In: Operations Management
This is research Please Give the Full Answers
Company: Wal-Mart (write on the following guidline)
1. Describe the process: list the key tasks performed and sequence of steps, people involved, equipment used, environmental conditions, work methods, and materials used.
2. Describe the players: external and internal customers and suppliers, and process operators.
3. Define customer expectations: what the customer wants, when, and where, for both external and internal customers.
4. Determine what historical data are available on process performance, or what data need to be collected to better understand the process.
5. Describe the perceived problems associated with the process; for instance, failure to meet customer expectations, excessive variation, long cycle times, and so on.
6. Identify the primary causes of the problems and their impacts on process performance.
7. Develop potential changes or solutions to the process, and evaluate how these changes or solutions will address the primary causes.
Walmart is a retail giant in the industry operating across the seas and creating a big furtune out of it. Its the worlds largest and the most influencing retailer.
Some terms that followed to build its empire are as follows.
Efficient Supply Chain
?Walmart's supply chain is one of the world's most efficient supply
chain, Walmart uses very less break in between from the warehouse
to their store reducing the costs and enhancing the overall
profit.
By having an effective supply chain Walmart has successfully
developed it advantage over its competitors and in providing
different materials to the different places at a very standard
time.
Sometimes it would be less than official for the company to have a
supply chain dependent organisation because the whole system is
depending on the supply chain if a part breaks down then there is a
little delay in doing the business.
Strategic partnership
?Strategic partnership is one of main reasons of Walmart's success
, Walmart find the best price supplier and ask them if they can
fullfil the demand then a long term partnership program is offer
which reduces the prices.
Strategic partnerships also provides a solid base walmart. By
having different strategic partnerships Walmart at successfully
integrated itself into market and merge into the competitors as
well.
Sometimes is strategic partnerships also create a problem for the
organisation as the partners start to show different
characteristics rather than implementing the strategies with the
Walmart.
Intuitive inventory storage
?Walmart uses very intuitive way of storing the inventory, It keep
its inventory in truck and then later the inventory is loaded to
the semi truck without moving them to the warehouse , this broadly
increases the efficiency of the transportation and time.
Dependency on the too much Technology and totally depending on the
intuitive storage system sometimes leads to failure as they can be
technological as well as mechanical error.
Using latest technology
?Walmart uses state of the art sorting and transporting
technologies to ensure the required quality and speed it requires
and to obtain high profits and and super efficient system.
Technology based environment is always in fear of getting hacked,
being misused and being operated by some other person rather than
the companies official employees. Depending on too much Technology
Kelly Walmart failure in terms of the technological errors.
Walmart used the terms listed above to build an environment for the low cost industry. It focused on the largest group of middle class people and the idea was to provide low cost product with great quality. Walmart provided the best supply and management system which cut down the costs thus customers were getting the products in best price with higher quality.
Walmart's strategy kept evolving according to the time and needsthus Walmart's low cost strategy is very well suited for the industry.
Improving the Walmart current situation in Walmart has to apply
their strategies to the different part of the world. Walmart should
focus on the developing countries like India and China as well as
smaller developing countries like Bangladesh. Buy directly focusing
on these countries Walmart can widely increase the level of sales
as well as can be easily getting resources at a better price in
these a specific locations. As Bangladesh is considered as
manufacturing hub for many of the international brands , walmart
and easily upgrade themselves and implement these strategies to
overcome the specific problem of increased budget for the specific
location. As the labour charges are also very low in the developing
countries, walmart in widely increase their effectiveness in terms
of the retail marketing.
By keeping an eye on the overall sales as well as the human resource information system, walmart can widely increase their efficiency as well as productivity towards the specific region in which they are doing business. Measurement of the inventory as well as Rises of the customer regarding the product types and also be very beneficial for the organisation to keep a record of the performance for Walmart. This understanding of the situation would definitely increase the level of productivity of the organisation. High number of measurement techniques should be used to frequently measure and regulate the data as well as its progress for advancing Walmart in to the society . By using different metrics for Quality Management Walmart can widely increase the level of service provision to the customer.
Implementation of digital platforms is very essential for walmart to improve their overall level of effectiveness over the internet and other digital mediums. By creating specific strategy for implementation of the better marketing aspect on the Digital Network and widely increased companies reach to the customers. By increasing the reach the customer company can easily grow in different markets as well as it can easily go Global as well.
By using above strategies Walmart in easily increase the level of implementation as well as advancement in the society. Strategy for definitely help Walmart to maintain and advantage over its competitors and to provide better service and get larger revenues from the market.
