1 Running Head: Mile Stone 1 MBA 705 Milestone One Yazan Eid Running Head: Mile Stone 1 2 Walmart’s Mission Statement Walmart Inc.’s corporate mission is “to save people money so they can live better.” The mission statement is clearly reflecting the ideals of the company’s founder, Sam Walton. Following a plan where strategic decisions making in the business ideas is a straight display of this mission statement, which is synonymous to the company’s mission statement, “Save money. Live better.” According to this statement, it is obvious that Walmart’s business strategies and plans include using price as a selling point to attract targeted customers. The importance of such a selling point is showed in many of the company’s strategies and plans. For instance, Walmart Inc.’s marketing mix or 4P involves low prices as a strategy. Other departments of the company are moved by the need to minimize selling prices as a way to achieve competitiveness and staying ahead of the other competitors. Walmart’s Vision Statement Walmart Inc.’s corporate vision is to “Be THE destination for customers to save money, no matter how they want to shop.” The company’s vision was authoritatively announced in the company’s 2017 investment community meeting. The company’s previous vision statement was “To be the best retailer in the hearts and minds of consumers and employees.” The switch in the company’s vision reveals strategic changes that Walmart initiates in response to changes in the competitive environment and the overall atmosphere of the retail industry. In the past, the company’s corporate vision was all about becoming the top retailer in the industry. Currently, Walmart’s vision statement is aimed for the same goal, but with the concentration on business flexibility in accommodating customers. Moreover, the “no matter Running Head: Mile Stone 1 3 how they want to shop” element points out the company’s strategic objective of achieving leadership in traditional way by transactions and in online retail transactions. However, highlights the exclusion of “employees” as a major factor in Walmart’s vision statement. This transformation might be indicating a possible reduction of employees’ empowerment. Moreover, the shift could also point out some human resource management issues, as that the employees are a key stakeholder group relevant to Walmart’s Corporate social responsibility strategy and stakeholder management. This is Walmart’s global strategic overview assessment report. The start of this report is discussing Walmart’s major strategic background points. Researching Walmart, I have found that Walmart is a multinational company functioning in 11,200 stores in 27 countries. Walmart company owns many of its product lines and its business divisions are classified into four, Walmart US, Walmart International, Sam’s Club, and e-Commerce US. Walmart has been tremendously doing well in sales, revenues and net income in the last six years. Its current strategic goals are expansion throughout taking over the market, the move towards using renewable energy, and maintaining the company’s leadership in its market field. Researching Walmart, I have found that Walmart’s major competitors are the Target, Home Depot, IKEA, Alibaba, and Costco among others. In addition, Walmart top foreign markets are Mexico, the United Kingdom, China, Chile, South Africa, and Japan. Walmart’s major affecting sources would be political/legal, economical, social, technological, and environmental. Moreover, the strengths include financial factors, human resources, advanced technology, and distribution. Walmart operates under a hierarchical institutional structure. It supports diversity among its employees by having employees from different cultures and backgrounds. Moreover, Walmart follows Hofstede cultural scopes prior to expanding into a new market. Using an example of Running Head: Mile Stone 1 4 China, the Hofstede Analysis revealed that there were great cultural variations between the US and many of Walmart’s foreign countries. however, entrepreneurship still a main challenge to many companies in the retail industry including Walmart because as one of its results is the high rate of retail industry entry. Strategic Background Walmart Stores Inc. is a multination corporation and the industry leader in the retail industry. The company was established in 1962 in the United States by Sam Walton (Bonanno, & Goetz, 2012). Walmart Stores Inc. was incorporated in 1967 to become a publicly traded company. From 1 store in 1962 and 3 stores in 1964, the company has grown tremendously to surpass the 11,200 stores mark to date (LeCavalier, 2016). Presently, Walmart Stores Inc. runs in more than 27 countries worldwide while one of its latest expansion was opening of its fairly new stores in Asia and China (Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 2014). Walmart Stores Inc now a day is one of the retail industry pioneers in human resource employment due to the fact of having over 2.3 million employees working in all over of its stores. Low prices and human resource are some of its key core competencies (Kasi 2013). Walmart Stores Inc. stocks are listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Strategically, Walmart of operations are running under 55 banners in 27 countries worldwide in addition to its online sales in 10 countries. Moreover, Walmart business units