...Organizational Ethics Alisa King ETH/316 9/16/14 Professor Shannon Rivers Organizational Ethics Each and every organization that exist have or should have a code of ethics in which they follow. The ethics of an organization governs how they will reply to both an internal and external stimulus. Walmart is one of the largest organizations in the world, that’s why it was chosen for this essay. Furthermore, they deal with lots of external social pressures that influence their ethics. They have had more than their fair share of lawsuits because they was sued 4,851 times in the year 2000 alone Willing, R. (2001, August 13). Lawsuits a volume business at Wal-Mart. USA Today. Whenever an issue arises they always fall back on their code of ethics in order to figure out the best possible solution. These issues are relevant to organizational and personal decisions and it will be explained how later in this paper. The relationship between legal and ethical issues will also be covered. External Social Pressures Walmart is the world’s largest retailer and private sector employer. They employ over 2.2 million employees. With tons of money, locations, and power, they have been the target for thousands of law suits. As we all know, Walmart has replaced thousands of mom and pop businesses by carrying the same items at much lower prices. They not only made businesses shut down due to undercutting competitor prices but they also made lots of people lose...
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...Organizational Ethics Carolyn Adams ETH/316 May 4, 2015 Michael Esquivel Organizational Ethics Walmart started from a small discount retailer in Rodgers Arkansas. There are now thousands of Walmart stores within the United States and the company has also expanded internationally. Walmart created the one stop shop for anything, anywhere and at any time with most of its stores allowing a 24 hour shopping experience to the customers. The company operates over 11,000 retail units under 71 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries. ("Walmart", 2015) Over 2.2 million people are employed by the corporation around the world with 1.3 million in the United States alone. The company’s founder, Sam Walton, said “personal and moral integrity is one of our basic fundamentals and it has to start with us” when he spoke of his company’s ethics and integrity. ("Walmart", 2015). High moral and ethical standards are embedded in the company yet controversial ethical issues haunt the company like proverbial retail ghosts. One such ghost is Walmart’s treatment of its employees. Walmart has been criticized and publically assaulted due to the treatment of the retailer’s employees. A documentary titled Walmart: High Cost of Low Price, was released. The documentary included interviews of former employees and managers who presented critical views of Walmart’s policies in respect to the treatment of workers. Walmart was so concerned with the content of the...
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...Organizational Function Bobby Davis MGT/230 January 4th, 2014 Professor Vermuth Organizational Function The organizational structure of a company is the structure of business it plans to operate with and is typically estimated to be the most efficient for the company’s objective. The point of this organizational structure is to allow the company to collaborate on different levels to operate as a one entity or multiple entities. When a company is looking at a structure, it looks for the most efficient ways to categorize the company’s divisions, departments, and partnerships in a way to produce the most return on investment. Walmart and More Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton. He opened the first Walmart in Rogers, AK. Walmart incorporated in 1969 under the name Walmart Stores, Inc. With more than 245 million customers, the most efficient organizational structure may not be obvious. Today Walmart has over 11,000 stores in 27 countries. Employing 2.2 million people worldwide and generating revenue above $466 billion ("Walmart.com", 2013). Walmart has three separate divisions, two of which are in the United States; Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. The third division is the international division which operates stores internationally. Examples of some companies that use a different approach are Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. These two use a matrix style organization; there are multiple U.S. divisions, broken up into different geographic territories. Matrix...
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...management through the company’s organizational structure, which is a hierarchical functional structure. Walmart’s organizational design is centralized and hierarchical, with some level of decentralization. The hierarchical and centralized organizational structure refers to having central corporate headquarters that monitor and direct all activities in the organization. Corporate departments have jurisdiction over all the Walmart stores. Some degree of management decentralization also exists in the company. For example, each Walmart store has its own human resource department. Each store’s HR department has an HR manager to apply corporate HR strategy based on the unique needs of the individual store. This centralized organizational structure combined with partial decentralization is an acceptable concept. Centralization integrates Walmart’s organization so it functions as one entity. Decentralization makes the organization flexible enough to face new or emerging issues in the business. Thus, Walmart has clear and distinct definitions for every job position and level of the structure. 3.1 METHOD OF JOB ANALYSIS Job analysis data can be obtained in several ways. The more common methods of collecting the data needed to analyse jobs are interviews, questionnaires, observation, and diaries. As a method of job analysis, Walmart applies matching approach which involving interviews and direct observation on applicants, employees and supervisors to determine issues needed. Walmart’s aim is...
