Impact of MIS on Walmart - Connecting the Dots

Impact of MIS on Walmart - Connecting the Dots

Introduction

Walmart started its operations as a retail discount store in Arkansas on July 2, 1962, by the founder Sam Walton. The store began its operations on small scale with the aim of providing low price goods to customers so that they could increase their savings and live a better standard of life. Sam envisioned the retail store to have all goods and services that were needed by the customers, without compromising on quality. For this purpose, the company employed supportive and friendly customer support staff that enabled them to service their customer on a personal level. The company was later incorporated into the Walmart Stores Inc in Oct 1969. The company became publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the year 1972 (History Timeline, 2013).

Over the years, the company has been able to grow its business into more than 28 countries with around 96,000 outlets. The company employs more than 2.1 million people globally including more than 1.4 million within the United States. The revenues of the company are in excess of $443 billion as of the year 2012 (Walmart 2012). Walmart has grown into a giant in the retail industry that is yet to face any real challenge in the industry. Walmart has captured more market share than the combined share of Metro AG, Tesco and Carrefour. The company operates more than 700 discount stores in addition to further 2900 Supercenters, 610 Sam's Club warehouses in the United States.

Growth & Hierarchy

The company has been extensively growing in the international market with more than 4500 locations. It is the largest retail store in countries like Canada and Mexico. The company has expended into the Asian, African and European market. Walmart was ranked the top company among the group of Fortune 500 companies in terms of annual revenues. The company follows a well defined hierarchical structure, with clearly defined boundaries and lines of communications. Users are well aware of their right and responsibilities based on their job description. This ensures the equal and harmonious distribution of power among the various departments of the company which results in fostering the collaboration and communication between the major stakeholders.

Source: Walmart Financial Statements 2012

The type and composition of the structure of the company is largely dependent on its objectives and goals that are derived from its mission and vision statements. When the company follows a centralized structure, the power if generally reserved in the middle and the decisions are made by the members of the top management and strict controls are built into the system to ensure conformance to standards. In the case of Walmart, the hierarchical structure shows that the decisions are delegated down the hierarchy from the CEO who is in supreme power to make the decisions. According to Paul Bland, the receiving manager at Walmart Houston, the company has been able to realize the dream of providing high quality products on daily ...