Organizational Behaviour Process: The Art of Listening of Wal-Mart Stores Inc - Research Paper Example

? Organizational behaviour process: The art of listening of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. College Lecturer Introduction Organizational culture has always been the driving force behind the success of every service oriented business organization (Vasquez & Taylor, 2000). It creates the basis on which the stakeholders of the firm derive a sense of belonging in line with the organizational goals. The art of listening harmonizes personal career objectives with the overall vision of the organization. On the other hand, the practice inculcates a synergetic spirit of teamwork and creativity among employees while opening the doors to product innovations which are customized to meet up the changing necessitates of the market. The process entails continued collection and utilization of information and ideas from customers, employees, competitors, interest groups and policy makers with a dream to improve the eminence of workforce productivity (Duke & Robson, 2012). This paper therefore seeks to provide a detailed account of organizational behaviour process of listening as entrenched in the operational philosophy of Wal-Mart. Particularly, the paper focuses on relevance of this behaviour process in relation to branding, pricing, marketing, operations, customer satisfaction and revenue performance. In conclusion, the paper examines how the art of listening as impacted the quality of work relations and productivity from the managements’ and staff perspective. Wal-Mart and the art of Listening Wal-Mart is a multination corporation dealing in a wide range of consumer products with its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Since its inception in 1962, Wal-Mart has steadily grown to become the world’s largest retail chain store by revenue estimated at US$446.95 billion as at 2012FY as reported by Duke and Robson (2012). The corporation operates more than 8600 retail stores in 27 countries with major divisions in the US, UK, China, Canada and Mexico. That notwithstanding, Wal-Mart is governed by a 15-member board of directors, managed by 37 executive officers and a total of 2.2 million associates under the able leadership of the CEO (Duke & Robson, 2012). The magnificent success of Wal-Mart has come a long way especially with its legendary concerns for the varied income status of the customers. With over 200 million customers worldwide, Wal-Mart has managed to keep a leading edge in the global retail market. Wal-Mart offers a balanced mix of variety and quality at competitive prices well attested by its low prices. This has been made possible through the art of listening to the concerns of customers while appreciating the tireless efforts of the staff and management to make Wal-Mart the shopping destination of choice as observed by Duke and Robson (2012). At Wal-Mart, issues are handled with urgency and each member of staff is encouraged to prioritize the needs of customers. Gereffi and Christian (2009) states that the first core value of Wal-Mart relates to quality customer service through a personalized approach that will make the customer keep coming. The organization encourages customers to give feedback so that the Wal-Mart can improve its values, services and productivity in line with customer needs. Not only does the management listen to customer queries, it is also committed to ensure that the organization exceeds the best expectations of customers as ascertained by Diana (2007). The essence of this behavioural process is coined in the marketing strategies of the company which transcends all the departments including operations, productions, quality assurance, marketing, customer care and HR department. The company recognizes that its employees are the success factor of Wal-Mart. As such, the organization supports all employees through an open-door policy where employee concerns are handled amicable without victimizing the concerned employee. When employee concerns as handled promptly and in the best way possible, employees feel appreciated and cared for. In addition, this behavioural process boosts the morale of workers hence in increased output of the overall taskforce. Despite the fact that Wal-Mart has faced a number of criticisms in the past especially on overtime policies, it has since rolled out a compensatory programme through which it will pay off a five-year backdated overtime pay for all its current and past employees (Duke & Robson, 2012). This is a classic example of considering the needs of company employees. Furthermore, the management is committed to implement its corporate social responsibility through sponsorship of local community development projects. By giving back to the community, Wal-Mart demonstrates great concerned for the community in a manner that helps the organization connect with its customers outside the profit-driven shopping environment. The ideal promotes customer loyalty as postulated by Diana (2007). The second way through which the art of listening works here is that, the corporation has developed over the year a strong culture of respect for its employees and stakeholders (Duke & Robson, 2012). By recognising input and efforts of individual employees the managements makes Wal-Mart employees feel a sense of belonging, appreciation and care. On the other hand, the company always endeavour to empower its associates to own the affairs of