Wal-Marts Planning Levels Essay -- essays research papers

Wal-Mart as a company employs several different levels of planning to ensure the completion of the many goals is put into effort each year. After the upper management members have attended the massive planning meetings that Wal-Mart holds in order to put projects in motion, they will relay the messages to the succeeding(prenominal) layer of management. It is this level of management, better known as middle management, which we will concentrate on for this paper as they are the ones who will implement the tactical phase of any plan. An example of this would be the method that Wal-Mart devised to guarantee diversity in the management ranks. After being sued for supposedly not paying employees for overtime, for alleged gender bias Wal-Mart decided to start a plan of action to ensure diversity (usatoday.com, 2004). In this plan managers were required to hire the same section of minority managers as the percentage that applied for the job (usatoday.com, 2004). If these numbers were n ot met, the bonuses of all managers involved were to be cut significantly. After receiving this message from upper management, it was up to the middle management team to pass it on to the operational managers and check on them to guarantee that changes were being made that would allow the company to reach the goal. By using this tactical level of management, the mid-tier managers were adequate to direct the lower managers and make a positive step towards accomplishing the objective that was put in front of them.SWOTT abstract (Strengths)Low prices, management strategies, and diversity are just some of Wal-Marts strengths. Wal-Mart is known for being one of the largest retailers thats able to provide a wide range of quality products at a low price. Competitors such as K-Mart are unable to compete with Wal-Mart due to the lack of name brand products. K-Mart is able to provide non-name brand products at a reduced price, but cannot maintain the low prices of the name brand products W al-Mart provides (Hayden, P., Lee, S., McMahon, K., & Pereria, M., 2002). SWOTT Analysis (Weaknesses)As a huge organization, Wal-Mart has a weakness in opening an expansion in Germany. The weaknesses in an organization need more development in order to become successful. As Wal-Mart continues to assume and expand into different countries, the diverse managemen... ...llowing all their shopping to be done at one time in one place.ReferencesAlbright, M. (2004, October 6). St. Petersburg Times Wal-Mart strategy bray in more stores. Retrieved Friday, June 24, 2005, from www.sptimes.com/2004/10/06/Business/Wal_Mart_strategy__Sq.shtml.Armour, Stephanie (2003). Wal-Mart takes hits on worker treatment USA TODAY. Retrieved on June 15th, 2005 from http//www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2003-02-09-wal-mart-cov2_x.htmFernie, J. & Arnold, S. Wal-Mart in Europe Prospects for Germany, the UK, and France. International ledger of Retail & Distribution. Bradford 2002, Vol 30, Issue 2/3, P92-103. R etrieved on June 15, 2005 for ProQuest.G.M.A. (2003, October). Wal-Mart Update Supersizing the Supermarket. Times & Trends. Retrieved on June 15th, 2005 from http//www.gmabrands.com/publications/gmairi/2003/October.htmHayden, P., Lee, S., McMahon, K., & Pereira, M. (2002). Wal-Mart Staying on Top of the Fortune 500. Retrieved June 16, 2005, from http//mike-pereira.com/subpage/docs/walmartcs.htmUsatoday.com. (2004). The Associated Press. Retrieved Wednesday 15, 2005, from http//www.walmartfacts.com/associates/diversity.aspx