Telecommunications Presentation

Front 1

HISTORY OF WALMART SLIDE #4

Back 1

The Wal-Marts chain of stores and discount outlets was started by founder Sam Walton in 1962 with the opening of the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. Over the next forty-five years, Wal-Mart ballooned into the global powerhouse that exists today. With thousands of stores throughout the world. Wal-Mart employs over 1.9 million people. Consequently, Wal-Mart also maintained hundreds of stores along the Gulf Coast region when Katrina struck in 2005. These stores, which employed hundreds of people, together provided over thirty-four thousand jobs in the Gulf Coast area.

Front 2

FACING THE AFTERMATH SLIDE #5

Back 2

At the height of the hurricane Wal-Mart oversaw the closure of 126 stores and two of its major distribution centers. Of these facilities, over half lost power, and many were flooded. In total, 89 stores reported having sustained wind or water damage. Also, because of the run on emergency supplies in the affected areas, and in some cases because of a breakdown in security, several of Wal-Marts stores were looted by hurricane victims.

Front 3

WALMARTS DEFINING MOMENT SLIDE #6

Back 3

Wal-Mart’s response to Hurricane Katrina began well before the storm made landfall on the Gulf Coast. Because of the corporation’s massive size and worldwide reach, Wal-Mart maintains its own 24-hour emergency operations center (EOC) staffed by up to ten employees during normal, non-disaster situations (for the purpose of handling smaller scale events such as product failures, injuries, fires, accidents, and other routine events. This center, which tracks storms with special meteorological equipment and software maintained at the EOC, began its official response to Katrina when it was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane on August 24th.

Front 4

MORE ON THE PRE-DISASTER RESPONSE SLIDE #7

Back 4

On that first early day of the storm’s progression, Wal-Mart’s Business Continuity Director, Jason Jackson, began managing the businesses response operations from the Wal-Mart EOC. Over the course of the next few days, as Katrina made its pass over southern Florida and continued on towards the heavily-populated Gulf Coast region, Jackson was joined by 50 Wal-Mart managers and support personnel (ranging from trucking experts to loss-prevention specialists) to reflect the seriousness of the response requirements.

Front 5

EARLY PREPARATION SLIDE #8

Back 5

The company’s Emergency Operations Team began their preparations for the storm in earnest by initiating the movement of storm-readiness by distributing supplies and cleanup materials to Wal-Mart stores and SAM’S CLUBs both within and around the areas expected to be most severely affected.

Front 6

WALMARTS CONTRIBUTION SLIDE #9

Back 6

Before, during, and following Katrina, Wal-Mart shipped 2,500 containers to the Gulf Coast in the first two and a half weeks alone; in comparison, Wal-Mart also delivered a total of 517 containers in response to the less destructive Hurricane Rita. Also, to assist the affected communities, Wal-Mart provided its drivers and trucks in special instances to acquire and transport relief supplies, water, food and clothing donated by the outside community, members, and organizations.

Front 7

WALMART CORPORATION, THE GREAT BUSINESS PROCESS #10

Back 7

One of Wal-Mart corporation’s greatest business process strengths, which it also used extensively throughout the response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, is its vast system of information management. This system, which was designed to ensure that the company’s nationwide inventory of products was accounted for and shifted in real time to reflect actual demand, allowed the company to quickly locate and transport the most needed products to the affected areas from its range of stores and warehouses.

Front 8

THE GREAT BUSINESS PROCESS CONTINUED SLIDE #11

Back 8

Also, to ensure that all stores were able to benefit from this information network – even those that were in areas where communication failures were widespread - Wal-Mart set up satellite links that provided reliable phone and Internet service. These connections permitted those stores to stay connected to headquarters, allowing even those stores in areas that experienced several weeks of power loss to keep key equipment and supplies in stock. As the hurricane struck, many of the stores in the affected area lost contact with the company’s computerized inventory system. To accommodate this breakdown, the EOC staff began fielding phone calls from stores about what they needed.

Front 9

THE GREAT BUSINESS PROCESS SLIDE #12

Back 9

Next, a ‘replenishment team’ was established to reorder essential products on demand. By August 30th, hundreds of Wal-Mart deliveries (some lead by police escort) were on their way to stores throughout the Gulf Coast region to address the specific needs of those stores that had lost power (with supplies such as generators and dry ice).

Front 10

CRITICISM REGARDING GOVERNMENT RESPONSE SLIDE #13

Back 10

The criticism of the government response to Hurricane Katrina consisted primarily of condemnations of mismanagement and lack of preparation in the relief effort in response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Specifically, there was a delayed response to the flooding of New Orleans, Louisiana. Within days of Katrina's August 29, 2005 landfall, public debate arose about the local, state and federal governments' role in the preparations for and response to the storm. Criticism was prompted largely by televised images of visibly shaken and frustrated political leaders, and of residents who remained in New Orleans without water, food or shelter, and the deaths of several citizens by thirst, exhaustion, and violence days after the storm itself had passed.

Front 11

WALMARTS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SLIDE #14

Back 11

Here are some examples of the money that was donated to various organizations for the cause of the relief effort. There were a number of churches, animal shelters, and programs that were set up to help the community such as project rebuild.

Front 12

THE ONLINE EMERGENCY REGISTRY SLIDE #15

Back 12

Using its acclaimed system of information and communications technology, Wal-Mart provided customers and employees with an online emergency registry. A special web-based service was established to help customers, employees, and the general public to access information and relief services in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Customers and employees were invited to email, post and search for messages regarding family and friends.

Front 13

QUESTION 1A

Back 13

Because of the fact that Wal-Mart has stores and employees located on the Gulf Coast in the region where these storms occur frequently; Wal-Mart initiated a movement of storm-readiness in which they adopted procedures for preparedness that ensured the safety of their stores and their employees. At, first warning about the approach of Hurricane Katrina; management took the necessary precautions towards being prepared.