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TRANSFORMATIONAL MANAGEMENT, AND LEADERSHIP: Final Assignment

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Impact of the post-pandemic situation on Management and Leadership

Leaders are accustomed to solve a range of problems and make decisions that impact the

organization significantly. The impacts of leadership and management therefore cannot be

underestimated as it is a great driver of failure or success of an organization. The massive scales

of the Corona virus placed managers and leaders in tight positions as they had to respond to

emerging issues amidst the unpredictability and uncertainty in the period that caused feelings of

emotional disturbance, losing control and disorientation. This period proved that leaders had to

adapt appropriately to respond to the uncertainty, address the needs of innovation, navigate the

implacable rapidity of change and stay pragmatic with the incessantly changing objectives to

lead others to success. This report, with a focus on Walmart Corporation, will therefore will

investigate how management and leadership styles have changed over the course of the

pandemic. With this assessment, this report will also illustrate new skills managers and leaders

need in order to succeed in the post pandemic world. Walmart Inc. is a perfect choice for this

assessment, as apart from being very successful in its field, researchers have postulated that

leadership is a core contributor of the company’s success.

Company overview
Walmart is one of the largest retail and departmental store across the world. The

company operates its business in more than 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 11

countries making it the fastest growing company and the most successful retail brand in the

world. It employs an average of 2.2 million staff around the world with majority from the U.S.

The retail giant, according to Walmart (2022), has a revenue of $572.8 billion and a market cap

of $416.3 b (Walmart, 2022). The company’s product portfolio is quite diversified, from

groceries and consumables, apparel, entertainment, technology, office and health and fitness
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products and services at everyday low prices. The company was founded in 1945 by Samuel

Moore Walton and James Lawrence Walton and is currently operating through three distinct

segments- Walmart international, Walmart U.S. and Sam’s club.

Walmart’s leadership style before the pandemic

Walmart’s leadership and management style has been an embodiment of the founder’s

values whose basis is the enhancement of employees’ morale to incur positive impacts on the

company’s bottom line (Walmart, 2022). Sam Walton, one of the founders, was a transformative

and visionary leader and his influence on the leadership and management styles of the company

can be identified. To the greatest extent, transformational leaders are involved and very

concerned in the business process. Walmart’s leaders have demonstrated this aspect by CEO’s

making visits to Walmart stores (Walmart, 2022). These visits allow the executives to have a

great knowhow of the realities at the ground and understand the business better. The visits also

give other employees chances to meet their big bosses which motivates them. In addition,

associates working at the stores have better ideas and information and these visits allows the

CEO’s to access these ideas and implement them, a key strategy to the success of any business.

Many CEO’s at Walmart have placed great emphasis on the need of a leadership pipeline.

A leadership pipeline is a systematic procedure that ensures a company has and nurtures their

leadership succession bench. Walmart Inc. evidently comprehends that great leadership at all

levels is requisite for the company’s growth and survival hence recruit and develop leaders who

carry on the vision and success at home and to growing markets all over the world such as India

and China.

We can also define Walmart’s leadership style as transactional. The framework of this

leadership style is motivating and directing followers based on a system of rewards and
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punishments that is facilitated by the power and authority of the leaders in the organization.

Leaders at Walmart execute this style by promoting individuals on performance accounts in their

previous roles (Pandey et al., 2021, 112). A great example is Mike Duke who was promoted after

successfully running and managing the company’s international operations. Another instance is

Bill Simon, who was the COO of Walmart U.S for three years. Bill became popular as an

executive with ideas of his own and his capabilities were awarded as the company made him the

head of that division. The company’s leadership of rewards and promotions motivated

employees to work better and harder and in turn it equaled to great profits for the company.

These aspects and others such as charismatic leadership were core contributors of the

company’s success as leaders were able to infuse the motivation and energy balances that

effectively run the company. The leaders also demonstrated confidence that allowed them to

strongly communicate an articulate vision amass a strong attraction from the people being led.

However, the pandemic period forced companies and its employees to change the way they

worked at the flick of a switch. In Walmart, new roles and activities emerged and leaders had to

think of a way to match workers to the emergent roles and activities. Also, the company felt the

expanding skills gap in the workforce as infected people were quarantined and government laws

necessitated other workers to work remotely.

