Question- A. Describe your chosen organization by doing the following: 1. Describe the organization and its objective(s)? 2. Describe three leadership practices of the primary leader of the organization? 3. Discuss how the current leadership has affected organizational culture?
Leadership is a quality that provides right direction to junior leaders or at some point to senior level managers. The leadership skills are effective for the organization to bring success and engaging employee to put their best effort forward . Therefore, the current assignment will be focusing on the element of organization’s leadership. Thus, a US based company has been selected that is Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart is a multinational retail industry that is engaged in selling groceries and general merchandise. It is considered as the largest retailer in the world. On the other hand, it is also the largest company in terms of revenue and largest private employer in the globe. The company is made up of many discount stores, including warehouse club, apparel and footwear specialty, e-commerce, superstore, supermarket and supercenter. Moreover, the company has subsidiaries as Asda, Walmex, Sam’s Club, Seiyu Group and Walmart eCommerce (Corporate.walmart.com, 2015).
|
Particulars |
Amount (US$ billions) 2013 |
|
Revenue |
476.294 |
|
Operating Income |
26.872 |
|
Net Income |
16.022 |
|
Total Assets |
20.751 |
|
Total Equity |
76.255 |
|
Number of Employees |
2.2 |
The objective of this company is to provide quality and quick service to it’s customers. Moreover, this company works towards enhancing the life of people with reasonable cost. Wal-Mart slogan in many of its stores is “Save Money. Live Better” (Corporate.walmart.com, 2015).
Model the way: The leaders of Wal-Mart set standard of excellence so that they can become examples to the employees to follow the path. The leaders have interim goal that helps the employees to accomplish and reach targetsthat managements and supervisor have set. Therefore, it is effective for the company to engage them for larger objectives (Keselman, 2012). The leaders provide training and directions to employees for doing many tasks so that their employee can provide the best service to its customers. For instance, the leader in order to make employees know how to handle certain situation they take customers surveys, this aids Walmart employees in understanding customers’ needs. This also helps the employees to understand how to deal with customers. The leaders act as an unbiased figure so that each employee can share their feelings or issues with them (Afdc.org.cn, 2015).
Enable employees to act: The primary leaders of the company regularly focus on fostering collaboration among the workers so that wastage of products or materials can be minimized. Moreover, they try to build spirited team so that friendly working environment can be gained and work can be done in effective manner with least error or mistakes (Krajewski, Ritzman & Malhotra, 2013). On the other hand, leaders try to build trust and human dignity so that objective of the Wal-Mart can be achieved of providing best and quality service and healthy products to its customers. Apart from that, leaders motivates employees to put their best effort and skills in providing best productivity to this company and making Wal-Mart a company that stand out from the competitors (LeCavalier, 2013).
Provide Support: Wal-Mart leaders provide support to its employees both physically and emotionally. If any new employee is having problem in carrying out any task then the leaders provide support and insert power in them to do the work. Moreover, if the leader finds that the employee is doing well in their task, then leader motives them by giving them positive remarks such as “ you are doing great job and/or saying thank you”. This helps in building strong relationship between leaders and employees (Lutz Allen, Smith & Da Silva, 2013). On the other hand, if someone is not pulling their weight and seems to be working in a manner that not up to par, leaders or supervisors may engage them to see why they are not meeting targets. This works sometimes and teaches employees about the company mission. Thus, leaders of the company adopt practices that are beneficial for the Wal-Mart and for the employees as well (Persky & Merriman, 2012).
The leadership style adopted by the company is positively impacting the culture of the organization. The leaders of the company that helps in gaining numerous ideas from the employees to make decision are following the participative leadership style. Due to such leadership style, Wal-Mart is the large retail company in the world (Quinn, 2013). Therefore, the employees of the company are able to bring changes in their behavior that helps in meeting the organization vision and mission. As a result, company is able to increase their sales rate every year (Personal.psu.edu, 2015).
|
Year |
Net Sales (US $ billions) |
|
2008 |
238.92 |
|
2009 |
256.97 |
|
2010 |
259.92 |
|
2011 |
260.26 |
|
2012 |
264.19 |
|
2013 |
274.43 |
Table 1: Net Sales of Wal-Mart from 2008-2013
It can be assumed from the above table that, company is able to register growth year by year due to effective guidance and leadership. The employees are able to communicate with each other and share values and beliefs that assist in having positive organizational culture. On the other hand, the employees are able to handle the complex task easily like checking the quality of product, product availability, etc. without the supervision of leader (Reporters, 2015). Apart from that, the leaders have positively encouraged the workers to handle the work without any pressure. Moreover, the employees perform as a team and due to that customer has a positive attitude towards Wal-Mart that makes this company worldwide known. The emphasis is given more on the people as they are the ultimate one that performs the work of the company (Roberts & Berg, 2012). Therefore, the leader treats them with respect and dignity. This motivates the workers to give more productivity and service to the company that can benefit in long term.
