Leadership and Management in Walmart: A Unit 4 Report Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of leadership and management practices within Walmart, a major American retail corporation. It differentiates between the roles of leaders and managers, examining their functions in various situational contexts, such as staff turnover, technological changes, and risk management. The report explores several leadership theories, including system leadership, situational leadership, and contingency theory, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses within a working environment. Furthermore, it outlines key approaches to operational management, such as TQM, Just-in-time, and Lean production, emphasizing their importance in achieving business objectives like increased revenue and market trends adaptation. The report also describes how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies and evaluates the relationship between management and leadership, and their impact on the wider community.

Unit 4 - Management
and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................1
P2: Assessing example of how leaders role and manager's function applied in various
situational context-.......................................................................................................................1
P3:Several models and theories of the approach, including system leadership, situational
leadership and contingency-........................................................................................................2
M2: Strength and weakness of the various approaches to situation among working
environment-................................................................................................................................3
P4 key approaches to the Operational management....................................................................4
P5 Describe about the importance as well as values of operations management within
achieving the objectives of the business......................................................................................5
M3 Describe how managers and leaders can improve efficiencies ...........................................5
M4 Evaluates the relations between the management and leadership that can impacted the
environment as wider community................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Management and operation means company is involved in designing and controlling
business operations. This aspect can help organization in increasing their productivity and also
quality of services which is being provided by them. Present report will lay emphasis on
Walmart. It is an American retail corporation that is been headquartered in United States. Report
will lay emphasis on difference between leaders and managers. It will also provide role of
leaders and managers in situational context. Assignment will also focus on various approaches of
operation management. It will also lay focus on factors affecting decision making of leaders and
managers.
P1 Covered in PPT
P2: Assessing example of how leaders role and manager's function applied in various situational
context-
Manager's function and leader's role represent Walmart for changing and improving the
operation's of company for several types of trait and characteristic of leader & manager in the
functioning and management of the company as well. There can be various situation where
leader and manager plays an essential role in managing and overcoming the situation effectively.
Staff turnover-
The manager and leader of plays an essential role in managing the turnover of staff.
Walmart's leaders main role is to motivate and encourage their employees so that they can work
ahead in positive attitude for the betterment of company. Whereas the manager function is to
provide incentive and appreciate employees for their good work so that they feel recognized and
valued for their work. Thus, overall both leader and manager plays an essential role in
maintaining the turnover of staff and sustaining employees for long term. So great staff turnover
is profitable for company to gain efficient profits.
Technological changes-
If as per the intense market competition in marketplace company need to implement
some technological changes so that they can also gain a competitive advantage. By adopting new
technologies they had several changes in the company. They had to manage and control their
staff in such way that they can adopt the changes which have been taken place in company. The
manager of Walmart will try to manage and control these moderate changes and provide proper
trainings to staff so that they can easily adopt changes along with that leader will enhance and
1

encourage them to take training and adopt changes in positive manner (Squires, 2018). This is
how changes will be easily accepted by overall staff of Walmart, and they can effectively
compete with their rivals and gains huge success further.
Risk-
Leaders of the company try out new methods and strategies to achieve success and that
involves high amount of risk. It can even lead to failure but leaders of Walmart believe that
failure will guide them to the path of success. On the other hand managers of Walmart focuses
on reducing the factor of risk involved. They evaluate all the factors which helps the company to
control any upcoming or existing problems. Managers of the company works hard and deals with
their employees on every level so that risk of any new decision taken can be reduced.
Relationships, systems and processes-
Leaders of the company maintains relationship with their stakeholders and focus most of
their time with them so that they can formulate new strategies in order to simplify the patterns
for them. They deliver their services and products on time which helps them to create loyalty and
develop trust in the market. On the other hand managers of the company needs to focus on
structure of the company so that they can analyze that if or not the company has met the desired
outcomes. They focus on individuals of the company so that they can enhance their performance
and accomplish the task.
P3:Several models and theories of the approach, including system leadership, situational
leadership and contingency-
System Leadership Theory-
The system theory is phenomenon of the organization that is applicable to various system
which prevails to different action which are followed. It reflects the interdisciplinary system of
outcome that also induced action in it. This theory largely concentrates on concept & various
convection along with two system as well that is active and the passive. This tends leader to
access and develop condition in which individual could work for the betterment of company at
each stage by showing great potential further. It also renders the tool which is helpful for leader
to analyze their employees behaviour.
Contingency Theory-
This theory emphasizing importance of personality of the leader and several situation in
which leader operate its business. It is introduced by Fred Fiedler who state that there is direct
2

