preview

Walmart Hr Practices Essay

Decent Essays

Wal-Mart’s main strategy has been to become a price leader through efficiency and processing, and in doing this it has positioned itself as the world’s largest retailer, accounting for ten percent of the United States’ two and a half percent annual productivity growth over the past decade (Solman, 2004). This success has not come without a cost though. Wal-Mart has faced much criticism, as well as litigation, for its human resource (HR) policies, being accused of underpaying and demanding too much of its associates. Research has shown (Bernardin, 2007) that HR practices are the leading indicators of lagging financial performance measures, but Wal-Mart is making itself an exception to this rule. The discrepancy between Wal-Mart’s poor …show more content…

Also of great impact is Wal-Mart’s prices, which are on average fourteen percent lower than its competitors (Solman, 2004). This difference is compelling enough for consumers to look past the negative image of the store, created by its poor employee relations, and continue to support it with their business. The current weakening economic state of the United States makes price an even more important factor in consumer value and only strengthens Wal-Mart’s competitive advantage. In general, employee satisfaction, dependent on employer HR policies, has a considerable impact on customer satisfaction and in turn the financial success of a corporation, but in Wal-Mart’s case, it is not so. Wal-Mart has distinguished itself as a price leader and its success in doing this has created customer value that outweighs dissatisfied employees and their impact on customers. Wal-Mart has worked to minimize the potential negative impact that its discontented employees can have on customers by increasing its use of technology in the day-to-day activities once performed by its employees and by making its associate positions easily filled. This reduces the need for favorably-viewed HR policies, as if an employee does not perform up to the

Get Access