Abstract
The company I chose to write about is Walmart, in this paper I will be describing the Organizational structure, and also explain the importance of effective Supply Chain integration in an organization. Due to Walmart holding such a strong leadership position in the Global market its supply chain management according to (flash global.com 2017) overall methods and main components line up with most supply chains like purchasing, operations, distribution, and integration. Walmart has 120 million square foot network it has 160 distribution centers located within 130 miles of their designated stores”.
Walmart is working specifically with manufactures to cut cost and oversee inventory management all more effectively, they additionally
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Walmart organizational structure has helped them to remain at the top of all other retail business.
Walmart the world’s largest retail corporation operates in a wide variety of geographic area ranges from the United States to china and India. The corporation is separated into districts, and regional managers are assigned to all the locations to manage and oversee all stores within that region with a chain of command that is designed from top to bottom. The span of control for the organization is narrow and is set up with management teams that decide how goods are priced, how the goods get from one location to the next and how items are being managed.
Supply Chain Integration
According to National Academic Press (2000) “Supply Chain Integration is how people in an organization come together with their trading partners working together to achieve a common goal, using management techniques, and working together to optimize their collective performance in the creation, distribution, and support of an end product’. It is designed to increase the flow of product efficiency and profitability.
According to Walter “Within an organization, integration might be accomplished in seven steps that start with separate logistics activities, recognizing that logistics are important for success, make improvements to the separate activities, internal integration, developing a logistics strategy to set
Walmart is the preeminent organization that was established by Sam Walton in 1962 and now Walmart’s leads globally including Canada. Walmart was first started as small discount store with the slogan of “more for less”, and now it has grown worldwide in last five decades into the one of the biggest retailer across the globe. And today Walmart controls over 11,000 retail unit under 65 banners in 28 countries with workforce of 2.2 million associates across the globe whereas 1.4million in the U.S alone. Walmart also hires full time and part time employees with the minimum qualification. Company targets the domestic customer looking for more with less spending power. Walmart has deals going throughout the year with amazing offers which fulfills customers need.
Wal-Mart also has the core competency in terms of a superior logistics system. Despite being one of the largest global retailers that is located in various parts of the world, Wal-Mart operates with a state-of-the-art
Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. Wal-Mart controls over 11,500 stores in 28 countries around the world. It was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton. Walmart’s CEO is Doug McMillon and the Chairperson of Board of Directors is Greg Penner. Walmart as we know it today evolved from Sam Walton’s goals for great value and great customer service. He
Evidently, Wal-Mart is not doing anything to differentiate itself from rivals. It gives no frills to self-service outlets always providing the cheapest prices. Through a well-built influence with suppliers, the company has gained the power to manipulate prices and amend manufacturing procedures thus wringing out more savings for its customers. All that the company does from the frequent calls to suppliers to doubling up execs in hotel rooms aimed at saving the
Wal-Mart is one of the biggest retailer of its time who was known for being the major private sector employer worldwide. It has become an enormous company by identifying the market gap regarding customer services. They have tried to fulfill this gap through their market research of both small and large towns. As quoted in the case study Wal-Mart’s focus was on building up an efficient supply chain management system as it claims “Supply chain management is moving the right items to the right customer at the right time by the most efficient means.”
Initially Walmart presumed that their age old strategy that has worked for them for many years would be easy to replicate in a global setting. The question you have to ask yourself is, why wouldn’t it? Part of the problem is that Walmart failed to focus on the four elements of a global organization; Organization Structure, Management Processes, People, and Culture (Yip & Hult, 2012). When Walmart decided to make their first move in the early 90’s to enter the global market, they were lacking mostly in organization structure, management processes, and culture. The mentality of being the biggest retailer in the United States was not enough, operating in the global arena is different.
