Introduction
A week ago, I interviewed Mr. B an operations manager of one of the leading retail chain companies, Walmart Inc. Mr. B had a vast experience of more than 15 years in production management, operations, and supply chain management. The operations manager asserted to have been in charge of providing inspired leadership for the process of organizational lines of business, entailing the development of actual decision-making and policy and implementation of operational procedures and policies. He also helped the human resource manager recruit necessary personnel, promote a company culture that nurtures high morale and top performance, and oversee budgeting, auditing, and planning.
Throughout those years of service, the operations manager has also ensured that legal and regulatory documents are filed, and their compliances monitored. To support productivity and profitability, it has been essential to support worker communication with the management team, develop partnerships and alliances with other organizations, and work with senior stakeholders. The operations manager also highlighted the requirements to possess when playing the role. These requirements include having experience in leadership, operations, and management, a general understanding of budgeting and finance, the ability to build relationships and consensus among employees and stakeholders, excellent communication skills, and a strong understanding of financial management.
Why Operations Management is Vital to Walmart Inc.
Nearly every organization provides products or services to consumers. Offering high-quality products or services not only attracts consumers but also assists in developing trust, giving a competitive market advantage edge, and boosting sales. However, ensuring that the products and services offered are of high value and quality for consumers is an integral aspect of each organization. Achieving this requires operations management as the prime component of running the business. Walmart Inc. considers getting the most value of the resources as the key to profit maximization (‘‘About Walmart.’’ n.d.). Operations management refers to managing organizational activities to fulfill goals, achieve higher productivity, and maximize profitability. Project management entails managing and controlling project activities and involves unique endeavors with particular starting and ends, unlike operations management, which includes ongoing activities of the business producing long-term but repetitive outputs. For Walmart Inc., operations management targets ensuring daily operations are smooth, well-timed, and cost-effective while maintaining critical quality standards.
Furthermore, according to Mr. B’s perspective, operations management is essential to the organization as it is the heart of the business. Some of the importance of why operations management is vital to include in Walmart Inc. are as follows. It oversees the complete operating system of the company and helps the firm to manage its daily activities. Operations management controls all the processes and handles business issues such as maintenance, operation, design, and system improvements. In addition, since operations management assists in improving Walmart’s reputation, it positively influences its capabilities to attain stable goals and growth. Operations management ensures that the expectations of consumers and quality standards are met. It is also through operations management that integrates recognition and optimization of processes in producing goods and services that will aid in cutting costs.
At Walmart Inc. employees are also motivated to achieve company goals, increase productivity, and play their roles in operations management. Operations management comprises different responsibilities, from product creation to project management (Kumar, 2022). However, the duties include capacity planning, service, and product design, quality control, process optimization, improvement, and supply chain management. Since operations management entails managing a broader range of tasks, it is crucial to understand how to devise strategies to execute those tasks efficiently and effectively. Some methods might include data utilization and handling, department identification, inventory analysis, human resource management, and social accountability. Therefore, Walmart Inc., the company understands how operations management contributes to its success and as a result, it has well-developed strategic decision plans to achieve it.
Reasons for Selecting Operations Manager to Interview
The operations manager was the best interview choice due to my utmost desire to become an operations manager at one point in my professional life. For any organization to be successful, profitable, and grow in business management, it is essential to have a well-functioning operations management department. Therefore, due to the firm’s various responsibilities to operations management, I understood that by selecting the individual to interview, I would be in a better position to understand in-depth the necessity of operations management in business. According to Kumar (2022), it is through an operations manager that one can get an insight into how to become an operations manager after earning a bachelor’s degree in a business-related field. The operations manager is vital in mentoring new workers and providing outstanding leadership through mentorship. Therefore, with these exceptional skills having an interview session with an operations manager allows one to understand the importance of mentoring and how to build leadership skills and cultivate supply chain management plans.
