Decision-Making Models And Leadership Theories Of Wal-Mart - Research Paper Example

Decision-Making Models And Leadership Theories Of Wal-Mart Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Major points and Arguments 2 Discussion 3 Organizational Behavior 3 Poor Leadership 3 Leadership Theories 5 Possible solutions to the problems 7 Changing the leadership style 7 Evaluating the needs of the employees 9 Adhering to the established business rules and regulations 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Abstract The research will evaluate Wal-Mart’s Business Practices with the main focus on the leadership styles and the organizational behavior of the company. It is, however, facing competition from other players across the world. The company has been forced to review its strategies and come up with ways of ensuring that it remains a market leader despite the stiff competition. The research aims at analyzing various aspects of organization behaviors that will be put into consideration to come up with viable ways of meeting the targeted objectives. The research will look at the mode of adaption, the structures and contingencies that act as a guide. The leadership concepts and decision making models will be critically analyzed. Introduction Wal-Mart is among the leading American multinational retail corporation that operates warehouses and discount stores (Nandagopal & Sankar, 2009). It has created numerous employment opportunities within the United States and across the world. However, a majority of its workers live below poverty line due to its poor pay and poor styles of leadership. The company has been criticized by a number of groups such as labour unions. There have been protests against the company’s policies as well as business practices. Racial and gender intolerance is yet another area that seen the company face a lot of criticism Major points and Arguments The paper will analyze some of the leadership styles and modes of operation that have been employed by Wal-Mart Company. Some of the leadership styles that will be looked into include: Visionary leadership Standard leadership Modes of operation that will be evaluated include Organization structure and decision making processes Moral and ethical ways Priority issues of the company Solutions The problems encountered by Wal-Mart can be countered through a number of initiatives. Change in style of leadership is crucial. It will enable the company to run based on the prevailing conditions. Necessary adjustments can ensure prosperity of the company The company should also consider evaluating the needs of the employees and ensure that their rights are catered for. Adhering to the established business laws and regulations is also necessary in ensuring that the company remains useful and trusted by both its clients and employees. Discussion Organizational Behavior Poor Leadership Poor leadership is the main organizational problem that has affected the operations of the company. The leadership at the company has been involved with various unethical practices as well as failure to address the issues facing the employees. The management staff is the key stakeholders in the problem. This problem has been going on for a long period of time until a bribery scandal at the company was revealed in 2012. This problem is attributed to poor leadership at the company and it affecting the brand image of the company. The poor leadership at the company has impacted negatively on the other internal stakeholders within the company (Albareda, et al, 2008). The employees of the company have been greatly affected as the management has been unable to address their welfare problems. The employees are being paid poorly despite being subjected to a huge workforce. The values and behaviours of the organization have also been affected by the poor leadership. The ethical values of the organization have been compromised by the widespread corruption at the company. The public image of the company has also been affected by the corruption scandals and poor leadership. Some external stakeholders are also involved in the problem. This includes the officials who are responsible for taking bribes (Abelson & Greenhouse, 2011). The company paid a bribe of more than $24 million to the authorities in Mexico in order to set up its stores. This is an indication that the values and behaviours within the organization are not good. It is the responsibility of the leaders within an organization to promote good values so as to ensure that there is trust among the members of the public. It is also the responsibility of the leaders within the organization to ensure that the welfare of the employees is taken care of (Featherstone, 2005). However, most of the employees working for the company live in poverty due to the poor pay and the poor working conditions. The employees have always complained about the poor pay and have held several demonstrations (Zimmerman, 2005). However, this is usually countered by victimization which discourages the employees from raising their concerns. Poor leadership has also been a barrier to the growth and development of the company. The brand of the company has been on the decline as a result of poor leadership. The design processes at the company is also poor and this affects the delivery of services. The organizational culture at the company is also poor and it affects the daily operations. The poor organizational culture is also attributed to the poor leadership. The needs of the employees are not addressed in most cases as a result of the poor organizational culture. The reward system at the company is not good as it rarely recognizes the employees who perform well. This has negative impacts on the motivation of the employees. Only a handful of employees are usually rewarded each year and this affects their morale. The government policies in most of the countries favour the economic growth and development of the country. Leadership Theories According to the leadership theories, the concepts of visionary leadership is important in terms of ensuring that a leader is able to transform an organization. Visionary leadership involves openness, imagination, persistence and conviction. This is lacking at Wal-Mart as the leadership problem is affecting the operations of the organization (Washington Legal Foundation, 2009). There is no openness at the company which has led to problems such as corruption and bribing of officials. According to the visionary leadership theory, this style of leadership is rare