Background of Wal-Mart and Current Challenges-300 - Research Paper Example

660 Final Paper Introduction Global Organizations like Wal-Mart require adapting to continuous changes to rightly adapt to the altering external environment pertaining to changes in the consumer behavior or rules and policies of the government bodies relating to different regions. However adapting to external changes through changes rendered in the internal policy and operational cycle happens to fall prey to obstacles and barriers from the employee bodies. Employees tend to render vehement protests to the policies taken such that they start feeling a sense of uncertainty and loss gripping them. In this light the paper tends to research the different structural and organizational changes that need to be adopted by the concern and the different management intervention styles needed to help make the change process successful. Background of Wal-Mart and Current Challenges-300 Background Wal-Mart Incorporation headquartered in United States is known to be the largest retail organization operating in the global landscape. The company operates based on a total of 69 different brand formats spread around a total geographical base of around 27 nations. The retail company focuses on expanding its consumer and retail market through encouraging consumers to procure merchandises both at the physical level from its different stores and also through the use of virtual network via mobile and internet devices. The global sales of the company during 2012 amounted to around $444 billion through the operational assistance of its 2.2 million employees (Wal-Mart, 2012). Current Challenges However in the course of its expansion plans and focus on driving operational and revenue growth the company is found to counter significant challenges both pertaining to employees and the customers pertaining to different countries. Wal-Mart faces significant challenges owing to emerging issues of gender discrimination and rendering of wages and benefits below the current market average which in turn results in widespread employee discontentment (Figueroa, 2006). Again the company owing to countering changes in the store layout through introduction of remodeling policies and also because of rendering of increased focus to target expensive customers is found to suffer from considerable challenges leading to loss of sales and customers (NBC News, 2012). Organizational/Structural Changes to Address the Challenges Relating to the emergence of challenges pertaining to gender discrimination, Wal-Mart needs to focus on rendering organizational changes through the promotion of women to higher job hierarchies. Empowering women to take leadership roles in the organization pertaining to decision-making functions would help in reducing the gender gap pertaining to wages and job growth. The organization needs to operate as an equal opportunity player in rendering an equitable climate that would contribute in the gaining of employment, fiscal and economic opportunities by both the gender groups working in the organization. Similarly other types of organizational changes also relate to bringing about new policy directions that would help in the reduction of harassment activities in the workplace. The organizational management needs to set strict policy guidelines and regulations aiming at curbing the event of sexual harassment or emergence of pay and employment discriminations (Bell, McLaughlin and Sequeira, 2002, p.71). Moreover further organizational changes can be introduced pertaining to the reduction of hierarchal job layers in the concern such that the organizational structure can be transformed from the vertical to the horizontal state. This strategy rendered would contribute in the development of empowered teams in the concern and also in the enhancement of organizational communication. Rendering organizational flexibility in the concern through the enhancement of empowered teams would contribute in the development of organizational and performance skills of the people in the concern. This model of organizational change would thereby reduce the disparity of income between the workers pertaining to different levels such that payment and growth of wages and salaries would strictly depend on the performance parameters of the individual. Further enhancement of a communicative environment would also lead to the development of organizational transparency thereby reducing the sense of distrust. Organizational managers need to enhance the communicative climate to largely incorporate both employees at different levels and union bodies in the course of introduction of new policy frameworks thereby curbing the emergence of organizational problems (Bauer and Bender, 2000, p.15). Similarly the organization in order to develop its sales and revenue growth needs to restructure its operational and organizational framework through the large scale integration of technological and structural developments. The decision making activities of the central management can be effectively decentralized with the introduction of technological paradigms based on internet and intranet support. This strategy duly incorporated would help in the analyzing the changes in the demand conditions in the external market and thereby helping in the effective sourcing of merchandises by the warehouse and store sourcing teams to boost sales through satisfaction of consumer needs. Again the same strategy also contributes in the reduction of cost attributed to the procurement and holding of inventory by the organization. The Change Model Selection of the Change Model The model of Change Management in an organizational setting to be discussed focuses specifically on a model like the Burke-Litwin model that focuses on the fact where the external business environment serves as potential inputs contributing to the development of the policy framework of the concern. Definition of the Change Model The Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Transformation or Change relates the concern as an open environmental setting such that changes or alterations in the external environment of the company tend to bear considerable impact on the performance or output generation capacity of the organization. The input and output components of the organization are integrated based on a feedback loop that contributes in the dissemination of needed information contributing to the transformation process. The feedback loop used in the model is bi-directional in nature such that it reflects on how the output process of the concern gets affected by the changes in the macro-environmental setting and vice versa. The changes can be effectively evaluated along three levels pertaining to the organizational mission and value sets and also in the mode of the individual and group or community level. The model discussed can be reflected as follows. Figure 1 (Sharma, 2006, p.62) Elucidation of the Change Model The model can be effectively elucidated through the analysis of the different components as follows. Firstly the external environment of the company relates to the changes in the political and economic climate and also in the alterations in the government and trade policies. Similarly changes can also be observed pertaining to consumer demands and also in the incorporation of a new technology framework. Secondly it focuses on the development of mission and business objectives for the concern such that it also tends to potentially highlight the different strategies that the company ought to formulate to accomplish the stated objectives. Thirdly the model focuses on the development of an organizational leader that would tend to influence the activities of others through motivational and governance frameworks to help accomplish the stated goals. In the fourth case the effect of such external changes also tend to affect or change the cultural parameters of