Impact of Technology on Walmart: Project Management Report

This report examines Walmart's response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, focusing on the integration of technology, data analytics, and automation within its project management framework. It explores the impact of these changes on Walmart's operations, including the adoption of AI, robotics, and big data solutions to enhance customer experience, optimize supply chains, and streamline internal processes. The report analyzes Walmart's approach to data analytics, highlighting its use of customer relationship management (CRM), data warehouses, and predictive analytics to inform strategic decisions and improve operational efficiency. It also discusses the effects of technological advancements on job roles, addressing both job displacement and the creation of new, more meaningful positions. The report concludes by summarizing Walmart's strategies for leveraging technology and data to maintain its competitive position in the retail market and adapt to the evolving demands of the industry. The report is provided by a student on Desklib, a platform offering AI-powered study tools and resources for students.

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Introduction
The fourth industrial revolution is considered to be the fusion of advances in technology,
artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and internet of things (IOT) and other technologies. The
fourth industrial revolution has paved the way for transformational changes in the business
organization. The 4IR or Industry 4.0 has changed the society and laid on the first three
revolutions. The data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning has provide a
foundation essential for the development in the industry (Ashkenas and Manville 2018). The
computational technologies have enabled the computer systems to work faster and smarter. The
purpose of this report is to consider the concepts of industrial revolution and the ways in which
technological changes affect the chosen organization Walmart. Walmart is a multinational US
based retail corporations. It is considered to be one of the largest retail companies in the world.
As the company continues to grow, it implements advanced technology, robotics and AI in the
organization. Walmart has been chosen as it is one of the organization which is transforming
itself technologically at a rapid rate. The report analyzes approaches of the company to data
analytics and the ways in which technological changes affect the chosen organization.
Section 1: Impact of technological changes and data analytics on Walmart
As per the analysis it has been identified that the future job positions are highly
technology and machinery oriented. There is a technological shift in every sector starting from
manufacturing industry, healthcare fields, e commerce or digital marketing. The industrial
organizations are changing at a rapid rate and their involvement with data and information
(Morrar, Arman and Mousa 2017). The top performers of the organizations and the industries are
able to leverage data and information together, utilize the data skills and abilities, analytical

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thinking and creative insights. Walmart has been undertaking extensive research and working to
analyze and better understand the current state of the business leader’s skills and individuals
(Kambatla et al. 2014). The company has been working to understand the capability of the
individuals working with data and incorporating a data literate workforce in the business
organization.
As per Maheshwari and Vohra (2015), it has been identified that the global employees
are highly confident in their ability to read, argue with data and work with data analytics.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have accelerated the societal and industrial benefits
by ensuring privacy, transparency, social impact, accountability and equity. Data analytics and
other advanced technologies enables the business organization to have a better interaction with
the machines and technology, acquire information and data in a more natural and powerful
manner (Lines et al. 2015).
Walmart is one of the largest companies by its financial revenue. The company maintains
its competitive position in the market by continuous implementation of new and innovative
approach in keeping the store network ahead of their competitors. The company’s ‘Walmart Pay’
has been one of the most powerful additions by the company (Cozzi and Fella 2016). It has been
able to successfully transform the shopping experience of the people by connecting with the
individuals online. These have increased the popularity of the company. Further, the company
has been implementing various innovative technologies and machinery in order to enhance the
shopping experience of the customers and maintain its competitive position in the market. For
example, the ‘Scan and Go’ technology, it enables the business organization to speed up the
process of checking out of shoppers (Najafabadi et al. 2015). It is a natural process which
enables the customers of the supermarket to scan their own goods which helps them to check out

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faster. Further, the company has been implementing robotics in the business organization to
restock shelves and return the misplaced products and track the levels of inventory (Kambatla et
al. 2014). This enables the business organization to reduce the time consuming tasks of the staffs
and the employees in the organization. The robotics and artificial intelligences enables the
business organization to facilitate the transactions and the process. The robotics and data
analytics collects store information, ensures that the pricing is kept up to date and the shelf tags
are accurate (Maheshwari and Vohra 2015). It also helps the business organization to identify the
stock outs of the particular items and keep a track of the goods that are overstocked. Moreover,
the company has been improving the work experience for the staffs and the associates. The
company has been focusing on automation in the process of unloading the trucks and sorting the
stocks. Therefore the role of the associates or the staffs is limited (Lines et al. 2015). Therefore,
the retail giant Walmart has enables new technology and tools to assist the employees and the
associates in the store. The company has been implementing big data ecosystem. The main
objective of Walmart in enabling big data and artificial intelligence is to enhance the shopping
experience of the customers in the stores or browsing. Walmart has been developing big data
solutions with the intension of redesigning the websites (LeCavalier 2016).
The artificial intelligence and robotics in the business organization has been taking the
place the human staffs and employees (Harsoor and Patil 2015). Walmart has been reduced the
number of staffs and employees in the business organization. The repeatable, manual and
predictable tasks are being replaced with the introduction of robots and artificial intelligence.
The new age of robotics and technology in the business organization emancipate the workers
from monotonous daily tasks. As per studies and analysis, the displaced workers are able to
accept even more meaningful jobs which are created by robotics and technology (LeCavalier

