WAL-MART

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Introduction

Wal-Mart was founded by a gentleman by the name of Sam Walton in 1962. This was done by him and his wife who were from Rodgers, Arkansas. Sam Walton's purpose and mission was “ if we work together, we'll lower the cost of living for everyone…we will give the world an opportunity to see what it's like to save and have a better life”.(Walton, Sam) Sam's secret was to give the customers what they want. This purpose and mission worked for him even after he passed in 1992. In 1972 Sam Walton had made the decision for Wal-Mart to go public therefore there were 276 stores in 11 states. In 1980 there were 1,402 stores and 123 Sams clubs. Sales for Wal-Mart then went from $1 billion to $26 billion.

By the 21st century Wal-Mart had grown immensely to 9,230 stores and 2.1 million associates. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the United States and has assets that are worldwide which include such as distribution sources, their inventory, the amount of stores and the millions of employees. How Wal-Mart's managers use these resources depends on when and how the company grows and succeeds in the industry. Making decisions is not an easy task for any manager. Decisions may be simple but with a company of this nature and size some decisions may be complicated.

Human Resource Management at Wal-Mart

In the development of an organization, a key role is played by the analysis of the performance of any process. Such an analysis makes possible revolution of any existing strategy and thereby it becomes very easy to find the drawbacks in order to counter them immediately. Analysis of Wal-Mart's HR management revealed that in order to maintain low cost the organization has a sophisticated human resource system of recruitment. Furthermore, consisting of senior employees, Wal-Mart has a highly effective training department that is responsible to equip the employees with substantial knowledge and expertise after their recruitment (Ward, 2004). For the higher management options, quality recruitment is ensured by the use of external approved and recognized agencies. Wal-Mart's HR management's training program has so far been very effective and suitable.

Wal-Mart organizes a training program of two day at the starting level of employee recruitment process. In addition, there are several other options presented to the training department through which they can accelerate the performance of their HR personnel. Wal-Mart makes every employee aware of his/her position and the duty/duties in which he/she is involved (Ward, 2004). At Wal-Mart, this is the primary activity of the HR department. In order to aware the employees about the tasks they need to perform, Wal-Mart offers job description to the employees and retains a copy of the same so that accurate track of the employee performance can be maintained.

Technological Progress at Wal-Mart

Latest developments in technology and satellite systems have given a boost to Walmart. Yet, basic infrastructure lacks for effective warehousing and distribution which are considered to be the lifelines of a retail ...