Business Finance Homework Help

Mass retailer Walmart’s executives realized that the the company was capable of building and opening new
stores faster than it could develop the leadership talent needed to operate them. To build that capability,
the company launched a Leadership Academy that puts promising leaders through a 16-week boot camp.
Individuals with high potential are drafted into the program. They are reassigned from their normal job assignments and deployed to the academy.
The boot camp training runs in two-week cycles
beginning with in-depth training at the Bentonville,
Arkansas, headquarters. After the initial training,
participants return to their workplace and focus
on specific projects that supplement their in-class
learning. Their training combines theory and practice, and it uses business case scenarios and hands-on exercises. Recruits learn to think critically and make decisions under pressure.
Since the primary reason that newly promoted
leaders fail is lack of soft skills, Walmart’s Leadership
Academy includes a significant amount of training
on interpersonal skills such as listening, empathizing, building trust, and collaborating. A key element
of the program is community involvement. Walmart
stores are often one of the largest employers in the
communities where they are located, and store managers serve as brand ambassadors and community
leaders. Projects like building homes for low-income
families or volunteering at children’s and veterans’
hospitals complement classroom and work-based
training.
Participants in the program say that it is like military boot camp because the intensity is overwhelming and performance standards are rigorous. However, it prepares them for the challenges of
running a store with many pressures and demands.
There are similarities to planning a military strategy with logistics, resource constraints, and time pressures. The Leadership Academy is a natural extension of Walmart’s commitment to hiring military veterans. While not all of the participants are former service members, the program is particularly
appealing to that segment of the workforce.
The program’s ultimate objective is to promote
graduates within one to three months of graduation.
More than 500 leaders have completed the program
since its inception.90

Questions
1. What are the pros and cons of rotating participants from in-class training back to the worksite every two weeks? What support would be
needed at the worksite to ensure that the trainees
get the most out of their hands-on assignments?

2. How would you evaluate the effectiveness of the
Leadership Academy?

3. How does the overtone of military-style training impact Walmart’s employment brand? Would this appeal to particular segments of the labor force? How might it impact the company’s ability to recruit diverse employees and participants?