Management and Leadership Development Program of the WalMart Company

Part 2-Capstone Project: Walmart Company
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Part 2-Capstone Project: Walmart Company
Management and leadership are two critical processes for every organization. Leadership involves directing and coordinating people within the organization to uphold the mission and goals (Bratton, 2020). Organizational leadership and management are multifaceted and constitute understanding the company values, time management, communication, and planning. However, the leadership and management depend on the company in which one works. The paper addresses Walmart as the company under analysis and its leadership and management scope. According to Shadid (2018), an organizational leader must have key skills such as motivation, effective communication, and problem-solving. Besides, the team leader must also participate in setting reasonable goals, cooperation, and bolstering teamwork. Organizational leadership also incorporates communicating vision and mission through a reliable strategic plan and inclusivity. Therefore, the identified key elements of leadership are essential in promoting organizational success.
Additionally, change is a significant element of organizational leadership and management. An organizational change refers to the shift in the strategies, structure, technologies, and operational methodologies (Ketchen et al., 2017). Therefore, organizational change requires proper leadership and a well-executed communication framework. Training, development, and innovation are key elements of promoting organizational change. Sartori et al. (2018) note that with the consideration of innovation, development, and training concepts, new leadership ideologies for effective change management. Psychologically, team innovation reduces potential risks likely to minimize organizational change. Therefore, addressing the leadership role in promoting organizational change is essential. The paper is important from a management and leadership perspective since it addresses the key interventions for enhancing change in Walmart. The major leadership issues that the paper addresses are change and communication. The main reason for choosing Walmart is the leadership and management concerns in its management and leadership program.
Organization Overview
The suitable organization chosen for the project is Walmart. Walmart is an American company that operates different grocery, discount, and hypermarkets (Walmart Company, 2022). The company is headquartered in Arkansas, Bentonville. It was established in 1962 by Sam Walton and worked in different countries. Regarding the company's size, it operates in twenty-four countries and comprises 10,585 stores (Walmart Company, 2022). Besides, Walmart works using different names depending on the area. For example, in Canada, it is called Walmart de Mexico, while in the United States, it is termed Walmart. Due to its international presence, the company has reached out to different marketing niches. Therefore, the company is adequately large and needs proper leadership and management.
Regarding the number of employees, the company has 2.2 million employees. The company is also ranked as the largest globally based on revenue. For instance, its annual revenue is $ 570 billion annually (Volpe & Boland, 2022). The company is publicly traded, and the highest revenue of the company is retrieved from the United States. Besides, it was listed on NYSE in 1972 and had a better position in the market. Due to its history as an aspect, the company has a better chance of improving and exploiting more markets and adequately expanding. Therefore, leadership and proper management are critical due to the large size of the company in terms of employees and revenues.
Regarding the business types, the company works in grocery stores, department stores, and different chains of hypermarkets. The identified business types determine the smooth operations of the company. The company's ownership is based on the Walton family. However, it is publicly traded, making it easy to access different locations. It is an example of a Multinational Corporation. The current locations are 24 countries, with the main location in the United States (Walmart Company, 2022). The key background information shows a better position of the company in terms of location, revenue, and size. However, the company also faces different issues which must be addressed to ensure smooth governance and growth. Therefore, a better leadership and management approach would allow the company to grow and expand.
Overview of the current Management and Leadership Program in Walmart
Business need
The key business needs for the company's management and leadership development are change management and effective communication. According to Bambale et al. (2017), relationships, including employee commitment, motivating employees, and trust building, are essential for leadership practices. Organizational change requires a well-established leadership framework that meets the employees' needs and demands. Organizational change also requires adequate engagement with the employees to suppress any available resistance (Dzwigol et al., 2019). Therefore, it would be necessary to incorporate the employees in the change management. Secondly, effective change implementation needs suppression of resistance and collaboration with the employees. It is also necessary to focus on suitable strategies such as employee education. Walmart has consistently faced change resistance and communication issues. There is a need to establish a reliable leadership program to reduce change resistance and offer an effective communication system to ensure collaboration and growth among the management and company.
Current Development Process (Walmart)
Walmart's current leadership development program is meant to provide leaders with adequate knowledge in specific areas such as change resistance management and effective communication. The program's main aim is to mobilize the new aspiring leaders for high-quality management. The current program has different inefficiencies which the new leadership program must address.
Training Process
The current program also relies on a reliable training process. The training process is based on Walmart academy. Walmart academy offers a specific program that mobilizes young leaders, assistant managers, department managers, and supervisors (Stomski, 2022). Walmart academy is also essential since it offers a leadership training process between 2 and 6 weeks. The training process is efficient since it focuses on a clear leadership path and allows the organization to achieve its goals. Walmart also uses a reliable training framework to generate high-quality leaders and associates. The program allows aspiring leaders to understand modern leaders' key challenges and ways to minimize them. Besides, the training process is facilitated by high-quality and experienced trainers. Besides, the leadership program also focuses on specific communication strategies such as proper feedback and time management. Therefore, it is significant to justify that with an effective training process; it is easy to focus on better leadership ideologies and growth.
