At Walmart, the company that has effectively corralled the concept of low prices into their own brand portfolio, change is underway in their relationships with the companies that supply the products they sell. According to a recent article in AdAge, the new direction, labeled Project Impact, seeks to consolidate the number of suppliers they use and better leverage the advertising dollars that those companies have available to support Walmart's operation.
Leadership principles effectively will dictate that you have to have some semblance of a team in order to be a leader. While on the surface Project Impact might look to be the epitome of corporate control-wielding, reality is, Walmart has simply, officially and clearly adopted a leadership role with companies with which it is essentially partnering. This will keep smaller company and stand-alone brands off the valuable shelf space in their stores, which, while putting small brands in perilous situations, will help strengthen the focus, and likely the bottom lines, of the big product companies. As the Consumer Confidence Index has faltered over the past couple of months, new strategies are clearly necessary.
Insiders have referred to these meetings as "MBA Meetings," which seems to be code for leaving the grunt work of sorting out the deal schema to people with those degrees. Notice, though, that the MBA people are not the ones seemingly recommending or directing the changes — in this scenario, they are clearly detail sorters.
Leadership development and acumen are key to being able to resolve complex situations, even in unpleasant situations, by looking at the big picture for all involved. With Project Impact, Walmart has taken a leadership role, with vision and direction for where they intend to go with their organization. The people with MBAs are doing the sort-out work for them. Keep this in mind when you personally are thinking of your future—where would you like to be in a similar scenario played out within your business or organization?
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