are classified into Walmart US which runs under the brands of Walmart Supercenter, Walmart Discount Stores and Walmart Neighborhood Market. The other business units are Walmart international, the Sam’s Club and Walmart U.S. e-commerce. Walmart is always on the lead when it comes to keeping a smooth flow of goods in its numerous stores, Walmart have an Running Head: Mile Stone 1 5 efficient strategy when it comes to its supply chain and distribution. As a result, Walmart has over 150 distribution centers. These centers always work to make sure that the stores get timely resupplied with the different goods Walmart sells when a request is issued. Furthermore, in its determinations to renovate its stores into a one-stop shop that has everything a customer would as for Walmart provides its customers with a variety of product lines containing various products that fulfills customers’ needs and wants. Some of the products lines include electronics, groceries, clothing, farm inputs and machinery, books, and apparel among others. As for the past five years, Walmart has been performing extremely well financially. The sales revenue register by Walmart over the last five years are 476.29 billion, 485.65 billion, 482.13 billion, 485.14 billion, and 500.34 billion for the years 2014 through 2018 respectively. Leading into a steady sales revenue growth movement. However, the net income amount for Walmart over the last five years was 15.92 billion, 16.18 billion, 14.69 billion, 13.64 billion and 9.86 billion for the years 2014 through 2018 respectively. Pointing out a steady decline in net income all over the five years. Moreover, the company is still magnificently one of the most profitable companies when compared to its competitors in the same retail industry. Having Walmart in a strategic position where it’s easy for the company to freely expand its operation without any restrictions. As earlier mentioned, Walmart has extraordinary amount of operations internationally. It has a dynamic international expansion strategy. While almost 60% of its sales come from its domestic stores, for the that those stores are based in the US, its operations internationally can be described as nothing short success. Walmart had over 6000 stores internationally located in 27 countries globally where it has its own existence. In addition, operating in these stores are more Running Head: Mile Stone 1 6 than 800,000 employees which roughly 35% of total Walmart employees. Similarly, in order to ensure international stores are effective and experiencing no interruptions or issues, almost half of Walmart distribution centers are located in international countries where Walmart operates and runs. These distribution centers are critical and very important when it comes to linking geographical distance between stores and suppliers. The effectiveness and efficiency of Walmart’s infrastructure and presence internationally made it able to serve over 100 million customers on weekly basis. As the retail industry is a very competitive industry and tracking the high growth rate in the industry’s competition, Walmart is ready and committed to grow and sustain in the retail industry leadership and competitiveness. The company plans to do this by making sure that its customers’ needs are sufficiently satisfied and while providing them with the healthy environment any customer would ask for. As a result, in 2017 Walmart embarked on three strategic initiatives aimed at ensuring that it remains the industry leader by increase customer benefits. The three strategic initiatives are helping customers save more money and live better strategy, the win, play, and show strategy as well as the fast, friendly, and clean strategy (Murray, 2018). The main Walmart rival is similar businesses in the same industry. Most of its competitors work hard and try different strategies and new ideas all the time which are planned for exceeding Walmart as the industry leader. Some of the major competitors include the Target, 7 Eleven, Home Depot, Costco, eBay, Lowes, and Amazon among other small companies in the US. Internationally, Walmart competes against global giant Alibaba, and IKEA (Bhasin, 2018). Making This company an enormous local and international presence. For example, the 7 Eleven Running Head: Mile Stone 1 7 is a US retailer with over 65,000 stores globally. This means it has a high presence than Walmart however, the number of employees it has is a quite low number compared to Walmart standing at 60,000. Dealing with this massive company as its competitors, Walmart has to always plan strategically several steps ahead of its competitor so as to maintain competitive and maintain its leadership and position in the retail industry. Walmart always manages to overcome and exceed a lot of its rival force from these competitors by keeping its low-price philosophy. It has managed to sustain this philosophy all throughout all of its life time since the company first started. Keeping customers satisfied with the quality of its product, services and price. The Idea Just recently, Walmart signed a deal with Microsoft that will see the company shift its cloud services from SAP to Microsoft Azure cloud platform for the next five years (Evans, 2018). In order to ensure that the process is a success, the first step will be to discuss with Microsoft a way forward towards the cancelation of the recent contract