing profit with all the employees including part-time and full-time associates
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Stock Purchase
Employees at Walmart can invest in company stocks either through payroll deductions or
through a broker. The former is also called associate stock. The employees can sell their holdings
online or by phone at any time. Walmart contributes 15 per cent of the total value of the
investment up to the first $1,800 spent on stock each year (Koca-Helvaci et al. 2015:374).
There are numerous ways used by the company to make the employees engaged and motivated
It is also commonly known as MSP. Started in the year 2010, Walmart urges employees
across all the stores to adopt goals focusing on healthy life, care for the planet and getting the
maximum out of the life. The company has made certain objectives like My Health (eating
healthy, getting active, reducing stress, quitting tobacco), My Planet (saving water and energy,
reducing waste, enjoying nature), and My Life (learning new skills, managing money, making
This is one of the old school management by objective (MBO) principle, implemented by
Walmart, grassroots surveys target employee work issues like satisfaction with company
management (Bushnell et al 2015). Managers getting bad score on grassroots surveys could get
demoted or fired.
Open-Door Policy
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The company uses open-door policy for addressing any concerns or employee problems.
This involves issues like workplace bully, rights violation, unfair policy or discontent vis-à-vis
any store practice. Any issue identified by the management is handled very meticulously (Jin
2014).
Realistic, and Time-bound. It is believed that the regular performance review helps keep the
employee conscious about her current standing against expectations (Wang et al. 2017:109).
Walmart uses a unique strategy called MBWA to manage its operations enhancing
concerns while she is on-the-job if any (Gopalkrishna et al. 2016:99). Walmart has realized it
long time back that mere pay-check is not enough to engage the employees completely. Rather,
positive reinforcement techniques like the ones listed above are required to build a bridge
It is a fact that to understand Walmart’s policies, it is vital to know the beliefs of Sam
Walton. Sam laid the basic structure of the company considering the employees to be business
partners instead. Undoubtedly, the ideas and policies are impeccable for any company to
succeed, and so is the fate of Walmart. That being said, there is always some room to optimize.
One of the biggest challenges is the proliferation of the culture. The store-management team has
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always a dilemma of people against profit. For instance, if being a store-manager you achieve the
profit goal at the cost of morale of the employee team, you may get fired or demoted.
Thus, some of the solutions, bearing in mind the current practices, could be to enhance
the camaraderie between the associates and the management. This could be done by giving
cultural training so that all the beliefs could be completely absorbed by the employees. Walmart
is a tight-fisted corporation, since it plays with the minimum profit margin, thus, there is not
much that could be done on the economic front. However, performing sophisticated check to
Secondly, addressing minor issues like distrust among the employees in relation to issues
like lack of full-time employees in the store can prove panacea at all fronts. Thirdly, establishing
proper channel for communication could help achieve perfection for the retailer giant. In huge
stores like Walmart, there is usually lack of proper communication up above the hierarchy. The
company should focus on more direct way of communication like email or telephonic streamline
Conclusion
Furthermore, it guides me to understand and practice the required policies that cater to address
the company’s culture. It is indispensable for an individual to work along the lines of company’s
expectations and, also to consider oneself to be a business partner instead of just an employee.
The present study helped me to understand that it is crucial for an employee of any designation
to establish proper communication with her superior. On top of that, an employee should be an
advocate of open-door policy since, quite understandably, management is the only one that could
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solve a problem, provided it is cognizant of the matter. It is also followed from the present
assignment that just the pay-check is not sufficient to motivate and engage employees to give
their maximum.
Walmart has presented to be an epitome of how camaraderie between the employees and
management could convert a single budget store into the world’s largest retailer. There is a
necessity to conduct timely assessments to keep the employees on their toes. Recognition is an
acknowledgement that motivates an employee to strive incessantly for desired behavior. Positive
reinforcement technique could have significant effect on the company’s productivity. Starting
from positive work atmosphere, boosted morale to retention and productivity, favorable
organization behavior could lead to miracles like Walmart itself. Sustainable growth and
development means development bearing in mind the impacts of operations on planet and
environment in general. Walmart focuses on proper recycling of waste and urges its employees
to save water and energy. Most importantly, ‘Servant leadership’ meaning prioritizing needs of
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References
Apte, Suhas, and Jagdish Sheth. "DEVELOPING THE SUSTAINABLE EDGE." Leader to
Leader 2017.85 (2017): 48-53.
Bushnell, Nolan, et al. "Business Planning and Market Strategy in a Nutshell." (2015).
Jin, Qili. Impacts of the Open Door Policy and globalization on income inequality in China
between the 20th century and the early 21st century. Diss. 2014
Koca-Helvaci, Zeynep Cihan. "Walmart and its employee relations: organizational stance-taking
and legitimacy." On the Horizon 23.4 (2015): 374-386.
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News.walmart.com. Walmart Hourly Associates Earn More Than $200 million in Cash Bonuses.
21 September 2016.
Wahba, Phil. One way Walmart is motivating workers: Less Celine Dion on the PA system. 3
June 2015.
Wang, Ze, et al. "Effects of Employees’ Positive Affective Displays on Customer Loyalty
Intentions: An Emotions-as-Social-Information Perspective." Academy of Management Journal
60.1 (2017): 109-129.