Title of Assignment: international business & strategy,

A Case Study on Wal-Mart Company

Executive summary
Wal-Mart Company operates under four corporate strategies in the change
management; dominating the retail markets expansion in the USA and the global markets,
creating the best brands and branching up new-retail sectors. The strategies by the Wal-Mart
public affairs strategy need to function so that they can identify and implement change
management. This has enabled the company to get into other sectors within the international
businesses.
The public affairs of the company in the international business strategy have been
found to work well in connection with the corporate strategy. This has worked best due the
strategies that address on negative feeling that some people have towards the company that it
encroaches so many retail sectors in the economy (KETELHOHN 1993). The addressing of
these concerns has enabled the Wal-Mart Company thrives in the international business
making it enjoy continued success in the global market and its name recognized in the
international market.

Introduction
The international business strategy is described as all the plans that guide all the
commercial transactions happening between businesses across the world. Most of the
organizations at one point of their supply chain management deal with an international
partner which becomes very important to their success (KETELHOHN 1993). The paper will
focus on the change management identification and implementation, the potential issues and
pitfalls and the strategic leadership of Wal-Mart Company.

The organizational change management identification and implementation of

the Wal-Mart Company

Change management identification and implementation in Wal-Mart Company

entails the activities that are related to ensuring that the company can adopt the new
technology and the new customer service systems. The effective use of the change
management has been one of the core factors of the strategies to transform the company in its
processes, technology and the employees that has enhanced its performance and ensuring
continuous improvement in the changing business environment. The companys change
management that is comprehensive and well-structured has been critical to the success of its
projects and therefore leading to important changes.

Potential issues in change management of the Wal-Mart Company

Change management has been one of the problems that face the Company due to the
disagreements on the factors that influences the initiatives for transformations. In this regard,
it is observed that the managers in the Wal-Mart Company look on the initiatives on the
different perspective based on their personal experience and also focusing on the different
factors of success. The experts in the company too usually give their perspectives to the
change initiative. All these ideas have had great to offer to the company, but in the cases
where they are taken together in tackling the priorities of the company the skills and the
resources are affected. To accompany change, the company executives have found it
necessary to use different approaches in different areas within the company (ELLIS &
WILLIAMS 1995).
The change management in the Wal-Mart Company has been focusing on the soft
issues like the leadership, the culture of the company and the motivation. These elements
have been significant in the companys success but when it comes to managing them, it
appears insufficient in the implementation of the change management since the soft factors
do not affect the results of the change programs directly.

The company has had an issue on worrying about time in the implementation of the
change programs. In this regard, they tend to assume that those initiatives that take the long
time are likely to fall. This has resulted to the closure of their opportunities, forgetting their
objectives, loss of enthusiasm and consequently the company has accumulated so many
problems.

Theoretical constructs in the change management

The Wal-Mart company change management identification and implementation can
be based on various theoretical constructs. The theories include
The change valence theory
This theory is drawn on the company motivation in which the commitment to change
depends on the change valence. According to the theory, it can be seen that the more the
company will value the change management; it is likely to implement the change. Change
valence brings more theoretical coherence and the drivers of change management (LENZ &
ENGLEDOW 1986).
The theory of the change efficacy
This theory is drawn on the social cognitive theory, whereby it is proposed that
change efficacy largely depends on the members of the company. In the formulation of the
change management the Wal-Mart Company members have shared, assimilated and also
integrated the information on change implementation and resources to implement the change
management. The company has also considered some situational factors like time in the
implementation of the change management and also whether the internal environment of the
company supports the change.
Potential pitfalls and solutions in change management