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2016). However, it has been argued by Harsoor and Patil (2015), that job replacement can
increase unemployment situations especially for unskilled labors and staffs in the organization.
There have been further arguments, that even the employees with skills are getting replaced by
the robotics. The Job roles are easily replicated by technologies and machinery.
Section 2: Walmart’s approach to data analytics
According to Davis (2016), the organizations approach to data analytics has transformed
that ways in which the company organize its operations, mange the talents and create value in the
organization. The business organization has been implementing a holistic approach towards
managing the operations and the activities of the supermarket. The senior executives and the
managers of the business organization uses data in the form of histogram, list charts, decision
trees, data explosion, scatter plot and other data visuals and analytics for determining the
corporate business strategies and monitor the growth of the business organization (Ashkenas and
Manville 2018). This enables the business organization to create new additional roles for the
professionals and the employees in the organization. As mentioned by Morrar, Arman and
Mousa (2017), Walmart seeks out opportunities to reduce the costs of the products offered to the
customers, make decisions faster and increase customer satisfaction by creating efficiency with
the help of data analytics. The departments and the teams in the business organization use data
analytics to provide strategic direction to the company. According to Kambatla et al. (2014), it
mainly focuses on three main areas that are the business transactions, digital engagement of the
company and the fan levels. This helps the business organization to make informed strategic
choices of the company. As mentioned by Lines et al. (2015), the company uses robust CRM as

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well as data warehouse solution which enable the organization to have a more holistic view of
the customers. It analyzes the customer satisfaction and determines the areas for improvement.
This analysis is done by the company to capture specific feedback of the customers (Sankaran
and Ahmed 2017). The business organization has significant digital presence on the social media
platforms to understand the customer view point and ensure customer engagement. This helps
the business organization to effectively influence change in all levels of the organization. It is
believed by Heller (2017), that the most important data for ensuring a project’s sues is measuring
the plan including fidelity and efficacy. It is considered as an essential tool for enabling
successful project outcomes.
Walmart has developed a technical innovation lab, to analyze and test the new machinery
and technology that has been implemented by the company (World Economic Forum 2016). The
company has been focusing on operational efficiency. The global data and the analytics team of
the business organization ensure that the decisions taken in the organization are data driven,
faster and are automated. According to Davis (2016), the data analytics team of the business
organization delivers mainly four core capabilities that are machine learning technology, data
visualizations, and algorithmic products and data foundations. These data analytics are used by
the company in managing projects, define the overall strategy of the business organization,
prioritize initiatives and coordinate the capabilities of the technology based on engineering
resources (Caraway 2016). The cloud computing program of the business organization automates
the works and the tasks, enables innovation and offer capabilities as per the needs of the business
partners. Further, as mentioned by Marr (2017), the supply chain technology of the company
ensures that the customers receive the order faster and in the most predictable manner.
According to Harsoor and Patil (2015), the flexible technology of the business organization

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enables the teams and the departments of the organization to get the right things at the right time
and package it to the customers. The business organization is divided in various teams and
groups to executive the works and the tasks of the organization in an effective and efficient
manner (Marr 2017). Therefore the company is using extensive technology and data analytics in
its projects like picking optimization, associate delivery and catalog machine.
According to Sankaran and Ahmed (2017), the global customer insights of the company
have enabled the company to increase their sales turnover. The Big Data Analytical culture of the
business organization has leveraged the company to improve the customer and employee
Emotional Intelligence Quotient. Further, according to Heller (2017), Walmart has been
increasing big data analysis in order to provide best-in-class e-commerce technologies. This
helps the business organization to offer pre eminent customer service. According to Sankaran
and Ahmed (2017), it leverages big data and analytics to optimize the shopping experience of the
customers and increase the efficiency of logistics. Most importantly, as mentioned by LeCavalier
(2016), the technologies like NOSQL and Hadoop are used by the business organization to offer
internal customers while accessing real time data from various sources and centralizing it for
effective and timely utilization of information. According to Najafabadi et al. (2015), Walmart
utilizes broad big data ecosystem with multiple terabytes and petabytes of new data and
historical data respectively. The big data solution in the business organization intends to redesign
the global websites. Further, the predictive analytics enables the organization to improve
personalization through data analytics.

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Conclusion
Therefore, from the above analytics it can be concluded that there has been a
technological shift in every sector including healthcare, education or manufacturing.
Implementing data analytics and advanced technology in the business organization have
accelerated the industrial as well as social benefits. The report has identified the impact of
technological changes in the operations and activities of the retail business organization
Walmart. The company has been implementing various technologies and automation in the
organization to improve the efficiency of the organization. The report has analyzed the ways in
which technological changes have impacted job displacement and job replacement in the
organization. Further, the report has reviewed the approach of the organization to data analytics.
It has been identified that the company has implemented a holistic approach towards managing
the activities of the organization and managing the projects. The report has explained the ways in
which Walmart implements data analytics in managing the core activities and new projects in the
organization.

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References
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