Leadership and Teamwork: Walmart

“Walmart Inc. (Walmart) is a global American retail company that owns and operates a chain of grocery stores, discount department stores, and hypermarkets. When Walmart opened for business in 1962, it soon overtook the American market and was ingrained in our generation’s culture. In its first 30 years, Walmart expanded to 1,928 locations across the USA. Walmart decided that controlling the US retail market was insufficient; therefore, in 1992, they expanded their business to Mexico. This was the company’s first venture into foreign markets; currently, there are 6,363 locations globally. Despite their success abroad, they failed domestically and were forced to shut down their operations in Germany, South Korea, and Japan. According to the study by Hunt, Watts, and Bryant (2018), which I read, “the lack of understanding about cultural habits concerning shopping was a common theme in these failures, along with an ethnocentric approach to management staffing in the host country” (p. 25). When trying to establish your business in markets worldwide, there will always be a risk involved and failures that we can learn from.

I’ll show how Walmart can be successful in its future growth in this essay. I’ll talk about the leadership strategy for a New Zealand expansion, useful leadership skills for the New Zealand expansion, cultural leadership used in New Zealand, successful leadership techniques, nation analysis, and a Globe study of New Zealand.

Walmart should consider the leadership styles and skills that would work best for their team inside and in a new market. According to Oedekoven, Lavrenz, and Robins (2018), on page 34, “effective leaders are flexible enough to adjust their leadership style and techniques to the people they lead and the situations they encounter.” The leaders at Walmart must examine and draw lessons from the leadership strategies they employed in the markets where their services were unsuccessful before applying them to the new nations where they are attempting to promote their goods and services.

leadership strategy for a move into New Zealand

The two leadership philosophies were compared in order to ascertain which approach would be the most successful in guiding Walmart into the New Zealand market. Given Walmart’s organizational structure and the culture of New Zealand, transformational and democratic leadership would be the best choices for Walmart to make when entering this market. Walmart’s higher management should adopt a democratic leadership style, engaging their teams before making decisions and making the ultimate call. When leaders involve their team members and let them make the final choice, they demonstrate transformational leadership. Both of these management approaches boost morale and result in highly motivated employees. Other advantages of democratic leadership include the following:

• Allowing employees to freely exchange ideas.
• Encouraging trust and respect.
• Emphasizing values and morals.
• Enabling followers to see their leaders as capable of leading.

These leaders get more varied ideas, which helps the participants grow stronger and forge a future vision. If it comprehends this nation’s fundamentals, Walmart can successfully create its firm in New Zealand.

Strengthening Leadership Skills for the New Zealand Expansion

When expanding its services to New Zealand, the company must make a crucial decision regarding the type of leadership it will employ. Holmes & Marra (2016) conducted research analyzing leadership in New Zealand companies and how humor is used as a tool, and found that “from the point of view of the workplace leader, humor is a valuable discursive resource which can be drawn on to assist in achieving workplace goals since it makes it possible to “do” both power and humor.” Dharmesh & Madden (2017) list humor as one of New Zealand’s defining characteristics.

Regarding business, New Zealanders do not take themselves as seriously as other nations do because of the humor that permeates their culture. The staff in New Zealand very well receives positive attitudes and humor from the leadership.

Walmart needs to examine another component of leadership: concentrating on the individual. New Zealanders pride themselves on being strong independents. With this in mind, it would be essential to concentrate on the individual employee rather than setting or highlighting the company goals. Because this leadership style is preferred in the New Zealand workforce, the leaders should hold regular one-on-one meetings and establish personal goals. Although New Zealand workers exhibit a high degree of independence, they are extremely modest and place a different value on titles or recognition than workers in the US.

The last thing Walmart executives should think about is being receptive to feedback and making sure they use a means of giving it in private rather than in a group setting. Workplace disputes or confrontations are not a part of the New Zealand culture. Leaders must consider this facet of their culture. One of the things I learned while researching this topic was that in order to succeed in this culture, any leader seeking to join this market must make sure they only keep one-on-one meetings and obtain as much information from the employee as possible. They prefer to avoid scheduling endless meetings since it wastes time.

