Walmart Elevating McKenna to International Chief

Walmart this week named Judith McKenna to succeed the retiring David Cheesewright as president and chief executive officer of Walmart International, a role seen by many as a stepping stone to the top job at the retailer.Currently serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Walmart U.S., McKenna will assume her promotion on Feb. 1, reporting to Walmart president and ceo Doug McMillon.A 20-plus-year Walmart veteran, McKenna first joined the company via U.K. operation Asda in 1996, serving as coo and chief financial officer. She also has served as evp of strategy and international development for Walmart International. Upon moving to the Walmart U.S. division in 2014, McKenna held the chief development officer role for several months before being promoted to her current position."I've had the pleasure of working with [McKenna] for many years and have seen first hand her ability to lead strategic change, build relationships with our associates and strengthen our business," said McMillion in a media release announcing her promotion.McKenna's replacement has not yet been named, and her promotion may set off a succession of senior executive moves as leadership talent is redeployed throughout the organization.Cheesewright will remain with the company full-time through March, then transition out while continuing to work on specific projects on a limited basis."During his 19 years with the company, [Cheesewright] has served in a number of key leadership roles in our company … He's been instrumental in strengthening our business across the globe," McMillion said in the release.Several international chiefs have moved on to take the reins at the overall company, including both McMillon and his predecessor, Mike Duke.In other personell moves, Bloomberg reported that Walmart is adjusting its store level organizational structure, “removing about 3,500 store co-managers, a salaried role that acts as a lieutenant underneath each store manager, according to people familiar with the move. It’s also adding about 1,700 assistant store managers, a slightly lower-paid role, who will oversee fast-growing areas like online orders, one of the people said.”Bloomberg writes that “stores will now be allocated a certain number of co-managers depending on their sales volume. Previously, supercenters that typically generate more than $100 million in annual revenue could have had as many as four co-managers. Now, smaller stores under $80 million in annual sales won’t have any co-managers; mid-sized locations between $80 million and $90 million will have one; stores from $90 million to $125 million will have two; and the highest-volume locations will have three.”

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