Analysys of The Mid-Life Crisis of Walmart

A Midlife crisis is a term coined in 1965 by Elliott Jaques, stating a time where adults come to realize their own mortality and how much time is left in their life (Lavietes, 2003). Similarly to an individual experiencing a midlife crisis, Wal-Mart, in its fourth decade of existence, has hit that transitional period. After excellent growth, the company has become stagnant and shows signs of wear. Wal-Mart must take this period of crisis, refocus and look within to turn around these difficult times before present issues take a turn for the worst.

Slide 1-11 – Core Concepts

This case explains that just as people experience mid-life crises so does corporate America. Specifically, in my analysis, I will be examining Wal-Mart’s current issues. For three decades, Wal-Mart displayed phenomenal growth and great ability to stay ahead of the competition. However, just like most people experience a mid-life crisis in their mid-forties, Wal-Mart has taken a similar road. The mid-life crisis is a normal occurrence in the human and corporate maturation process (Bajpai, (2011). Symptoms associated with a mid-life crisis include, but aren’t limited to, lack of focus, drop in energy, and complacency with the societal norm instead of staying true to oneself (Meyer, 2012).Wal-Mart has displayed signs of each of these symptoms. The wear and tear of becoming the industry leader has led to the company’s fatigue, thus resulting in mismanagement and flux within its supply chain. As Wal-Mart continued to grow it increased inventories, despite the fact that the products weren’t a necessity and in doing so, lost effective inventory distribution. These decisions have led to increased stress and barriers which do not easily allow Wal-Mart to maintain its ...

... middle of paper ...

...ianco, A. (2007).Wal-Mart’s Midlife Crisis: Losing the Spark. Retrieved from

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-04-29/wal-marts-midlife-crisis

Kotler, P., Keller, L (2012). Marketing Management (14th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice Hall.

Lavietes, Stuart (2003). "Elliott Jaques, 86, Scientist Who Coined 'Midlife Crisis,' Is Dead."

Retrieved from Http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/17/obituaries/17JAQU.html.

Meyer, C. (2012).Symptoms of Midlife Crisis. Retrieved from

http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/isdivorcethesolution/f/midlifecrisis.htm

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (2013). History Timeline. Retrieved from

http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/heritage/history-timeline

Yaworksy, R. (2010).The Corporate Midlife Crisis: Losing the Spark. Retrieved from

http://companiesalive.com/crisis-lifecoach-miami-leadershiptraining-executivecoaching.htm