Applying cultural leadership in New Zealand

Walmart needs to comprehend the various cultural and leadership styles present in New Zealand’s commercial markets before it can successfully enter the market there. When leaders are asked to manage teams outside of their cultural norms, they frequently find themselves needing to be more understood and effective. This is why many businesses fail. Building an effective global leadership pipeline will take a lot of work for businesses that overlook cultural differences. When your executives adopt this mindset, they need help to create powerful leadership teams in the global marketplace. They must examine how various leadership philosophies differ in various cultural contexts. I found an article on why they don’t succeed abroad, and Hunt & Watts (2018) explain how Walmart’s failure to enter markets like Germany and South Korea, as well as Brazil and Japan, can be attributed to cultural ignorance and a failure to properly research those markets. Reading this statement demonstrates how crucial it is to research and modify your business to fit the culture of the market you are attempting to expand into. When a business considers offering its services in New Zealand, it must examine the geography of the country to determine whether the market will benefit from such services.

I mentioned in the previous sentence that Walmart should enter the New Zealand market using the situational leadership strategy. They must adopt a transformative leadership style if they want to compete in this industry and build their staff. “Transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people,” according to Worthouse (92018). Walmart leaders should not use a method of motivating and leading employees with a strategy; they should use a transformational approach where the employees can find motivation through their passion and what concerns them in the workplace. This approach is concerned with emotion, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals. Motivating New Zealanders can be challenging because they are shy and dislike being in groups. With the help of the transformational leadership approach, managers can get to know their staff members and discover what drives them. Implementing this style enables the leaders to establish connections with New Zealand-born employees and teaches them how to understand their culture, preferences, and purchasing patterns. Any stores they build should reflect Kiwi culture and make sure that customers are not led through aisles that are more like those in the US than those in New Zealand.

Leadership Techniques and Success Strategies

Leading with a strategic vision appropriate for the nation is the most crucial technique to employ when entering the New Zealand business market. This will help you become an outstanding leader who will be managing a firm abroad. In addition to the company’s overall vision, a vision for New Zealand’s growth that unites the teams and drives them to succeed in this market is necessary. Since the workforce in New Zealand is so egalitarian, it’s critical to create a shared vision to avoid focusing on management hierarchies. This vision should enable the United States and New Zealand leadership teams to collaborate successfully and forge a shared objective that benefits all cultures involved in the team-building process.

A leader from the United States might find it difficult, but a more stoic leadership style in New Zealand might fit in better with the people. The English heritage of New Zealand and its indigenous warrior culture can be linked to stoicism and a toughen-up attitude with more of a stiff-upper-lip mentality (Legal Team New Zealand, 2019). This is consistent with the Kiwis’ reputation for suppressing their emotions, particularly at work. The leaders may use this strategy to influence future clients and lead the staff in this area if they want to succeed in New Zealand’s workforce and market.

An effective strategy/tool for attempting to expand a company’s services to New Zealand customers would be for CEOs to set ethical standards when leading personnel outside of the United States. By establishing an ethical code, all the cultures concerned can come together to produce an efficient workplace. Sincerity goes a long way in New Zealand and most cultures. Walmart’s leadership must demonstrate honesty among the leadership and the workforce if it hopes to acquire the trust of outsiders. This calls for involving everyone on the team and giving them input into decision-making. The management must convey to the staff that they have an open-door policy. The relationship between Kiwi employees and their respect for the leaders will grow.

Country Study

A mere 4.8 million people call the tiny island of New Zealand home on the opposite side of the globe. In the 2020 index of freest economies, New Zealand’s economy is third. In the Asia-Pacific area, New Zealand is ranked third out of 42 nations, and its total score is significantly higher than the average for the region and the global average (2020 Index of Economic Freedom). For over 25 years, they have held the top spot among the freest economies. Their economy has been growing steadily; within the next year, it is expected to grow by 2.5%. The COVID-19 epidemic, however, has caused a 0.7% seasonal adjustment reduction in New Zealand in the first quarter of 2020. With reductions in 10 of the 16 regions, sales fell by the most in eight years, although sales of supermarkets and grocery stores increased. Although New Zealand is beautiful, the authorities must consider how Walmart services might be introduced there to enhance and contribute to the island’s culture.

Walmart needs to assess the growing danger posed by online buying today. It would have been difficult for them to join this market in 2019, but since the COVID-19 outbreak, online sales in New Zealand have grown significantly. In an article by Boyte (2018), it was claimed that “New Zealanders are increasingly digital when it comes to purchasing, with two-thirds doing their shopping online in the past year, up 37% from 2006 and predicts to reach 8.3% by 2026. As seen in the New Zealanders Connected Consumer Reports, a deeper understanding of the attitudes and behaviors associated with online shopping is required.