Leadership Development Techniques
The program also uses leadership development techniques to transfer didactic knowledge to aspiring leaders and associates. The common leadership technique that the current program utilizes is using practical models. For instance, the main model is the 5-step leadership model. The first step of the model is the development of a high-performance culture. The model allows the leaders to understand the leadership culture development. The main aim of building a leadership culture is to suppress possible challenges such as resistance. Secondly, the model enhances leadership effectiveness. The aspiring leaders focus on enhancing their leadership effectiveness which depends on skill building. The effectiveness of a leader is defined by the skills they acquire. The key skills need proper decision-making, problem-solving, and communication. Whenever a leader can meet specific leadership threshold in the programs, it is easy to adequately control the organization. The main aim of the leadership techniques in the current program is to create high-quality leaders with unique skills. However, it leaves out some areas which must be evaluated and improved in the new program. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the key efficiencies and inefficiencies.
Two efficiencies
Understanding the efficiencies of the current program is suitable for specific improvements. Efficiency is the ability to meet end goals without using more energy. A leadership program is efficient whenever it meets the expected result without using the extreme resource. The first efficiency is providing leaders with problem decision-making skills. Problem decision-making is a reliable skill that every leader requires. According to Bhardwaj et al. (2021), a leader with reliable problem-solving skills can deal with issues effectively after diagnosis and analysis. Besides, effective problem-solving skills allow the leaders to work collaboratively with the employees and adequately minimize possible problems. Therefore, the efficiency makes the program valid and high qualitative.
Controlling and coordination form the basis for the program's second efficiency. As a leader, it is essential to understand and coordinate different activities. Coordination is the process of working collectively with the employees with minimal restrains. A leader should properly react and ensure every employee is adequately satisfied. Controlling involves regulating and restraining the employees' activities and responsibilities to ensure goal achievement. Control and coordination are critical requirements for effective organizational management. Therefore, the program is efficient since it considers necessary skills for management and leadership.
Two inefficiencies
Regardless of the different efficiencies, the program also consists of specific inefficiencies that must be addressed in the new program. Inefficiency is the inability to meet the specific threshold or use more resources to meet specific goals. The key inefficiency is the inability of the program to embrace communication effectiveness and execution. Communication is a vital aspect for every manager or leader. A leader must actively and timely engage the team to ensure they mobilize them towards achieving the established goals. A leader must also ensure that communication challenges are timely managed and any issues such as job confusion resolved through effective communication. Lastly, communication clarity is also essential since it provides a better ground for understanding existing roles. Therefore, the inefficiency must be considered in the new leadership program.
Poor change management is also a critical inefficiency that needs to be addressed in the new leadership program. Change management is a critical element and skill every leader must have for organizational success. Effective change management allows the leaders to coordinate and control the team. Lastly, effective change management also suppresses resistance which is a major problem in leadership. Therefore, the new management and leadership development program must improve the two inefficiencies.
New Management and Leadership Development Program
The new management and leadership development program is based on the inefficiencies of the current program. For instance, it is noted that communication and change management are critical concerns in the company's program. The new program will ensure that all the issues and concerns are promptly and effectively addressed. Effective management and leadership programs must consider all the skills that allow the leaders to be highly qualitative and meet the teams' needs and expectations. Besides, it also allows them to build a substantiated framework for professional growth and development. The new management and leadership development program prepares the current and future leaders by exhausting the key leadership skills using unique leadership models. Besides, it also takes note of the increased digitalization and innovation considering digitalized leadership techniques that are applicable in the future. Innovation is an essential aspect of the management and leadership field. A leader should recognize the innovative values of the team and mobilize to add to the organization's value and growth. Therefore, the leadership program opts to improve the skills of the current and future leaders by transferring didactic leadership knowledge to them.
Proposed Program and Business Need
The new program capitalizes on the business need. The company requires effective change management through executing reliable communications. The organizational change needs a well-established leadership framework that meets the employees' needs and can only be achieved through the new leadership program. Organizational change requires adequate employee engagement to suppress any available resistance, which is not evident in the current leadership program. Therefore, it would be necessary to incorporate the employees in the change management, which is the ultimate goal of the present leadership program. Secondly, effective change implementation needs suppression of resistance and collaboration with the employees through informing the need and roles of such leadership or management changes. Lastly, the program also focuses on suitable strategies such as employee education and awareness to ensure they achieve reliability. Walmart has consistently faced change resistance and communication issues. Therefore, the new management and leadership program will meet the identified business need.
Target Audience and the Proposed Program: Current leaders seeking to further their leadership knowledge
The main target is the current leaders who need to expand their knowled...