Corporate Culture in Inventory Management: Walmart vs ALDI

Corporate Culture in Inventory Management: Walmart vs ALDI

The article “The Trouble Lurking on Walmart’s Shelves” speaks to the issues around Walmart’s culture and work environment and how these areas are influencing what Walmart is known for, supply-chain management. As an organization so powerful it can mandate its suppliers to move to Northwestern Arkansas or else lose a contract, the superstore continues to be in the news for its poor wages, as well as its job-cutting practices that lead to further bad news for the company.

As discussed in “Why Aldi is Giving Walmart a Run for its Money,” while Walmart cuts jobs and focuses on lowering overhead cost, another low-price retailer is making significant gains in the industry. ALDI, a German-based discount food-retailer, is offering starting salaries at $75,000 for District Managers with incredible additional perks, including leadership development for recent graduates. These District Managers are expected to learn fast and endure a year-long training practice, where they learn all the jobs within the store including operational details and inventory management. While learning these skills, District Managers also internalize and learn how to turn the broad expansion strategy that ALDI is focusing on into a daily operation.

ALDI understands that with strong leaders, comes strong growth patterns. People who will work harder and smarter when they are compensated for it. District Managers, after 4 years, can earn a salary of up to $100,000. That’s an incredible incentive to offer for recent graduates who are looking to build a career and learn skills along the way. Though Walmart’s delivery system is still considered one of the most advanced supply-chain systems internationally, if the product cannot make it onto the shelf, does that matter? Walmart’s culture of cheap prices and beating the competition, coupled with their exceptionally efficient supply-chain system, has made short work of competitors in the past. But is Walmart becoming inefficient in its market to beat out the competition at all costs? If the ALDI culture values its workers more, does that also mean that in the long-run, they could value their customers more highly as well?

Forbes Online - "Why is ALDI giving Walmart a run for its money" http://www.forbes.com/sites/derosetichy/2013/08/13/why-aldi-is-giving-walmart-a-run-for-its-money/