Walmart Corporate Symbolism through the Years

Walmart is an American based retail business that operates stores in 28 countries.  The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 in Bentonville, Arkansas and it became incorporated on October 31, 1969.  Walmart is the world’s largest company by revenue, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2014, as well as the biggest private employer in the world with 2.2 million associates (employees).  Walmart is a family-owned business controlled by the Walton family.  Sam Walton’s heirs own over 50 percent of Walmart through their holding company.

(wikipedia, 2015)

The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972, and by 1988 Walmart was the most profitable retailer in the United States.  By October 1989 Walmart became the largest retailer in terms of revenue in the U.S. 

(Sun Sentinel, 1991)

  Walmart has transformed itself over the years from Sam Walton’s Five and Dime store in Bentonville, AK to the Discount City retailer in the late 1960’s to the supercenter conglomerate in the late 1980’s.  The Company has remained firm in the market increasing sales year over year through the 1990’s and into 2000, when the company sales increased to $165 billion. 

(Walmart, 2012)

As the company continued to grow and change into the new millennium, the slogan, “Always Low Prices, Always” changed to reflect the, “Save money.  Live better.” slogan.   Extensive research was conducted to reflect Walmart consumers demand for saving money, while getting a better product.  Global Insight, a research firm that conducted research that supported ads, found that Walmart’s price level reduction resulted in saving consumers $287 billion or $2,500 per household in 2006. 

(Reuters, 2007)

  The company removed the hyphen from the logo on June 30, 2008 and replaced it with the sunburst logo.  The sunburst logo is the ‘Star of Life’ and meant to reflect the ongoing evolution of the Walmart brand. 

(Walmart Canada changes logo, slashes prices, 2012)

  The logo internally is called a ‘spark’ and is used to motivate associates to take pride in their role in the organization and live the values.

Walmart One.  The onboarding of new members into the organization.

Walmart One is onboarding training for new associates that join the organization.  New employees attend orientation on their first day of hire where they learn about the history of the company, including, the Walton founders, the businesses timeline of growth, its vision and mission, involvement in the communities it serves, culture, standards of conduct, and philosophy on taking care of the customer.  Orientation is broken into nine (9) segments; those are as follows:

·     

Our Purpose, Our Beliefs, & Behaviors – this includes history and milestones, company purpose, beliefs, behavioral expectations, and customer expectations.

·     

Your Role, My Role – the customer service 10 foot rule, open door process and who to contact, dress code expectations, personal hygiene, and personal appearance.

·     

My Money – pay checks, scheduling, and use of the time clock (hourly associates), working off the clock consequences, attendance expectations, and associate discount card.

·     

My Health – healthy living resources, benefits, leave of absence overview, FMLA, and reasonable accommodation.

·     

My Education – lifelong learning support.

·     

Your Career & Community – career opportunities, store of the community, associate critical need trust fund.

·     

My Store – three major store areas, store associate structure.

·     

Meet Your Store Manager – welcome and introduction by the Store Manager, store manager speaks to his/her career at Walmart, he or she discusses career pathing at Walmart, performance expectations, open door process, grass roots and union avoidance, and my Walmart.

·     

We Care About You – investigation of concerns through ethics hotline, open door, anti-violence policy, parking lot safety, statement of ethics & conduct, guiding principles, personal relationships, discrimination & harassment, gifts & entertainment policies.

The recognition program is called, ‘My Spark’ and is discussed in the orientation program.  The spark is the company icon and it is used on all positive associate communications.  It reinforces the culture and values of the organization, of pride, respect, customer care, community, and associate engagement. 

The Walmart Organization as Theater1

In theater, what appears on stage is draped in perception.  The same is true for organizations.  We judge them on how they appear and how well they follow the script we expect.

