Professional Documents
Culture Documents
0 Management
2.1 Wal-Marts Organizational Structure
Wal-Mart is a major shopping corporation. With stores across the world, they are one of the
largest shopping centers ("Walmart", 2012). Being that they are a complex corporation,
they need to have a strong, very well thought out, organizational structure. Wal-Mart uses
the matrix structure. A matrix organization is an organization composed of a dual
reporting relationships in which some managers report to two superiors (Bateman &
Snell, , 2011). The system includes different levels of management. Wal-Mart has many
levels of management. They have management for international and domestic needs. They
were able to come up with a structure that would best suit their business and its
complexity. Being that Wal-Mart is a major company, it is highly important that their
organizational structure is well organized. Wal-Mart is one company that cannot afford to
have any issues with their management. There are too many stores world-wide that thrive
on organization. Wal-Mart thrives to satisfy their customers, and set way for other similar
businesses. Wal-Mart is a role model for other similar store like Target. The way Wal-Mart
is set up, is a great example of a well thought out structure.
A matrix organization is one of many different organizational structures. Like mentioned
before, each structure is based on the complexity of the business itself. Some other
structures include divisional and functional organization. Divisional organization is based
on the customers, geographic regions, and products, unlike the matrix structure, where it is
based on who the employees will report to, such as CEOs, general managers, and shift
managers just to name a few (Bateman & Snell, , 2011). Functional organization is when a
business groups different departments according to the skill of the group (Bateman &
Snell, , 2011).
Wal-Mart has a marketing team that does their best to keep their customers coming back.
For example, the marketing team came up with the slogan Save money. Live better.
("Walmart", 2012). The other aspects of this particular business are the finance department
and the human resource department. These departments, as well as others, also play a key
part in the structure of the business. With so many different departments, each with
different skills, there is a need for a structure that is able to keep the business organized.
Being that they have a complex system, the matrix structure seems to be the best choice
they could make. There are various different management for each department in WalMart. To keep it organized, the matrix structure breaks the whole system up so that each
manager has to report back to the same two mangers above them, to then eventually get to
the head of Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart is an international store. It is very important that have a structure that will help
keep everything in order. If there is no structure for them to go off of, then they risk having
a fall in their business. When it comes to any business like Wal-Mart, there is competition
that comes along with being so popular. They need to have an organized team of specialist
that is ready and trained for all obstacles that they could be faced with. They need to have a
strong marketing team to make sure that Wal-Mart always strives in the business industry.
There are a large number of employees that Wal-Mart has employed. If there is no structure
in the human resource department, it would be very difficult to keep up with all of the
employees across the world. Wal-Mart representatives need to ensure that all employees
are taken care of, and have a system that will make their job easier. It can be very difficult
to keep up with so many employees. Having a structure that will make the departments
employees easier will be better for the company as a whole.
Like mentioned before, Wal-Mart is a company that is well-known across the world. The
geographic of all of the Wal-Marts, plays a role in the structure as well. Every country has
their own way of dealing with their businesses. Not one country is the same when it comes
to how they run their businesses. With that being said, Wal-Mart is a business that has their
own set of regulations that every Wal-Mart has to follow. Having a matrix structure helps
to make sure that all employees, regardless of the location, has a clear understanding as to
what is expected from them. The smallest mistake made, can ruin the reputation of WalMart as a whole. No business wants to ever deal with a big mistake that one employee
made that caused many problems to occur.
All businesses have their own structure; whether the business is a local business, or if it a
business that is known world-wide, there is a need to have structure. Without any structure
in a business, the business is at a high risk of failing. This is a fear that many up and
coming business entrepreneurs have. With no structure in this world, the world would be a
hectic place. For any new businesses owners, they have to make sure that they are running
their business on a strong structure that best suits their business. A mistake that many
business owners can make is basing their business on their structure of another business. A
small local business cannot base their structure on the structure of a major business like
Wal-Mart.
References
Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. A. (2011). Management Leading & Collaborating in a
Competitive World (9th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection
database.
Walmart. (2012). Retrieved from http://corporate.walmart.com/
(1991). Organizational
Structure
and
Controls.
Retrieved
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Reference: www.quora.com
2.2.2 Quality Assurance Team
Required to help Manager/TL identify the manpower needs to effectively run department
based on daily forecast and/or actual production.
must familiarize with all operational procedures within your department and ensure 100%
Compliance without exception. Responsibility to manage procedure/process compliance at
all times.
must full familiarize with Walmart Logistics Operational Team Leader General
Accountabilities and Responsibilities. Responsibility to ensure compliance with these
Expectations at all times.
will be dealing with clients on a daily basis via phone and email, and must be able to
understand their requests to prioritize the daily workload.
Consistently monitor operational reports pertaining to area, according to established
procedures.
Consistently communicate and demonstrate support of Walmart Logistics values: (Our
Customer ~ Our Team ~ Our Health & Safety ~ Our Community ~ Our Planet)
Visibility on the floor is essential to our values, namely Communication, Teamwork, and
valuing people. Leading by example is required at all times.
Additionally the Sundown rule must be followed at all times and backup documentation
must be kept for all Team Member relations issues.