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...Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT Organizational Assessment Sherry Crowe MGT416 Operations Management A02 Dr. Carson March 19, 2014 Argosy University The Wal-Mart Corporation On May 9, 1950, Sam Walton opened up Walton’s 5&10 in Bentonville, Arkansas. The first store with the Wal-Mart name, opened in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and was financed 95% by Sam Walton himself. Since its beginning in Arkansas, Walmart has helped millions to save money and live better. Walmart has changed from being a retail store accessible with set hours to be available anytime and anywhere for their 245 million customers. Walmart offer its 245 million customers retail shopping in 11,000 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2013). The company is considered one of the largest employers in the world; Walmart employs 2.2 million associates worldwide. In the U. S., Walmart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam's Club warehouses comprise the choices of Walmart stores to which customers have access (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2013). As Walmart continues growing successfully the corporation has experienced global success, which has led the corporation to be in constant of change of strategies that provide that the corporation continues fulfilling its mission while offering new products, bettering the human resource management and developing its personnel, and expanding its social responsibility by helping the different...
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...Walmart Organizational Management Name Institution Affiliation Organizational Context Wal-Mart Stores Inc. or Walmart is a multinational retail organization that has numerous chains of large discount warehouse and general stores. The company was formed in 1962 by Sam Walton as a family-owned business. It was incorporated in 1969 and traded on the Stock Exchange of New York publicly in 1972. Since then this organization has grown strength to strength winning various accolades. In 1988, it was ranked as the most profitable retail business in America outselling competitors such as K-Mart and Sears in the retail business (Fishman, 2006). It was founded on Sam Walton’s quest for providing goods and services at relatively low or discounted prices. The Walmart principles have been hinged on cost-cutting while at the same retailing goods at consumer-friendly prices. The organization too, has been hailed for its global standard efficiency and business innovations. It was one of the first corporations that integrated use of computers in its operations in all its branches. The mission statement reflects on the founder’s business model of passing savings to his clientele and amassing profits through volume sales. This principle has made consumers feel more welcome and their needs taken care of over the years. The cost-cutting initiatives embraced by the company operations have been as a result of this old age philosophy Walmart has spread its wings world over opening up over 8...
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...HISTORY & BACKGROUND Founder of Walmart Sam Walton graduated from University of Missouri in 1940 with a degree in Economics. He wanted to capitalize on his work experience in retail. Sam had an idea to bring a different type of economical approach to the retail industry. Sam and his brother J.L. Walton owned nine Ben Franklin stores. They went to Ben Franklin store owners with the approach of reducing prices to increase sells and were turned away. In 1962, the brothers decided break away and opened their own store in Rogers, Arkansas which was the start of the first Wal-Mart Discount City store. Their approach was to open stores in populations with 5000 to 25000 people. By the late 1960’s the Walton brothers has 18 discount stores and 15 Ben Franklin franchises which became incorporated in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Tell me the history of Wal-Mart). During the 1970’s the Walton’s incorporated many changes to how they do business which laid the foundation to cut cost to gain more control. They implemented a warehouse distribution strategy of constructing their own warehouses so they can buy merchandise in great volume, and positioned its stores 200 square miles from each distribution point. By 1977, Forbes had Wal-Mart ranked #1 in return of equity, return on capital, sales growth, and earnings growth over all other discount and variety stores (Tell me the history of Wal-Mart). Wal-Mart’s continued expanding and in 1978, its stores included a pharmacy, auto service center...