that the two parties signed. This will ensure that no legal ramifications result from Walmart’s decision to shift its operations from Microsoft’s cloud system to its in-house information system. Microsoft should be notified by the start of March 2019 of Walmart’s intention to cancel the contract. This is a process that will be carried out jointly by the CIO and the COO at Walmart. However, the contract should remain effective up to December 2020 so as to allow a swift transition process. The second step will be to contract an IT company that will be responsible for designing and creating an information system capable of handling the bulk data that Walmart handles each day. The primary reason that this phase has been prioritized is due to the complexity of the new system. As of 2017, Walmart transmitted up to 2.5 petabytes of data each hour from Running Head: Mile Stone 1 8 its retail outlets to the SAP cloud platform for real-time processing and procured a cloud storage system with a capacity of up to 40 petabytes (Marr, 2017). With Walmart relying heavily on big data and complex statistical analytics to predict the behavior of its employees, the complexity of the new system should take close to a year to complete. Walmart should have reached an agreement with an IT company by mid-March 2019 and the company should commence the development process instantly. This step will be coordinated by the CIO. The third step will be to acquire land to construct the facilities to house the new system. This purchase should be made by end of March 2019 and will be coordinated by the head of the procurement department in consultation with the COO. This will necessitate the contacting of a construction company before mid-March 2019 and commencement of the construction process by the end of the same month. Shortly after the construction commences, Walmart should look for a vendor of supercomputers and other systems that will handle and process its data. This process should be done through a bidding process in order to enable the company to identify the best systems and acquire them cheaply through a competitive process. However, the bidding process should be signed by August 2019 so as to necessitate the delivery of the systems from the beginning of 2020. This process will also be coordinated by the COO and the head of procurement. 9 Running Head: Mile Stone 1 Sources: Hofstede Insights (2017). Country comparison. China vs US. Retrieved from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/china,the-usa/ Irma Hunt, Allison Watts, Sarah K. Bryant, (2018) "Walmart’s international expansion: successes and miscalculations", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 39 Issue: 2, pp.22-29, https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-02-2017-0013 Business Wire (2016). Global Retail Industry worth USD 28 Trillion by 2019 - Analysis, Technologies & Forecasts Report 2016-2019 - Research and Markets. Retrieved from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160630005551/en/Global-Retail-IndustryWorth-USD-28-Trillion Christine Rowland (2017). Walmart PESTEL/PESTLE Analysis & Recommendations. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/walmart-pestel-analysis-recommendations-case-study Martin Murray (2018). Walmart's Strategic Initiative. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/wal-mart-s-strategic-initiatives-2221112 Kasi (2013). Wal-Mart Core Competencies. Retrieved from https://mba- tutorials.com/strategy/1131-wal-mart-core-competencies.html Evans, B. (2018). Walmart CIO: We Picked Microsoft For Huge Cloud Deal To Accelerate Digital Transformation. Forbes. Available from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2018/07/18/walmart-cio-we-picked-microsoftfor-huge-cloud-deal-to-accelerate-digital-transformation/#71cc6f46491c Marr, B. (2017). Really Big Data At Walmart: Real-Time Insights From Their 40+ Petabyte Data Cloud. Forbes. Available from Running Head: Mile Stone 1 10 https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/01/23/really-big-data-at-walmart-realtime-insights-from-their-40-petabyte-data-cloud/#116c3b256c10 LeCavalier, J. (2016). The Rule of Logistics: Walmart and the Architecture of Fulfillment. University of Minnesota Press. Bonanno, A., & Goetz, S. J. (2012). Walmart and local economic development: A survey. Economic Development Quarterly, 26(4), 285-297. Running head: BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART A Business Implementation Plan for Walmart’s Information System MBA 705 Yazan Eid Southern New Hampshire University 1 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART A business implementation plan for Walmart’s information system Process and product improvement are vital to the sustainability of any business. According to Project Management Institute (2013), businesses have to constantly adjust their processes, products, and services to meet the dynamic needs of the consumers. There are a number of factors that could create a need for implementing a new service or product. Some of these include new market segments, new policies, business growth, and new technologies, among others. One of the companies that could benefit from the implementation of a new operation is Walmart. With more than 11,700 operations worldwide, more than 2.3 million employees, and with annual sales that exceed $500 billion, Walmart is inarguably the largest