Walmart is in the retail business and eCommerce market, and the organization structure helps determine just how the company functions and can grow within the retail sector.
If you’ve been wondering what the Walmart organization structure is and how it works, you’re not alone! I was curious about the same thing and decided to research the company. Here’s everything I found out!
Walmart Organization Structure In [currentyear]
Walmart’s organizational structure is a hierarchical functional one, also known as a matrix organization as of [currentyear]. There are hierarchy and function-based levels to this structure, and many multinational companies use this structure to deal with divisional and functional structures at one time. Also, it allows corporate managers to influence the organization as a whole.
Do you want to know more about the organizational structure of Walmart and why it operates in the way it does? Keep reading because I’ll get into all of those details below!
Why Does Walmart Use A Hierarchical Functional Organizational Structure?
Walmart uses a hierarchical functional organizational structure to help the company achieve goals, provide consistency, and see better performance and operational results.
Walmart deals in both retail and eCommerce, so it needs a structure that will allow it to be as flexible as possible and achieve different goals depending on what activity is going on.
Furthermore, Walmart has Sam’s Club, specialty stores, Supercenters, Walmart Realty, and Walmart International under the umbrella of its corporation.
So, since Walmart has four different types of stores, it needs a structure that can improve and guide the company as a whole, which is what the hierarchical organization structure does well.
What’s The Walmart Hierarchical Organization Structure?
In the hierarchical organization structure, each store Walmart operates, and all of the employees that work there have one supervisor they directly report to.
Additionally, this supervisor is the person that holds everyone accountable who works for that particular Walmart location and is responsible for moving employees up the corporate ladder.
Further, the CEO is the leading position in this structure, and the CEO is the supervisor to all store supervisors.
Also, regional and district managers oversee operations of Walmart stores, so each store manager will be held accountable by the regional or district manager.
However, each store still has independence and can run the store according to the needs of the customers and community, but will still function as part of the whole company.
What’s The Walmart Function-Based Organizational Structure?
The function-based organizational structure at Walmart is there to group the employees based on their skills and capabilities to fulfill job functions.
Furthermore, this includes departments such as information technology, customer care, human resources, marketing, and others at Walmart.
With that, Walmart has several different departments and puts employees in those departments to improve efficiency and function.
Additionally, Walmart’s departments are different for each type of store it has, so Sam’s Club will have different departments than a Walmart Supercenter.
So, forming different departments based on the type of store Walmart’s operating allows the company to serve customers better and find the perfect spot for each employee.
What Is Walmart’s Organizational Culture?
The organizational culture at Walmart consists of four different aspects that relate to both customer service and being a valuable retailer, including:
- Strive for excellence
- Service to the customer
- Respect the individual
- Act with integrity
Getting into the specifics of these aspects, Walmart wants to always strive for excellence, whether the organization as a whole, the teams, departments, or individual workers.
Also, it’s a foundational aspect of Walmart to provide excellent customer service and make customers the priority regardless of department, store, location, or other outside influences.
Additionally, Walmart respects individuals who help make the company run and will recognize that each worker has helped make it the success it is today.
Finally, Walmart strives to act with integrity, such as being fair to everyone, being honest at all times, and when making decisions, it’s essential to be impartial.
What Are The Operation Strategies Of Walmart?
Walmart uses the primary operation strategy of providing customers with quality merchandise at an affordable cost, which is a strategy utilized by Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.
Additionally, Walmart focuses on inventory management and using technology to provide an efficient logistics system that helps keep the costs to the customers as low as possible.
As technology continues to advance, Walmart has reduced costs even more while still giving customers the quality products it’s known for.
To know more about Walmart, you might also be interested in reading Walmart’s business model, Walmart’s marketing strategy, and Walmart statistics.
Conclusion
Walmart’s organizational structure is the hierarchical functional organizational structure called a matrix organization, so it’s a hybrid organizational structure.
Consistency is key for multinational corporations like Walmart, so using this structure allows that to happen regardless of the type of store under the Walmart umbrella.
Additionally, Walmart has a function-based organization structure that groups employees based on the capabilities of each person and puts them into departments they’re best suited to.
Finally, there are four key aspects of Walmart’s organizational-based culture: acting with integrity, respecting the individual, striving for excellence, and providing service to the customer.
