Introduction
Walmart is one of the largest and most well-known organizations in the retail industry. During the last several years, this company has become a good example of creating high-quality services, maintaining competitive advantage, and promoting efficient leadership in various directions. At this moment, Walmart has to deal with different internal and external forces, including technological advancement, customers’ interest in digitalization as a post-pandemic outcome, and unpredictable competitors’ moves. Every change may be a unique opportunity for the staff to define new perspectives or a disaster for a leader to motivate employees. Digitalization urgency due to the pandemic is the major change driving force on Walmart, and applying transformational leadership should bring positive outcomes, improve cooperation with stakeholders, and strengthen an understanding of organizational culture and mission.
Organization’s Description
Working at Walmart means developing the best practices in the retail and wholesale business and offering a variety of services and products to customers. The company’s main mission is to help people live better by finding new opportunities and saving money (Purpose, n.d.). It is not enough to achieve specific goals and use available resources but to create value and ensure that all stakeholders are supported and respected in their intention to strive for excellence and sustainability. Walmart stakeholders play an important role in stabilization and progress. They include leaders, the staff, suppliers, customers, competitors, and local communities that set the tone and exchange information. Each group of people has certain responsibilities to advance diversity, foster polite relationships, and support a safe environment (Purpose, n.d.). Walmart’s success is explained by the possibility of uniting people from different parts of the world and implementing inspiring changes without losses.
External and Internal Driving Forces
Organizational change is an obligatory issue in every modern company, and both leaders and employees must be ready to take the necessary steps in time. It is not always easy to predict what sphere of work should be improved or replaced because of constantly changing internal and external forces. Today, most organizations have already recognized the pandemic impact and learned how to heal the employment sector after unplanned layoffs and furloughs (Vyas, 2022). Compared to internal forces that might usually be controlled, external forces create additional threats to organizational development. Rapid technological advancement, customer preferences, suppliers’ conditions, and competitors’ approaches introduce serious external challenges for Walmart. Such changes are closely related to the COVID-19 crisis and the need to change lifestyles, working conditions, and cooperation techniques (Meehan, 2021). They also promote the growth of internal forces driving change, including new missions, low performance, and poor satisfaction. Employees search for additional support and inspiration to understand the inevitability of change and the worth of their contributions. To remain competitive and save its strong image, Walmart leaders have to recognize all these changes and impacts.
Preferred Driving Force
The obligation to promote digital transformation during the post-pandemic era is the major driving force that affects Walmart leaders and employees today. In a short period, people had to face the challenges of social isolation, keeping distance, and the necessity to change lifestyles and work (Meehan, 2021). One of the primary requirements for the company is to keep safe workplaces and painfully shift working conditions. At the same time, Walmart focuses on supporting customers and other stakeholders and provides COVID-19 testing and additional information about medications and immunization (Purpose, n.d.). Digitalization is not a new step for Walmart, but the external pandemic force has dramatically changed the speed of the process and integration conditions. In addition to following social restrictions and recommendations, employees should investigate customers’ preferences and digitalize as much information as possible to be available 24/7. It is not easy to find experts in the technological field in a short period, and Walmart leaders have to examine available human resources. Transformational leadership effectively determines people’s needs and follows ethics and morals (Mansaray, 2019). However, such issues as urgency, health-related fears, and digitalization cannot be ignored.
Steps
To respond to the chosen driving force, the company has to take several steps following Kotter’s model. First, Walmart establishes a sense of urgency to examine opportunities and further prospects (Mansaray, 2019). The next step is to form a group that encourages rapid digitalization transformation. Creating a vision helps employees learn their goals and responsibilities at the moment of change (Mansaray, 2019). Then, communication and empowerment are necessary for eliminating obstacles and understanding how to continue moving toward success. Planning and improvement consolidation is critical for employee motivation and demonstration that all steps are reasonable and effective. Finally, new behaviors in digitalizing information for post-pandemic business are identified to show if the desired goals are achieved.
Employees’ Response
The proposed change initiative may provoke different responses among employees. On the one hand, technicians might report challenges related to increased volumes of work and the involvement of new people. On the other hand, managers and suppliers should consider health issues with new working conditions and short deadlines. More customers would want to cooperate with Walmart and learn delivery options, products, and other services. Digitalized data must be renewed constantly, and such change may cause additional emotional damage and work overload. However, if all the steps are properly taken, leaders can prepare the team, create favorable conditions, and minimize losses.
Vision for Change
Regarding the existing forces, human resources, and expectations, a vision for change defines the direction that Walmart staff should follow. In this case, enhancing digitalization as another way to resist the pandemic restrictions is the vision for elaboration. The company’s mission is to save money and improve lives, and the offered idea correlates with this intention. Internal stakeholders are managers, technicians, and other employees who need to accept this change and succeed in digitalization in the post-pandemic period. This vision is not just an obligation but an opportunity to achieve another level of professionalism and be loyal to and care for customers who expect to get as much as possible with Walmart.
Stakeholders’ Considerations
The change initiative is never easy for internal stakeholders because routine steps should be replaced with innovative ideas, requiring more time for examination. It is expected to hear some considerations with time when the first steps of the intervention are taken. For example, employees might want to obtain examples and verbal explanations together with properly developed written guidelines. Organizational communication may be challenged, and the only response is to manage time, formulate written requests, and support each other if possible. Another consideration is the impact of digitalization on the connection between Walmart and customers. The leader has to explain that digitalization does not diminish the role of a person in the retail business but facilitates the exchange of information. Thus, taken properly, the offered change will open new opportunities for cooperation and communication.
Conclusion
The importance of digitalization under the pandemic impact is a serious driving force for Walmart to implement new change initiatives. Leaders have to help employees take the necessary steps and understand the inevitability of modifications in their working conditions. Therefore, the offered vision for change to enhance digitalization for saving money, improving life, and stabilizing customer-company relationships meets the company’s overall goal. Walmart has already dealt with various tasks and obligations, and the current change should be treated as another inspirational element for sustainability, integrity, and performance excellence.
References
Mansaray, H. E. (2019). The role of leadership style in organisational change management: A literature review. Journal of Human Resource Management, 7(1), 18-31. Web.
Meehan, M. (2021). Trends for 2022: Change the way you look at change. Forbes. Web.
Purpose. (n.d.). Walmart. Web.
Vyas, E, (2022). Key strategies for leading cultural change in 2022. Forbes. Web.