retailer in the world (Walmart, 2018). The company has growth tremendously over the past few decades. Recently, the company has expanded its operations from purely big-box retail operations to the e-commerce segment. As a result, the company serves at least 270 million customers each week (Walmart, 2018). With the company collecting bulk data from all its operations, it may be necessary to establish its own information system rather than rely on third-party cloud service providers that could cost the company billions of dollars each year in operational costs. This business implementation plan outlines the process of implementing an information service operation at Walmart. Implementation schedule The proposed establishment of an in-house information system will take a long time to implement as a result of its complexity and hefty requirements. Just recently, Walmart signed a deal with Microsoft that will see the company shift its cloud services from SAP to Microsoft Azure cloud platform for the next five years (Evans, 2018). In order to ensure that the process is a success, the first step will be to discuss with Microsoft a way forward towards the cancelation of the recent contract that the two parties signed. This will ensure that no legal 2 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART ramifications result from Walmart’s decision to shift its operations from Microsoft’s cloud system to its in-house information system. Microsoft should be notified by the start of March 2019 of Walmart’s intention to cancel the contract. This is a process that will be carried out jointly by the CIO and the COO at Walmart. However, the contract should remain effective up to December 2020 so as to allow a swift transition process. The second step will be to contract an IT company that will be responsible for designing and creating an information system capable of handling the bulk data that Walmart handles each day. The primary reason that this phase has been prioritized is due to the complexity of the new system. As of 2017, Walmart transmitted up to 2.5 petabytes of data each hour from its retail outlets to the SAP cloud platform for real-time processing and procured a cloud storage system with a capacity of up to 40 petabytes (Marr, 2017). With Walmart relying heavily on big data and complex statistical analytics to predict the behavior of its employees, the complexity of the new system should take close to a year to complete. Walmart should have reached an agreement with an IT company by mid-March 2019 and the company should commence the development process instantly. This step will be coordinated by the CIO. The third step will be to acquire land to construct the facilities to house the new system. This purchase should be made by end of March 2019 and will be coordinated by the head of the procurement department in consultation with the COO. This will necessitate the contacting of a construction company before mid-March 2019 and commencement of the construction process by the end of the same month. Shortly after the construction commences, Walmart should look for a vendor of supercomputers and other systems that will handle and process its data. This process should be done through a bidding process in order to enable the company to identify the best systems and acquire them cheaply through a competitive process. However, the bidding process should be signed by August 2019 so as to necessitate 3 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART the delivery of the systems from the beginning of 2020. This process will also be coordinated by the COO and the head of procurement. Walmart should begin training its employees in the CIO department and recruiting new ones as well by October 2019. This will be in readiness of the delivery of the hardware systems in January 2020 so that Walmart’s employees can take the lead role in installing the new systems and configuring them. This process will be implemented in parallel with the purchase of these systems so as to save time and to raise convenience. The process will be coordinated jointly by the human resource officer and the CIO. The training program should be complete by the end of December 2019. Construction of the premises will not be complete until March 2020. However, vital offices that will house servers will be completed by December 2020 so as to allow the installation team to commence operations in January 2020. This process is expected to continue until August 2020. By March 2020, however, the IT company developing the software system is expected to be nearing the completion phase. This will allow the company to carry out additional tests until May 2020. By this time, the new system should be ready for handing over to Walmart’s CIO by the beginning of June that same year. This will allow the company to install it in the new systems and test its functionality for a period of two months. After the system has proven effective, Walmart will acquire additional software systems such as network intrusion detection systems and firewalls, install them, and test them between August and October, 2020. This coincides with a period in which the installation team will be fitting the network infrastructure that links Walmart’s new facilities with its head office and other hubs that have been handling the data. The human resource manager and the CIO will further train the employees who will be working in the new department between October and November 2020. 