as it is difficult to find such leaders. The degree of openness to new information is one of the major qualities of a visionary leader. This is however lacking at the company and it hinders innovations and development within the organization. The lack of visionary leadership is also hindering the performance of the company as the employees are not motivated. Most of the employees at the company are blaming the leadership for failing to solve their problems. A visionary leader cannot ignore the plight of the followers (Hamstra, et al, 2015). The level of authority at the company is quite high and hence widening the gap between the management and the employees. The employees who speak out against the company are usually punished. This is an indication that visionary leadership is lacking at the organization. The visionary leaders usually exercise low levels of authority and hence promoting high levels of interactions with the employees. The visionary leaders also have the ability to see different things with their minds even before the events takes place. According to the leadership theories, the visionary leaders are highly sensitive when it comes to the decision making process (Hamstra, et al, 2015). They are also good at predicting different events that may take place within their organization or industry. This is lacking at the company as the leaders are not sensitive to their business environment. The level of conviction by the company is also low and does not meet the requirements of the visionary leadership. This explains why the leaders at the company are not involved in unethical activities. The concepts of standard leadership is also lacking at the organization. Standard leadership requires the leaders in an organization to have positive attitudes and behaviours in order to carry out their roles effectively (Clarke, 2013). The relationship between the leaders and the employees at the organization has to be good. This is for the purpose of encouraging teamwork and hence ensuring that employee resistance is not witnessed during the implementation of changes. The concepts of standard leadership is lacking at the organization as the management seem to have enjoy more privileges while the employees are subjected to poor working condition and payment. The leadership at the organization has failed to bring about transformation. A transformational leader has the potential of meeting the needs of the organization and the customers through putting in place transformational measures. A transformational leader also has the potential of introducing a culture that promotes efficiency. The organizational culture at the company is not good as it promotes some of the unethical activities. According to the path goal theory, the behavior of the leaders is contingent to the satisfaction, motivation and performance of the employees. As a result of this, the leaders should engage in behaviours that compliment the abilities of the subordinates and compensate on their deficiencies (Hamstra, et al, 2015). However, at Wal-Mart, the leadership of the company offer little motivation and satisfaction to the employees. This has resulted to the problems facing the employees including lack of job satisfaction. The path goal theory also highlights the importance of achievement oriented leaders. This involves the leaders setting challenging goals for the followers. However, this is not the case at the organization as little focus is placed on the employees. According to the organizational behavior theories, the leaders should be participative as well as supportive. This is through consulting the employees and showing concern. This is however lacking at the organization as there is no concern for the plight of the employees and the levels of consultations is quite low. According to the expectancy theory, the individuals will act is a certain way because they are motivated to do so. At the organization, the levels of motivation for the employees are low and hence poor performance and attitudes. The organizational justice theory highlights that the judgment of the organization by the employees is dependent on the behavior of the organization (DeConick, 2010). The organizational behavior at Wal-Mart is poor and this has led to the negative attitudes among the employees. Possible solutions to the problems Changing the leadership style The problem facing the company can only be solved if the leadership style is changed. The current leadership style is poor and it is subjecting the organization to a lot of problems including the ethical problems. The company requires a visionary leader who will be able to transform the organization. The level of trust by the members of the public is low and hence the need for a visionary leader who will be able to transform the organization. Steve Jobs is an example of a visionary leader who was able to transform Apple and steer it to success (Clarke, 2013). This is an indication that the company requires such leaders in order to win back the trust of the employees. The success of the company is therefore dependant on the changes in the leadership style. The change in the leadership style will be useful in ensuring that the company is able to address some of the challenges facing it. This includes the development of an organizational culture that supports growth and development. The changes in the leadership style will also be useful to the company in terms of ensuring that the challenges facing the employees are addressed. The presence of a visionary leader will also be useful in promoting innovations among the employees. The innovations may be useful in terms of contributing towards the success of the company. A visionary leader is always in touch with the followers and does not impose high levels of authority (Hamstra, et al, 2015). The visionary leader has the potential of putting in place motivational measures and listening to the contributions being made by the employees. This will therefore be important in ensuring that the company is able to improve on its growth and development. The implementation of this solution may take about three months to be completed. The first step should be the recruitment process which should be carried out by an external recruitment agency that is independent and cannot be influenced by the management of the company. Once the visionary leader has been recruited, more changes should be carried out at the management level. The all the managers should be trained on the concepts of visionary leadership in order to