Mrs. Bastson
Management Communication’s
December 6, 2012
Section I---Interview Wal-Mart is one of the largest retail companies in the world. They employ over a two million people with jobs in in fifteen different countries. With a company this large there are several positions to be held within it. Drew Schaffer is an assistant manager here at Wal-Mart in Arkadelphia, he has held this position since August 6, 2007. He has worked for Wal-Mart for about twelve years now. To obtain his position of assistant manager required three months of in store training. This training was actual everyday hands on, dealing with customers and notes handed to him from higher authority within the store. His position requires very little special training for writing. Leaving notes to department managers is all his mandated to do. Although Mr. Schaffer is not responsible for any segment of the company’s web page, he has training in web page design since 2001. Technology based communication is used on an everyday basis. Wal-Mart has a system called the “Wire” which allows the company to have a better and closer relationship with its employee’s. It is Mr. Schaffer job to assign daily assignments task for employee’s to check daily. Employee’s must log in and check off each task completed. This helps him know what has been completed or what has not. He can then email the nightly managers the task that was not complete. This helps the store as a whole stay intact to see what has been done. Being able to communicate face to face is one of Mr. Schaffer biggest challenges. Explaining and teaching others can sometimes be a difficult task. Having to sit down with an employee and explain why you have to let them go is never an easy task. There is no one to filter Mr. Schaffer work. There have been people in the company fired because of being careless through emails and not being conscious of what they are sending out. He has to be very cautions to what he writes and sends out. Before being employed, every Wal-Mart employee must read and be aware of its ethical and legal guidelines. The store has its own ethics hot line and website for employees that ever encounter conflict. The Wal-Mart open door policy is a way for employee’s voice to be heard on no various levels. If employee’s feel there situation is not resolved within the store it can be taken to hire levels outside of the store. One of Wal-Mart’s biggest policies is that they believe in equal opportunity, no matter disability, gender or race. The company has extended out to other countries. Mr. Schaffer has to consider cross-cultural issues working with different employees inside the store. He states that: “In order for the company to expand their business and grow they must take cross cultural issues serious”. Collaborative work is very important, especially in a big company like Wal-Mart. It is something that is done daily to make sure the company achieve. Mr. Schaffer has multiple task to complete each day, and without the help from others they would almost be impossible to complete each day. Twice a week corporate meets and discusses what they want done in each store, and the instructions are then passed down to each person. The higher your position in the company the larger the role you play in collaborative work. Mr. Schaffer is primarily over the department managers. For example, when new items come in new modular have to be set so they every item will go item correctly. This requires different shelf sizes and determining if it is roll back or clearance, so his instructions have to be precise. Article Summaries- Article I In the article, “Stepping up to the Plate: Developing an Effective Business Communication Strategy,” author Ken Neal discusses important business communication strategies and techniques to help companies succeed. Most businesses are primarily focused on Sales. The most successful companies know how to