Walmart’s leadership during the pandemic period

The uncertainty around the pandemic period called upon leaders at Walmart to offer

increased and enhanced guidance, motivation and inspiration through the crisis to add value to

the community, society and organization. As asserted by Hanna (2019), this period required

reskilling of employees and making hard choices. The pandemic aspect was one full of sensitive
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politics that stimulated corporate activism and amidst these periods, leaders had to motivate

employees and still chase after profits.

As the retail industry was one of the most affected industries by the pandemic, the top

priority by Walmart was to ensure safety of customers and employees. The leaders at the

company ensured staff’s safety through installation of plexiglass protective barriers at registers,

and not limited to limiting number of shoppers per given time. As the virus also transformed the

working conditions for staff, the company increased salaries such that an average wage for an

associate rose from $13 to $19 per hour depending on the store served. The leaders demonstrated

strategic leadership where they possessed the ability to envision, remain flexible and institute

change as necessary.

The strategic leadership was one of the factors ensuring success for Walmart during the

pandemic period plagued with challenges. The leaders were not averse to challenges that failed

and instead redesigned strategy to identify one that is working and keep the success momentum.

As lockdown descaled business, Walmart leaders took advantage of the embraced pick and

delivery by expanding slot capacity and increasing the range and number of general merchandise

to provide customers with a variety to choose from (McMillion, 2020). The company’s CEO in

particular, Doug Mcmillion, discovered that the pandemic period required deeper and advanced

understanding between all stakeholders of the company.

With this new discovery, the CEO highlighted the need for open and honest conversation

with other associates and open ears to ideas and new concepts. As he highlighted in his article on

tackling the new challenges brought about by Covid, Mcmillion insisted that the period required

everyone to come together, demonstrate empathy and make individual connections that would

strengthen not only the organization, but also the communities and societies at large. Chwaszcz
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et al. (2020, 15) corroborates with this concept as they explain the diminishing of the quality of

life during this period hence the need for people to put aside their differences to reach out to

others and solve problems. A collosal company like Walmart relies on its workforce on the daily

operations and hence the leader reincorporated leadership and management styles such as servant

leadership, corroboration and active listening because they proved effective.

Additionally, the leader elucidated that the company’s culture of caring for its employees

was very useful in these exacting times. The established practices of leaders visiting stores and

distribution centers allowed individual contribution of ideas, concepts and solutions. Workers

were also given a chance to highlight what strategies implemented by the company were working

and which weren’t. This collaboration allowed the development of procedures that ensured the

safety of the workers and customers. Ideas from these conversations also strengthened the

company’s culture of fairness, equity and justice which increased employee satisfaction, which

as explained by Bin and Shmailan (2015, 2) it is a key aspect of increasing the overall

organizational performance.

Walmart leadership post-pandemic

After the pandemic period, the company’s managers and leaders have learned a need to

rethink and relearn leadership and strive towards a new vision of leadership styles in respect to

the pandemic and other emerging crises such as climate change and global warming. This new

vision of leadership that is fit for this century and addresses most of the emerging issues is based

on empathy, kindness, human relationships, and fairness and not limited to general responsibility

(Abu Keir, 2016, 844). Executive leaders must be good

communicatorsduring times of transition, this can be agreed

leaders at Walmart formed a coalition to simultaneously roll out a welldefined, comprehensive, r
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eliable notion to every employee across various sites as inflation grows globally in the wake of C

OVID-19.

Recommended Leadership style

As observed in the Walmart changing leadership and management styles and techniques,

the pandemic and post-pandemic period implied changes in perspectives and outlooks due to the

uncertainty. In addition to the successful strategies taken up by the company’s leaders,

researchers have identified other styles applicable. Choudhury and Collins suggests that

transformational leadership style is most appropriate as it entails focusing on change to meet the

objectives of the company while still meeting the needs and interests of individuals in the

company (2021, 8). This period have people battling many issues and challenges, and the retail

industry is also constantly changing hence organizations needs leaders that are flexible and

adaptable to change. In addition, these leaders need to value relationships with their followers

and therefore nurture and use them to motivate followers to transcend personal interest and focus

on the bigger organizational-oriented picture.

