Organizational Behavior in This Age

Organizational Behavior In this age of rapid technological development and growing forces of globalization, economic entities have to strive harder than ever to develop and maintain strong competitive positions. In order to attract, satisfy and retain as many customers as possible and ensure income stability, organizational managers develop and implement a wide series of strategic approaches.

Some of these efforts revolve around the motivation, training and retention of the staff members; others deal with an enhanced process of employee empowerment or a third category of strategic decisions revolves around the organizational culture. All these endeavors, and many more, are organized under the generic term of organizational behavior and the aim of this paper is to assess how Wal-Mart succeeds or fails in implementing the concepts of OB.

Organizational Behavior at Microsoft Wal-Mart is by far the largest and most successful retailer within the United States and, despite its failures in Europe, it has still managed to make a strong statement within the international market. Employee Motivation Critics of Wal-Mart point out that the company is struggling to implement the lowest possible prices in order to attract as many customers as possible.

While the company does not deny this, the critics take one step ahead and argue that executive managers will go to unethical lengths in order to reduce costs.

Some of these immoral actions include the import of products of questionable quality and in unsanitary conditions or the offering of poor customer services, including barely existent security -- the stores are filled with security in order to ensure that thefts do not occur, but the parking lots are unsupervised; employees and customers were robbed, injured or even killed in the Wal-Mart parking lots. Another means of saving costs is that of placing a reduced emphasis on the employee.

Training and motivation are kept at a minimum level in order to make cash economies (Wal-Mart Watch, 2009). The company however presents a different side of the story and argues that they make sufficient investments in training and motivating their staff members. A motivational factor is for instance constituted by the morning cheer, a joyful commencement to each working day that will lift the spirits of the employees and generate enthusiasm. "The creation of an enthusiastic and motivated sales staff is one of the most difficult challenges facing any retail organization.

In no other sector do so many individual employees have such direct responsibility for the customer relationship. Wal-Mart is renowned for motivating its staff. [Below], former chief executive David Glass shows the sales team how the well-known Wal-Mart 'Morning Cheer' should be done" (Klinger and Tweraser). Source: Klinger and Twinger Power and Politics Similar to employee motivation, the issue of power and politics with Wal-Mart is a conflicting one.

Critics of Wal-Mart base their arguments on the statements of current of former Wal-Mart employees, who were generally dissatisfied and had negative things to say. The most relevant of these statements have been gathered by Robert Greenwald (2005) in his documentary film Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. From the perspective and experiences of the interviewed individuals, the company would reveal unethical behavior materialized often in abuses of managerial power in instances such as the request for extra, unpaid hours.

Also, these employees mentioned that they had been subjected to gender and racial discrimination and that promotions to managerial positions were virtually impossible for them to get. On the other hand, looking at the issue from the standpoint of the company and its advocates, the Wal-Mart executives state that they do not discriminate against their staff members and that they do present them all with equal development opportunities. Additionally, the managerial team argues that the levels of employee empowerment are increased within the organization.

And they do this not only because it is the right thing to do, but also as it benefits the organization. Tim Gebauer, manager at the Mason City Wal-Mart stores argues that the great ideas come from the employees who interact with products and customers on daily basis and that this represents a major competitive advantage as well as a strong reason in support of employee empowerment. In his own words: "They know their piece of this business better than I do.

One of the most important keys to developing your business is to simply make use of the tremendous resources of experience and knowledge that are already within your organization" (Tim Gebauer, quoted by Biztrain). Organizational Culture The organizational culture is a pivotal element in the success of any entity, but even more so in cases of large corporations where there is a growing need for a unified system of thinking to integrate all corporatist elements.

Unlike motivation and empowerment, in terms of culture, most sources indicate that Wal-Mart has successfully managed to create a strong organizational culture. The company's website argues that respect for all stakeholders sits at the basis of their fruitful relationships and helps them remain committed to excellence. Additionally, the corporate culture is based on the values first introduced by founder Sam Walton. "We're known around the world as the company that helps our customers save money so they can live better. We're also well-known for our unique corporate culture.

Sam Walton built our business on values and morals. Those rules and customs have helped us become one of the world's most admired companies" (Wal-Mart Website, 2009). This approach has helped not only with the internal structures and operations, but has also extrapolated to materialize in great competitive advantages within the national and international markets (Refrigerated Transporter, 2002). 3.