Walmart Inc. is an American organization which operates in the retail industry of the country. The organization operates large of hypermarkets, discount based department stores and the grocery stores as well. Walmart Inc. has its operations in different countries of the world with the help of diverse range of products and services which are offered through the different stores. The headquarter of Walmart Inc. is located in Bentonville, Arkansas and the organization was established in the year 1969. Walmart has its operates more than 11,000 stores as well as clubs in around 27 countries of the world. The name under which the organization operates in Canada and the United States is Walmart. The organization has become the largest firm in the world based on the revenues which are gained in the industry. Walmart has also been able to develop its position in the Fortune Global 500 list in the year 2018. Walmart is also considered to be the largest employer in the private retail based sector.
The stakeholders of Walmart are able to influence the directions of strategies which have been developed by the organization. Stakeholders are mainly considered to belong to the group of people who are affected by the business organization and its operations. The stakeholders are thereby able to exert high levels of pressure on business based operations of Walmart (Andriof et al. 2017). Walmart has been able to develop many stakeholders in the industry with the help of its global operations and products offered to the customers as well. The managers of business organizations need to understand dynamics of relationship which has been developed between the stakeholders and the interests. The decisions which are made by stakeholders of the organization are based on the stakeholders (Ayuso et al. 2014).
Stakeholders of Walmart can be divided into different groups based on the policies and beliefs of the organization. The different stakeholder groups of Walmart include, investors, customers, employees and suppliers. The investors are considered to be highly important for the effective and profitable operations of Walmart in the industry. The suppliers on the other hand are provided with lowest priority in the stakeholder group of Walmart. The decisions and strategies which are developed by Walmart are affected in a huge manner by different stakeholder groups of the organization (Bourne 2016).
Investors – The investors of Walmart are highly interested in the profits which are provided by organizational operations. High levels of profits which are gained by the organization result in higher earnings based on shares which are maintained by investors. The investors further aim at reducing the levels of operational costs of Walmart. Low costs can lead to higher profits and this is quite beneficial for the investors of Walmart. The investors are provided with high priority by Walmart and its strategies (Carey and Perry 2014).
Customers – The customers are also included within the stakeholder group of Walmart. The customers mainly have an interest in the low prices of services and products that are offered to them. The quality of products that are thereby offered by Walmart need to be of acceptable levels. The cost leadership based generic strategy has been implemented by Walmart in order to operate in a profitable manner in the retail industry. The organization has gained its popularity with the help of low prices of different products which are offered in the industry (Doh and Quigley 2014).
Employees – The human resources or employees are also considered by decision making based process which has been implemented by the managers of Walmart. The two major interests of employees in this case are high wages and job security. The security level of the job is an important factor which is effective in addressing the concerns of the employees. However, Walmart has been providing low wages to the employees which is a major concern for the organizational operations. The interests of major stakeholders of Walmart, who are the employees are not addressed effectively by the organization. the programs and policies which have been developed by the organization have provided job security. However, the wage levels are not maintained effectively by Walmart (Frandsen 2018).
Suppliers – The major interest of the last group of stakeholders of Walmart is based on the sales of different products in various stores of the organization which operate all over the world. The profits which are earned by the organization with the help of product sales are also considered to be important for the suppliers. Suppliers want the organization to sell the products in such a manner which is able to provide maximum amounts of profit. The profits and revenues are thereby helpful in the development of the topmost position of Walmart in the industry. Walmart is however able to influence the suppliers and the prices of raw materials. The efficient supply chain of the organization is considered to be a major reason behind the influence which is provided by Walmart (Loi 2016).
The different groups of stakeholders which have been developed by Walmart over the years of its operations in the industry are capable to affecting the revenues. The organization has been successful in addressing different concerns of these groups with the help of its effective operations. However, the organization has not been successful in fulfilling the needs and demands of some of the stakeholders. The wages which are offered to the employees can be considered to be a huge issue which is faced by the organization in its long-term operations (Marais and Young 2016).
The analysis made in Task 1 has been able to depict that the stakeholders are able to play a major role in the effective organizational operations. Walmart thereby needs to develop effective communication based strategies in order to understand the needs of stakeholders and develop effective strategies as well.
Walmart has provided utmost levels of importance to the investors of the organization. The levels of communication developed with them also needs to be effective so that the organization is able to operate in a profitable manner. Meetings are considered to be a major communication tool which can be used by Walmart in order to communicate with the stakeholders. The organization needs to hold meetings with the stakeholders on periodic basis in order to understand their needs and inform them about the organizational operations as well (Schons et al. 2018).
Conference calls can also be used as an effective tool which can be used by Walmart in order to communicate with the stakeholders. The conference calls can be held by the organization within short intervals of time in order to communicate with the stakeholders and to provide them with effective information as well. The stakeholders will be informed about the levels of profitability and the financial status of the company on a regular basis which will be helpful for taking effective decisions (Shahzad, Rutherford and Sharfman 2016).
The customers have played the second most important role in effective operations of the organization. The communication based activities which are performed by the organization thereby needs to target the customers in order to provide them with the effective information which is required for profitable operations in the retail industry. Digital or social media is considered to be the most effective tool which can be used in order to communicate with the customers. The social media pages which have been developed by Walmart over the years can play a major role in the ways by which the organization can keep in continuous touch with the customers. The website of Walmart can be developed further in order to develop effective communication based channels with the customers (Shireesh and Kumar 2018).
Social media has been previously used by Walmart in order to communicate with the customers. The different platforms which have been used by the organization in order to communicate with the customers include, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. The platforms have been able to play a major role in the ways by which Twitter has developed the customer base in different parts of the world. The organization has also provided effective training to the employees so that they are able to maintain the social media communication with customers (Tantalo and Priem 2016).
Walmart has become quite famous in the industry for the levels of employee satisfaction which have been provided over the years. The organization has been able to maintain an effective relationship with the employees by listening to their concerns and trying to address them effectively as well. The communication process which is thereby used by Walmart in order to connect with the employees is quite open in nature (Westermann-Behaylo, Van Buren and Berman 2015). The employees are able to raise their concerns towards the management and the organization further aims at addressing those concerns effectively as well. However, the major issue which is faced by the employees of Walmart is based on the low wages which are provided to them. The organization is working towards solving the issues related to wages which are being faced by the employees in order to increase their satisfaction levels and improve the workplace environment as well (Tantalo and Priem 2016).
The supply chain which has been developed by Walmart in the industry is considered to be a major factor which is able to affect its operations and prices of the products as well. The performance of suppliers is managed by the organization effectively with the help of different strategies. The organization has aimed at developing partnerships with the suppliers in order to maintain its profitable operations in the industry (Schons et al. 2018). The communication process which has been implemented by the organization is transparent in nature and the suppliers are able to communicate with Walmart in an effective manner. The organization has been offering training based programs to the suppliers which have been useful for the services which are offered by them. The levels of importance which are however provided by the organization to suppliers needs to be increased so that the prices can be managed easily (Marais and Young 2016).
Conclusion
The analysis in Task 1 and Task 2 has been able to depict that Walmart has implemented effective communication based strategies in order manage the stakeholders. However, the organization needs to improve the processes which are used in order to communicate with the suppliers in order to maintain the levels of prices.
References
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Bourne, L., 2016. Stakeholder relationship management: a maturity model for organisational implementation. Routledge.
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Doh, J.P. and Quigley, N.R., 2014. Responsible leadership and stakeholder management: Influence pathways and organizational outcomes. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3), pp.255-274.
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Loi, T.H., 2016. Stakeholder management: a case of its related capability and performance. Management Decision, 54(1), pp.148-173.
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