Organizational Structure of Wal-Mart - Assignment Example

The divisional structure works for Wal-Mart in attaining the objectives of each division.

            Annual shareholders meeting assists in the governing process of Wal-Mart in several aspects, with the assistance of a president or chief executive officer. The Wal-Mart Corporation has forty-one regions, thirty-five Wal-Mart regions, and six Sam’s club regions (Maestri, 2010). Regional vice presidents head the regions and thus supervise the operation of stores in the region. Each region has stores in the district chaired or headed by district managers for Wal-Mart stores and directors of operations for Sam’s clubs. District managers collaborate with regional personnel managers who are responsible for hiring workers and settling their issues. Each Wal-Mart has a person responsible for the overall store activities (store manager) and one in charge of the overall activities (general manager). Below the store manager, there are co-managers; their deputies depend on the size of the store (Maestri, 2010). Down the ladder, there are hourly department managers who supervise all the junior workers in the stores.

            However, there are certain elements in the company that affect this structure. The company has a transparency policy in its operation, based on documents filed by the US Security Exchange Committee. This policy applies to all Wal-Mart stores situated outside the territories of the US. The nomination of Wal-Mart’s directors is based on shareholders' votes. Wal-Mart has a significant number of stakeholders and thus should engage all of them in its operations. However, this is not the case, as there is no evidence that shows the engagement of this audience in the executive duties. In addition, the Wal-Mart structure does not encourage training its staff in a manner that engages the stakeholders. Wal-Mart lacks the policy to appraise its ecological effects. However, it has a social assessment plan that evaluates its significance to society through ethical standards auditing (Wal-Mart Watch, 2011). Wal-Mart has a complaint policy responsible for handling complaints reported by the workforce and not the external stakeholders (OWT charity, 2007).

            Wal-Mart can enhance its functionality by adopting or embracing a majority rule in coming up with ultimate decisions. This can be executed excellently in annual shareholders' meetings. The corporation can also engage all its stakeholders by creating a department that will oversee the engagement of the community. The members of this department should be well-trained in engaging the community in its operations. The department can also be trained in handling complaints launched by external stakeholders. This department should give a report that will also evaluate the social impact displayed by the company. Improving on these elements will enhance the effectiveness of the well laid-out organizational structure of Wal-Mart. These will help Wal-Mart achieve its objectives and enhance its functionality.