4 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART Beginning mid- November 2020, Walmart will migrate its data from the cloud to the new information system. This will enable the company to launch its new system by midDecember 2020. The cloud system will serve as a backup until 1st January 2021. From the mid-end of December 2020, all the outlets will have their systems reconfigured to redirect their data to the new system rather than the old cloud system. This is the reason that the cloud system will be allowed to run in parallel with the new system for half a month. The new system, its operations, and the new pool of employees will all fall under the CIO. Project review process Every project requires to be reviewed so as to ensure that it stays on target. According to Portny (2017), there are many challenges and risks that may arise in the course of project implementation that could include cost overruns, unmet processes, time constraints, conflicts, and lack of supplies, among others. For Walmart, this project will be vital as it will cost the company billions of dollars to acquire and install. There are a number of measures that will need to be put in place to ensure that the implementation process is a success. One of the key measures that will be put in place to facilitate easy project review and achievement of success is to break down the project into many milestones. As can be seen from the section above, a number of milestones have been explained in the form of steps. Each of these milestones can be carried out independently without affecting the other. However, some of them depend on the completion of others. According to Project Management Institute (2016), breaking down a complex project into multiple milestones not only necessitates accurate allocation of resources and time, but it also necessitates easier monitoring of the project and schedule compression strategies such as fast-tracking and crashing of these milestones. In Walmart’s project, every milestone will be monitored and reviewed independently. At the beginning of the project, goals that cover the expectations, 5 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART required resources, and estimated time of completion will be clearly formulated in order to serve as guidance. Various reports will be created as a way of coordinating the project and informing various groups of stakeholders. While team leaders and supervisors leading various tasks will be expected to create daily and weekly reports, it is the monthly reports that will be more meaningful for Walmart. The company’s leaders including the CEO, CIO, and COO will meet with the project managers each month to track the progress that has been achieved. As a result, it will be easier to identify risks on a timely basis and create an intervention. These meetings will help in identifying whether or not the goals have been met and setting goals for the next monthly cycle. At the same time, Walmart’s operations office will work with the project team in conducting a gap analysis every two weeks and towards the end of every milestone to identify goals that could have missed and other issues that could have arisen. These processes will ensure that the project is on track. The project managers will provide the operations office data twice a month to enable the organization to determine the project’s costs and benefits. This will be done by calculating the resources that have been spent at each phase, estimating the percentage of work that has been completed, calculating the time that it has taken, and estimating the value of the completed work. Indelicato (2012) recommends the use of tools and metrics like cost performance index, budget at completion, earned value, actual value, estimate at completion, cost variance, and schedule performance index, among others. Combining all these metrics enables the project team and the project owner to carry out a comprehensive project review. Applying intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship Intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship find an extensive application in the above implementation plan. Entrepreneurship is characterized by identifying an opportunity and taking a risk that will result in a material gain. The conception of the project is itself a result 6 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART of entrepreneurship. Notably, an in-house information system is an area that has been developing at a fast rate. By having its in-house system, Walmart will have the capacity to control its system, personalize it based on its needs, and incorporate new and updated technologies. This project comes as an opportunity to save the company billions of dollars in the long run, which makes it worth the risk. Walmart was rated as the top IT spender in 2013 and 2014 at $9.86 and $10.16 billion, respectively, and where the second top spender spent significantly less than half the amount spent by Walmart (Claburn, 2015). There is no better way to explain the application of entrepreneurship that the process of taking a risk that will save the company a significant portion of these costs and raising its operation effectiveness. Other ways that entrepreneurship has been helpful in the implementation plan above include critical thinking and