support the new leader and the changes being implemented. A review of the success should then be carried out every month in order to determine the achievements being made. Evaluating the needs of the employees The needs of the employees are important to any organization. This is considering that the employees play a major role in the implementation of the strategies of the company. It is recommended that the needs of the employees should be evaluated immediately after the changes in leadership and leadership style at the company. The salaries and wages of the employees should be evaluated by the company in order to ensure that the issues of the employees with regards to poor pay are addressed. The salaries of the employees should be increased after the evaluation process. The increment should be in accordance with the nature of the job being performed by the employee (Kutlu, et al, 2013). This means that the increment will not be the same for all the employees. However, it is recommended that the company should increase the minimum wage in accordance with the cost of living. This will play an important role in driving the employees out of poverty and improve on their living conditions. This move will also be useful in terms of ensuring that the employees are motivated. A motivated workforce is important in ensuring that the employees improve on their performance as well as productivity. The evaluation of the salaries and wages of the employees is a critical process and it should be implemented by the company within a period of six months. This is considering that the company has a huge workforce. The company should hire an external firm to carry out the process in order to ensure that neutrality is maintained. Each job has to undergo an evaluation in order to determine the activities that are performed by the employees at the company. A proper job description for each of the positions at the company has to be established together with the qualifications. This will be important in determining the salaries and wages that should be paid to the employees. The employees should also be invited to express their opinions so as to ensure that more information about different positions as well as concerns of the employees is fully addressed. The recommendations of the form with regards to the salaries and wages should then be implemented immediately. This will ensure that the employees are motivated and are able to perform their duties effectively. The salaries and wages of the employees also act as a motivational factor for the employees (Hülsheger, et al, 2013). Adhering to the established business rules and regulations The major organizational behavior problem that is facing the company is linked to the failure of the leaders to adhere to the established business rules and regulations. It is recommended that the organization should ensure that business rules and regulations are fully adhered to. The leadership of the company should be on the forefront in ensuring that all the business rules and regulations are adhered to (Joshi, et al, 2015). This will be important in eliminating the incidences of corruption that was responsible for the scandal that was facing the company. The leadership of the company should lead by example and should also develop internal rules that will ensure compliance with the business rules and regulations. It is recommended that the leadership of the company should ensure that activities are carried out in a transparent manner. The company should also improve on its financial reporting so as to prevent incidences of corruption. Accountability at the company will be important in ensuring compliance with the business laws and regulations. The management of the company should also work closely with the authorities to ensure that there is compliance with the laws and regulations. Working with the government will ensure that all the managers who are involved in corrupt activities are punished. The implementation of this process will require high levels of commitment by the management of the company. The HR should develop an organizational culture that will promote adherence to the business laws and regulations. High levels of ethic should be considered as part of the organizational culture. The development of the organizational culture should be carried out within a period of one month. The training of the employees as well as the management staff members should then be carried out in order to ensure that all the staff members are conversant with the new organizational culture (Jones & Gautschi III, 2013). Stern action should be introduced for any member of staff who does not act in accordance with the new organizational culture. Any member of staff who does not follow the business laws and regulations must be reported to the authority. This will restore confidence among the members of the public. The success of any organization is dependent on its brand image. The loyalty of the customers is usually impacted negatively when an organization engages in illegal activities. An evaluation of the process should be carried out every month in order to determine the progress being made by the company. Continuous improvements should be carried out to ensure full compliance. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that Wal-Mart is faced with an organization behavior problem of poor leadership. Poor leadership within the organization has led to other major problems that affect the brand image of the organization. It is evident that the leadership of the company has been engaged in corrupt and illegal activities that led to a scandal. The brand image of the company has been affected by the poor leadership and ethical problems. It is evident that the leadership of the organization has ignored the plights of the employees. Most of the employees of the company are living in poverty as a result of poor pay. It is evident that the company requires a visionary leader in order to transform its activities and operations. It is evident that the company also requires an evaluation of the needs of the employees. It is evident that an increase in salaries and wages of the employees is required in order to motivate them. Adherence to the laws and regulations is required by the company in order to ensure that the company is able to eliminate some of the unethical and illegal activities. It is evident that the company therefore requires a lot of transformation. References Albareda, L., Lozano, J. 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