DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AT WAL-MART

Diversity Management At Wal-Mart



Diversity Management At Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart provides jobs for more than 1.8 million Associates. Their Associates can pursue a wide variety of careers, ranging from asset protection to legal, product development to global procurement, store manager to clothing buyer, truck driver to cashier, deli manager to information system manager and more.

Wal-mart, which was first opened in 1962 by Sam Walton, is currently a force to be reckoned with, eliminating competition such as Kmart and Sears (who have now joined forced and trying to recoup some of the market share.) The company is known for its low operational costs and logistics helped much in part by its advanced technology system they put in place to accurately track inventory as it leaves the store. What is their magic formula for success? "It has to do with our desire to exceed customers expectations every hour of everyday", said Sam Walton. He created a company where everyone in the family can find everything they need under one roof. Dan can get the car worked on while buying household maintenance items and mom can do the grocery shopping while the kids entertain themselves in the toy section. "One-stop shopping."

A new Wal-Mart in your city is the equivalent of new job opportunities and "additional tax revenues that help fund basic services like police, fire protection and schools." (Company website). From its success in the United States, you would think that the company would have the "If you build it, they will come" attitude. In fact, it is just the opposite. Many factors are considered before the company dives into opening new sites. Obviously one major consideration is location and the potential market share in the area. "Most of the stores are located in small and medium towns, which has been one of the major corporate strategies." (Katobe, 1997)

Mexico was the first step in their international plan. Despite aggressive strategies in Mexico, Argentina and Hong Kong, the company has had poor results.They have suffered 25% less sales in Mexico than predicted due to the company's "difficulty adapting to and understanding Mexican culture " and their buying habits. (Kotabe, 1997) Internationally, Wal-mart has had significant obstacles in winning over the consumers. In Europe higher labor wages and local laws have proven to be hindrances for their expansion. There are "tight land use regulations in France (and similar restrictions in Spain, Italy and Belgium)."

In Brazil, Carrefour (which has been in the market since 1974) is Wal-mart's competition. It has thirty-nine stores throughout the country and is therefore not seen as a foreign company. So how does Wal-mart compete? Wal-mart International's strategy targeted Brazils most populous areas. They recruited very motivated associates and entered the market with a bang...at least initially. Consumers were pulled in by the hype and were impressed by their extensive product lines (over 50,000 items under one roof) but frowned to see the long lines they had to wait in. Wal-mart did not expect to do so well, so ...