The Leadership Style Of Walmart

Since the opening of its first stores in 1962, Walmart has taken steps to revolutionize and fundamentally alter the world of retail. Sam Walton’s entrepreneurial genius took Walmart from a single store to the embodiment of modern retail. “Everyday low prices” and “Saving People Money, So they can Live Better” became the foundation for domestic business success. Accompanied by premier supply-chain management systems with one of the most expansive logistical networks, Walmart has the ability to reach the world’s consumers, for lower prices. The retail giant opened its first international store in 1991 as a joint venture in Mexico and has now emerged in twenty-six countries outside of the United States and over 6,000 international stores (Walmart,

In the United States or a country with low uncertainty avoidance and more confident associates, executives can take a more delegating or participating role – encouraging associates to direct themselves (Daft, 2008). For example, a cultural tradition of Walmart is a daily opening cheer but when brought to Germany the German staff would hide in the restrooms to avoid the cheer (Economist, 2001). In contrast, a country like China would require more direction, with a selling or telling leadership style (Daft, 2008). An example of this would be, a Chinese employee’s resistance to share their opinion in attempt to ‘save face’ and avoid the shame of being wrong (John Eves, Associate Vice President -Walmart China Asset Protection, personal communication, March 5, 2014). While most of Walmart’s bottom level associates possess the same or similar education and experience but individuals can vary in terms of their readiness or comfort towards the task. Higher-level associates are where leadership styles will vary the greatest based on culture. The English, are individualistic and would fall on a delegating or participating leadership style while the Japanese and Chinese are collectivist and would likely require a selling or telling style (Hofstede, 2010; Daft, 2008). Assertiveness, hesitation, and timidity can have various effects or interpretations based on cultural norms. Leading an international team while still staying true to the organizations values presents a challenge as Walmart’s executive teams have to be able to read the culture to understand if associates need managing or coaching and if they need more motivation or