A few reasons as to why Wal-Mart became a leader in the retail industry is due to their practices in obtaining competitive advantage by offering the lowest prices for the market. Wal-Mart built their practices by giving suppliers transparency to meet the demand of customers and granting them long-term relationships by purchasing goods in bulks. In addition, their turn times on inventory are three-five days faster than regular competitors. The inventory shelves are similar to Honda since they only hold up to four hours of inventory in their manufacturing site. Also, Wal-Mart holds their own transportation which is why they can manage their costs efficiently for the company. Their transportations system constitutes links between suppliers, distribution centers and retail stores. They have restrictive criteria for drivers where in order for them to be hired they would have to be accident free for a consistency of minimum 300,000 miles accident free. The supply chain practice that they have gained since they began the business was strategically faster and cheaper than all competitors. 85% of Walmart’s inventory is taken care of by their own transportation system and only about fifteen percent is taken care of by the suppliers through cross-docking. Wal-Mart uses
Let us begin with pricing and procurement strategy; this allows Wal-Mart to purchase their inventory in bulk and negotiate on prices rather than buy out items for full price and lose profit. By doing this, their company is able to guarantee that they will not only make a profit for themselves, but have a great turnout as well. Wal-Mart is able to negotiate for discounts with whoever their suppliers are, receiving their items in bulk rather than piece by piece. Second, Wal-Mart is able to enter into agreements with their suppliers- an agreement that will last for a long time rather than have to deal with separate suppliers every time they want to put in an order for their company. Next they are able to deal directly with their producers rather than have someone do it for them, in this way they can guarantee that they are getting every penny’s worth of their money and that they do not have to deal with anyone else getting into their agreement between the manufactures and the company itself. Lastly, by having this step, Wal-Mart is able to
First, financial resources and capabilities. It is the world 's largest company by revenue, and the largest retailer in the world. Walmart is a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family, who own over 50 percent of Walmart through their holding company, Walton Enterprises. It is also one of the world 's most valuable companies and is also the largest grocery retailer in the US. (Wikipedia) Thus, it have
All supply chains are integrated to some point. One objective of increasing integration is focusing and coordinating the relevant resources of each participant on the needs of the supply chain to optimize the overall performance of the chain. The integration process, requires the disciplined application of management skills, processes, and technologies to couple key functions and capabilities of the chain and take advantage of the available business opportunities. Goals typically include higher profits and reduced risks for all participants, retailers, wholesalers, or manufacturers.
Walmart—This $245 billion dollar mass market retailer has a budget larger than many small countries. It operates over 3,400 stores in the U.S. alone. Walmart has achieved this unprecedented dominance as a result of savvy business practices, including operating the leanest supply chains in business today and making visionary use of technology. Walmart products move off the shelves faster than anywhere else and the time it takes to replenish inventory can be measured in hours, not days.
In the digital era, innovation is the only way to success. Innovation in business means doing something different in a better and smatter way that will make a difference regarding quality, value or productivity by use of technology. Information technology has been the main thing that has been used in propelling the business to the next stage of innovation. Wal-Mart, the world largest retailer, was facing inventory management in all its branches leading to low- sales. From its inception, Wal-Mart has relied on the supply chain in contributing to its success. The company used fewer links in the supply chain as part of its innovation that will enhance its success in 1980. Before 2014, the company had engaged in previous attempts of incorporating technology in its activities since 2003. However, the technology was abandoned in 2009 as it did not solve any problem for the company. However, the same technology was incorporated into the business in 2014 which ensured that there were transparency and efficiency in supply chain leading to enormous success in the company.
Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. Wal-Mart controls over 11,500 stores in 28 countries around the world. It was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton. Walmart’s CEO is Doug McMillon and the Chairperson of Board of Directors is Greg Penner. Walmart as we know it today evolved from Sam Walton’s goals for great value and great customer service. He
Walmart is equally ranked among the highly valuable companies, in terms of market value, as well as the biggest grocery retailer where it generates more than 51% of its sales from the grocery business. This paper explores Walmart’s operation management with regard to supply chain characteristics, global business operations, production processes, the company commitment to quality and excellence, inventory methodologies, operational planning and movement towards lean processes (Massengill, 2013).
Wal-Mart stores, one of the most successful retailing chain in the world, has gain competitive advantage over its competitors. Thanks to his unique set of features, like its powerful IT system, its way of manage suppliers or its logistic system, Wal-Mart is able to responds quickly at demand changing, maintain low costs and satisfy its customers.