relation among the traits of leader and leader's effectiveness. There is no perfect way for solving
problems of workers and structuring corporation. It all depends on the situation and thus steps
are to be taken on that basis. It also influences the decision-making in the company as per the
situation. The leader of Walmart could access various components through LPC scale (Kanat-
Maymon, Elimelech and Roth, 2020). Thus, it reflects that relation and motivation of task are
contingent as Walmart's manager can control and affect the overall group result or favorability of
the situation. Particular situation can be handled by the high or low LPC scale.
Situational Leadership Theory-
This theory initiate organization's behaviour and working of their workers. This theory
was introduced by Paul Hershey and the Ken Blanchard. It is also named as Life cycle theory of
results. The situational theory state that there is no leadership style is appropriate for every
situation. Each and every situation needs to be handled in different way thus it needs a leader to
apply theory as per the situation. The efficient leader of Walmart should select the style of
leadership as per the situation which can be helpful for them to effectively manager the situation
(Ledlow, Stephens and Schott, 2018). Thus, this theory is very helpful for company to compete
with rivals in marketplace and applying the various leadership style in such a way that all
situation can be handled greatly. By this Walmart could gain huge profit and revenue.
M2: Strength and weakness of the various approaches to situation among working environment-
There are various strength and weakness of approaches that can be applicable to different
situation which could be meet by company in their working environment some of them are
described below-
System Leadership Theory-
The main strength of this theory is that morale of Walmart employees could be enhanced
so that they can be loyally work for the betterment of company further. As hike in level of
productivity time can also be saved. Along with that there are some weakness that in emergency
case this system theory is suited for decision-making or solving issues in Walmart (Antonakis
and Day, 2017). The big scale companies can take advantage by using this theory into their
business operations.
Contingency Theory-
The strength of this theory is that it helps their leader for developing their skills. It is
helpful for Walmart to plan and structure of organization for decision-making. Employees can be
3

benefited by this so their views and opinions can be shared to the company. Whereas the
weakness of this theory is that it can be complex in practical situations of Walmart. It is very
difficult for leader to manage and handle situation due to its reactive nature. Due to that lot of
inadequacy can be further faced by company in many business situations.
Situational Leadership Theory-
The major strength of this leadership theory is that leader can easily recognize and
optimize change and further apply it to particular situation. By this leader could create a positive
environment of working for their workers so that they can productively work for the
organization's overall growth. It also has weakness that is some time decision can be greatly
affected due to the changing situational leadership style (Baltaci and Balcı, 2017). In certain time
situation could be mis leaded if it has been conducted in wrong manner.
P4 key approaches to the Operational management
There are various frameworks that understands the operation management better. These are the
kind of the approaches that assists in analysing the situation accordingly. These are the
approaches that can be explained below.
TQM- It is known as the Total quality method that assists Walmart within the process in
planning for the long time to gain the success. With the help of he TQM gets the results for the
long duration as well as earn profit. It also aids within maintaining the quality accompanied by
the price regarding product as well as services that can be offered through the Walmart (Crane,
Matten and Spence, 2019).
Just within time-By the help of this method it highlights on the production process. It assist
them to be completed within time and meeting all the deadlines. It assists in obtaining outcomes
that are earlier decided within planning. Through the aids of the decreasing wastages of the
resources as well as by using them with al of their potential,the process can be done within time.
Lean production- It is a method that can tells about the various methods that are the best
suitable for the desired outcomes or results. One of the crucial factor that are used within to get
the desired results is to decrease wastage by using resources as per according to their capacity
and potential. The leaders as well as managers of the Walmart makes the staff members aware
about the efficient use of the resource as well as decreases the wastage. This approach enhances
the productivity at Walmart and assists the staff members to enhance the skills (Yakovleva,
2017).
4

From the above it is describe that the concepts that are needed for TQM but it assures Walmart
regarding the maintenance of the firm's productivity as well as leads to the stability within the
firm
Role of the Leaders
The role of the leaders is to evaluate the requirements of the staff members as well as motivate
them .
Leaders of enhances the productivity as well as potential of the employees
Role of the managers
They manage the resource as per their potential as well as skills.
P5 Describe about the importance as well as values of operations management within achieving
the objectives of the business
Walmart needs to understand as well as evaluates the importance as well as values of the
operation management within accomplishing the objectives of the Firm.
Increasing revenue- The management of the Walmart assist in making an enhance within the
ratio regarding profit that assists to expand their business in various other nations as well as
capture the other market segment. Rise within the profit also results within making new targets
as well as at the same time achieve them (Lewin and et.al., 2016).
Trends within market- Each and everyday new trends cam within the market. As these are the
market trends arises within the market. Walmart has also takes the steps as per the trends within
the goods and services that can be introduced within the market and also consumers needs to be
satisfied. Thus,it aids in retaining the staff members regarding the long period time.
Rise in sales- It assist in sales of the goods and services, so they are able to conduct research
about their new innovations and also rise within competitive advantage (Wang and et.al., 2016).
M3 Describe how managers and leaders can improve efficiencies
As explained above the leaders and managers play the crucial role within the firm as both
of them assist the firm to meet the desired result and uses of the resource as power their needs.
Both of them taking decisions which are beneficial for the firm. They can need to analyse
desires of the employees as well as customers of Walmart to fulfilled their needs as per their
situations. So there is a need of the proper planning that can be done so that the activities are
taken into consideration and hence these activities bring the accurate results as well as brings the
best out of the employees of Walmart (Crane, Matten and Spence, 2019).
5