The leaders helps in changing the thinking process and way of doing things so that potential of the workers can be extracted and put into the long term effectiveness of Wal-Mart. Therefore, it is valuable in increasing the performance of the organization with the improvement in the performance of employees (Rubin, 2013). Apart from that, the current leadership style of company assists in remaining ahead of the competitors such as Tesco, Sainsbury, etc. Thus, it helped in creating cheerful and positive atmosphere in Wal-Mart. Moreover, the employees were provided store discounts and stock options. Hence, it can be considered that current leadership has helped in bringing significant and positive changes in the employees and work attitude of people that equates positive organizational culture (Icmrindia.org, 2015).
Wide Range of Products: Wal-Mart involves number of products to meet the extensive demand of the customers. The company is engaged in providing products such as grocery, health and wellness, entertainment, home-related products and apparel. Therefore, customers get lot of option to buy various products under one roof. Moreover, the company has its own labeled and product brands (Syrett & Devine, 2013). Thus, it helps in attracting large number of customers to its stores. Moreover, the companies have many various products which outpace its closest competitors. Thus, Wal-Mart is able to display its product in their stores with ease and most importantly to attract all groups of consumers. Many run to Wal-Mart from the young to the old to find deals or to meet their expectation of reasonable price store.
Cost Leadership Strategy: The Company adopts low cost technique that helps them to be leader in the market. Products are sold at low cost with no frill service are provided for attaining higher economies of scale (StankeviÄÂiÅ«tÄ—, Grunda & Bartkus, 2012). The customers are attracted towards the low price products, which makes the company undisputable. Moreover, the Wal-Mart is able to have an edge over their competitors due to low cost strategy. Further, company has warehouse style superstores that help in reducing costs (Stephens, 2013). The particular strategy is effective for price sensitive customers. Moreover, all income groups can be able to purchase products from the stores due to low prices.
High Employee Turnover: The firm has registered large employee turnover that affect the company and increases its cost. The cost increases, as the company has to invest in order to provide training to new employees. On the other hand, employees are poorly paid and some employees with low skill that result in quick turnover (Visser, 2012). Therefore, employees do not feel motivated to remain in the company and they prefer to leave the company. Thus, it affects the growth of Wal-Mart and its reputation in the market.
Less Differentiation: It has been found that there is no differentiation at Wal-Mart in comparison to rivals that may affect the company in future. For instance, if the income of average consumer or commodity price increases then it can badly impact the company. Therefore, the low cost leadership strategy may not be that effective (Yglesias, 2015). Apart from that, Wal-Mart holds those entire brand products that are also held by its competitors such as Tesco, Sainsbury. Therefore, company earnings can be affected that can gain a bigger market share.
Acceptance of own label goods: It has been seen that Wal-Mart is able to increase the sale of their private labeled products by almost 40% in last ten years. Therefore, it can be assumed that company can gain more benefit in future from their own-labeled goods (Young & Rorrer, 2012). Hence it can increase the profit margin for the company. Moreover, customer circle can be increased that can be an advantage for the reputation of Wal-Mart. Launching own branded product can increase the visibility of Wal-Mart in overseas market. Therefore, the international consumer can be interested for buying the product.
Online shopping growth: The online market can be a great opportunity for the company to reach out to large number of customer and increase awareness about their product. It has been found that in US the online retail sector has increased by 4.7% in 2011 (Yue, Rao & Ingram, 2013). Therefore, company can grasp this opportunity and trade their product online. This would increase the revenue and more customers. On the other hand, company can make use of social network such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc. as it can be valuable for the company to remain much closer with its customers (Zieger, 2011). Moreover, the company can increase brand awareness or providing information about their new stores or expansion plan.
Increase in competition: The Wal-Mart can face huge threats from its biggest competitors such as Tesco, Amazon, and Costco. Therefore, the growing of such company can take away the market share of Wal-Mart that can hurt the customer base and profit margin (Visser, 2012). Moreover, the rivals in eliminating price differences can exert the pressure.
Increase in commodity product prices: The continuous rise in the commodity prices can seize the profit margin of Wal-Mart and due to that company lose its competitive advantage. For instance, if the price increases then the cost difference among the retailers can decline and rivalry can shift to product from price (Yglesias, 2015). Therefore, in such situation Wal-Mart may lose market cap and customer circle.
Motivation: The leaders use their leadership practices to influence and motivate the employees to have effective involvement in the decision making process. The leaders fully contribute themselves in boosting employee morally so that they can contribute or participate in the important discussion and put forward their viewpoint. This type of practice can be termed as participative leadership style. That helps the leaders to use their skill and experience for the betterment of the company (Persky & Merriman, 2012). Moreover, the participative practice makes the leaders positive and enhances their performance. Further, leader can be able to build strong bonding with the employees and can exert better performance from the employees.
Consistency: Team leaders of this company can be able to make decision in the absence of senior manager for the employees and make them more consistent towards their work approach. Management can allow leader to make decision regarding the employee’s work if any senior official is not present. On the other hand, if the employee is having conflict with another then team leader can step in and make decision to make changes in team so that work can be carried in consistent and productive way (Lutz Allen, Smith & Da Silva, 2013). Therefore such practice can be effective for better leadership. Thus, it allows team leaders to make decision when management is absent for the benefit of the employees and company.