the concern. Fifthly the model focuses on the different systems and supports that would be needed by an organization to incorporate in the effective accomplishment of organizational objectives. Sixthly the term ‘Climate’ is used focusing on the group efforts of the organizational members such that perceptual differences exist between the different groups in the organizational setting. Seventhly the model relates to the enhancement of the value sets both at the individual and at the group level to match the organizational demand sets. Eighthly the model thereby focuses on the needs for incorporating different motivational tools for enhancing the interest of the individual and group members to help achieve the organizational objectives. Finally in the ninth part the model through the integration of the inputs gained with other underlined parameters and factors finally contributes in the gaining of needed outputs (Sharma, 2006, p.62-65). Role of the Leader in the Change Process The different styles and roles of a leader during the event of the organizational change or transformation process can be highlighted as under. Firstly the change leader can adapt the Affiliative Style through the mode of development of communication with organizational team members thereby making them understand the different benefits related to the change process. Here the change leader focuses on developing the element of trust with the team members thereby persuading them to support the change process. Secondly the leader in the organizational change process can tend to act as a potential facilitator who assists the team members in the accomplishment of changed goals and objectives. Thirdly the leader can also work in empowering the team members to take on respective responsibilities in fulfillment of changed objectives however acting only as a potential advisor. This passive leadership style needs to couple with the other communicative styles so as to continually govern the activities of the team members in fulfillment of organizational goals. Fourthly the change leader can also act as a potential coach such that the person works in enhancing the skills and attitudes of the team members to fulfill the stated objectives. However apart from the above underlined styles the change leader can also work in a Coercive style to forcibly persuade the team members to work in a specific manner to help accomplish the goals in the changed organizational setting. This mode gains attention when the requirement is too urgent to be duly fulfilled. However the Coercive style needs to be adapted with other managerial styles to thereby reduce the stress involved. Finally the sixth style or the Authoritative Style can also be adapted by the organizational leader such that here the change leader works on the stating of the new organizational vision and mission guidelines and thereby inspiring the people to create the needed turnaround (Cameron and Green, 2012, p.175-176). Barriers to the Change Process The organizational members or employees tend to create barriers to the effective management of the change process where the primary focus of the management is observed to be on cost reduction programs through manpower reduction and other activities. Again the people can also resist the change process such that they fail to perceive the benefits and advantages they ought to obtain from the changed environment. Conflict also emerges on the part of the team members where the leader does not effectively coordinate with the members to help accomplish team goals. The organizational members also tend to acutely suffer from the fear of future uncertainty or loss of job for which they tend to create barriers to the effective accomplishment of changed goals (Daft, Murphy and Willmott, 2010, p.474). Plan to Overcome Barriers Effective management intervention is needed to efficiently manage the change process. The change manager or the leader can work in the development of potential coaching materials to render the right amount of information to the target audience to support the change process. Similarly the change leader can also formulate the strategy of conducting role plays whereby the roles of the different players to the change process can be effectively highlighted helping in the reduction of role ambiguity in the concern and reduction of potential conflicts. Similarly the conducting of meetings through the generation of internal memos to deliver potent information and thereby in gaining potential feedbacks from the targeted audience also amounts to the reduction of potential indifferences amounting to conflicts (NHS, 2007, p.19-24). Conclusions The paper effectively reflects on some current problems or challenges faced by a company and thereby focus on specific structural or organizational changes that would be required for addressing such problems. Moreover the paper also throws light on a specific model that can be used by the change leader in the course of bringing about changes or transformations in the organizational sphere depending on external changes. The paper also tends to gain impetus owing to the fact that it effectively highlights the potential obstacles or barriers that would be rendered by the organizational members to hinder the effective processing of the change or transformation rendered. In that the paper also signifies the cases or strategies through which the change manager or leader can effectively overcome such challenges and help in effective meeting of goals or objectives formulated earlier. Relating to the organization taken to understand the emergence and types of different problems the same is chosen from the retail industry. Wal-Mart operating in the retail arena is largely disturbed by changes and conflicts both relating to the internal and external environment. Thus the organizational managers in the company to effectively implement policies and regulations that would help in the addressing the needs and objectives of the change situation needs to take resort to potential strategies and models as outlined in the paper. Taking resort to such strategies would help the managers reduce the chances and incidences of potential conflicts and thereby contribute in the effective meeting of the change objectives. It would also help the organizational managers of the Retail Company to potentially manage and streamline the organizational resources to gain on productivity and profitability focusing on changes in the external marketing and business environment. References Bauer, T., and Bender, S. (2000). Organizational Change and Wages: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data. Center for Economic Policy Research. Retrieved from: http://www.cepr.org/meets/wkcn/4/4509/papers/Bauer.pdf Bell, M., McLaughlin, M., and Sequeira, J. (2002). Discrimination, Harassment, and the Glass Ceiling: Women Executives as Change Agents. Journal of Business Ethics 37: 65–76, 2002. Retrieved from: http://www.wallnetwork.ca/inequity/5bell.pdf Cameron, E., and Green, M. (2012). Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. United States: Kogan Page Publishers. Daft, R., Murphy, J., and Willmott, H. (2010). Organization: Theory and Design. Singapore: Cengage Learning EMEA. Figueroa, M. (2006). Wal-Mart's Real Cost. Retrieved from: http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/152 NBC News. (2012). Wal-Mart struggles with deeper problems. Retrieved from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7901047/ns/business-us_business/t/wal-mart-struggles-deeper-problems/#.UMAvOaxercu NHS. (2007). How to change practice. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Retrieved from: http://www.nice.org.uk/media/af1/73/howtoguidechangepractice.pdf Sharma, R. (2006). Change Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Walmart. (2012). Our Story. Retrieved from: http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/ Read More