confidence. According to Belfort, Freitas and Martens (2016), it is easier for an entrepreneur to succeed in implementing a project as they possess high levels of creativity, practical skills, and good organizational skills. The entire process and all the milestones have been well organized so as to ensure that the project is implemented successfully. At the same time, there are contingencies already in place including fasttracking and crashing of milestones that have been carefully planned so as to close all risks and gaps. This way, one should expect the process to be a huge success. Conclusion In summary, the above project implementation plan details the processes that will need to be followed in order to ensure that the proposed project is completed successfully. The implementation process will be reviewed from time to time through reports and performance metrics to ensure that it stays on target. Upon its successful implementation at the end of 2020, the project will enable Walmart to shift its data management from Microsoft cloud services to its in-house information system. 7 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART References Belfort, A. C., Freitas, H. M. R., & Martens, C. D. P. (December 01, 2016). Entrepreneurship in Project Management Systems: Proposal of a Model and Preliminary Empirical Evidence. Jistem - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, 13(3), 405-422. Claburn, T. (2015). Walmart, BoA Are Top IT Spenders. Information Week. Available from https://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/it-strategy/walmart-boa-are-top-itspenders/d/d-id/1319818 Evans, B. (2018). Walmart CIO: We Picked Microsoft For Huge Cloud Deal To Accelerate Digital Transformation. Forbes. Available from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobevans1/2018/07/18/walmart-cio-we-pickedmicrosoft-for-huge-cloud-deal-to-accelerate-digital-transformation/#71cc6f46491c Indelicato, G. (January 01, 2012). Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance. Project Management Journal, 43(2), 102-102. Marr, B. (2017). Really Big Data At Walmart: Real-Time Insights From Their 40+ Petabyte Data Cloud. Forbes. Available from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/01/23/really-big-data-at-walmart-realtime-insights-from-their-40-petabyte-data-cloud/#116c3b256c10 Portny, S. E. (2017). Project management. Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge: (PMBOK® guide). Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA: Project Management Institute. Project Management Institute. (2016). Requirements Management: A Practice Guide. USA: Project Management Institute. 8 BUSINESS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALMART Walmart (2018). Walmart establishes strategic partnership with Microsoft to further accelerate digital innovation in retail. Walmart. Available from https://news.walmart.com/2018/07/17/walmart-establishes-strategic-partnership-withmicrosoft-to-further-accelerate-digital-innovation-in-retail 9 Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) Walmart Information Systems Yazan Eid Southern New Hampshire University MBA 705 2/24/2019 1 Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) 2 How the Information System Concept Fits with the Core Competencies of Walmart The proposed information system concept at Walmart will facilitate product and process improvement which is a key contributor to its business activities. The organization is well positioned to carry out this project because of the various core competencies it possesses to conduct its market segmentation, facilitate business growth, implement new policies, and also use advanced technology in its business operation. The low-cost preceding will resonate well with the information system since it will make more services and products accessible to the customers via the e-commerce website. The efficient, hardworking, and process-oriented employees also make the organization well-placed to implement this concept (Claburn, 2015). The company is currently operating under 11,700 stores and outlets globally. In addition, its customers are widely spread across the globe with different geographic and time zone location. Consequently, there is a need for the company to come up with an information system that will integrate the activities and operations of the wide geographic distribution of its stores into a centralized location. Another core competency of Walmart that makes the concept of an information system fit into its operations is its ability to effectively manage and coordinate the over 2.3 million employees. This is a clear indicator that there is a need for a collaboration between these employees to promote coordination of activities and process within the organization. The company’s ability to manage and coordinate the 2.3 million employees is a clear indication of its core competency to embrace diverse and skilled workforce with the capability of managing a robust information system to facilitate smooth operations within the company. Another core competency of Walmart is the fact that it is the largest retail chain globally in terms of employees and sale revenue. Thus, giving it the capability to manage the information Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) 3 system (Yeoh & Popovič, 2016). The information system also fits into the organization's domain because it is currently