Walmart has been always criticized for not being able to comply with the social standard of United States of America. Walmart has developed a huge structure of operation across the globe but their overall operational facilities as well as operational strategy has always been in question. Walmart is very well known for not providing adequate working conditions for its employees as well as several complaints regarding employee dissatisfaction are also major factor which is discussed as violation of the Social Responsibility by walmart in the specific market. This type of negligence towards social responsibility and working conditions questioned walmart working structure.
In this type of approach employees are the main stakeholders which are directly affected. It affects the whole society as it is a big issue that Walmart is not being socially responsible for providing adequate working conditions for its employees.
It can be further described in following points.
• Walmart does not allow their employees have a union, once workers uniinnized so the walmart closed that specific stores.
• Walmart is also very criticized for exploiting the worker rights , this included denial of minimum wages ,overtime and actions against union strategies.
• Its also very criticized to void the wage laws , walmart does that by pushing an unpaid 30 min lunch break and breaks including maintance is also unpaid as well
• Walmart introduced several healthcare plans at cheaper prices , but the quality of the services pathetic.
• Walmart also provides workplace privacy which is very beneficial to the employees
• Its a very big service provider for immigrants and its also following the immigrant laws
Walmart unethical acts can be described as follows.
Walmart hurts community feelings
This is one of the most discussed unethical process of Walmart
which includes direct exploitation of the local community by
entering the local market. In place of creating business
opportunities for the local community Walmart opens its big store
and eats up their business.
Aggregate and sustainable economic models in the surrounding
communities for so many upcoming years. This is specific unethical
practice leaves a diverse effect only society.
Uses of foreign labour and child labour
Company has always been criticized for using foreign labour as well as the child labour in their work facility. 50% of the Walmart goods comes from the Overseas suppliers which takes away the local jobs as well as creates an unstable environment for other businesses as well. Most of the walmart's foreign 4 uses the child labour the fine example in Bangladesh where workers are exploited by giving out the dangers as low as $30 per month for a 12 hour job.
Underpay
Walmart has been very famous for helping women as well as giving some liberty to pregnant workers. Walmart strategy has always been against this thing and they have been working as a money making machine towards the society. This unethical practice has led them to trouble many times but in 2001 the case of Walmart vs Duke was also ripped out by the supreme court and it made the female employees more and presented and underpaid.
Unsafe working environment.
Walmart has been a very and safe place for working for various employees. They have been charged with several health administration sided violation in New York as well as in other states as well. Overseas factories of Walmart are literally exploiting the human rights and endangering the Overseas workers at their home to. The most criticise job strategy was the lock-ins, in which the employees were locked inside the facility at the night to ensure that they stay at their jobs.
Poor health care system
Walmart healthcare system is very poor, their Healthcare plans are literally their to benefit the company itself and does not provide any kind of intense protection to the workers. That doesn't even pay enough for health care at all. They have also cut the insurance benefit to its part time employees and have not provided any kind of compensation regarding that.
These were some of the specific terms which hurt me the most as a
customer as well as employee to the walmart. Is the specific
practice ruins the image of Walmart in the society and makes it an
unethical business provider. This kind of business strategies as
well as pattern are totally unacceptable hence the Walmart should
stop doing all these unethical things and focus on being more
ethical and socially responsible.
Walmarts communication model includes communicating with
stakeholders on the issue of reduced sales from E-Commerce depart
as well as improving The E-Commerce service inside the organisation
by taking the communication as a serious task.
Company has implemented multiple database management systems for
better communication inside your organisation for provision of
inter connectivity in different departments. My connecting the
different department communicate information flows from one
department to another department in a horizontal way and provides
efficient support as well as feedback.
Sudden changes in the supply chain as well as requirement of
inventory is also done by the business communication from the
bottom most store of Walmart to the top most authorities. By having
a communication channel in different departments of the company
Walmart has successfully manage to integrate itself into the
organisational structure.
By implementation of HRIS walmart has successfully built a new
system for efficiently communicating within the human resource
information. This is specific system has increased the capability
of Walmart to communicate with their overall employees and human
resources inside the organisation to create a better working
environment. By promoting you open communication between
stakeholders and employees of the organisation Walmart has
successfully managed to interconnect the department and provide
better fluency of communication between two channels of the
organisation. By arranging the sender, mediator, receiver system
into the organisation Walmart has successfully manage to implement
a new system which is totally based on electronics to provide send
message to the receiver and take the feedback or an instant
time.
Walmart supply chain is one of the finest examples of implementation of communication model. Walmart supply chain uses a digital communication structure from bottom to up. Sending out information from their inventory to the stores and stores to the inventory Walmart successfully manages the overall number of product in their inventory system. Buy automatic be communicated process from their inventory to the suppliers as well as getting supplies Walmart has successfully managing the overall process of communication inside the organisation.