References
Walmartstores.com: Store Careers
Bls.gov: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition-Sales Worker Supervisors
Bls.gov: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition-Retail Salespersons
Minimum requirements
General
Federal Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
Insurance
Require all approved product suppliers to carry product liability
insurance. This type of insurance addresses legal costs or other
liabilities that could result from claims or lawsuits related to your
product. Should Walmart decide to carry your product, you will be asked
to provide documentation that you have adequate insurance.
Pack Houses
For new pack houses: suppliers are required to have the primary pack house complete a
Pre-Assessment Checklist for Pack Houses prior to receipt of a Purchase Order. The
supplier must also immediately request an onsite audit of the pack house through Retail
Link. The cost for an onsite audit ranges from $975 to $1,250 USD depending on the
location of the facility.
Note: Walmart will accept the official security audit results of any pack house or food
factory that has been audited on behalf of another retailer by any Walmart authorized third
party audit firm, and has received a passing score of 71 or above. If the facility failed the
audit, it will not be accepted and the facility must undergo a Walmart security audit.
FCCA is required prior to order commitment for new factories of all Supplier
classifications & Retail Markets and is part of the three Pre-Qualification Audits (RS, SCS
& FCCA). All FCCA audits will be conducted by Walmart designated 3rd Party Audit
companies at the suppliers cost.
All Walmart Direct Import Suppliers (Non-Food and Non-Packaging) are responsible to
book the audit early as possible, and promptly pay the audit fee in advance. All
arrangements must be directly with the designated 3rd Party Audit Company, and not
through Walmart.
For many years, Walmart has been working diligently to strengthen its compliance
programs and is committed to having a strong and effective global compliance program in
every country in which it operates.
Walmarts corporate culture has been built on a foundation of acting with integrity
and the highest ethical standards. The company has the same high standards of integrity for
every associate regardless of his or her position and everyone is held accountable for
those standards.
Recently, Walmart has made improvements to its compliance programs around the
world and has taken a number of actions with respect to its processes, procedures and
people.
Increasing training
These actions have included aligning our global compliance, ethics, investigations,
and legal functions under one organization as well as creating new senior global
compliance and investigations positions and hiring seasoned professionals to fill these
positions in each of our markets outside the U.S.
have dedicated over a hundred thousand hours of professional work to enhance Walmarts
global compliance program.
The company changed the reporting structure of its Legal, Ethics, Finance and
Compliance functions around the world. The General Counsels, Ethics Officers, CFOs and
Compliance Officers for each country now report to centralized managers in Bentonville,
rather than to only the CEO of the individual country.
Walmart also established a new global compliance and ethics committee to help the
company continue to operate in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and the
highest ethical business standards. The committee comprised of senior executives across
the organization including President & CEO Mike Duke, meets at least quarterly and will
report periodically to the Audit Committee of the board. Similar committees have been
established in each of Walmarts international markets.
The company has added a series of new escalation and review protocols for the
purpose of managing global investigations consistently and independently, conducting
investigations rigorously and addressing findings appropriately. In addition, every country
has communications channels in place to report actual or potential issues, and protocols
established to notify senior management for timely resolution and proper remediation.
In March of 2011, Walmart President & CEO Mike Duke directed the company to
conduct a worldwide review of its U.S. FCPA and anti-corruption compliance program.
Following that direction, over the past two years, Walmart has worked closely with anticorruption compliance experts at the international law firm Greenberg Traurig and the
professional services firm KPMG to review and assess Walmarts global FCPA and anticorruption compliance program.
The company also recognizes that no policies or principles, however strong, will
succeed over time without people who believe in them and practice them. Walmarts firm
expectation is that each and every one of its associates will adhere not only to the letter of
the law, but also to the highest standards of personal integrity. Every associate in every
market has a mandate to both prevent and report issues.
The company has spent more than $60 million on this effort over the past two
years. More than 300 professionals at Greenburg Traurig and KPMG have dedicated in
excess of 180,000 hours, including more than 100 market task force and other market
visits, and more than 1,200 interviews of market personnel. 1
The company has focused its enhancements on several key components, including
the following:
Walmart aligned its corporate structure to have the global compliance, ethics,
investigations and legal functions under one organization, reporting to its Executive Vice
President and Corporate Secretary Jeff Gearhart. This move will allow the company to
leverage its strengths in these key disciplines around the world, resulting in closer
coordination and integration.
The company also created and filled several key positions to further support its
global compliance, ethics, investigations and legal functions. See examples above. The
company has also hired in-market anti-corruption directors in nearly all of its markets,
including Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, China, Africa, and India.
The company is currently evaluating its FCPA related financial controls and will
enhance such controls where appropriate.
The company is also in the process of implementing processes to monitor and audit
FCPA compliance on a global basis. This includes implementing processes to conduct
corruption risk assessments in each market on at least an annual basis and engaging the
global audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC to assist with the FCPA monitoring and
audit process.
Appendix
Wal-Mart launched its RFID (radio frequency identification) initiative on
June 11, 2003, when it issued its first
RFID mandate for suppliers. In that mandate, Wal-Mart formally
announced
That it would require its top 100 suppliers to begin tagging pallets of
merchandise
By January 2005, and all suppliers were to begin tagging pallets by
January
2006. A few months after issuing the mandate, in September of 2003,
WalMart then opened its own RFID lab, which has been tasked with
researching
Ways to apply RFID technology to Wal-Mart operations and with
formulating