experiencing a tremendous growth which has seen it shift from a big-box retailer into a large e-commerce trading across the globe. This is an indicator that the company is well placed to implement the information system concept as it plans to enhance the online transition and business activities. The huge number of customers that the company has been able to serve over the past few years is also another core competency that makes Walmart well positioned to undertake the information system concept. Essentially, there is a need for the company to implement the information system concept to manage the data and information of its 270 million customers, thus ensuring that it effectively gathers, analyzes, and reviews the customer trends, insights, and buying habits for proper market research and business planning process (Yeoh & Popovič, 2016). In addition, the ability to gather bulk data form these 270 million customers make it capable of managing an information system concept which will revolutionize the service operations at the giant retail chain. The Type of Corporate Culture that will Facilitate Successful Implementation The type of corporate culture that will guide the successful implementation of the information system at Walmart is the preference given to the customers’ welfare. The company is focused on providing its customers with fairly priced services and products that would help them save money and live better. The belief that its associates are responsible for its exemplary business performance and satisfaction of its customers is also essential for the successful implementation of the information system concept (Muñoz, Kenny & Stecher, (Eds.), 2018). In addition, the strong leadership embraced by the top organization and the focus on achieving a Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) 4 common goal as an organization also facilitates the full implementation of the information system. The company’s inclusive culture that engages all stakeholders and associates in its decision-making process and implementation of critical decisions will also help in realizing success in this concept. In addition, the focus on environmental sustainability through reduction of waste and energy efficiency will make this concept a reality (Zhao, Teng & Wu, 2018). Thus, the company will rely on this philosophy to remain consistent in the implementation of the information system as a way of improving customer experience. The corporate culture of linking its values to its actions will also foster a collaborative approach towards this information system concept, thus making its implementation a success. The corporate culture of providing exemplary service to the customers, respective all individuals and stakeholder, striving to achieve excellence, and always portraying high level of integrity will also boosts the efforts of the organization to realize a successful implementation of the information system (Muñoz, Kenny & Stecher, (Eds.), 2018). The company will also achieve success in the implementation of the information system because it integrates its corporate culture of providing exemplary services to its customers into every aspect of its business activities. In addition, the company aligns its systems, operations, activities, and people to the corporate culture which focus on achieving excellence. Since the company recognizes its corporate culture as a key success factor in the implementation of the information system concept, it maintains consistent communication and ensures it is implemented in a top-down approach (Zhao, Teng & Wu, 2018). Walmart’s corporate culture that embraces open communication and innovation will also provide an enabling environment for the implementation of the information system. Equally, the believing Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) 5 teamwork will facilitate the implementation of the information system which is seen as a step towards achieving modernization and internal integration of the employees. The Key Roles, Responsibilities, and Qualifications of the Cross-Functional Business Implementation Team The cross-functional team who will be charged with the responsibility of implementing the information system concept at Walmart will be led by a project manager. The project manager must have academic knowledge and experience in information system projects, IT, and general project management capabilities. The roles of the project manager include developing a plan for the project implementation, recruiting qualified members to the project team, and undertaking the leadership role of the team (Yeoh & Popovič, 2016). He will also determine the method of implementing the project and manage all the project milestones and deliverables. In addition, the project manager will assign tasks and responsibilities to the team members and establish the timeline and schedule of implementing the project. He will then document and submit reports on the progress of the implementation of the information system concept to the management of Walmart. The HR and Finance manager will possess a degree in social science and financial management, the roles and responsibilities include coordinating and supervising the use of financial resources in the project, preparing financial statements for the project implementation and coordinating and monitoring the activities of all team. The business analyst will