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1 Organizational Change in Walmart Name Institution Course Professor Date

2 Change is inevitable for organizations to thrive in the global market. However, adapting to change may not be a simple thing for many organizations. Adapting to change may require an organization to be well-prepared and organized with managers, employees and other relevant persons being able to cope up with the changes. All these persons ensure that a company operates smoothly amid changes. Such changes may include tangible vision. Change may happen on either small or large scale. While adopting a new vision, a company’s leadership is instrumental in embracing and adapting to change. Therefore, effective leadership guarantees greater achievement for an organization adopting change (Pandey et al., 2021) . This implies that the organization’s management is essential for implementing and communicating. As everyone within the organization becomes fully aware of the changes, it is possible for them to overcome any resistance against change. Therefore, this paper examines major changes that have occurred within Walmart and recommend appropriate strategies aligned to Kotter’s 8 step model that is core in facilitating change. Company Overview In Rogers town, Arkansas around 1962, a businessman named Sam Walton established Walmart. The company has experienced massive growth and expansion over the years. Currently, the firm has 72 banners with over 1535 stores across the globe. It is therefore a global retailer with stores in over 28 countries including but not limited to Korea, Brazil, U.S, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada. At a global scale, the company has an estimate of 2.2 million workers. It has its headquarters situated at Bentonville, Arkansas (Burbach, 201) . The company has three business’ classifications mainly Walmart stores, Sam’s Club and International stores. Annually, the company makes a significant revenue estimate of $482.1 billion. Walmart has its motto stating, “save money, live better”. It has gained a considerable and expansive online presence in over 11 countries. This creates competitive advantages for the company over its competitors. With diverse locations such as South Africa, Chile and Japan among others, the company has

3 captured a global market firmly. By introducing “Savings Catcher’ app, Walmart has gained significant customer base across the world (Burbach, 201) . Moreover, the CSR strategies adopted by the company are aligned to environmental sustainability measures emphasizing on the use of renewable energy sources. The practices and operations by Walmart foster a healthy environment that is free from pollution and destruction. For instance, Walmart has set aside over an acre of land for the preservation of wildlife (Carpio-Aguilar et al., 2019) . Diagnosis As a giant retailer, Walmart has often been associated with significant growth and success globally. However, the company faces several issues. Some of the problems surrounding Walmart include customer dissatisfaction, high demand for technological integration and services and limited product portfolio (He et al., 2021) . These issues among others have highly contributed to reduced sales and revenue for Walmart over the recent years. The company acknowledges the urgent need of incorporating change and foster customer satisfaction. This can be achieved by meeting the needs of consumers, expanding product portfolio and even applying new design on the stores. These adjustments are major changes that can be implemented by Walmart to regain back its global presence and continue to thrive. For the changes to be more successful, they must be communicated to employees and ensure they are well trained and equipped with relevant facilities. Furthermore, Walmart was at some point involved in a bribery event that led to loss of considerable clients. The company’s image was severely tarnished in the event leading to consumer dissatisfaction. The event that took place in one of its stores in Mexico class for urgent need to rebranding. The company must develop a positive outlook and rebuild public trust and confidence. This can be achieved by establishing healthy connection with communities and introduce meaningful programs that can impact lives positively (Pandey et al., 2021) . Walmart can further create employment opportunities by expanding its operations at the local level. In doing so, job seekers and the community at

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4 large may feel empowered. As a result, it is possible for Walmart to gain back its reputation and positive image. Therefore, this issues need to be addressed through change. Walmart can introduce changes aiming to regain back its image and ensure customer and employee satisfaction remain a priority (Pandey et al., 2021) . Kotter’s 8 Step Approach The book, “Organizational Change” second edition offers 8-steps that can be deployed by a company striving to develop and implement urgent changes that can foster growth. These steps are formed on the basis of developing a clear vision, informing other key concerned persons of the vision, empowering workers to take up key roles in the achievement of the set objectives in the mission and setting an example for others to follow. Kotter’s 8-model is considered and effective method that can help diagnose issues affecting the general operations of an organization. The key contents of Kotter 8-steps include the establishment of a sense of urgency, formation of a strong coalition, vision and communication of the vision, employee empowerment, development and implementation of short-term wins, consolidation of improvements and produce more change and lastly institutionalizing approaches in the culture. These steps operate chronologically in that sequence.

5 Image: Kotter’s 8-Step Model for Change According to Kotter’s 8-Step Model, employees are given an opportunity to focus on the newly created mission addressing the specific issues in the organization. The employees are part of a team that prepare and accept such change (Weiss, 2015). However, the implementation of this model’s steps in the case of Walmart can be time consuming because of its global presence. This could possibly result into loss of employee morale as some of the crucial elements in the model miss. The implementation of change in an organization involves transitioning. The processes can a be a continuous one. It s possible to face opposition or resistance from workers if not well communicated. Managers and employers at large must ensure these new vision is communicated for workers to adapt and implement. This can help strive towards a common goal. Furthermore, it encourages and motivates workers as they feel to be part of change as a process. Besides, employees may feel valued and respected as managers continue to inform them of the new vision adhering to the Kotter’s 8-tep model (Weiss, 2015).