Research Questions
Operations managers play vital roles in a business by ensuring smooth operations of all organizational procedures. Their primary functions include planning, overseeing, and coordinating daily activities to improve effectiveness, performance, and productivity. For this role to be played well, the organization needs to consider a candidate with broad experience and working knowledge of all business functions. Since operations managers are accountable for numerous tasks ranging from logistics to resources management and budgeting, the manager must effectively and promptly solve problems and tackle operational issues amicably. Understanding the nature of the work operations managers do, it was essential to develop interview questions that include operational, situational, and behavioral aspects.
Situational and Operational Questions
- What are your main daily tasks as an operations manager?
- How do you handle budget planning in your organization?
- How can you describe your experience with logistics management?
- In your perspective, which are essential financial management strategies?
- Have you ever negotiated contracts with vendors in your organization? If yes, how did you handle it?
- Is it essential for the operations management department to cooperate with other teams?
Behavioral Questions
- In your career, have you at one point successfully implemented a cost-cutting strategy?
- How big is your current team you are working with, and are there problems you are facing?
- How do you manage an employee meeting ratio of one-to-one?
Summary of the Organization
The retail chain company for the operations manager interviewed was Walmart Inc. The company is an American multinational retail corporation operating a chain of supercenters, grocery stores, and discount department stores from the U.S. Since its establishment in 1962, Walmart Inc. has grown globally using different names that depend on the country where it is holding business (‘‘About Walmart.’’ n.d.). Walmart Inc. offers a combination of a grocery store with fresh produce, home furnishings, toys, apparel, electronics, bakery, and dairy products. The company uses a hybrid hierarchical-functional organizational structure that combines multiple approaches to allow operations of vast retail across the U.S. and the world. It also has a function-based system that categorizes employees depending on their experience and skills.
The operations management of Walmart Inc. entails various strategies that are aimed at managing the supply chain, sales performance, and inventory. The company’s success depends on its practical implementation in retail operations management. The operations management of Walmart Inc. involves key decision areas about concerns that operations manager deal with in their daily business operations (‘‘About Walmart,’’ n.d.). Therefore, for Walmart Inc. it is depicted that business objectives are prioritized through the use of strategic decisions. Some of the company’s strategic decision areas include supply chain management, job design, human resources, and quality management. Walmart Inc. aims at productivity maximization using cost leadership generic strategy and it evaluates its productivity using numerous criteria including revenues per sales unit and stockout rate.
Summary of what I have learned from the Interview
From the interview, I have learned how vital operations management is to any business due to its broader impact on productivity and competitive market advantage. I have also learned the roles of operations managers, such as overseeing operational activities at each stage in an organization, and their duties like managing quality assurance programs and assisting in hiring and training employees. Interacting with the operations manager of Walmart Inc. also gave me an excellent opportunity to understand the steps or what one should do to become an effective and efficient operations manager. In addition, I have learned how to formulate and use research questions to collect in-depth information from organization personnel that helps understand research topics.
Reflection on What Is Important About the Assignment
The importance of this assignment includes assisting one in understanding how to identify key people to interview based on the research topic and reasons for their selection. The study also allows one to provide insight into the vital of operations management in an organization and understand how to construct interview questions. The assignment involves research on real-life examples of organization that employs operations management to reinforce the topic objectives and offer insight on how one can apply the knowledge acquired.
Follow-Up Activities
After the interview, Mr. B suggested I should check Walmart’s website and social media platforms and check for organizational structure and available data on its operation management including current trends. He concluded by affirming that an operation manager and any other person in the operations management team must remain updated with trends and changes in the operations management sector. Understanding the trends makes it easier to know the type of tools employees in the organization need to maintain production operations. Another follow-up activity was to remind him after three days to help me get a mentor and join a leadership forum to see me get relevant skills for the role and understand what is required in operations management.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the interview was conducted with the operation manager of Walmart Inc. The individual was selected because of having an in-depth knowledge of operations management and long-term experience playing the operational role. Research questions involving situational, functional, and behavioral aspects were formulated and used to get in-depth information from the interviewee. A summary of Walmart Inc. was provided as a review of how it carries out its business operation management and its role. Follow-up activities were considered based on the suggestions of the person interviewed.
References
About Walmart. (n.d.). Corporate – US. Web.
Kumar, R. (2022). Operations management. Jyothis Publishers.