Mathende and Karim supports transformational leadership for use in challenging times

and environments (2020, 342) every aspect of this style work uniquely to motivate and inspire

employees to work amicably, and leaders are able to use their charismatic traits to deal with

change by transforming followers’ beliefs, attitudes and values to enhance work performance in

these unprecedented situations. Porkodi corroborates with this elucidation as he highlights that

transformational leadership style will enable leaders to bridge the communication gap that exists

between workers and their leaders and foster a sense of cohesion and unity that supports

conversations and engagement necessary for the crisis period (2022, 9). Moreover, a well-
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articulated vision by a transformational leader instills hope and trust that the company is moving

to the right decision and hence employees are able to work better.

Impact of the digital age on management and leadership skills

The current world has turned and shifted towards a digital age which has caused

companies to transform digitally to keep abreast with the surrounding changes. This

transformation can be intense for leaders and managers and create confusion as the process of

embracing and adapting require advanced leadership skills. The basic traits for one to be a good

leader include but are not limited to having the desire to lead, being committed to the company’s

mission, authenticity and integrity. The new digital age however requires an upgrade of these

skills to include creativity, learning and relearning, technological proficiency, collaboration and

agility (Benmira and Agboola, 2021, 4). Leaders need to comprehend the evolution of these

capabilities to stay ahead of competition as transformation is essential to the new normal. The

implications of the digital age on managerial and leadership styles is profound and necessitates

the said subjects to be innovative, keep pace with technological trends and enhance

organizational preparedness to change.

Conclusion
Covid has changed many aspects of life including retail business. As leadership is a

critical aspect influencing the performance of a company, leaders must be effectively equipped

with appropriate skills and styles to overcome crises in the unprecedented proportions of the post

pandemic period to direct, guide and lead their team to a breakthrough rather than a breakdown.

Moreover, this business milieu unpredictability requires leaders to adopt leadership theories that

will help them remain relevant and productive.

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References

Abu Keir, M.Y., 2016. Staff perceptions of how human resource management practices

influence organisational performance: mediating roles of organisational culture,

employees’ commitment and employee retention in Bahrain private universities (Doctoral

dissertation, Cardiff Metropolitan University).

Benmira, S. and Agboola, M., 2021. Evolution of leadership theory. BMJ Leader, pp.leader-

2020.

Bin, A.S. and Shmailan, A., 2015. The relationship between job satisfaction, job performance

and employee engagement: An explorative study. Issues in Business Management and

Economics, 4(1), pp.1-8.

Choudhury, W.S. and Collins, D., 2021. Leadership in Times of Uncertainty.

Chwaszcz, J., Palacz-Chrisidis, A., Wiechetek, M., Bartczuk, R., Niewiadomska, I., Wośko, P.

and Sławska, P., 2020. Quality of life and its factors in the COVID19 pandemic situation.

Results of Stage 1 studies during the pandemic growth period. KUL: Lublin, Poland.

Hanna, J. (2019) Walmart’s Workforce of the Future. Available at:

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/walmart-s-workforce-of-the-future (Accessed: December 3,

2022).

Mathende, T. and Karim, A.M., 2022. Transformational leadership role on Work Performance

under the Covid 19 Pandemic in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Academic Research

in Business and Social Sciences, 12(1).

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McMillon, D. (2020) Walmart CEO: To tackle today’s challenges, ‘listen with open ears and an

open heart.’ Available at: https://fortune.com/2020/10/06/walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-

leadership-collaboration-dialogue/.

Pandey, R., Dillip, D., Jayant, J., Vashishth, K., Nikhil, N., Qi, T.J., Kee, D.M.H., Mei, T.C.,

Xin, R.Y.K. and Qhi, L.Y., 2021. Factors Influencing Organization Success: A Case

Study of Walmart. International journal of Tourism and hospitality in Asia Pasific

(IJTHAP), 4(2), pp.112-123.

Porkodi, S., 2022. Leadership Approaches for Post-Covid Recovery: A Systematic Literature

Review. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 7(3), pp.1-11.

Walmart (2022) Walmart.com | Save Money. Live Better. Available at:

https://www.walmart.com/