Organizational Structure and Goals: Walmart Functional Areas Report

This report examines the functional areas of Walmart, a multinational retail corporation, focusing on Human Resources, Finance, and Marketing. It details the purpose of each department and how they contribute to the achievement of Walmart's organizational goals, such as employee incentives, financial management, and marketing strategies. The report also explores Walmart's hierarchical functional organizational structure and recommends incorporating team-based features for enhanced operational efficiency. The analysis includes Walmart's performance in the market and on social media platforms and concludes by emphasizing the importance of the discussed functional areas for the company's success.

Organizational structure and goals
Report on Walmart functional areas

Running head: Organizational structure and goals 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Human Resource Department..........................................................................................................2
Finance Department.........................................................................................................................3
Marketing and Advertising Department..........................................................................................4
Organizational structure...................................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The development of separate functional areas with specific goals contributes to the
success of an organization. Walmart is an American based multinational retail corporation that
runs departmental stores all over the world. The major functional areas of the company are
Human resource, Finance and Marketing (Walmart, 2019) . The report focuses on the importance
and purpose of these functional areas in the growth of the company and their contribution to the
achievement of organizational goals of Walmart. Proper suggestions are also provided regarding
the suitable organization structure for the company and its relation with future success.
Figure 1: Walmart Retail Store in America
Source: (Redmond, 2015)
Human Resource Department
This department forms the backbone of the company because it is responsible for
controlling the activities of other departments as well. The functions of this department is to find
opportunities, provide assistance in removing the risk associated with the retail store, achieving

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sales goals, controlling the expenses, recruiting the talented staff from the Retail institutes and
providing them training (Farouq & Cherian , 2013).
In order to achieve the organization goal of Walmart, this department offers its
employees with discount cards that provide a 10% discount on products. It is valid in Walmart
stores all over the world. Bonus is also provided to the employees that achieve customer service
goals. In the year 2018 Us Walmart have received $800 million in bonuses. Health insurance
facilities are given to the workforce up to $1000. These activities and incentives motivate the
employees to perform better that ultimately results in Walmart success.
The HR department has a principal role in the Walmart organization structure because it
improves the productivity, offers suggestions to top management in human resource policies,
monitors the relationship between other departments (Roberts & Berg, 2012).
Figure 2: Doug Mc Million (President, CEO)
Source: (Walmart, Doug McMillon, 2019)
Finance Department
Its major function is to manage the inflow and outflow of cash of Walmart. Proper
functioning of this department is very necessary because it supplies finances to other
departments. It assists in providing Walmart financial position, assesses the capital structure and

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provides recommendations, analyzes the goals and policies, ensures that there is adequate cash
flow to acquire the needed resources, allocates the annual budget, advices the management
regarding dividend policies, investments and establishes a relationship with Banks. It has a key
role because it helps in making the pricing strategies more effective. It provides a balance
statement of Walmart accounts at the end of the financial year. The finance department has also
helped Walmart to expand globally in Mexico, Brazil, China and Canada.
Marketing and Advertising Department
The basic purpose of this department is to promote and advertise the products of the Walmart
store. Developing marketing strategies and plans to increase the overall profit of the firm is the
basic function of this department (Jackson & Wood, 2013). The marketing strategies used by the
department in America are as follows
 Psychographic strategy is adopted to offer products at the lowest possible price to its
customers. Hence it has developed the strategy of EDLP (Everyday lowest price)
 Undifferentiated targeting strategy is used to market its products globally.
 A low price positioning strategy is applied to establish its market. This has helped
Walmart in capturing the market of the small retailer also. It has also developed attractive
tagline ‘Save money, live better’ to attract the customers.
Figure 3: Walmart tagline
Source: (Forbes, 2017)
 According to the 2018 annual report of Walmart, its total revenue was $500.3 billion
revenue collected from online channels is $11.5 billion.
 The revenue of Walmart has been increasing since the year 2016.

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Figure 4: Walmart performance on Facebook
Figure 6: Walmart performance on Instagram
From the above figure, it is evaluated that marketing department strategies has
helped the Walmart in attracting customers. The promotional activities helped in
achieving millions of followers on Facebook and Twitter. This has helped the retail store
in increasing awareness among the population of America.
Source: (Unmetric, 2019)

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Organizational structure
In relation to the suggested functional areas, Walmart current Hierarchical Functional
organizational structure is best suitable with an addition of some more features. The current
structure has two attributes
 The Hierarchy structure involves the vertical lines of authority between the superior and
the subordinates in the organization. This structure offers a clear chain of command in the
organization regarding ‘who reports to whom’. In this structure, individuals have defined
roles in their duties and it helps in getting proper control over the employees by their
respective superior. This structure is suitable for Walmart because it has multiple chains
of retail outlets in America and different hierarchical positions in different stores.
 The Functional structure is a group of individuals organized together according to their
specific skills and knowledge in the organization. This structure provides the sharing of
thoughts and helps in learning new skills. Increased efficiency helps in minimizing the
operational cost of the organization. This structure is best suitable because it sells
multiple products in different market. The divisional structure is helpful to perform
effectively in each department like sports, electronics (Structure, 2019).
Recommendations
The Hierarchical Functional structure is suitable for Walmart but this structure divides
the retail-based organization into various groups and departments. Hence, it is recommended that
proper emphasis should be made on adapting the major feature of Team-based Organizational
Structure. It includes working towards the common goal while working on the individual task.
Conclusion
Walmart is an American retail outlet having chains of department stores. The report
concludes that Human resource, Finance and marketing department form the major functional
areas. This is because these departments have a key role in the success of the Walmart retail
store. The HR department helps in providing qualified and skilled workers. The financial
department helps in maintain proper control over the income and expenses. The marketing
department also plays a major role by framing advertisement and adopting effective marketing

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strategies to promote and enhance the sale of Walmart in America. It also includes that the
Hierarchical functional structure is best suitable for Walmart because of the benefits it provides.

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References
Farouq , S., & Cherian , J. (2013). A Review of Human Resource Accounting and Organizational
Performance. International Journal of Economics and Organizational
Performance, 74-83.
Forbes. (2017, October 16). What Retailers Can Learn From Walmart's Incredible E-Commerce
Growth In 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2019, from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/10/16/what-
retailers-can-learn-from-walmarts-incredible-e-commerce-growth-in-2017/
#3cb768435c57
Jackson, R., & Wood, C. (2013). The marketing environment: A new paradigm. Academy of
Marketing Studies Journal.
Redmond, K. (2015, July 29). Judge: I didn't mean to ban shoplifter from every Walmart in
America. Retrieved June 17, 2019, from NJ:
https://www.nj.com/morris/2015/07/judge_re-
sentenced_woman_banned_from_every_walmart.html
Roberts, B., & Berg, N. (2012). Walmart. London: Kogen Page Publishers.
SDC. (2017). Retrieved June 6, 2019, from SDC:
https://www.sdcexec.com/warehousing/news/12382011/walmart-gains-on-
amazon-as-sales-rise-50-percent
Structure, H. (2019). Walmart job hierarchy. Retrieved June 8, 2019, from Hierarchy Structure:
https://www.hierarchystructure.com/walmart-job-hierarchy/
Unmetric. (2019). Overview of Walmart performance. Retrieved June 8, 2019, from Unmetric:
https://unmetric.com/brands/walmart
Walmart. (2018). Walmart 2018 Annual report. 102.
Walmart. (2019). Doug McMillon. Retrieved June 8, 2019, from Walmart:
https://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/leadership/executive-management/doug-
mcmillon/
Walmart. (2019). Walmart. Retrieved June 8, 2019, from Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/

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