Walmart : A different perspective.

Wal-Mart was constructed into a three product divisional structure. 

The successful world retailers business categories include Wal-Mart Stores (U.S.), Sam's Club (U.S.), and International stores. The International segment yields about 20% of the companys overall business income and is responsible for several different types of restaurants and stores including Wal-Mart and Sam's Club in 13 countries and Puerto Rico. 

This divisional structure and approach works to Wal-Mart's advantage because each division is open to focus its efforts on specific goals such as product, service, or customers. Narrowing the focus really allows the company to perform more effectively because they are allowed to pinpoint specific areas needing change and adjust appropriately .

Wal-Mart opened its first international store in Mexico City in 1991. 

The joint venture entry mode helped the company to manage severe cultural differences within the country and provided a base for Wal-Mart to learn more about their new market. Cifra provided a stepping stone entry in the country while enjoying a 50-50 joint partnership. Still, there were hurdles to tackle even with the best of cultural advice. For example, Wal-Mart paved large parking lots for their Mexican customers and then realized that much of their consumer base rode the bus to the store. Additionally, the high altitude was not taken into consideration and certain products would not work properly because of the condition. Wal-mart kept an open mind and developed a shuttle service to bring its customers and large bags to and from different locations .

Walmart has always been innovative as a company and has passed all tests with flying colours. We should look at Walmart as a innovator in its business domain and learn from its ways.

 

Theory Y vs Theory X ?

McGregor developed two theories of human behaviour at work: Theory and X and Theory Y.

He did not imply that workers would be one type or the other. Rather, he saw the two theories as two extremes - with a whole spectrum of possible behaviours in between.

Theory X workers could be described as follows:

- Individuals who dislike work and avoid it where possible

- Individuals who lack ambition, dislike responsibility and prefer to be led

- Individuals who desire security

The management implications for Theory X workers were that, to achieve organisational objectives, a business would need to impose a management system of coercion, control and punishment.

Theory Y workers were characterised as:

- Consider effort at work as just like rest or play

- Ordinary people who do not dislike work. Depending on the working conditions, work could be considered a source of satisfaction or punishment.

- Individuals who seek responsibility (if they are motivated )

The management implications for Theory X workers are that, to achieve organisational objectives, rewards of varying kinds are likely to be the most popular motivator. 

The challenge for management with Theory Y workers is to create a working environment (or culture) where workers can show and develop their creativity.

The fact of the matter is that we need both Theory X and Theory Y in our lives to solve all kinds of managerial problems. It is up to us to decide which theory to adopt and what are its implications.

We must adopt our strategy very wisely after analysing every scenario, and act justly.

Management lessons from three monks

"Let's look at a video." said Dr. Mandi. Excited and enthusiastic as we were, the lights in our class was dimmed, the projector was run and an animation was played out. What fun it was to learn from a movie !! We were learning to remember it as long as we live.
Let me share with all of you the video that Dr. Mandi had shown us :-

The Points to look out for in the above video:

What are the areas we need to understand from this video ? First, see that each monk has the same intrinsic quality of kindness, which enables each one of them to help out a creature in distress.

• So, all the workers in your organization are equal. You cannot differentiate them on the basis of individual capabilities, which leads to craftsmanship. Here, we need to encourage the fact that all workers in my organization, and I will use that word, are deemed equal and have to be treated as such so that the productivity of the organization does not suffer due to individualistic brilliance.

• In an assembly line, every worker is designated a task ,which is needed to be carried out by him only as that is his designated task. Here, too initially the lone monk had his individual task of fetching the bucket of water.

Secondly, we find that as the lone monk carries out the task of fetching water, he becomes exhausted as the work load is too much for him to bear alone. He becomes tired easily and loses interest in saying his prayers.Thus, he prefers to go to sleep instead of carrying out his devotional duties as a monk.

•  Never, make any worker independent in your organization. It leads to monotony in task , greater use of energy from one single human being, and decrease in overall efficiency.

When, the second monk arrives, new complications begin. How the work needs to be divided between the two of them becomes an important question.

•  Scientific methods and standard techniques are needed to divide the work among your workers. Let, no one feel cheated. Keep everyone happy and your overall productivity will be more.
• The work becomes more interdependent. Monotony is decreased and effort estimation shows lessening of energy utilized per person. This makes the entire process easier to carry out and leaves time and space for personal utilization. Here, the monks carry out better prayers.

When the third monk arrives, initially the team of monks becomes unsettled by his lackadaisical nature. He shows no interest in fetching water and drinks up all the water for the entire monastery. However, when the need arises and the firefighting begins, we learn the value of teamwork , coordination and eventually innovation in the entire work process. 

• The third monk signifies a larger team, which might lead to discord as team members may try to look for individual benefits. It is our job to make them realize that teamwork is the key as during firefighting situations within the organization and one must work effectively towards proper teamwork and coordination.
• Here, the work is also nicely distributed resulting in faster productivity and quicker output.

Finally, with the team in place , the monks device a strategy for innovating the entire work process,  which makes the job easier for them to carry out and also easier for them to manage. Thus, eventually the entire process becomes stable and the monks end up attaining NIRVANA !!

 

Let us hope that we too take these learning from this unique video and attain our personal NIRVANA... My mission is to become a good manager and use all the techniques I have learnt in my classes in the real time scenario. Once again, thank you Dr. Mandi for introducing us to the three monks , who have now bwcome an integral part of our lives.