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The Business Problem Of Wal Mart

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Introduction “Save Money. Live Better” (Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 2015), is the slogan of the retail company, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (also referred to as Wal-Mart), that will be the emphasis of my proposal. The company website is www.walmart.com, which links to the corporate website, www.corporate.walmart.com. The focal point of this proposal is to discuss the history and a business problem that Wal-Mart, as a retail company is currently facing. Analysis of the problem with an introduction of a solution will be addressed. Establishment of a plan to include a scheduled implementation and a timeline is based on the research. It is my view that the solution proposed will resolve the problem. Company History Wal-Mart Stores Inc., (2016) …show more content…

In the beginning, Sam Walton paid his associates minimum wage and he believed payroll was a big part of overhead, having control of payroll would affect his profit margin (Ortega, 1999). It was not until he had a store in Mexico, Missouri where a union getting support from his workers that he realized that his philosophy needed to change (Ortega, 1999). He was against unions and discovered that there were ways to stop his workers unionizing, Sam Walton wanted to “Wal-Martize” his associates, to make them feel that they were part of the company, if the company profited the associates would profit (Ortega, 1999. p. 86). He started to believe: The more you share profits with your associates-whether it’s in salaries or incentives or bonuses or stock discounts-the more profit will accrue to the company…because the way management treats the associates is exactly how the associates will then treat the customers (Ortega, 1991, p.87). Sam Walton died in 1992, and some of his principles on how he wanted his associates treated got lost in the growth of Walmart. Business Problem Identified The business problem analyzed is how Wal-Mart’s high employee turnover rate affects how associates treat customers, which ultimately lowers Walmart’s customer satisfaction rating. Maultbay (2014) stated that, “Turnover at Wal-Mart is 44% a year.” This may be less than half of the employees hired per year; however, it is

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