Analysis of Walmart Case Study

The report is based on the case study related to Walmart. The issues that have been faced by Walmart in the global operations in countries like, South Korea, Germany and Russia have been discussed in the case study. The analysis will be mainly related to the identification of the key issues and the drivers of these issues as well.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Executive Summary
The report is based on the case study related to Walmart. The issues that have been faced by
Walmart in the global operations in countries like, South Korea, Germany and Russia have
been discussed in the case study. The analysis will be mainly related to the identification of
the key issues and the drivers of these issues as well. The study will be based on the impact
that these problems have on the revenues and image of the company. The goals that can be
set by Walmart in order to improve its global operations have been discussed in the report in
detail. The different goals have been analysed with respect to the SMART criteria. The
SMART goals are based on time that is taken by the organization in order to develop its
position in Germany and to maintain the profitability levels as well. The recommendations
that have been provided in the report are mainly related to the methods that can be
implemented by Walmart in order to fulfil the goals that have been set. The proper
achievement of the goals can play a key part in the methods by which the company can
improve the awareness levels of the products that are offered to the consumers. The report is
able to offer a complete study related to the ways by which Walmart can enhance its revenue
levels in the industry.

2ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Key issues faced by Walmart.........................................................................................3
Options and goals of Walmart........................................................................................8
Recommendations provided to Walmart based on the goals.......................................11
Conclusion....................................................................................................................12
References....................................................................................................................14
Appendices...................................................................................................................17
Appendix 1...............................................................................................................17
Appendix 2...............................................................................................................18

3ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Introduction
Walmart Inc. is a multinational retail based organization that has originated in the
United States. The organization operates a hypermarket chain, grocery stores and discount
based department stores. The headquarter of Walmart is located in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The organization was founded by Sam Walton in the year 1962 and was incorporated in the
year 1969. Walmart owns the Sam’s Club retail warehouses. The organization currently
functions around 11,348 stores and clubs in more than 25 countries of the world
(Walmart.com 2019).
The organization is currently operating under the name of Walmart in Canada and the
United States. Walmart is operating in the United Kingdom under the brand of Asda. The
organization has gained the leadership position in terms of amounts of revenues that have
been earned in the retail industry. The organization has been successful in developing its
position in different countries with the help of its effective low price based strategies
(Walmart.com 2019).
The analysis in the report will be mainly based on the issues that have been provided
by Walmart based on the provided case study. The goals that have been set by the
organization are the most important part of the report. The main of developing the goals is
built on the methods by which the organization is able to improve its future processes in the
retail industry and maintain its position as well. Recommendations will be provided to the
company based on the ways by which it can achieve the goals and outcomes that have been
developed.

4ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Key issues faced by Walmart
Walmart has aimed at developing its operations in various countries of the world
where different types of cultures are followed. The culture in various countries has an impact
on the ways by which the employees are able to continue their work process and serve the
customers. The countries in which Walmart has developed its operations mainly include,
China, the United Kingdom, parts of South America. The organization employs huge number
of employees in different positions in the stores that are located in the countries. The
company has been successful in gaining an effective customer base in its global operating
areas (Adekola and Sergi 2016).
However, Walmart has slipped from gaining effective profits in some countries.
Germany is one of the major countries in which the organization has failed to develop an
effective position. The company has failed to develop revenues in the country due to lack of
proper satisfaction that is provided to the customers. Other major nations in which Walmart
has failed to develop its operations include, South Korea, India and Russia. The case study
that has been provided is based on the operations of Walmart and the issues which the
organization has faced in Germany, South Korea and Russia (Bird and Mendenhall 2016).
The major issues that can be stated in case of the operations of Walmart in Germany are as
follows,
The major issue which had occurred in the German operations of Walmart is
based on the differences in culture in comparison to the United States.
Walmart had failed in its operations in Russia and is considering an alliance
with other companies that are already operating in the country (Cascio and
Boudreau 2016).
The failure of South Korean operations of Walmart have is due to similar
types of culture based issues.

5ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
The customers of Walmart in Germany had faced issues related to the greeters
that were present in the stores of the organization in various parts of the
country.
The over-confidence levels and non-cooperation by the CEO based on the
language that was to be used by employees had caused a major hindrance in
the operations (Chua, Roth and Lemoine 2015).
The relatively low base pay levels can be considered to be a significant
problem which was faced by Walmart.
The regulations that were followed by Walmart based on business trips were
not satisfactory for the managers. The unions of employees in the organization
have affected the sales of Walmart and the image in the retail industry has
been damaged in a huge manner.
The low priced products have been considered to be of low quality by the
customers in Germany. This has led to loss of sales of Walmart in a huge
manner (Crane, Kawashima and Kawasaki 2016).
The sentiments of the customers and employees have not been taken into
consideration by the management of Walmart.
The ethical guidelines that were set by the organization had been interpreted in
a negative manner by Walmart (Hislop, Bosua and Helms 2018).
According to Hofstede-insights.com (2019), the issues that have been faced by
Walmart in Germany are mainly based on the differences that exist between the cultures of
the country and the culture of the United States. Hofstede’s cultural comparison tool can be
used in order to understand the ways by which Walmart has faced issues in its German
operations. The differences in the culture of the two countries can be analysed with the help

6ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
of this comparison tool. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are based on six major factors that
are as follows,
 Power distance – The German culture is highly centralised in nature and is
supported by the middle class people of the country. The organizations that
operate in the country also follow the centralised nature of management. The
communication process that is used by employees in German organizations is
participative and direct in nature. The levels of inequalities that exist in
American organizations are high. The power distance based factor can be used
for the purpose of determining the ways by which power is divided among the
individuals in the American companies (Holden 2016).
 Individualism – The levels of interdependence is also considered to be a major
factor which is able to explain the culture of different countries. The society of
Germany is highly individualist in nature and the focus on smaller families is
high. The ideal of self-actualization is important for the German population.
The premise of American society is based on the justice and liberty for
everyone. The individualist score of this culture is high and equal rights are
provided with huge importance in the country (Noe et al. 2017).
 Masculinity – German society is masculine in nature and this has an impact on
the value that is provided to the performance of employees. People in this
society consider work to be important for their livelihood. The masculinity
levels in the US society are also high. The behavioural patterns of American
people are able to affect the ways by which they are able to provide their
service in the organization (Pieterse 2015).
 Uncertainty avoidance – The levels of uncertainty avoidance in Germany are
high. The deductive approaches are mainly followed by the people in the

7ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
country in order to deal with the high levels of uncertainty. The score based on
uncertainty avoidance is low in case of the United States. This is able to state
that the people in the American society are much more welcoming towards the
new concepts and ideas in comparison to Germans (Ployhart, Weekley and
Dalzell 2018).
 Long-term orientation – The long term orientation based levels in Germany is
high. People in this country have a belief that the truth related to different
factors is mainly based on the situation, time and the context as well. On the
other hand, the score of American society is quite low in this aspect. The
Americans can be considered to be much less oriented towards the long term
based factors (Roth and Ritter 2015).
 Indulgence – The levels of indulgence in the German society are low and the
culture is restrained in nature. The societies thereby have a major tendency
towards pessimism and cynicism. The restrained societies do not emphasize
on the required leisure time. On the contrary, the indulgence levels in the
American society are high. People in the United States believe in the concept
of “Work hard and play hard”. See Appendix 1 for culture based scores
(Salomon 2016).
The analysis of cultural differences between the two societies has been able to depict
that the issues that have occurred in Walmart are mainly based on the differences that are
present between the two cultures. The organization is not able to operate in a proper manner
due to lack of proper collaboration that can be provided by the employees. The productivity
based levels of the employees have also been reduced due to the ways by which cultural
differences have taken place. Walmart has not been able to satisfy the customers with the
services as the employees were not happy (Nolan 2017).

8ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
The managers in Walmart had also complained about business trips. The issues had
thereby occurred in the organization within the employees and at the managerial levels as
well. The lack of proper organizational environment had thereby led to the poor services that
were offered to the customers in different stores. The cultural differences based “indulgence”
had led to the dissatisfaction of the customers based on greeters who were present in the
stores of Walmart with respect to the format that is followed in the United States. The
inequality levels in the organization also had an impact on the ways by which Walmart has
been able to develop the effective employee base (Saraswathy 2019).
Options and goals of Walmart
As discussed by Schotter et al. (2017), the proper development of the operations of
Walmart in Germany is based on the ways by which the organization can adapt itself to the
local culture in the country. The management needs to take into consideration the factors
based on the cultural tastes of the local employees who are a part of the German operations of
Walmart. Understanding the German retail industry is a major factor that has an impact on
the ways by which Walmart is able to operate. The different goals that can be set by Walmart
in order to gain success in Germany are as follows,
 The strategic goal of Walmart that can help the company to gain its position in
Germany is based on the inclusion of local people in the organizational
operations. The collaboration with local communities can play a key part in
the development of revenues and formation of an effective environment as
well (Song 2018).
 The financial goal that can be set by Walmart in order to improve its
operations in Germany is based on the acquisition of two local retailers. The

9ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
acquisition of German retailers will help the company to develop its
operations in the German market (Spicer and Hyatt 2017).
 The management level based goal of the organization is related to the
development of proper policies that are based on the interests of the managers.
Development of proper training programs for the managers will be able to help
them to adapt to the processes and policies of the organization (Taneja, Sewell
and Odom 2015).
 Another major management level goal that has been set by Walmart is based
on the development of proper benefits that can be provided to the managers.
The organization can reduce the levels of dissatisfaction of the managers with
the help of effective benefits that value their culture as well.
 Developing communication systems in order to develop proper awareness
levels among the customers. The low price of products should not be linked by
customers with the lower quality (Thomas and Peterson 2017).
 Developing diverse line of products in order to compete with the German
retailers like Aldi. The line of products need to be developed by the company
based on the choice of customers in order to meet their expectation levels
(Thomas and Peterson 2017).
 Providing ethical guidelines based training to the employees in order to
educate about the values that are followed by the US based employees. This
can help the organization to develop an environment that is able to provide a
positive environment to the employees. The ethical guidelines are important
for the profitable operations of Walmart in the retail industry of Germany.
Training based on ethical guidelines is thereby highly important for the ways

10ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
by which German culture based values can be followed by the employees
(Turner 2017).
Goal 1 -
S M A R T
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time bound
The acquisition
of two local
retailers needs
to be completed
by Walmart.
The
measurement of
acquisition is
based on the
increase in
revenues of
Walmart.
The goal of
acquisition can
be easily
attained by
Walmart due to
availability of
huge financial
capital.
The relevance
of the goal is
based on
knowledge that
it can provide
based on the
local market.
The time
required for
attaining this
goal is 1 year.
Goal 2 -
S M A R T
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time bound
Proper policies
to be developed
by Walmart.
The goal can be
measured based
on feedback
provided by
employees.
The goal can be
easily attained
by Walmart by
forming the
effective
policies.
The goal is
relevant for
effective
operations of
Walmart.
The goal can be
attained within
six months.

11ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Goal 3 -
S M A R T
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time bound
Effective
benefits need to
be provided to
the managers of
Walmart
Germany.
The goal can be
measured with
respect to
satisfaction
levels of
managers.
The goal can be
attained by
Walmart.
The relevance
of this goal is
high for the
future
operations of
Walmart.
The time
required to
attain this goal
is six months.
Goal 4 -
S M A R T
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time bound
Ethical
guidelines
based training
to be provided
to the managers
of Walmart
Germany.
The goal can be
measured with
the help of
cooperation
between
employees and
managers.
This goal is
easily attainable
by Walmart.
The relevance
level of the
training based
goal is high.
Time required
to achieve the
goal is 1 year.
Recommendations provided to Walmart based on the goals
Walmart has faced major issues that are related to its operations in Germany. The
issues are mainly based on the lack of satisfaction levels of the employees and number of
customers that have been gained as well. The major recommendations that can be provided to
Walmart in order to increase develop its position in Germany are as follows,
 The first recommendation that can be set by Walmart in order to increase its
revenues in Germany is based on the development of a business strategy that

12ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
is Glocal in nature. The global business strategy needs to be formed
considering the demands and needs of local people in Germany. This will help
the company to collaborate with the local people in an effective way and
provide them with services and products that are suitable for them.
 The second recommendation that can be set by Walmart is based on the ways
by which the managerial positions can be provided to the local people. This
will play a major part in the formation of the organizational culture. The
culture will be related to the local values of people in Germany and will be
able to provide a positive work environment that can increase the levels of
productivity. The culture and environment of an organization is able to play
the most important role in increasing the levels of productivity of Walmart in
Germany. The success of the German operations of Walmart is thereby related
to the environment that can be provided to the employees.
 The third recommendation that can be developed by Walmart is based on the
development of labour based policies in such a manner that can fulfil the
demands of employees. The importance of unions and work based culture in
Germany needs to be considered by the management of Walmart in order to
reduce the hindrances that are related to the operations in the country. The
reduction of issues based on unions that have been formed within the
organization can be accomplished with the help of proper development of the
environment.
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the German operations of Walmart have
not been successful due to the lack of proper training and environment for the local
employees. The strategy that has been implemented by Walmart in different countries has not

13ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
been useful for the countries like Germany, Russia and South Korea. The German operations
in this case are considered to be the most important part of the failure that has been
experienced by Walmart on a global basis. The company has experienced huge loss of sales
and revenues in the country and its image has also been affected due to the employee union
based issues that had taken place. The organization has been recommended to bring a change
in the strategies in order to improve the revenues that are earned and profitability levels as
well.

14ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
References
Adekola, A. and Sergi, B.S., 2016. Global business management: A cross-cultural
perspective. Routledge.
Bird, A. and Mendenhall, M.E., 2016. From cross-cultural management to global leadership:
Evolution and adaptation. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.115-126.
Cascio, W.F. and Boudreau, J.W., 2016. The search for global competence: From
international HR to talent management. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.103-114.
Chua, R.Y., Roth, Y. and Lemoine, J.F., 2015. The impact of culture on creativity: How
cultural tightness and cultural distance affect global innovation crowdsourcing
work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 60(2), pp.189-227.
Crane, D., Kawashima, N. and Kawasaki, K.I., 2016. Culture and globalization theoretical
models and emerging trends. In Global culture (pp. 11-36). Routledge.
Hislop, D., Bosua, R. and Helms, R., 2018. Knowledge management in organizations: A
critical introduction. Oxford University Press.
Hofstede-insights.com 2019. Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. [online] Hofstede
Insights. Available at: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/germany,the-
usa/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2019].
Holden, N.J., 2016. Globalization, Regionalization, and Global Mindset. Global Mindsets:
Exploration and Perspectives, p.49.
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2017. Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

15ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Nolan, J., 2017. Business and human rights: The challenge of putting principles into practice
and regulating global supply chains. Alternative Law Journal, 42(1), pp.42-46.
Nolan, J., 2017. Regulating Human Rights and Responsibilities in Global Supply Chains.
In The Social Effects of Global Trade (pp. 19-30). Pan Stanford.
Pieterse, J.N., 2015. Globalization and culture: Global mélange. Rowman & Littlefield.
Ployhart, R.E., Weekley, J.A. and Dalzell, J., 2018. Talent Without Borders: Global Talent
Acquisition for Competitive Advantage. Oxford University Press.
Roth, K.R. and Ritter, Z.S., 2015. Diversity and the need for cross-cultural leadership and
collaboration. In Cross-cultural collaboration and leadership in modern organizations (pp.
196-215). IGI Global.
Salomon, R., 2016. Global vision: How companies can overcome the pitfalls of globalization.
Springer.
Saraswathy, B., 2019. The Flipkart-Walmart Deal in India: A Look into Competition and
Other Related Issues. The Antitrust Bulletin, 64(1), pp.136-147.
Schotter, A.P., Mudambi, R., Doz, Y.L. and Gaur, A., 2017. Boundary spanning in global
organizations. Journal of Management Studies, 54(4), pp.403-421.
Song, X., 2018, June. A Study on Management Model of Human Resources in Multinational
Companies Based on Cultural Differences--Taking Walmart as an Example. In 2018
International Conference on Sports, Arts, Education and Management Engineering (SAEME
2018). Atlantis Press.
Spicer, A. and Hyatt, D., 2017. Walmart’s emergent low-cost sustainable product
strategy. California Management Review, 59(2), pp.116-141.

16ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Taneja, S., Sewell, S.S. and Odom, R.Y., 2015. A culture of employee engagement: A
strategic perspective for global managers. Journal of Business Strategy, 36(3), pp.46-56.
Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017. Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts.
Sage Publications.
Turner, S.J., 2017. The use of ‘macro’legal analysis in the understanding and development of
global environmental governance. Transnational Environmental Law, 6(2), pp.237-257.
Vance, C.M. and Paik, Y., 2015. Managing a global workforce. Routledge.
Walmart.com 2019. Walmart.com | Save Money. Live Better.. [online] Walmart.com.
Available at: https://www.walmart.com/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2019].

17ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Appendices
Appendix 1

18ANALYSIS OF WALMART CASE STUDY
Appendix 2