6 Walmart has a vital responsibility of implementing change with the use of Kotter-s 8-model in effort to meet customer’s needs and achieve greater satisfaction. The company therefore will implement changes using the model as follows: 1. Establishing a sense of Urgency In this first step, the company acknowledges change as an opportunity to improve its service and product delivery. In the case of Walmart, the firm can create sense of urgency among employees to promote healthy customer relationships. Employees are instrumental in this step. By making them understand the issues in the firm are of urgency, they can commit their efforts towards customer satisfaction and even building strong connections with the client leading to customer loyalty. The quality and greater services can help achieve customer loyalty thus addressing issues around service and product delivery. 2. Forming sense of powerful coalition To spearhead the change, Walmart is tasked with the development of teams. The team comprises of top managers and even part of employers from lower levels to provide way for the implementation of change. The involvement of employees in spearheading change is sign of maintaining balance in the organization. Through various channels of communication, these team members must communicate the changes for implementation. For emergencies that may arise from change implementation, it is more appropriate to have specialized personnel that can respond to such events. It is possible to transitioning effectively with the adjustments. These teams can render their efforts towards enhancing portfolio diversification to ensure customer satisfaction (Laig et al., 2021) . 3. Creating a vision Based on the new changes that Walmart need to adopt and implement, the company is further required to create a new vision. The established team therefore create new strategies aiming to address the issues

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7 raised in the firm. The new mission is meant to empathize with clients by engaging them in relevant questions including ‘What would I need from Walmart’s store? Among others. This aims to render products and services that meet customer’s needs. 4. Communicating the vision This step is fundamental because it involves communication of the vision to everyone that is part of the firm. Communication strategies including written and verbal are deployed by the teams to communicate the vision to employees and others. This is done comprehensively to ensure that all workers understand the new vision. Further clarifications can be made where necessary. The teams, while communicating the changes act as leaders spearheading the achievement of the new vison (Laig et al., 2021) . Feedback can further be gathered from employees to assess whether the vision is well communicated or not. 5. Empowering Others to Act on the Vision Based on this step, employees are empowered and motivated to help implement change in the organization. Employees must be made to feel part of the solution on issues affecting the firm. With such changes being formulated, employees are highly involved in this process. They are trusted to develop and share ideas, strategies and action towards achieving a common goal. In this sense, employees are instrumental in eliminating possible hindrances that can limit attaining the set goals in the new vision (Weiss, 2015). For Walmart, employee empowerment can be done by providing them with training opportunities that can enhance their skills and expertise to boost customer satisfaction. The company y can further make necessary resources available for employees to have change implementation process more achievable. 6. Planning for and creating short-term wins

8 This step involves creating short-term wins that aligns with the new vision at Walmart. To create and adopt a clear performance improvement, the creation of short-term wins is vital. It provides clear pathway for tracking the short term goals an achievement. Regardless of whether these wins are small or huge, they must be acknowledged and appreciated. A consistent process of experiencing short-term wins can stimulate Walmart’s growth. Therefore, managers and employers must ensure employees remain motivated for increased customer fulfilment. 7. Consolidating Improvements and Producing more Change Amid the process of change, this step is crucial in sustaining improvements. For workers that demonstrate resistance towards change despite the vision having been communicated effectively, Walmart can further dismiss them. Hiring new employees that align with the new vision is necessary in this case to boost customer service delivery. Further training can be administered on these new employees amid change (Laig et al., 2021) . Employees can then be enthusiastic as part of change and render their commitments towards change implementation. 8. Instituting Change As the last step of Kotter’s 8-step model, the step involves creating a culture of change and adaptation. The changes are permanently adopted by the organization for long-term gains. Moreover, the transition process can be done in a smooth manner (Weiss, 2015). The new vision can be consolidated with the old one resulting to potential outcomes for Walmart. A continuous process of change implantation and provision of regular training where necessary is encouraged in this step. The company can further reinforce a culture of rewarding where efforts are more fruitful. This promotes consistent performance and productivity for the company. In conclusion, the organization of focus, Walmart, can adopt the Kotter’s 8-step model while striving to address key issues affecting customer satisfaction. The model is instrumental in driving change

9 in the organization. The management and employers at Walmart together with employees are part of the whole process of formulating and implementing change. Teams formed are tasked spearheading change and communicating such changes to make the transition process a successful one (Pandey et al., 2021) . The changes taking place at Walmart aim to empower employees and motivate them towards giving quality services and products to attract and retain customers at a global scale. These aims to achieve potential customer services and establish positive image for Walmart. Technological integration and improved shipping process as well as the creation of opportunities for communities can accelerate the achievement of global reputation. References Burbach, C. (2021). Walmart Strategic Analysis.

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10 Carpio-Aguilar, J. C., Rincón-Moreno, J., & Franco-García, M. L. (2019). Potential of carbon footprint reduction within retailers: food waste at Walmart in Mexico. Sustainable Development Goals and Sustainable Supply Chains in the Post-global Economy , 225-240. He, Z., Ding, Y., & Liu, W. (2021, September). The States Quo of Walmart and Challenges and Opportunities of Their Online Transformation in China Based on SWOT Analysis. In 2021 International Conference on Financial Management and Economic Transition (FMET 2021) (pp. 353-359). Atlantis Press. Laig, R. B. D., & Abocejo, F. T. (2021). Change management process in a mining company: Kotter’s 8- Step change model. Journal of Management, Economics, and Industrial Organization , 5 (3), 31- 50. Pandey, R., Dillip, D., Jayant, J., Vashishth, K., Nikhil, N., Qi, T. J., ... & Qhi, L. Y. (2021). Factors Influencing Organization Success: A Case Study of Walmart. International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality in Asia Pasific (IJTHAP) , 4 (2), 112-123. Weiss, J. (2015). Organizational Change (Second).

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