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...MGT/230 March 30, 2015 Walmart’s Organizational Structure Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton. Walton opened the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas. Walmart was officially incorporated in October of 1969 as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and is publicly traded on the NYSE. Walmart’s main headquarters is in Bentonville, Arkansas and is the largest grocery retailer in the United States. Likewise, Walmart has 11,453 retail stores in 27 countries, under 71banners. The company operates under the Walmart name in the U.S which includes Puerto Rico. It operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom as Asda, in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price. It also has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. Walmart hasn’t always been successful in entering new countries, mainly in Germany and South Korea whereas in the United Kingdom, South America, and China are highly successful. Walmart employs 2.2 million associates around the world with 1.3 million of them in the US. (Walmart .com) Organizational Structure Every organization takes on some direction, in terms of what customers/clients it serves and what functions it performs for these customers. The organizational Structure of the Wal-Mart Corporation is a divisional structure that has made some changes to its structure in 2010. A divisional structure has three different categories in which are product structure, market structure, and geographic structure. Wal-Mart falls under market structure. This is where...
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...……………………………………………………………………3 Choice of Organization - Walmart……………………………………………………………….5 Environmental Analysis………………………………………………………………………….6 Divisional Effectiveness Measurements...……………………………………………………….8 Final Report………………………………………………………………………………………9 Cultural HR Issues……………………………………………………………………….10 Emerging HR Issues………….……………………………………………………….....12 Five Year Action Plan……………………………………………………………………………16 References………………………………………………………………………………………..17 Executive Summary Walmart is one of the world’s largest retailers, serving communities worldwide and employing millions throughout their growing organization. This global organization has faced large amounts of scrutiny over the years and has seen legal repercussions from failure to comply with labor laws. Continuing to grow and rise above competitors, Walmart’s strategic HR plan needs to address some of these key opportunities and set the right employees in place to deliver on the company mission and vision. An effective strategic plan will also benefit the organizations reputation and image, both internally and externally. Ongoing pressures and cultural HR issues Walmart faces includes environmental preservation and the companies initiatives to “go green”, as well as the organizations reservations and discouragement towards unionization. These are issues Walmart can address through communication and training. In addition, Walmart faces many emerging HR issues including topics such as diversity...
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...concerned about or notices the air in the tires until there is a puncture or a blow out. It is the taxi driver who should check and maintain the correct tire pressure. Public relations are the functions that provide benefits to the organization and its strategy and marketing functions. Organizational functions are those distinct advantages that a good PR campaign provides to an organization such as brand building, creating public awareness, providing feedback, etc. Public Relations Public relations are a constantly evolving and dynamic profession. It has come a long way from its image as a glamorous but anyone can do it job. In fact, as little as 20 years ago, it was highly recommended that to enter the profession, one needed nothing more than secretarial training. But public relations have grown beyond this image. Today, public relations are a sophisticated industry that needs individuals who are confident in their abilities and skills and are aware that they are well suited to a highly demanding profession. Today’s public relations practitioners have a range of tertiary qualifications and constantly try to improve and expand their knowledge and skills. “ Public relations specialists handle organizational functions such as media, community, consumer, industry, and governmental relations; political campaigns; interest-group representation; conflict mediation; and employee and investor relations” (.Freitag, 2009). They do more than "tell the organization's story." They must understand...
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...Culture Change Paper Walmart is a global retailer with one of the most profitable business strategies on the planet. Walmart’s objective to offer the lowest prices to a diverse customer base has proven successful over several decades. Walmart began with a humble business model in the early 1960s. Sam Walton, original founder, wanted to provide people with the best prices possible. Sam Walton launched over a dozen locations to the public in the late 1960s. The profitable groundwork and strategy of every-day low prices spread rapidly through the next several decades. Throughout the 1990s, Walmart’s growth soared globally as they continued to facilitate a cost cutting strategy. America’s recent recession encouraged many low-income families to shop for Walmart’s low priced products. Walmart’s low prices may attract budgeting Americans, but their questionable operations are steering many others away. Walmart’s public perception is declining because of their negative organizational culture. Walmart’s employee wages are consistently below the American average, resulting in workers resorting to government aid. Discrimination lawsuits occur annually because of management’s stereotyping and poor leadership. Even Walmart’s ignorance to safe working conditions in other countries is beginning to surface in America’s media. Walmart’s leaders have attempted to address these issues, but ultimately failed to create a climate for change. Walmart’s future leadership must overcome...
