Professional Documents
Culture Documents
One of the most successful company in the world and biggest retailer. Biggest customer for Disney, Procter &Gamble, Revlon , Campbell Soup , Gillette etc. Seller of Dvd s, Cd s, Groceries, guns, diamonds and many other products- super Retailer. More importance to volumes than margins.
Success attributed to its strong cultural base. Cult like culture in company made employees referred to as walmartians by outsiders. Entreprenuerial spirit, Admirable growth rates poised to make it first trillion dollar company in the world. Criticisism of work culture - gender based discrimination, overtime policies, using sweatshop products, killing off small local business.
BACKGROUND
Dream of Sam Walton 1945- Started store 1950- 2nd store called Walton s 5 &10. 1960 s - 24 walmart stores 1969 - incorporated as WAL-Mart Stores Inc 1972 Listed in New York Stock Exchange 1977- First Acquisition of 16 Mohr Value Stores 1978- purchased Hutcheson Shoe Company & set up pharmacy, service center, and jewelry division in its store 1984 640 stores
Contd
1990 Acquired Mc Lane Company(Grocer &Retail Distributor) 1991 First overseas store in Mexico. 1992 Suffered a Set back due to death of Walton on April 5,1992. 1999- largest private employer in US. 2003 World s Largest Retailer.
CULTURE
Essentially Customer Centric And Service Oriented. Built on three basic beliefs Respect for the individual. Service to Customers. Strive for Excellence.
POLICIES
Importance to store location. Purchase in Bulk &maintaining longer store working hours. Atmosphere of the stores Insisted on cleanliness and Convenience Pricing philosophy - Every Day Low Prices(EDLP)
Delight customers by exceeding their expectations. All needs under one roof. Customer Service Sundown Rule Don t Put off until tomorrow what you can do today. 10 foot Attitude Smile, Greet, Offer Help
HUMAN RESOURCE
Belief in Individuals don t win, teams do . Motivation With Concept of Profit Sharing. Believed Employees as Biggest asset and called them Associates to create sense of equality. Unique Feature Did not Authorize overtime work. Commitment to improve career prospects of employees. Diversity of employees- African, American, Hispanic. Leading Employer of disabled people.
DARKER SIDE
Over Time Woes Anti Union Stand Sweatshop Support Discrimination issues led to hold title Merchant of Shame by National Organization for Women.
Posting System for all management jobs. Advertisement of training programs. Pay Increase based on Evaluation ratings , experience and other factors. Frequent Reviews.
Commit to Business Share your profits with all your associates Motivate your partners. Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners Appreciate everything your associates do for the business.
Contd
Celebrate your success and find humor in your failures. Listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking. Exceed your customer expectations. Control your expenses better than your competitor. Swim upstream.