P6.Factors affecting leaders and managers decision making
There are various factors which can affect working of Walmart. Leaders and managers must
engage in doing strategic planning in order to reduce threats related to these factors. It includes
the following:
Corporate social responsibility: This means that company has to keep balance between their
social and environmental deeds. Leaders and managers of Walmart must be engaged in making
policies relating to promoting equality and diversity in company. They must make sure that no
discrimination based on gender, age, disability in firm takes place. For this leaders of Walmart
can implement a code of conduct. Also they can be engaged in starting a campaign related to
providing education to women and those who are in need. This will assist them in developing
most prominent women leader in organization (Lewin and et.al., 2016).
Value: Organization who follows values and ethics are considered as trustable one. It also makes
firm’s environment better. For implementing values leaders and managers can engage in
motivating employees to give respect to each other’s belief, attitude, culture and thoughts. It can
help Walmart in increasing their productivity and also workers job performance will be
enhanced. This can assist firm in engaging more employees towards organization and will also
create workers trust (Wang and et.al., 2016).
Sustainability: This means that enterprise needs to make effective utilization of resources so that
future generation does not suffer. Leaders and managers must be involved in implementing
strategies by which they can reduce energy that has been consumed by them. They can also be
engaged in reducing carbon emission produced by them. This will help them in making
environmental conditions better (Barney and et.al., 2017). Also they can motivate employees and
workers to bring down all plastic items and dispose it off at a proper place. This will help
Walmart in marking a presence which will help them to enhance their goodwill. It will also lay
positive impact on mind of consumers.
Ethics: Organization must be engaged in behaving ethically. Ethical behavior and corporate
social responsibility can bring significant benefits to a business. Leaders and manager must
motivate employees to have zero tolerance for corruption and fraud. They must stay loyal and
transparent to their consumers. This will help them in gaining customers trust and also it will
6

boost their sales and revenue. It will also assist Walmart in growing and achieving their goals
and objectives. Employees also needs to have ethical behavior with each other, this will assist
them in enhancing productivity of their team.
M4 Evaluates the relations between the management and leadership that can impacted the
environment as wider community
Mangers and employees relationship is to take care of employees about their desires and
needs. The leaders of the Walmart also take are regarding the objectives of the Firm.
The relationship with stakeholders and meeting stakeholder expectations in the context of
encouraging: Leaders and managers of Walmart needs to analyses needs and demands of
stakeholders, so that they can meet it out. They must analyze preferences of consumers. Also
company must be engaged in providing better working conditions to employees. They need to
make sure that right people are placed on right job with right skills. This will assist company in
increasing their productivity and also operational efficiency of firm will be increased. It can also
help them in increasing employee’s loyalty. Walmart’s reputation will also be increased by
meeting out expectations of stakeholders (Barney and et.al., 2017).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been analyzed that company has been engaged in making use
of various approaches like total quality management so that they can provide high quality of
goods and services to consumers. They have been making use of just in time strategy in order to
deliver products on time. Company has also been engaged in doing strategic planning so that
they can achieve their goals and objectives. Ethical behavior has helped them in retaining
employees and creating employee loyalty. It has also assisted them in increasing trust of
employees. They have also been engaged in performing corporate social responsibility.
7

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Baltaci, A. and Balcı, A., 2017. Complexity leadership: A theorical perspective. International
Journal of Educational Leadership and Management. 5(1). pp.30-58.
Barney, J.B. and et.al., 2017. Management and organization review special issue ‘Coopetition
and innovation in transforming economies’. Management and Organization
Review. 13(1).pp.201-204.
Chiu, L.S. and Lo, J., Western Digital Technologies Inc, 2016. Optimized management of
operation data in a solid-state memory. U.S. Patent 9,442,666.
Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L. eds., 2019. Corporate social responsibility: Readings and
cases in a global context. Routledge.
Kanat-Maymon, Y., Elimelech, M. and Roth, G., 2020. Work Motivations as Antecedents and
Outcomes of Leadership: Integrating Self-Determination Theory and the Full Range
Leadership Theory. European Management Journal.
Ledlow, G.R., Stephens, J.H. and Schott, D.E., 2018. Leadership Models in Practice.
Lewin, A.Y. and et.al., 2016. The critique of empirical social science: New policies at
management and organization review. Management and Organization
Review.12(4).pp.649-658.
Squires, V., 2018. Northouse, PG ,2016. Leadership: Theory and practice . Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage. Pages: 494. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, (185).
Wang, H. and et.al., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: An overview and new research
directions: Thematic issue on corporate social responsibility.
White, P.R., 2016. Public transport: its planning, management and operation. Routledge.
Yakovleva, N., 2017. Corporate social responsibility in the mining industries. Routledge.
8