Managing Disputes in Walmart - Case Study Example

Managing disputes and confliction resolution in Walmart Introduction The aim of this report is to analyse how retail major, Walmart manages disputes and resolves conflict situations in its stores. Most of the employees in Walmart come from diverse background, which often leads to conflict situations at the stores. In today’s marketplace, companies are constantly working towards increasing employee morale and motivation to counter the problems of conflicts and disputes in the organisation. Therefore, this report would also identify some of the problems faced by Walmart, especially in its working environment, and would provide suggestions to remove these problems. The company employs a large number of workers from various age group, cultural background, gender and even nationalities. In such a working environment, differences and conflicts are bound to occur. Thus, Walmart needs to create a cohesive working environment to cater to the requirements of all its employees, which would eventually contribute towards the success of the organisation. In this paper, I would analyse some of these problems and provide suggestions to solve these issues. The report would also focus on the internal and external disputes faced by Walmart and how the company manages such disputes. I would also discuss the company’s strengths and weaknesses. In conclusion, I would provide some recommendations for improving the company’s strategies to manage disputes and resolve conflicts. Wal-Mart: managing disputes and conflicts Understanding conflicts and disputes Conflict is identified as the feelings or behaviours of mutually dependent parties with response to real or possible hindrances, which may hamper one of the either parties attaining their objectives (Coughlan et al. 2001; Deutsch 1973). Although, most of the research in retailing on conflict highlights on the relationship between various channels, experts also believe that conflict is an omnipresent fact which permeates into all the activities of an organisation (Thomas 1976). Thus, conflict is seen to have multi-dimensional approach (Amason et al. 1995). Generally, it is believed that conflicts take place when people with different personalities clash with each other, when people believe that other members are interfering into his or her work or when employees think that their progress is hampered by somebody’s actions. On the other hand, disputes are considered to be one-off incidents. However, if a dispute is not solved in time, it might prolong and result into a conflict situation. And if such conflicts are not resolved, they might escalate into a problematic and dangerous condition. Disputes are most commonly seen in workplaces. An unresolved dispute between employees may result into a difficult working environment, wherein employees may indulge in unnecessary rumors and gossips, which would further create an atmosphere of disobedience in the workplace. Such a situation may turn into complaints and frequent arguments between employees and escalate into a conflict situation. Employees therefore would direct their energies towards this conflict situation and the productivity would witness a drop (Naimark 2004). In this paper, we would focus on two types of disputes, i.e., internal disputes and external disputes. While internal disputes result due to differences between employees and between the employees and the management, external disputes are the result of differences between the company’s policies and other social organisations (Naimark 2004). However, it is imperative that such disputes and conflict situations should be addressed and resolved at the earliest. In case the management does not intervene in time, this conflict situation may become a crisis situation and often the company may face issues such as strikes, mass resignations, physical violence and even expensive litigations. Walmart: a case example In the recent past, Walmart has faced many conflict situation and disputes within and outside the organisation. In this section, I would discuss these issues in detail and analyse the approaches undertaken by the company to resolve them. Internal conflicts and disputes In order to understand the internal conflicts and disputes affecting Walmart, I interviewed some of its employees from the local Walmart stores. In my research, I found that most of these employees were working for Walmart as they needed the job to support their families. They also complained about the flexible working hours, low pay and absence of benefits. I further found that most of the employees have social influence over each other. Therefore, in a conflict situation, these employees collectively fight the situation, raising greater problems for the management to mitigate the situation. In order to tackle these issues, Walmart has created teams with atleast five to seven members. These members are from different departments, ethnicity and cultural backgrounds. They are voluntary members and are not selected by the management. These members put forth their suggestions and inputs about the probable problems and issues that his or her department is facing to the management. This helps the management in not just keeping a tab on each and every department but also in resolving the issue in time. Although, the model followed by the