The big size of the Wal-Mart company has attracted some major problems in its
operations despite its popularity. Some of the problems faced by the company include;
Discrimination in the workplace
Many women who work in the Wal-Mart Company have raised a claim over
discrimination in the areas of promotion. In their complaint, they state that promotions are
given to male staff members, and they are denied such opportunities
High cost of implementing changes in the company and also the potential misuse of the data
by the consumer.
High cost is associated with the time that is needed to implement the required change,
greater changes require more time for the company to implement. To solve the problem, WalMart company has enacted the policies in which the implementation costs will be shared with
the suppliers of the company and also provide some financial incentives to the suppliers who
can increase the company efficiency (EARLEY & SINGH 2000). A good example is seen in
the cases where the company leases the systems of the computers to its suppliers and finally
offer some discounts to the suppliers that increase their efficiencies in their processes.
In addressing the potential problem of the misuse of the consumers data, the
Company and its suppliers have ensured the strict adherence of the ethical policies and the
guidelines that have been set. The policies guide them on the gathering of the data, data
storage and also in the use of the data that is personally identifiable. Sometimes it becomes
tempting to share some data with a third party in return of payment but this does not show the
best way and strategies in attaining the confidence of the consumer and also their consent in
the process(EARLEY & SINGH 2000).

Key strategic issues about change management and strategic leadership in WalMart Company

Wal-Mart Company is holding the record of being among the best-performing

companies in the world. Despite this, the company has not fully implemented its strategic
plan in change management and leadership fully especially when it comes to the public
relations. This has led to the bad impression of the company to their retail who view them as
bully and tyrant. There are some major strategic issues in the change management and
leadership that the company needs to adopt, the strategic issues include;
Adoption of friendly corporate attitude
This has been observed in the company in their attempt of displaying a cheery attitude
towards the public, but in the real sense, the Wal-Mart Company is very aggressive, in this
regard getting into understanding to the labor that is well-organized is needed. The company
leadership and management have the mandate of easing the company way to the global
market rather than barging in and end up purchasing other companies. The use of the above
strategy will enable the company becomes popular in the whole world and the largest retail
with popular stores (SODERQUIST 2005).
The corporate strategy of Wal-Mart
The Company has remained aggressive in its change management and its strategic
leadership. However, the company has gone out of its way and appears to be ruthless making
the public to have a bad perception that the company is there to destroy the community. The
company is working on this issue to shut down the perception of the public and therefore
providing jobs to the local people in the community. The company has also stopped
circumventing the laws when constructing new facilities. And this strategy has demonstrated
how the company can be a good neighbor to the community around (SODERQUIST 2005).
.

Wal-Mart Company has also introduced a strategy of charity work to the public. The

company in the change management sends their managers to and the executives to the local
people and gives their time in good and meaningful way. Such donations are strategy to

expand their present pace which would eventually raise their profits immensely.
Wal-Mart Company has also initiated the strategy of anti-unionization and therefore
allowing the employees to have their unions. Just like any other organization, Wal-Mart
company is driven by profit and therefore encouraging the trend so that their profitability
may increase.
Finally, the company has initiated a strategy in the change management in which they
utilize their political capital fully so as to expand overseas. In this regard, the leaders have
bent their beliefs and therefore took into consideration the reaction of the local community.
The strategy has begun through dealing with the Japanese retailers. This strategy requires that
the Wal-Mart Company learn more on different cultures in the countries that they operate
(Canadian Business, 1996).
Change and leadership activities in Wal-Mart Company
Wal-Mart Company has made an outline of the leadership and the changes in the
global retail operations. The changes have been driven by the corporate employees all over
the world and who have higher expectations on the company leadership and change
management. The expectations of the company are to change the global environment that
they operate in so that their company can evolve rapidly.
The companys efforts have reflected some major successes and the challenges which have
made it more popular and mainstreaming the movement towards the sustainability.
The sustainability in the leadership challenge of the Wal-Mart company
The experiences of the company have depicted the fact that sustainability is a core
factor to the leadership of the organization. Leadership challenges of the company have
greatly been associated with sustainability in the regard of the first- and last miles in the
journey of sustainability. The first mile of the sustainability constitutes of the technological
change in the company. This happens when the companys demand is low, and this enables

