A Comparison of The Two Industries, Wal-mart and Costco

The two industries chosen for this assignment are retail and technology sectors. Wal-Mart and Costco represent the retail industry given that they are major players in the sector. On the other hand, Microsoft and Apple represent the tech industries. Although these companies do not explicitly state their staffing philosophies, their human resource departments explain the nature of employees that can fit in their work environment. These explanations constitute staffing philosophies and systems of the companies based on the industries and portray differences based on the area of operations as discussed below.

As a leading retailer, Wal-Mart fits to represent the retail sector. Regarding the staffing philosophy, Wal-Mart (2017) indicates that the company’s staffing function adheres to the culture of success in that the staff at Wal-Mart should show the ability to make the company succeed. Also, the staffing strategies for Wal-Mart are based on the need to foster the culture of diversity and inclusion where every staff member feels included in the journey towards success. Another guiding principle for Wal-Mart’s staffing is the commitment to American renewal where the staff is involved in manufacturing efforts as a way of making goods affordable. Wal-Mart (2017) does not state the employee qualifications needed for their staff.

On the other hand, Costco highlights its staffing philosophy based on the workplace respect and equality and employee qualifications. For instance, on its career website, Costco (2017) indicates that its staff should portray the ability to work in challenging environments. Also, the firm uses fast-pace system to evaluate the staff. A potential staffer at Costco is required to be energetic, ambitious and service-oriented. Integrity, commitment and being goal oriented are also requirements for Costco staffers.

Microsoft’s staffing philosophy touches on innovative thinking as the company’s strategic advantage. The company’s staffing efforts try to enrich diversity and performance of products. Microsoft tries to find staffers that are experienced in offering solutions to tech challenges based on innovative thinking. These solutions should be useful in improving Microsoft platforms in the future (Microsoft, 2017). The company says it has over forty employee networks across the world and it is committed to hiring people with disabilities. Microsoft’s staffing efforts that build a network of employees seek to empower people for the future.

Apple’s staffing philosophy is based on creativity and innovation. The company requires the potential staffers to have creative and innovative mindsets (Lagunas, 2012). Also, Apple’s staffing is built on the philosophy of talent management and hiring of talented staffers. Also, Apple seeks to recruit hard working employees. Although Apple implements employee training, it gives the employees a chance to choose their training tasks based on their career goals.

Sources of Differences

The differences existing between firms’ staffing strategies and systems emanate their founding philosophies. For instance, Wal-Mart was founded on customer satisfaction and focuses on the success in that endeavor. On the other hand, Costco’s staffing philosophy is built on the company’s mission to continuously provide goods and services to customers hence the requirement to have employees that are ambitious and energetic. Microsoft and Apple seem to have a similar philosophy built on innovation and creativity.

The staffing philosophies in the two industries are different in that one focuses on service that employees give to customers while the other is focuses on innovation and creativity to solve problems. The firms under the retail industry category have their staffing philosophies built on acquiring workers that can serve customers with zeal and achieve success. On the other hand, tech companies are concerned with the need to innovate and make systems that solve problems. The fact that retailers sell goods while the technology firms manufacture goods create the differences in that the former will need to serve the buying needs while the latter solves the needs that relate to the functioning of the goods.