Richmond Business School: Walmart Supply Chain Management Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Walmart's supply chain management, focusing on key areas such as customer service, transportation, and warehousing. It examines Walmart's approach to these critical functions, exploring the issues and challenges faced, as well as the solutions implemented by managers. The report delves into Walmart's strategies for achieving competitive advantage within its supply chain, and also considers relevant logistics and supply chain management concepts. Furthermore, it offers recommendations for improvements in Walmart's supply chain operations. The report covers aspects like customer service, transportation, warehousing and competitive advantage, discussing critical issues, managerial responses, and potential enhancements, drawing upon relevant concepts and models. The report concludes by providing insights into the effectiveness of Walmart's supply chain management practices and suggests potential areas for optimization.

Supply chain
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Customer service at Walmart......................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Transportation service at Walmart..............................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Supply chain management is essential function of a company, which includes final
delivery of goods to the customers from production unit. In other words supply chain
management deals with all the necessary functions which are involved in maintaining the
operations related to distribution of final goods to the customers (Kshetri, 2018). Supply chain
management also focuses on rapid delivery of the final goods to the customers, which helps in
achieving customer satisfaction. In this report example of Walmart is taken into consideration, it
is a multinational retailer company which was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in
Arkansas, USA. This report includes explanation of customer service,
transportation,warehousing and competitive advantage with respect to Walmart. It also includes
critical issues in Walmart and how managers at Walmart deals with them.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Customer service at Walmart
In order to attract more number of customers from the market, Walmart puts extreme
efforts. The company always maintains loyalty to the customer, which facilitates it in increasing
sales and revenue (Customer service issues in a business,2019). Walmart also provides 24*7
customer support over phone calls and chat support. Walmart is operating in the global market
since 49 years, so customer maintenance at Walmart is the key function of management. The
company also has effective CRM(Customer Relationship Management) system which effectively
handles the grievances of the customers.
Critical issues / problems
 Grievance handling- As Walmart is a big multinational company and has
millions of customers in the market, it becomes hard for the company to resolve
all the grievances of customers.
 Departmental issues-Various issues related to different departments in Walmart
arise daily, in order to solve issues of different departments Walmart should do
market segmentation and then provide customer service accordingly.

 Aggressive customer dealing-Dealing with angry customers is a major issue for
Walmart in performing its customer service, an angry customer is very hard to
handle and can harm to the reputation of the company.
 Dealing with multiple customers- Due to high sales and product availability,
Walmart faces millions of customers daily (Tiwari, 2018). It becomes hard for the
company to serve multiple customers in peak time or in peak seasons.
 Discount handling- Customers at Walmart demands discounts on the products
which they are purchasing. It creates a conflict between the company and
customers which eventually leads to decrease in sales.
 Slow resolution time- In order to satisfy customers in terms of service, a
company has to resolve all the queries from time to time. Walmart has millions of
customers in the global market and the company receives several grievances from
the customers (Rajeev, and et. al., 2017). It leads to slow the grievance handling
system which leads to customer dissatisfaction.
How issues / problems are solved by managers at Walmart
Managers at Walmart perform various functions to handle customer service, they work
hard to facilitate customer care services in the company. Mangers perform various duties and
efforts to build loyal customers for the company (Durach, 2017). Walmart has deployed a
manager in every branch of the company in order to handle customer's complaints in a effective
manner. Managers solve out customer's query with calm and peaceful mind in order to gain trust
of the customers. Managers at Walmart are intelligent, intellectual, talented and professional
enough to handle different queries of the customers.
Recommendations
Walmart should deploy professional and dynamic customer service system in order to
achieve customer satisfaction. The company should also deploy a separate culture management
system in its operations in order to deal with customers of different countries. Walmart must
conduct a survey or research to check customer satisfaction and should adopt necessary measures
to add value in the mind of customers (Kache, 2017). Walmart should use big data technology
and IT in maintaining systematic and safe record of customer's data. Big data technology will
help Walmart to keep proper data of its sales also. The company should hire professional people
for providing customer service in different countries. Walmart must also use Omni-channel

service in order to satisfy customers. In order to deal with the customers in a more precise
manner, Walmart should use the technique of social integration to deal efficiently with
company's customers. Walmart must also use Artificial intelligence in its customer handling
operations in reduce human efforts and less errors in its customer handling.
TASK 2
Transportation service at Walmart
Transportation service play a major role at Walmart as it provides supply of appropriate
goods in the stores. Transportation is the backbone of all the functions performed at Walmart, it
also helps the company to effectively distribute its products all over the market (Transportation
issues in a business,2021). The transportation service works day and night at Walmart in order to
satisfy the demands of the customers. Company always keeps in mind that its transportation
system is working in an efficient way or not.
Critical issues / problems
 Freight charges-As Walmart conducts global operations in the market, it has to bear
different heavy freight charges in different countries, which makes company's products
expensive at the market place. Freight charges also increases cost of the products which
are sold at stores. Freight charges also brings variation in price of products for Walmart
in different countries (Vanalle, and et. al., 2017). Variation in price of a product in
different countries, creates a false perception in the minds of customers.
 Global pandemic handling- Due to global pandemic COVID 19, the company faces
various issues like flight ban in different countries, transportation facility ban, moving of
goods issue in different countries. This makes Walmart unstable in the market in
performing transportation functions. In order to deal with this issue, Walmart has to come
up with various new strategies and policies. Rise in global pandemic level all over the
world has stopped operations of Walmart in different countries as well as it has made
several products which were stored in the warehouses obsolete.
 Fluctuating fuel charges- Prices of petrol and diesel keeps on changing in different
countries. Hike in the petrol prices in different countries makes financial instability in the
operations of Walmart. The company has to keep an eye on daily fuel rates in different
countries and to adjust its financial functioning accordingly.