Wal-Mart including active participation in decision making, innovation and marketing strategy. The company embraces the ideas and suggestions of its employees towards improving the quality of service delivery in keeping with the pace of global market demand. At every level of customer, staff and management interactions, Wal-Mart always advocates for open-minded communication through it open-door policy (Gereffi & Christian, 2009). The company shares its goals, objectives, visions and plans with its employees to the best level possible. According to the founder of Wal-Mart, employees can only understand and internalise organizational goals if the management is committed to sharing such details with the workforce. In that light, the company indirectly affirms the efforts and diligence of its employees and stakeholders whose synergy has seen Wal-Mart grow with an operational profit of about US$ 26.56 billion as at 2012 (Duke & Robson, 2012). The third principle of art of listening as adopted by Wal-Mart relates to teamwork and collective responsibility towards achieving excellence across all the spheres of Wal-Mart. Through creative intervention of various departmental teams, Wal-Mart teaches its employees to always work together and assist each other to attain perfection (Raduanm et al, 2008). In addition, the company incorporates the views and concerns of its stakeholders including customers in its efforts to innovate new approaches to retail store management amidst competition and criticisms. This is what Sam Walton once termed as swimming upstream by doing things in a unique and different way from the ordinary norms of business practice (Horwitz, 2009). At Wal-Mart, employees take charge of running the business and incorporating their personal abilities to drive the goals of the company in liaison with the managers, customers and stakeholders. When employs are placed at the centre of business operations, they become responsible and active in controlling the direction of business growth as reiterated by Shili (2008). At Wal-Mart, employees are referred to as associates and are give the bulk of operational responsibility in making sure that the business expands its customer base. As such, the company has since nurtured a bottom-top approach to leadership development, decision making and strategic management which has significantly helped the company to reduce its expenses while maintaining higher profit margins despite its low pricing policy. This is the true reflection of the art of listening to what matters most to the customers, employees and the community without compromising the organizational profit-making objectives. Managers’ and Staff Perspectives According to the CEO Mike Duke, the culture of listening to and considering the spoken and unspoken needs of customers and associates is the key to the development and sustenance of strong brand name (Duke & Robson, 2012). Wal-Mart believes in its ethos and customized service delivery. For that reasoning, the management highly regards the opinion, ideas, concerns and needs of its employees since they are the promoters of such ethos. This makes is a top priority for the management to address employee needs to enhance their morale, productivity and retention. In addition, the art of listening has enables the management to keep a strong grip of the market in terms of customer base, share value and profitability index with over 200 million customers as reiterated by Gereffi and Christian (2009). On a different note, staff members argue that the rich history and success story of Wal-Mart is directly proportional to its commitment to effective communication, innovation and customer care. The associates observed that Wal-Mart is anchored on philosophy of embracing the needs of the people to help them live a better life through saving and increased accessibility to quality products and excellent retail services as postulated by Emek (2007). When the needs of customers and organizational goals are well expressed and associates are made to understand the interaction between these two elements, them employees are best kept prepared to integrate them into sales output. Moreover, this behaviour process has created an ambience of integrity, reliable team spirit, understanding and equal platform for all (Duke & Robson, 2012). References Diana, N. D. (2007).Corporate Reputation Management: The Walmart-Way, (Thesis). Bryan, TX: Texas University Press. Duke, M., & Robson, W. (2012): Wat-Mart: Annual Report 2012FY. Retrieved May 20, 2013 from: < http://www.walmartstores.com/sites/annual-report/2012/> Emek, B. (2007). The causes and consequences of Wal-Mart's growth. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(3), p.177-198. Gereffi, G., & Christian, M. (2009). The Impacts of Wal-Mart: The Rise and Consequences of the World's Dominant Retailer. Annual Review of Sociology, 35 (3), pp.573-591. Horwitz, S. (2009). Wal-Mart to the Rescue Private Enterprise’s Response to Hurricane Katrina, The Independent Review, 13(4), pp.511–528. Raduanm, C., Kumar, N., Abdullah, H., & Yeng, L. (2008). Organizational Culture as a Root of Performance Improvement. Contemporary Management Research, 4(1), pp.43-56. Shili, S. (2008). Organizational Culture and its Themes. International Journal of Business management, 3(12), pp.137-141. Vasquez, G. M., & Taylor, M. (2000). Cultural Values that Influence American Public Relations personnel? Public Relations Review, 25(4), pp.433-449. Read More