In any given organization, new efforts to streamline processes and increase productivity
met with new challenges. In an ever dynamic generation, new techniques are being deployed to
solve the existing and arising issues. Technology, especially, has recorded several improvements
and any company that fully supports and embraces technology and any new inventions compete
effectively or even better than other firms in the competitive economy. Despite such problemsolving strategies, several challenges still present themselves even in successful organizations
such as Walmart.
Walmart is a widely known company with stores and outlets all over the USA and
other countries. The executives and board of directors in Walmart have set up a centralized form
of management. The decentralized control accordingly inputs a strict culture that limits how
employees behave and address issues in the firm. Besides, Walmart has received several lawsuits
and criticism due to the manner in which the management treats employees. According to Robert
Greenwald, the director of the film `The High Cost of Low Price`, the executives of Walmart are
reported to exploit their employees by paying them an income far below the minimum wage.
With health insurances and taxes to pay, these employees barely left with any money to fend for
themselves and their families, (Jones B).
The management of Walmart stores exploits citizens from other countries without even
compensating the employees or providing bonuses. In China, the workers produce the company’s
goods for as little as seventeen cents an hour. The organization also employs undocumented
workers who can provide labor for as little as possible. The company does not care to improve
the working conditions of the employees or to provide environmental protection policies for the
workers, (Jones B). High crime rates have been recorded to occur in the parking lots of many
Walmart stores. Such inhumane treatment is persistent with Walmart`s executives and has
created a weak culture that inhibits commitment and productivity.
The most persistent research variable in my Company of choice includes the dependent
variable (organizational culture) that directly affects other independent variables (commitment).
In Walmart, corporate culture and organizational engagement and performance have recorded
new highs, especially in the current financial year. Enterprise culture, a dependent variable,
refers to the beliefs, assumptions, perceptions and norms held by the staff or that govern how
people behave in an organizational unit, (Reisman, G). Corporate culture plays a fundamental
role in establishing a healthy environment fit for performance and communicating the
responsibility and duties required of the employees. The culture ensures that employees accept
the company`s ethics which further influences their attitudes and behavior in the workplace.
Good behavior and attitude promote the accomplishment of the business`s objectives and
ensuring job satisfaction. Therefore, a weak organizational culture hinders production, customer
satisfaction, and performance.
On the other hand, organizational commitment relates to the relationship that exists
between the management and the staff of a company. Corporate culture and commitment are
directly connected, (Reisman, G). An environment that accepts and appreciates employee effort
motivates the stuff to work even harder and thus achieve the goals of the firm.
The standard forms of labor and low wages in Walmart have had an impact on employee
commitment and perceptions such as the adverse effect on the employment opportunities in
America. In fact, citizens who have information regarding such poor treatment avoid accepting
jobs from Walmart. Some towns and communities have done away with the whole idea of
receiving the opening of stores for such organizations in their cities. In the film, Robert
Greenwald shows that many communities have strongly disapproved and blocked Walmart from
opening their stores in their cities. Such activities deny these areas of accessing some of the good
products that these companies produce and the job opportunities that the new outlets would
present in the city, (Jones B). Such treatment, therefore, leads the employees to believe that the
management does not concern itself with issues facing the employees thus creating negative
attitudes and behavior. Hence, such factors affect customer satisfaction, employee perceptions
(organizational culture) and commitment.
Various methods can be deployed to measure organizational culture quantitatively. The
fundamental technique of data collection is conducting in-depth interviews with the employees.
Through interviewing the employees, the management is able to understand the employees`
beliefs and perceptions of the company. The meetings provide information regarding the
negative attitudes harbored by the staff. From this information management will know whether
improvement in leadership is necessary. Another option is conducting interviews with other
stakeholders giving management an idea of the quality of services offered by the institution.
Meaningful questions provide crucial information and differences between employees and the
management. The interviews complemented with surveys which help identify the attitudes and
feelings of the staff.
Another technique to measure organizational culture and improvement is through applying the
hierarchical reporting strategy, (Pandey, S). The strategy involves knowing who is engaged,
committed and critical. The tool helps managers to drill down into information regarding
divisions and teams and thus understand the level of engagement of each. This also helps
managers determine what measures to deploy to improve performance. The company can initiate
formal and informal events or platforms where they converse with the staff. Doing so allows the
management to monitor communication between all members of the organization. The technique
can help with knowing if the team fears management which could be the reason for reduced
productivity. Also, through initiating organizational change, the management can measure the
company`s culture. Organizational change may include the appointment of a new CEO,
supervisor or even new processes, (Pandey, S). The results of the implementation of the change
indicate whether there exists weak or strong organizational culture.
The effectiveness of the tools employed to measure organizational culture depend on the
information obtained. The surveys and interviews conducted with the staff must show the
different perspectives of employees and the management. Besides, dialogues held with the staff
indicate the attitude and behavior of the staff. The management must be able to derive
differences and comparisons between approaches from different individuals. Besides, the most
imperative way to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the techniques is through
analyzing and evaluating the implementation and integration of the change. An organization
whose employees harbor negative feelings does not successfully apply change compared to a
team that has a high culture, (Pandey, S). Also, the factors of production and improved
performance indicate either an increase or decrease in organizational commitment.
References
1. Jones, B. (2013). Walmart. The Corporate Social Responsibility, 2689- 2691.
2. Reisman, G. D. (2016). Managing Organizational Culture, 245-286
3. Pandey, S, (n.d.). Measuring a Company`s Organizational Culture for Management Research,
131-154.
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