the sustainability culture in the company and after the company made some small changes in
the technological innovations. The leadership challenge in the last mile in the Wal-Mart
Company sustainability involves getting to reach outside of the company to influence the
customers, competitors and the suppliers sustainability. In response to the above leadership
challenges, Wal-Mart Company has initiated strategies and tactics with the aim of fostering
the company commitment to sustainability in leading the global world (Canadian Business,
1996).
Creating sustainable change and leadership within the company
The change and leadership of the company usually start within. The key elements to
leadership include the setting and communication of the companys goals, understanding how
the goals will be achieved and engaging all the levels of leadership in change management in
solving the companys problem and implementation. It can be noted from the company that
there is no stakeholder, nor any resource can achieve the set goals without the efforts of
sustainability which enables them to be interdependent (Canadian Business, 1996).
`Wal-Mart began the change in leadership initiatives in the same manner that the
leaders looked on the business comprehensively and set their targets. The company calls this
sustainability 360 which contains the following; eliminations of resource wastage,
empowerment by the renewable energy and selling the products that are sustainable. It is also
crucial to note that the above goals by the Wal-Mart company are inspired based on the social
and ethical issues of the company and more so tied directly to the bottom line of the
company.

Conclusion
These practices have shown that leadership in the change management need to
articulate the means by which change will fit the companys mission and vision and also

indicate how these efforts can fit the companys duties. When the goals of change
management and leadership are conceived at the top management they will cascade down
and become more contagious and the employees will change their perception and thinking. In
this regard for a deep commitment to changes in the company, it is very important that the
leadership in the top level management support and also participate otherwise the employees
may become hesitant to the change (LASZLO 2008).
It is clearly seen that the journey towards change and leadership in the Wal-Mart
company is not short. As the company diversifies one of the key efforts to change is ensuring
that message will be instilled to the culture of the company such that the company employees
became more committed and dedicated to being active in participating in the change efforts.
It is also important to achieve essential change and leadership so as to achieve bold
sustainability in the goals of the company and also in engaging the important people who are
outside the company.
Recommendations
There have been some obstacles to change in the Wal-Mart company which is its
business model. This model usually imposes severe limitations to the price increase in the
company products due to the fear that its market will be taken away by the competitors. In
this regard, Wal-Mart Company should, therefore, generate the return on equity which is
comparable to satisfy the Wall Street and other investors. The growth in the companys profit
comes from the expansion of its activities in the global world and also through procuring the
goods and the services at least prices and therefore using hazardous conditions of work in
trying to contribute to the profits. Wal-Mart (LASZLO 2008).
The most-effective way to bring change in the company is by the pressure that the
consumers put on the retailers so as to ensure that the goods that they produce are safe to
consume and that the wages are fair. Additionally, it is recommended that the companys

leaders in the change management should have a good size in the equity interest of the
company with a supply chain that is significant in the operations. The shareholders in the
company have also been recommended to exert pressure on the company so as to ensure they
abide by their code of conduct and build the good reputation and also sustainable growth.

References
CANADIAN BUSINESS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS "A giant, yes. Gentle, no: WalMart stumbles into a cultural chasm" January, 1996 V.69: 23,24.

KETELHOHN ESCOBAR, W. (1993). International business strategy. Oxford,

Butterworth Heinemann.
ELLIS, J., & WILLIAMS, D. (1995). International business strategy. London
[England], Pitman Pub.
LENZ, R. T., & ENGLEDOW, J. L. (1986). Environmental analysis: The applicability
of current theory. Strategic Management Journal. 7, 329-346
EARLEY, P. C., & SINGH, H. (2000). Innovations in international and crosscultural management. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.
SODERQUIST, D. (2005). The Wal-Mart way: the inside story of the success of the
world's largest company. Nashville, T. Nelson.
LASZLO, C. (2008). Sustainable value: how the world's leading companies are
doing well by doing good. Stanford, Calif, Stanford Business Books.