company is ideal, it has been often seen that many issues are still not resolved within the company and has resulted into a conflict situation. One such issue is the filing of a class-action sexual-discrimination suit by female employees of Walmart. Around 1.6 million female workers of Walmart filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit against the company claiming that Walmart discriminates against female employees and does not provide them with equal pay scale or career opportunities. The female workers also claimed that management positions were only given to male employees and only 33 per cent of the management was made up of female employees (Wal-Mart Faces Class-Action Lawsuit 2007). However, Walmart claimed that this difference is due to the fact that most men applied for management positions and therefore, were given the posts (Conlin 2001). The lawsuit was not only embarrassing for the company but also effected the reputation of the stores. If the company had dealt with the issue at the earliest, was able to identify the problem internally, it could have solved the issue within the company and should not have faced the lawsuit, which is termed as the largest civil rights class-action in the US. External conflicts and disputes In order to understand the various external conflicts and disputes faced by Walmart, I conducted a comprehensive secondary search on the various issues faced by the company. The research indicated that Walmart has been facing the ire of various social, religious and cultural groups due to its business practices and policies (Jeff 2005). The company has been a target of various labour unions who blame Walmart for not letting its workers join unions. Some of these unions also oppose the company’s policy to source foreign products, biased treatment towards female employees, practices related to environmental policies as well as its polices for the local stores. In the year 2005, a couple of labor unions launched some negative campaigns against the company. The notable campaigns were Service Employees International Union’s Wal-Mart Watch and United Food and Commercial Workers’ Wake Up Wal-Mart. In order to counter these campaigns, Walmart launched a campaign called Working Families for Wal-Mart. It also created an extensive public relations campaign in the same year through its site walmartfacts.com and even spent created various television advertisements (Barnaro 2005). It also started directly contacting bloggers and sent them news about the company. These bloggers were also invited in the company’s headquarters to give them a first hand view about the company’s policies (Barnaro 2006). It has also been seen in the past that the company was accused of paying low wages to its employees and exposing them to hazardous working conditions. They have been even charged with locking in the workers of night-shift in the stores (Greenhouse 2004). They also accused the company for not providing healthy working conditions and not giving favourable employee-employer relationships. The company responded to these accusations by saying that Walmart has been attacked due to its leadership position in the Fortune 500 list (Nordlinger 2004). Findings In my primary research, I found that most of the employees are influence by the cultural affinity between each other and take collective decisions. As the company follows an anti-union policy, the employees are dependent on each other for any decisions involving them. Therefore, they require a strong platform to voice their concerns and issues. Although, the company has formulated various member groups to look after and collect suggestions from each department, these groups are often not successful in identifying the problems at the earliest. The clear example is that of the discrimination lawsuit filled by the female employees. Further, the secondary research indicated that the company has been facing the problems from various social, religious and cultural groups in the recent past due to its business practices and policies. Due to its rigid business policies, the company has been in the forefront of most labour union attacks that are not happy with its anti-union policy, foreign product sourcing policy and lack of employee benefits. Although, the company has countered the attacks of these unions successfully by terming them as publicity stunts to tarnish the image of a reputed brand, it has still failed to address the core issues of employee satisfaction and employee equality. However, the research also found that the company has invested heavily in maintaining its media and public image. It countered all the attacks of its opponents successfully by installing the worker-friendly image of the company in front of the media and consumers. It implemented effective public relation campaigns to win back the trust of its consumers. Thus, Walmart in spite of being in public ire for a number of controversial issues has maintained its leading position in the Fortune 500 list. This rightly points out that the effective techniques adopted by Walmart to manage disputes and resolve conflicts have led to this distinction for the company. Recommendations Although, it has been seen that most research focus on decreasing the negative aspects of conflicts, a conflict can in fact create positive results. This can be achieved