Group Dynamics and Processes Paper

Walmart Employees No Longer “Get Happy”

I recently read and article written by Rocco Pendola about the systematic struggles that the huge super-retailer Walmart is facing concerning its staff and lack of “team” environment. Rocco’s article begins when he initially posted 24 concerning pictures of various issues surrounding a huge variety of Walmart stores. Rocco began to receive a huge over pour of emails, photos and comments from Walmart employees around the country. In his article, Rocco uses the issues that he has researched about Walmart, as well as some of Walmart’s current and past employee letters to illustrate some of the current problems Walmart is facing. This article complies a great deal of information that helps us determine some of the mistakes Walmart has made on a corporate level as well as in it’s stores.
Based on Rocco’s article, it is undeniable that Walmart suffers from a lack of Group Dynamics, and processes. Without continued use of Group Dynamics a company cannot continue to be successful, and ultimately a company cannot survive. According to our text, “a group is a number of individuals who join together to achieve a goal.” (Johnson & Johnson, pp. 5) this means that all members in the group are ultimately responsible for the outcome of the performance of the group, and all members have some kind of stake in the group, whether they know or understand their role, they all have one. If the group has several weak members it cannot survive, if the group lacks commitment, it cannot survive, if the group has a poor structure, it cannot survive, and if the group lacks roles and norms it cannot survive. There is so much that goes into a successful group, and it all is based around the structure of the group and how it’s members react to the structure.
As former Walmart customer, I used to love visiting Walmart because it was convenient and I could do all of my shopping in one store. But over the years I have began to despise shopping at Walmart because they are always severely understaffed, products never seem to list the correct price, the shelves always seem dirty, associates are never around to help when you need one, and the big one is that customer service is severely lacking in every department. It is apparent that the staff members are not only over worked and underpaid, but also undertrained and undereducated on working together as a team. In a team, everyone works toward a common goal and everyone reaps the benefits of the group’s success.
In Rocco’s article he talks about how management is under directive from Walmart’s corporate headquarters to understaff positions and cut hours based on the previous day sale’s, Walmart associates never know if they are working a full day, or even working at all because their schedules are inconsistent, therefore leaving members in a position to feel they need to undermine each other in order to show they are valuable enough to keep on the schedule. According to our text, “Trust must exist in a group in order for it to work effectively. Trust is established through a sequence of trusting and trustworthy actions.” (Johnson & Johnson pp.124) If group members feel they need to constantly undermine each other in order to push themselves ahead of other members, then trust is nonexistent and the team is ineffective. Trust is just one of the many concepts in Group Dynamics that is essential for the team’s survival.

When it pertains to Group Dynamics and Group Processes, Rocco’s main points are that Walmart needs to reassess where they are right now before it’s too late and they end up in the same situation as Sears and Kmart. 15 years ago, Kmart was the leader of the super- retailers succeeding Walmart, and over time Kmart began to cut corners and lost sight of Group Processes, which has ultimately had a negative impact on Kmart and forced many of their stores to close.
In his article, Rocco states: “Without considerable intervention, this can't possibly end well. In fact, I really believe we're watching a failure unfold in front of our eyes.” (Pendola) With this statement, I believe Rocco is trying to explain that the Group Structure at Walmart is severely broken because Walmart and it’s members have been declining for so long that it has forgotten about not only the roles and norms of group dynamics, but they have also forgotten about the meaning of a team. Simply put, Walmart’s practices are that they just aren’t taking care and maintaining their team. According to our text, “Norms are rules, implicit or explicit, established by groups to regulate the behavior of all of its members” (Johnson & Johnson pp.17) Norms are extremely important because it provides the team a “Common-ground” or “Fail-Safe” manual that can always be referred back to in order to keep the team on track, norms not only tell the members how to behave, it also provides a basis and serves as a guide for the structure of it’s members (Jonson & Johnson pp. 17).
I agree whole-heartedly with Rocco’s article because I have personally witnessed everything that he addressed in his article upon my visits to Walmart over the years. I agree with Rocco in the sense that Walmart needs to take a step back and look at the big picture, reassess their current position and then reformulate a plan that will get them back on track. According to our text, “Group Cohesion is the mutual attraction among group members of a group, and the resulting desire to remain in the group.” (Johnson & Johnson pp. 100) this means Walmart needs to work on strengthening their group cohesion, so it’s members no longer feel a strong urge to jump ship. In strengthening their group cohesion, their members will work harder to achieve the groups goals, as well as make their customers happy, in turn Walmart’s customers may stick around and not jump ship to their competitor. I do not disagree with any of Rocco’s suggestions or comments, I agree with his views 100%.
The new insights that I’ve learned about Walmart after reading Rocco’s article, are how important it is to not only focus on your customers and keeping them happy, but also keeping your employees happy. I’m not sure which comes first, “the employee’s” happiness and satisfaction, or the “Customers” happiness and satisfaction, but what I have learned is that both are paramount in the success of any team, and for any organization. Numbers of people make up a team, and the success of the team makes the company run efficiently, missing either one of these is detrimental to the success of the organization. I’ve always wondered why Walmart has changed for the worse, and after reading Rocco’s article and the techniques i’ve learned in this class, it’s very clear to see that Walmart as a team is broken, and they need to get back on the structure to improve before it’s too late.
The material I’ve learned in this article about Walmart, as well as the knowledge that I’ve gained in this class will really help me far in my career to pursue an Executive Management position in the future because it has showed me how important a group is and how negative the impact can be when the group runs inefficiently. I’ve learned that groups of people are stronger and can accomplish more than an individual, i’ve also learned that teams make better people because they can help member’s see things about themselves as well as their beliefs that they may not have seen on their own. I have always been one who prefers to work individually, but after reading this article, as well as completing this class, I can now truly see how important groups are in our everyday lives. When a group utilizes the Group Structure and Group processes, they are able to accomplish almost anything. Motivation is a powerful thing, and having team members to motivate each other only increases the power of the group.
Based on Rocco’s article I really feel that Walmart still has a fighting chance if they begin working on their group structure, there are so many people that still have hope that Walmart can bounce back, I’m beginning to feel like maybe I shouldn't quite give up on them just yet.

Works Cited:
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, F. P. (2009). Joining together: group theory and group skills (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education.

Pendola, R. (2014, March 18). Mistreated Walmart Employees Speak Out Against Company (UPDATED). The Street. Retrieved June 20, 2014, from http://www.thestreet.com/story/12532764/1/pictures-and-employee-emails-that-make-me-think-walmart-is-about-to-implode.html