Case study
Organizational behavior aids in studying the human behavior in context of the organizational settings. It revolves around the study of individuals, teams as well as the whole organization in order to analyze the behavior. The study of organizational behavior supports various organizational activities in order to achieve the organizational goal. The theories of organizational behavior help in exploring various pathways for meeting the objectives (Robbins, Campbell and Judge, 2010). Organizational decision-making process plays a crucial role in ensuring success of the company. Maintaining positive culture within the organization contributes in motivating the workforce. It has been found that the motivated workforce assists in improving the organizational performance (Rousseau and Cooper, 2000). The attitude of the employees must be understood in order to capitalize the skills in enhancing the overall performance. Leadership is a major issue that determines how the management will work with the employees for achieving the organizational objectives. Ineffective leadership, mistreatment with the employees may lead to lack of motivation which will affect the work culture as well as performance. Additionally, malcontent employees will develop a negative culture which is not desired by the organization. Presently, various organizations are encountering issues regarding organizational culture, leadership, employee motivation and relations (French and Schermerhorn, 2008). This paper focuses on discussing the organizational behavior issues faced by the organizations in the dynamic business environment. An organization has been chosen for discussing the issues specifically and at the end of this paper recommendations have been included in order to resolve the issue.
Wal-Mart: A Brief Overview
Major objective of this paper is to critically analyze the organizational behavior issues in order to identify the contemporary business problems. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been chosen for discussing the major organizational behavior issues which has significant importance on the business activities of the company. This section will focus on providing a brief overview of the organization. Wal-Mart is an USA based multinational retail chain which operates through huge discount departmental stores. The organization was established by Sam Walton in the year of 1962. Headquarter of Wal-Mart is located at Bentonville, Arkansas. For more than 50 years, the company has been operating in 27 countries with more than 11,000 outlets. Presently, Wal-Mart is the largest company across the globe in terms of revenue. Additionally, it is the largest private employer of the globe as per the list published by Fortune. It is a family owned business and since 1972 it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The slogan of the company is “Save more. Live better”. The low-price strategy has helped the organization in capturing large market. The culture of the organization believes that the retailer can help people by saving money which will improve theory quality of life. The major four values of the company include service to its customers, respect for every individual, achieving excellence and action which aims to maintain integrity. Wal-Mart is focusing on enhancing its business value through exploring growth opportunities and integrating its core values and purpose to every aspect of the business (Corporate.walmart.com, 2014).
Organizational Behavior Issues In Wal-Mart
Presently, the dynamic business environment has presented various challenges for the organizations. The needs and motivating factors are changing due to the shift in socio-economic structure and multicultural approach. Managing the employees in order to enhance the organizational performance has been a major challenge for the multinational companies. Wal-Mart has been encountering some issues regarding organizational behavior. Mistreatment with the employees have been reported which is the result of poor organizational culture (Pendola, 2014). The role of leaders has been questioned in case of Wal-Mart. It has been found that the employee is not motivated due to various reasons. This section will focus on highlighting the major issues relating to the organizational behavior at Wal-Mart.
Low Wage And Employee Dissatisfaction
Wal-Mart believes in the slogan, “Save More. Live Better”. It has been found that the company has been applying this approach in case of its employees (Harress, 2013). It has a large employee base of 2.2 million across 9,000 stores. It h has been reported that the wage rate at Wal-Mart is significantly low in comparison to its business rivals. The management of Wal-Mart has been controlling the cost cutting activities in an aggressive manner. It has been reducing the employee benefits along with the wages. Every business organization adopts a strategy for maximizing the profit. Cost cutting through managing labour cost is a popular way. However Wal-Mart has not adopted as well as implemented it effectively. The average salary of the lowest paid workers at Wal-Mart is $18,720 if the employee works for 40 hours per week and 52 weeks in a year. But, the average salary is reported to be $9 per hour and it has been fund that the workers work around 34 hours per week. Hence, the averaged annual salary is estimated to be $15,500 (Harress, 2013). It results in dissatisfaction of the employees. The employees in Washington D.C. and various cities across America, are organizing strikes. The labor unrest is majorly triggered by the low wage rate at Wal-Mart (Ungar, 2013).
The organization needs to motivate its employees in order to enhance the overall work performance. According to the Maslow’s Need Hierarchy, at first the physiological needs to be satisfied (Robbins, Campbell and Judge, 2010). Physiological needs trigger an individual to get engaged into a job to ensure regular earnings. The preliminary purpose of employment is to satisfy the basic needs of the individual. Lower wage at Wal-Mart is not adequate to meet the physiological needs of the workers. They need avail food stamp and subsidies for maintain their livelihood. Hence, the company is not able to fulfill the primary requirements of its employees (Pendola, 2014). Hence, the employees are not satisfied, and it is reflected in their performance (Arvinen-Muondo and Perkins, 2013).
According to Herzberg’s Two Factor Motivation Theory, there are two factors associated with the motivation of the employees at workplace. It has been found that the hygiene factors include policy and procedures or the company, working conditions, management and supervision, interpersonal relations, job security and salary (Robbins, Campbell and Judge, 2010). Absence of these hygiene factors leads to dissatisfaction of the employees. Consequently, it affects the performance of the employees. It has been found Wal-Mart has not been offering adequate salary which is one of the most important hygiene factors. According to the Herzberg’s two factor motivation theory, the employees will be dissatisfied (French and Schermerhorn, 2008). It has been observed that the employees are calling out for strikes in various stores of America which reflects the labour unrest. Additionally, it has been observed that at the Wal-Mart stores, products are stacked on the pallets in the warehouse of the organization instead of bringing it to the floor of the stores so that the customers can get their desired product. Due to low level of motivation, the employees of Wal-Mart have been found to be working efficiently (Arvinen-Muondo and Perkins, 2013). The check-out lines are found to be significantly long which is not desired by the customers. Thus, the overall shopping experience of the customers is declining which has a potential impact on the financial performance of the company (Arvinen-Muondo and Perkins, 2013)