 Driver shortage- Walmart faces several issues related to driver shortage in its supply
chain management. In different countries availability of drivers vary from time to time
(Hong, 2018), this creates a major problem for Walmart in its operations. Walmart often
transfers various drivers to other countries, which causes high cost to the company.
Shortage of drivers also declines the sales revenue of the company.
 Wholesaler coverage- In order to survive in the market, Walmart has to reach various
wholesalers and distributors. Thus, it becomes hard for the company to reach out
wholesalers who are far away from the location.
How issues / problems are solved by managers at Walmart
Managers at Walmart faces various difficulties in handling the transportation
management, it is essential to perform an effective transportation management for timely
delivery of goods to the customers. Managers at Walmart use information and technology in
handling its transportation systems, IT plays a vital role in minimising human efforts in a
business. Mangers at Walmart also keeps a systematic record of all transportation activities
which are related to its operations. Mangers at Walmart also uses Artificial intelligence in its
functioning in major countries (Gurtu, 2019). The company is also planning to provide software
related to artificial intelligence to all the managers at every branch. In order to deal with the
transportation opportunities and achieve innovation in transportation, managers at Walmart
conducts continuous research. For the effective and efficient delivery of products at the market
place, managers at Walmart also hire professional drivers by using proper recruitment functions.
Recommendations
Walmart should use electronic vehicles in order to save money and increase the revenue
of the company. Using of electronic vehicles by the company will also minimise the threat which
is caused by hike in petrol prices. In order to deliver products and services in the market in a
quick manner, Walmart should use professional drivers in its operations (Tönnissen, 2020).
Walmart should also make a professional financial team to handle freight charges which is levied
in different countries. Walmart should also deploy professional management in order to
minimise difficulties and issues which arises during the transportation.

CONCLUSION
From the above stated report, it can be concluded that supply chain management plays a
crucial role in the company. It is a leading function in the organisation, which increases sales
revenue of an organisation. It can be also concluded that customer service, transportation,
warehousing and competitive advantage are the key functions in the supply chain management of
Walmart. With the help of this report, it can be also concluded that by deploying professional
management in a business, operations related to supply chain management can be enhanced. In
order to maintain huge supply chain management of Walmart, various management professionals
work 24*7 and do hard work with ethical responsibility.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Durach, C.F., Kembro, J. and Wieland, A., 2017. A new paradigm for systematic literature
reviews in supply chain management. Journal of Supply Chain Management,
53(4).pp.67-85.
Gurtu, A. and Johny, J., 2019. Potential of blockchain technology in supply chain management: a
literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics
Management.
Hong, J., Zhang, Y. and Ding, M., 2018. Sustainable supply chain management practices, supply
chain dynamic capabilities, and enterprise performance. Journal of cleaner production,
172.pp.3508-3519.
Kache, F. and Seuring, S., 2017. Challenges and opportunities of digital information at the
intersection of Big Data Analytics and supply chain management. International Journal
of Operations & Production Management.
Kshetri, N., 2018. 1 Blockchain’s roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives.
International Journal of Information Management, 39.pp.80-89.
Rajeev.A. and et. al. 2017. Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management: A literature
review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162.pp.299-314.
Tiwari, S., Wee, H.M. and Daryanto, Y., 2018. Big data analytics in supply chain management
between 2010 and 2016: Insights to industries. Computers & Industrial Engineering,
115.pp.319-330.
Tönnissen, S. and Teuteberg, F., 2020. Analysing the impact of blockchain-technology for
operations and supply chain management: An explanatory model drawn from multiple
case studies. International Journal of Information Management, 52.p.101953.
Vanalle.R. and et. al. 2017. Green supply chain management: An investigation of pressures,
practices, and performance within the Brazilian automotive supply chain. Journal of
cleaner production, 151.pp.250-259.
Online
Transportation issues in a business.2021.[Online]Available
through:<https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/top_8_logistics_challenges_facing_th
e_industry>
Customer service issues in a business.2019.[Online]Available
through:<https://www.unicomcorp.com/blog/12-biggest-customer-service-challenges-
and-how-to-solve-them/>