Time November 2/November 9, 2020‘WE SIMPLY WON’T
BE HERE IF WE
DON’T TAKE CARE
OF THE VERY
THINGS THAT
ALLOW US TO EXIST’
Doug mcmillon sTarTeD aT
the nation’s largest retailer as a
teenager, unloading trucks for
an hourly wage. He explains how he has
positioned Walmart during the pan-
demic to make sure the $500 billion–
plus company thrives in the new land-
scape that emerges going forward.
What pandemic-induced changes
in how you run your company do
you expect to persist beyond the
pandemic?
When the pandemic hit, there was no
question that we needed to put all our
attention on the safety of our associ-
ates and serving our customers who
needed access to food and critical
supplies. It became clear there were
a lot of meetings that didn’t need to
happen and, also, that not everybody
needed to be involved in every deci-
sion. That kind of rigorous prioritiza-
tion was kind of a reset for our pro-
cesses, and I think we’ll keep working
in a more streamlined way.
In terms of supply chain and logistics, what changes do you think
will be most enduring?
The supply chain came under a lot of strain. We’re still digging into
the learnings, but a couple things emerged that we’re going to focus
on. One is you’re going to see us raise the expectation we have on
fill rates to ensure product ordered is reaching our stores. We’re also
going to sharpen our assortment. That will allow us to get higher vol-
umes and more predictable production capacity from our suppliers—
the result is more assured flow of product to the customer even when
a surge in demand hits. During the pandemic, we saw the benefits
of our relationships with local suppliers, so we’ll build on those as
another way to help ensure access to product.In terms of game-changing technology on the nearish-term
horizon —two to five years—what do you think will have the most
impact on your business?
I don’t think you can pin it down to one piece of technology. Some-
times the magic happens when we put several pieces together. The
key is to be clear on which big problems we’re trying to solve and
then working backward to overcome all the hurdles to solve them.
We’re testing or studying drone delivery, eliminating the checkout
line and leveraging new technologies in our supply chain.Is it the corporate world’s responsibility to retrain workers
displaced by technology?
Yes, we should be part of that solution. Technology is fundamentally
changing what it means to work—and the retail industry is no excep-
tion. Knowing this, for several years now, we’ve invested heavily in
our associates as the skills needed to perform the jobs of the future
continue to change. For us, this has resulted in higher wages, inno-
vation in our on-the-job training and more education opportunities
for our frontline associates.Is there a correlation between the growing interest from corpo-
rations in stakeholder capitalism and the decline in the ability
of governments to solve big problems?
Big problems don’t rest on the shoulders of government or corpo-
rations alone. I think the growing interest in stakeholder capital-
ism stems from companies genuinely invested in doing good for our
world, because it’s the right thing to do and because businesses who
take this approach are stronger. We simply won’t be here if we don’t
take care of the very things that allow us to exist: our associates, cus-
tomers, suppliers and the planet. That’s not up for debate.What is your reaction to people coming into your stores, not
wearing masks and confronting your associates?
We understand some people can’t wear masks for health reasons.
Where I get concerned is that it’s become a political issue. Our teams
continue to handle these situations with great care and reinforce the
importance of wearing a mask. Millions of customers pass through
our stores each week, and we don’t think it’s too much to ask people
to wear a mask when it comes to protecting one another.Do you wear a mask?
Yes. And I appreciate our associates doing it and doing it for so
long. We believe it has contributed to their safety and the safety
of our customers. LOCKDOWN
LESSONS
Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart,
on why the retailer is focusing on
stakeholder capitalism By Eben Shapiro