through setting up chance to express complaints, to review past actions, and to introduce various viewpoints to find out unique solutions (Coughlan et al. 2001, p. 241; Pondy 1967). Thus, in this section, I would elaborate on various recommendations and suggestions that Walmart may implement to enhance its capability to resolve conflicts and manage disputes in a better manner. Enhancing the working of member groups: The company has a unique platform in member groups that help the employees to voice their concerns. It should look into developing these groups and the efficacy of these groups in providing solutions. It should make these groups scalable and available to all the employees within the organisation. Further, it should create a direct feedback system, wherein, the employees can approach the management directly with their issues bypassing their managers (Conbere 2000). Providing employee benefits: The company should also analyse the criticisms made by the labour unions and find out their validity. They should provide additional benefits to their employees and give them salaries as par with the industry standard. This will also not only help Walmart in resolving its conflicts with the labour unions but would also improve the productivity of the workers, as healthy employee benefit schemes would develop employee motivation as well (Harrison 1995). Providing clear communication networks: Walmart should also work towards creating clear communication networks within the organisation as well. The company has a very good public relations system and has greater influence over the media to manage its reputation. The company can leverage the same experience while communicating internally. This would help the company in aligning its employees with its corporate policies and therefore, in resolving any conflict that may arise due to misunderstanding of these policies by the employees (Conbere 2000). Creating in-house programs: The company should encourage developing in-house programs to resolve conflicts among employees. These programs should focus on providing timely resolutions to problems, creating better relationships between employee and employers and opportunities for employees to work along with the organisation in shaping its future (Gosline & Stallworth 2001). Resolving conflicts with outside organisations: Walmart should have an open mainframe while resolving conflicts with other organisations. First and foremost, they should look at conducting direct negotiations with these organisations, something which Walmart has not yet done. Further, instead of criticising the opponents, the company should try to understand their point of view and handle the situation in a calm manner. It should meet up with these groups and negotiate with them to come at a common understanding (Barrier 2003). This will help the company in managing its reputation in a better manner. References: ‘Wal-Mart Faces Class-Action Lawsuit’, Associated Press, February 6, 2007, viewed on February 26, 2010, . Amason, Allen C., Thompson, Kenneth R., Hochwarter, Wayne A., & Harrison, Allison W., 1995, ‘Conflict: An important dimension in successful management networks’, Organizational Dynamics, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 20–35. Barbaro, Michael, March 7, 2006, ‘Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in P.R. Campaign’, New York Times, viewed on February 26, 2010 . Barnaro, Michael, November 1, 2005, ‘A New Weapon for Wal-Mart: A War Room’, New York Times, viewed on February 26, 2010 . Barrier, M., 2003, ‘The mediation disconnect’, HR Magazine, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 54-59. Conbere, J., 2000, ‘Designing conflict management systems to resolve workplace conflicts’, Journal of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Employment, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 29-36. Conlin, Michelle, July 16, 2001, ‘Is Wal-Mart Hostile to Women?’, BusinessWeek, viewed on February 26, 2010, . Coughlan, Anne, Anderson, Erin, Stern, Louis, & El-Ansary, Adel I, 2001, ‘Marketing channels (6th ed.)’, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Deutsch, Morton, 1973, ‘The resolution of conflict’, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Gosline, A. & Stallworth, L., 2001, ‘Society of professionals in dispute resolutions: Guidelines for the design of integrated conflict management systems with organizations,’ Journal of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Employment, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 45-48. Greenhouse, Steven, January 18, 2004, ‘Workers Assail Night Lock-Ins By Wal-Mart’, The New York Times, viewed on February 26, 2010 . Naimark, R., 2004, ‘Getting dispute-wise’, Dispute Resolution Journal, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 56-58. Nordlinger, Jay, August 5, 2004, ‘The New Colossus’, National Review, viewed on February 26, 2010, . Pondy, Louis R., 1967, ‘Organizational conflict: Concepts and models’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 296–320. Sellers, Jeff M., April 22, 2005, ‘Deliver Us from Wal-Mart?’, Christianity Today, viewed on February 26, 2010, . Thomas, Kenneth W., 1976, ‘Conflict and conflict management’, In Marvin D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational Psychology, pp. 889–935, Chicago, IL: Rand McNally. Read More