Develop Secure Environment: The leader through their aura creates a sense of secure environment among the workers that makes them feel safe and motivated. The leaders have regular communication with the workers so that their problem or feedback can be known regarding the assigned job (Haiven, 2013). Thus, if the employees are having difficulty then leaders guide and direct them to handle the situation and also encourage them to have reliable communication with others. This helps the leaders to boost energy and motivate them to improve productivity and efficiency. Leader can introduce new ways in their leadership style so that company can have success and be able withstand tough challenges from its competitors.
Engagement of people: According to scholarly leadership theory that is participative leadership theory, one of the major weaknesses is that leader may take long time for providing solution to the problem (Hatami, Prince & de Uster, 2013). If a worker is having issues with their co-workers then the employee may not take up their issues to leader as the employee is not involved in any activities or process. Therefore, the employees may not participate to have a communication with leader. Delay in the decision process can result in frustration and employees may not be doing their best work. Thus, leader needs to make quick decision rather quickly otherwise this may cause slow down in productivity (Corporate.walmart.com, 2015).
Less support from employees: The participative leadership theory may not be successful in every workplace environment. In the given situation, the leader may not be receiving the expected support from the employees as the employees may not be happy with act of their leader and his/her decision (Bc.edu, 2015). Moreover, a wrong feeling can be generated in the less skilled employees and they may not be able to perform their work as per their expectation. On the other hand, the leader can have assumption that goals of the individuals are same with that of organizational goals. Therefore, the leader may not be correct at that point.
Information Sharing: The leader may not be interested in sharing the sensitive business information with the employees. Therefore, the employees may feel that the leader do not trust them and the employees may also not share their information with the leaders or management (Chang & Lee, 2013). On the other hand, if the ideas of the employees are not accepted then they can feel alienated that can create a feeling of ill will. Thus it can have direct impact on the productivity or performance of the company (Bonanno & Goetz, 2012). Moreover, the employee may not feel motivated and they may take negative approach towards the leader. Therefore, it can be difficult for the leader to make them understand the situation and brining positive environment at the work place.
Theory X-Theory: The Company has to direct the employees honestly and provide right guidance so that productivity of the company can be increased. On the other hand, it can motivate the employees to deliver their best effort that can be beneficial for the company to increase revenue and profit margin. Apart from that, if the leader finds that employee is not performing well then leader cam allot punishment. Therefore, in order to not get punishment the employee will perform well and will improve their efficiency. The leader has to be positive in their action and has to lead with integrity so that each employee can coordinate with them (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2014). Therefore, it can improve the relationship among the employees and value of the company can increase. Thus, in order to register growth, Wal-Mart has to provide guidance to leader and relevant information so that the leader can generate better efficiency and productivity from workers (Robinson-Walker, 2013).
Path Goal Theory: The leader of the organization has to provide skill and knowledge development training to employees so that they can highly contribute to towards the goal of organizations. As the leader is mostly associated with the employees and know the strengths and weakness of the employees. Therefore, leaders can provide better solution to the problem of workers (Kenny, 2012). This would save time of the organization and the work can be carried in quick manner and management can shift their concentration on other major activities that can bring glory to the company. Wal-Mart has to treat leader with respect and right salaries should be provided as it can help in increasing the growth rate of the company and attaining goals (Ulrich & Smallwood, 2013).
Learning centered leadership: The major focus has to be given on people of the company as focusing on the employees’ effectiveness; the company can be able to attain their requirements for job and achieve organizational goals of providing quality service to consumer. Therefore, team leader has to be given proper learning about the work and way of associating with seniors. This would help in engaging the workers to perform their best and Wal-Mart can be able to increase their brand value and number of products sold to the consumers (Lutz Allen, Smith & Da Silva, 2013).
On the other hand, the organization has to provide better working environment so that work can be carried out without any confusion or conflict. Therefore, training can be provided to the leader and employees to understand the goal of the Wal-Mart and its objectives. Thus, it can enhance the skill of leaders and better direction can be delivered to the workers (Roberts & Berg, 2012).
Conclusion
It can be concluded from whole study that, leadership practice is effective for the organization to excel in the market and receive great effort from the employees. Wal-Mart is able to positively influence by leadership style that helps the company in gaining quality information and decision from the primary leader. On the other hand, SWOT analysis has been conducted of Wal-Mart to know its potential and weakness to survive in the market. Apart from that, strengths and weakness of leadership practice of primary leader has been discussed so that recommendation can be provided. Therefore, it will help in enhancing the performance of leader and Wal-Mart for long period.
References
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Chang, W., & Lee, C. (2013). Virtual team e-leadership: The effects of leadership style and conflict management mode on the online learning performance of students in a business-planning course. Br J Educ Technol, 44(6), 986-999. doi:10.1111/bjet.12037
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Hatami, H., Prince, S., & de Uster, M. (2013). Sales Growth Through Strategic Leadership. Leader To Leader, 2013(68), 57-63. doi:10.1002/ltl.20076
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Keselman, D. (2012). Ethical Leadership. Holistic Nursing Practice, 26(5), 259-261. doi:10.1097/hnp.0b013e318263f2da
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