Most of New Zealand’s goods are imported because the country is an island, resulting in high transportation expenses that could drive up the cost of basic goods. Thanks to strategic shipping and partnerships and the company’s motto, “Always Low Prices,” which is a significant necessity in that country, Walmart should be able to cut the prices of goods in their stores below what New Zealanders are used to.

Greg Foran, once the CEO of Walmart and currently employed by New Zealand Airlines, is a native of New Zealand; a partnership might be formed by working with the airline to bring items into New Zealand.

In addition, New Zealand surpassed the requirements for opening a business and obtaining finance domestically, placing first out of 190 nations on the World Bank’s 2020 Ease of Doing Business list. A high rating for ease of doing business indicates that the regulatory environment in New Zealand is more favorable for setting up a firm. The information and data presented here will help Walmart develop profitable business strategies as it enters the New Zealand market.

A New Zealand Globe Analysis

Robert J. House (1932-2011) created the “Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness: (Globe) Research Program in 1991. In their study of leadership throughout the globe; the GLOBE researchers defined leadership as “the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members” (House et al., 2002).

The GLOBE program is a research initiative that examines cultural variances to create a single platform. GLOBE offers a method for calculating the size of cultural disparities based on nine dimensions. The dimensions are assertiveness, gender equality, in-group collectivism, institutional collectivism, power distance, future orientation, performance orientation, and human orientation. About cultures and leaders, these dimensions capture affinities, norms, values, and practices. A nation’s beliefs, values, and customs reveal its cultural diversity. Leaders must comprehend the cultural variations of the personnel they will manage to effectively motivate and manage them.

Their society is well-known in New Zealand and aspires to high-performance standards while promoting behaviors that foster shared solidarity. New Zealand exhibits and is known for its adherence to moral principles and capacity to lessen feelings of uncertainty and unpredictability. Anyone entering the market must comprehend where New Zealand stands on the pendulum and how these dimensions are relevant to the Western culture of the nation.

The first “Power Distance” dimension implies that not all people are created equal. It refers to the extent to which members of less powerful organizations within a nation assume and accept that power is divided evenly. This addresses the issue of how both leaders and followers support social inequity. People are expected to obey the law and have a higher tolerance for power in high-power nations. New Zealand is a low power distance nation that ranks in the bottom 25%. Leaders and workers in this nation believe hierarchy is useless because managers rely on individual workers and leaders to communicate, collaborate, and exchange knowledge. In New Zealand, communication is very informal and engaging.

The next degree, “Future Orientation,” encourages investments for future returns and values immediate satisfaction over short-term gains; countries that fall under this area have a high level of future orientation. New Zealand falls below average within this dimension because they prefer to uphold their customary traditions; they view social change with skepticism and are normative in their thought.

Nations with high humane orientation tend to be responsible for promoting the well-being of others and do not approve of or are opposed to the state providing social and economic support. In New Zealand, this orientation is regarded as a moderate facilitator of excellent leadership, but the desire to become more humble is present.

Loyalty is encouraged among the group, even if it doesn’t match the individual’s goals. This area covers people with a self-image defined as “I” or “We.” In collectivist societies, people belong to an “in group” that looks out for them in exchange for loyalty. New Zealand is regarded as an example of a collectivist society.

These types of leaders are more assertive when competing, and New Zealanders are known for individualism and lower collectivism than people from other regions. “In-Group Collectivism” is individuals who express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their organizations or families.

Within “Gender Egalitarianism,” the male and females are represented equally, but in New Zealand, women still do not experience the full equality guaranteed by law. Since they have some issues with women being treated equally, the New Zealand government implemented steps to support the development of women and gender equality. “In 2016, N

Conclusion

If you analyze the information within this presentation, Walmart leaders can make a strategic and beneficial decision to place their products and services into the New Zealand market. By using the unique strategy and learning from the other successful markets they have established internationally, they will have the tools they need to expand into the New Zealand market. It will be critical for the leadership team to understand the culture they are entering and adapt the strategy to ensure their stores fit well into KIWI’s culture. They need to ensure bringing Walmart services into New Zealand with their low prices should fit the Kiwi way. The most important aspect a company needs to understand and adjust is its leadership style, strategy, and culture to be accepted and successful in New Zealand. Not only is it important that they adjust their way of thinking the leaders need to ensure that the leadership style and strategy they are implementing into their culture is accepted in the New Zealand market.

