But Wal-Mart has been more successful where Kmart has failed. The author of the study explains this difference with the treatment, importance and role played and offered to the human resource. "Kmart and Wal-Mart are virtually identical, right? Yet most people prefer to shop at Wal-Mart. Kmart recently declared bankruptcy. Could the reason for this be as fundamental as leadership style and the resultant employee attitude? I believe so. Kmart has been said to use the "control" method of leadership, while Wal-Mart has used an "empowerment" model. Thus, there is a subtle, yet big, difference between the customer relationship with employees of each corporation" (Work Motivation Incentives, 2004-2005).
Otherwise put, Wal-Mart allows its staff members to make their statement and to voice their opinions. And this often proved beneficial for the organizational well-being. For instance, Tim Gebauer was once talking to an employee who suggested putting an extra product line in the premium space. The manager felt it was a bad idea, but due to the strong beliefs of the employee, he approved of a 30 days trial period. The success of the idea was obvious and the manager recognized he was wrong and the associate was in fact right. After having admitted it to the staff and having used the idea forwarded by one employee, more associates came to him with newer and better ideas. "Once employees know that their ideas are indeed considered and used, they'll be more open to tackling the problems and opportunities in the workplace. Your people usually know there's a problem or opportunity before the leaders do. However, they won't say a word unless they know they'll be listened to and know that some of their ideas will be put to use. An important part was for people to see me using others' ideas" (Tim Gebauer, quoted in an article for the HR Made Easy).
To conclude, Wal-Mart understood the importance of the human resource and got them involved in the decision making process, allowed them more rights and responsibilities and all of these contributed to an increased on the job satisfaction and consequently to a superior quality of the services offered, all to culminate with...
Therefore, it seems as though it would be involved in less negative publicity if it merely concentrated on maintaining and actually improving the locations it already has open -- starting with its domestic ones. Lastly, it is worth noting that one of the principle points of pride of Wal-Mart is the immense variety of goods it sells. In order to accommodate paying higher wages to unionized employees at the domestic
Culture must not simply be inclusive to an organization. Organizational internal culture must shift with the larger national cultural context in light of the needs posed by globalization. Chapter 12: Strategic Competency and Organizational Design IBM, showed a constructive ability to engage in organizational learning. Despite facing political obstacles such as 9-11 and prejudice against technology companies after the dot-com bust it has remained a huge, complex technological powerhouse. IBM's longer-term
Wal-Mart and Employee Rights Labor cost is always considered as the main issue, mostly in case of employees' unionization at Wal-Mart. This was noticed when Wal-Mart showed a remarkable earning at the rate of 44% per annum for its labor working on hourly basis. Another point which brought this issue ahead was when the sales clerk of Wal-Mart in 2001 earned wages below Federal Poverty Scale. According to an issue of
Organizational Behavior The Transformation of JC Penny for the New Century Organizational behavior is the study of how the actions of individuals, groups, and structures influence the behavior of an organization. Organizational culture refers to the characteristics that define the organization and make them unique. Organizational culture refers to communication styles, management styles, interaction styles, policies and procedures, as well as the manner of dress within the organization. Organizational culture influences organizational
The result of this is a company that consistent meets its objectives for cost reduction, growth and profits. Works Cited Faletta, Salvatore. (2005). Organizational Diagnostics Models: A Review & Synthesis. Leadersphere.com. Retrieved October 30, 2008 at http://www.leadersphere.com/img/Orgmodels.pdf Nadler, David; Tushman, Michael & Nadler, Mark B. (1997) Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational Architecture. pp. 28-39 Retrieved October 30, 2008 at http://books.google.com/books?id=pemtYXc1Y1gC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=nadler+tushman+congruence+model&source=web&ots=QI3cHfWVfu&sig=LO7-ujjwO6zj0ebfkBwQxDkBcBM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result Cawsey, Tupper F. & Deszca, Gene. (2007). Toolkit for Organizational Change.
Perhaps they're put off by the cracked floor tiles or the cobwebs on the headless, foam-rubber mannequins. Whatever the reason, the store's rock-bottom prices and helpful service clearly aren't pulling in many shoppers" (Fairlamb and Cohn, 2003). After nearly a decade of trying to penetrate the German market, Wal-Mart counted its losses and exited Germany. A Wal-Mart spokesman argued that, despite the million dollar losses, the experience was a positive
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