Walmart Hr Practices Essay Example

driving customer value. Additional factors include price and convenience, two things that Wal-Mart is very good at delivering. Wal-Mart stores all have very similar floor layouts making it easy for customers to find just what they’re looking for in any of its stores if the individual is familiar with just one.Its merchandise tracking system alerts employees when the stock on store shelves is low so they can be responsive to consumers’ buying habits, making it more likely that the item the consumer wants will be there on the shelf waiting for them. Also of great impact is Wal-Mart’s prices, which are on average fourteen percent lower than its competitors (Solman, 2004).

This difference is compelling enough for consumers to look past the negative image of the store, created by its poor employee relations, and continue to support it with their business.The current weakening economic state of the United States makes price an even more important factor in consumer value and only strengthens Wal-Mart’s competitive advantage. In general, employee satisfaction, dependent on employer HR policies, has a considerable impact on customer satisfaction and in turn the financial success of a corporation, but in Wal-Mart’s case, it is not so. Wal-Mart has distinguished itself as a price leader and its success in doing this has created customer value that outweighs dissatisfied employees and their impact on customers.

Wal-Mart has worked to minimize the potential negative impact that its discontented employees can have on customers by increasing its use of technology in the day-to-day activities once performed by its employees and by making its associate positions easily filled. This reduces the need for favorably-viewed HR policies, as if an employee

does not perform up to the standards specified in their job requirements, they can be replaced with minimal impact on the company. While the disconnect between Wal-Mart’s HR policies and financial performance measures is very real today, this may not continue to be the case in the future.An improvement in the United States’ economy could reduce the weight that low prices carry in consumer decision making processes, bringing Wal-Mart’s HR policies to the forefront and resulting in a negative impact on its financial performance measures.

References

1. Bernardin, H. J. (2007). Human Resource Management 4th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Solman, P. (2004, Aug. 20). [Television broadcast] The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. [Transcript] Retrieved Jan.25, 2008, from http://www. pbs. org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec04/wal-mart_8-20. html