References

 Walmart History – Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Walmart#:~:text=Company

%20headquarters%20are%20in%20Bentonville%2C%20Arkansas.%20Wal-Mart%20was,with%20retailing

%20giants%20such%20as%20Sears%20and%20Kmart.

Oedekoven, O.O, Lavrenz, J., & Robbins, D. (2018). Leadership essentials: Practical and Proven Approaches in Leadership and Supervision. Retrieved from https://ashford.instructure.com

Holmes, J & Marra, M. (2016). Humor and Leadership Style. Humor-international Journal of Humor Research

Hun, I., Watts, A. &Bryant, S.K. (2018). Walmart International Expansion: Successes and Miscalculations. Journal of Business Strategy, 39(2), pfpp220

Northouse, P.G. (2018). Leadership: thTheorynd Practice (8^th ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

New Zealand. (N.D.) Retrieved August 7, 2020, from https://www.heritage.org/index/country/newzealand

Boyte, T. (2018). Online Shopping Seeing Huge Growth in New Zealand. https://www.nielsen.com/nz/en/insights/article/2018/online-shopping-seeing-huge-growth-in-new- zealand/

Darmesh, & Madden, J. (2017, July 16). Seven defining characteristics of being a “KIWI,” AKA New Zealander. Retrieved April 23, 2020, from https://onlifemag.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/seven-defining- characteristics-of-being-a-kiwi-aka-new-Zealander/

House, R., Javidan, M. Hanges, P. & Dorfam, P (2020). Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe: an introduction to project GLOBE. Journal of World Business, 37(1), 3-10.

Squiress, Judith (2007). The New Politics of Gender Equality.

Palgrave Macmillan “The Global Gender Gap Report 2016”. World Economic Forum. Retrieved 10 August 2020.

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Prior to this assignment, review Chapter 12: Global Marketing Channels and Physical Distribution, and carefully analyze Case 12-2: Can Walmart Crack the Retail Code in India? Review the Intro and Company Profile sections in the Walmart Case StudyLinks to an external site. It is also recommended to review the Forbes School of Business and Technology MBA Walmart Case StudyLinks to an external site. Handout.

Your assignment will build upon your final paper about Walmart from your BUS621: Leadership and Teamwork course. The program-level purpose of this case study is for you to analyze Walmart from different angles (leadership style, marketing strategies and tactics, HR, financial aspects, etc.), so by the end of your MBA program you will have completed Walmart’s big-picture puzzle.

In your BUS621: Leadership and Teamwork course, you selected a country for Walmart to expand to, and you also analyzed various leadership models and skills that applied to your selected country. Using the same country from BUS621, in this assignment you will build on your previous Walmart work and develop some place strategies as Walmart expands its global marketing activities to this country..

Address the following points for the selected country:

• Summarize some of the elements in your selected country’s political, economic, and cultural environments that can impact the market opportunity for Walmart expansion.
• Discuss the market expansion strategy you would suggest for Walmart in your selected country based on your environmental review and referring to Figure 12-4 in your text.
• Analyze each utility that Walmart may be creating in the country of your choice.
  • As a reminder, you learned that channels create utility for customers (place utility, form utility, time utility, and information utility) that can be leverages as a source of competitive advantage.
• Explain which utility can potentially work as a competitive advantage for Walmart considering its target market and their needs, wants, and preferences in your selected country.
• Formulate a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis for Walmart.com in your selected country, considering the growth of global online retailers like Amazon.com, Aliexpress.com, Target.com, and eBay.com as competitors of Walmart.com, and based on the factors you evaluated in the first directive. You may refer to the Writing Center’s Swot AnalysisLinks to an external site. resource.

The Walmart Case Study paper

• Must be four to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA StyleLinks to an external site. as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft WordLinks to an external site. resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper in bold font
    • Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
  • Student’s name
  • Name of institution (The University of Arizona Global Campus)
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Due Date
• Must use at least two scholarly sources for each environment topic in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesLinks to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your PaperLinks to an external site. guide.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References ListLinks to an external site. resource in the Writing Center for specifications.

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