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Innovation and Diversity at Walmart

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In an organization as large as Wal-Mart, boasting over 2 million employees worldwide, innovation and diversity are key schemes in managerial function that yield organizational sustainability (Walmartstores.com, 2011). The four functions of management, used on diversity and innovation, enable these two aspects to be effective (Bateman & Snell, 2011). Innovation is creating new ideas that yield new goods and services that can be used to create value. However to have value adding innovation, effective implementation must be accomplished (Bateman & Snell, 2011). Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling must be handled efficiently to leverage the potential of innovation. Wal-Mart’s planning has enabled them to see trends in same-store spending that showed a need to make change, and build profitability (Maital, 2008). Innovation, in the form of new Wal-Mart Money Centers, organized financial powers held by Wal-Mart to offer financial services to customers such as check cashing, and money transfers (Maital, 2008). Wal-Mart Money Centers furthered services that were once handled through customer service, but made it easier to access as the center focused on this aspect solely. Through effective leading and contolling, Wal-Mart has been able to gain profitability in this venture. With the amount of people using the services presently, even banks have taken notice to Wal-Marts success and begun to improvise similar approaches (Hazard, 2011). With a multicultural organization, Walmart has the means to be an effectively diverse organization (Walmartstores, 2011). Enabling this diversity to build value, Walmart has built a culture of inclusion that allows associates to be included in all aspects of the company, from frontline employees, to executives. This diversity and inclusion help to create openness by embracing differences, further developing associates, and

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