possess a degree in business information systems from a reputable institution (Yeoh & Popovič, 2016). His responsibility will be gathering information relating to the business requirements of Walmart with respect to the information system concept. Additionally, the business analyst will test and validate the information system to evaluate its compatibility with Walmart's operations. He will Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) 6 also document the business and technical requirements of the information system. Finally, the business analysts will verify that the information system meets its requirements and then I will assume the position of the software developer since I have knowledge of software engineering and information system. Therefore, my responsibility will be designing, documenting, and implementing the architecture of the information system. I will also synchronize and configure the information system to all the functions, operations and activities of the organization (Yeoh & Popovič, 2016). The software developer will communicate the technical aspects of the information system to the team and the management to ensure the concept is functional and operational. He will also act as the administrator of the database after the information system is implemented. The contingency plan team will comprise of technology service providers who will be required to poses academic qualification in information system management from a reputable institution of higher education. These members of the implementation team will maintain the list of information system providers, prepare and maintain the contingency plan, make necessary amendments to the DRP, BCP, and BIA documents. They will also respond to any interruption or disaster that may attack the information system. The functional manager in charge of IT Systems will possess academic training in Information Technology from a reputable institution of higher learning. This team member will be responsible for maintaining the BCP and the DRP. He or she will review the information system functionalities and undertake all the DR and BC process.in addition, this person will provide assistance and support to the technology service providers (Yeoh & Popovič, 2016). Another responsibility of this officer is the planning and preparation of the review and training of employees with respect to the contingency plan. Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) 7 The Contingency Plans for the Concept The rising cases of cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities will probably be a major concern for Walmart during the implementation of this information system concept. Therefore, there is a need for the organization to come up with a contingency plan that will facilitate the disaster recovery process, risk management, and business continuity (Cervone, 2017). The contingency plan will protect the organization’s assets, infrastructure, system, and activities by outlining the instructions, considerations, policies, and procedures to follow in case of a disaster. The contingency plan must thus provide for backup systems, alternative data center locations, cloud service, and cybersecurity procedures and policies to protect the organization’s system form potential cyber-attack, internet threats and vulnerabilities, and possible system downtime. The disaster recovery plan will help the organization to recover from major events by restoring the operations of the information system in case of an emergency. The business continuity plan will sustain normal operation of the organization after the disruption caused by the emergency. The contingency plan must be documented in a policy statement that provides for ways of conducting a business impact analysis to ascertain the level of damage caused by any event, disaster, or emergency (Sahebjamnia, Torabi & Mansouri, 2015). Next, the organization will identify any possible control measure that can be implemented to prevent future incidences and disasters from occurring. The recovery strategies must be aligned to the IT contingency plan and then tested to ensure that they can maintain the normal operations of the organization once the disaster is contained. Running Head: Mile Stone 3 (Walmart’s I.S) 8 References Cervone, H. F. (2017). Disaster recovery planning and business continuity for informaticians. Digital Library Perspectives, 33(2), 78-81. Claburn, T. (2015). Walmart, BoA Are Top IT Spenders. Information Week. Available from https://www.informationweek.com/strategic-cio/it-strategy/walmart-boa-are-top-itspenders/d/d-id/1319818 Muñoz, C. B., Kenny, B., & Stecher, A. (Eds.). (2018). Walmart in the Global South: Workplace Culture, Labor Politics, and Supply Chains. University of Texas Press. Sahebjamnia, N., Torabi, S. A., & Mansouri, S. A. (2015). Integrated business continuity and disaster recovery planning: Towards organizational resilience. European Journal of Operational Research, 242(1), 261-273. Yeoh, W., & Popovič, A. (2016). Extending the understanding of critical success factors for implementing business intelligence systems. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 67(1), 134-147. Zhao, H., Teng, H., & Wu, Q. (2018). The effect of corporate culture on firm performance: Evidence from China. China Journal of Accounting Research, 11(1), 1-19.
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