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...curriculum. The three levels of management are strategic, tactical, and operational. As Highlighted by an information security organization to explain the strategy from its respective goals. At the operations level, transaction data is produced and serves as input to create information. Maintaining and monitoring of integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the transaction data are primary objectives which are supported by organizational procedures and guidelines. At the tactical level, information is interpreted and utilized in decision making. Implementations of preventative, detective, and responsive controls are a primary objective which is supported by organizational standards. Further analysis aggregation of the information creates knowledge to help make strategic level decisions (White, Garry, 2009). The goal of the top manager is to provide Information security policy as a framework to ensure that systems are developed and operated in a secure manner. Such policies must consider internal and external threats and risks. They must address issues such as privacy and be current to change technologies. Furthermore, policies must complement and be compatible with federal, state, and local laws. Which indicates the needs for secure information sharing policies in Internet-based supply chain management. Such policies enhance the competitive advantage by...
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...Part 3 QUESTION 1: How does managerial planning for Project Impact take place at different levels within the organization? A plan is a blueprint for goal achievement and specifies the necessary resource allocations, schedules, tasks, and other actions. Planning means identifying goals for future organizational performance and deciding on the tasks and use of resources needed to attain them. In other words, managerial planning defines where the organization wants to be in the future and how to get there. (New Era of Management Richard L. Daft 10th edition) As how it shown on the figure above, there are four levels of goals and plans, namely mission statement, strategic goals and plans, tactical goals and plans as well as operational goals and plans. The planning process starts with a formal mission that defines the basic purpose of the organization. The mission is the basis for strategic (company) level of goals and plans, which in turn shapes the tactical (divisional) level and the operational (departmental) level. Top managers are responsible for establishing the strategic goals and plans that reflect commitment to both organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Middle managers such as the heads of major divisions or functional units are responsible for making the tactical goals and plans. A division manager will formulate tactical plans that focus on the major actions the division must take to fulfill its part in the strategic plan set by top management. Lastly...
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...Walmart currently employees more that 2 million people worldwide in their more than 10,000 retail stores, strategically located in 27 different countries worldwide (Walmart Inc., 2013). In 2012 the company reported earning well over 400 billion dollars (Walmart Inc., 2013; "Walmart- Refocus," 2006). Here in the third week of the needs assessment being conducted on behalf of our client BJ’s a division of Walmart Inc., the focus surrounds the collection and its analysis. Following the collection of data and a meeting was held with BJ’s management and a recommendation was made based on this analysis. The recommendations made was based on the findings generated from random customer satisfaction survey, selection process for focus groups, identifying and documenting key organizational objectives through questionnaires and surveys, collecting and tabulating responses from returned email questionnaires conducted over a two week period. As the world’s largest retailer, Walmart still faces the potential of not having the relative flexibility to act swiftly in response to changing global markets, fostering a universal company culture in all its locations, addressing the high rates of turnovers, or providing the same level of customer service and productivity globally. Realizing that there are several areas that need to be address using data collected from several source, random customer survey, employee surveys and questionnaire, small focus groups, the data determined the best...
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...A Comparative Study of Walmart Operations in Canada & Mexico Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary…………………………...………………………………...…...2 2. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….3 3. Walmart and the Canadian Marketplace……………………………..…………3 A. Country Competitiveness B. Cultural Environment C. Political and Legal Environment D. Entry Strategies 4. Walmart and the Mexican Marketplace……………………………..………….10 A. Country Competitiveness B. Cultural Environment C. Political and Legal Environment D. Entry Strategies 5. Summary Comparison of Canadian and Mexican Markets…………………….18 6. Recommendation…………………………………………………………………….19 7. References…………………………………………………………………………...21 1. Executive Summary This report closely examines the operations of the world's largest retailer, Walmart, in Canada and Mexico. Assessments of market conditions in both countries have been conducted in terms of country competitiveness, cultural, political and legal environments and the strategies used by Walmart upon entry. Tying into these international business factors, specific aspects of international economic integration, monetary systems, social responsibility and corruption have also been reviewed. While being part of one continent and a common trade bloc (NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement), considerable differences between Canada and Mexico are apparent. These differences are individually analyzed on the following pages. Inevitably, they...
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