(Bolman & Deal, 2013, pp. 285-286)

  In other words, we judge on how they perform for us.  Walmart is an organization that stays in the headlines due to its sheer size and magnitude.  The company is a target for media and has experienced its share of derogatory press.  In July 2014 a tired semi-trailer driver for Walmart Logistics slammed into a limousine of a well-known comedian, Tracy Morgan, killing comedian James McNair and injuring Morgan and two other passengers.  It quickly hit headlines and Morgan filed suit against the retailer.  The company saw its stock fall 10 percent that fall. 

(Verhage, 2015)

In April of 2012 an investigative report by The New York Times reported former executive of Walmart de Mexico alleged that, in September 2005, the company had paid bribes via local fixers to officials throughout Mexico in exchange for construction permits, information, and other favors, which would give Walmart a substantial advantage over competitors. 

(Barstow, 2012)

  Corruption charges cost the company $99 million U.S. dollars on investigations of the scandal and fueled debate over foreign investments and corporate interests. 

Criticism is not new to Walmart.  It has undergone criticism from groups, labor organizations, individuals, communities, grassroots organizations, religious groups, environmentalists, and its own customers and employees.  These groups have protested about the companies’ policies, foreign product sourcing, beliefs, fundamentals, working wages & conditions, environmental practices, culture, impact to the communities they operate in, and anything & everything in between.  Walmart has been front and center in litigation of charges of racial and gender discrimination, including the well-known case of the 2013 NLRB suit against Walmart for disciplining employees that engaged in concerted activity or striking on black Friday. 

(Samuels, 2013)

Conclusion  

            Despite the retailer’s criticisms, Walmart continues to take market share and in 2015, expanding its international operations to more than 6,200 stores in 26 countries, outside the U.S. and Canada.  A strong focus on the customer, store cleanliness and shop-ability, in-stock conditions, and saving the customer money will be driven through the organization in the next year.  That focus will remain in place as the retailer looks for same-store growth year-after-year.

The retailer began a new initiative in 2015 offering a free grocery service pickup, allowing customers to select product online, place an order, choose a pickup time at their local store, and a Walmart associate delivers their groceries to their car.  The program has expanded to 13 states in the U.S. and the company expects to see more stores offering the service. 

(Forbes Investing, 2014)

  This program will become part of the strategy to integrate online shopping into grocery expansion in the coming year.

Global e-commerce business will continue to be a focus for Walmart in the next decade.  The retailer reports that only 3% of its $500 billion in sales are currently from online orders.  It will focus on the online shopper by investing in Omni-channel platforms.  Omni channels are a seamless shopping experience for customers across channels of in-store, online, in-store pickup, and pay with cash online order for in-store pickup.  This is a huge win for the retailer for customers that either do not own a credit or debit card, or just prefer to pay with cash.  While, the online business for Walmart is not expected to take off overnight, the retailer has a strategy in place to take back market share from Amazon and reinvent the online shopping experience by offering services the mega giant, Amazon cannot. Walmart has no intention of losing its ‘spark’ in the market and will continue to be a strong financial competitor against Target, Publix, Kroger, Meijer, and Amazon in the U.S. and Canada. 

References

Barstow, D. (2012, April 21). Vast Mexican Bribary Case Hushed Up by WalmartAfter High-Level Struggle. The New York Times.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2013). Reframing Organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Forbes Investing. (2014, March 27). Forbes Investing. What is Walmart doing to ramp up its e-commerce business?

Reuters. (2007). Wal-mart rolling out new company slogan. Reuters.

Samuels, A. (2013, November 19). Fully staffed NLRB investigates complaints against Walmart. L.A. Times.

Sun Sentinel. (1991, February 15). 1990 Sales Lift Walmart into Top Spot. 1990 Sales Lift Walmart into Top Spot.

Verhage, J. (2015, October 15). Walmart Stock Got Crushed and Wall Street Has a Few Things To Say About It. Yahoo! Finance.

Walmart. (2012). Walmart Annual Report 2000. Bentonville, AK: Walmart Inc.

Walmart Canada changes logo, slashes prices. (2012, December).

wikipedia. (2015, November 26). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walmart&oldid=692570345