Walmart workers get schooled … by MIT

Retail giant Walmart has partnered with one of the nation’s top universities to create a custom course in supply chain management for associates from underrepresented communities who are on a leadership track.

Funded by two Walmart associate groups within the supply chain organization, “Women of Supply Chain” and “People of Color,” the course was developed through a collaboration between Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The virtual class incorporates content from the online “MicroMasters Program in Supply Chain Management” offered by MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL). Following an initial pilot in 2020 attended by more than 70 Walmart associates, a new session with 80 associates is now underway.

Walmart isn’t the only company that’s using MIT’s educational resources. According to the school, MIT CTL has developed and implemented more than 20 custom courses for companies in a variety of industry sectors, including AbInBev, Ahold Delhaize, GE, and Shell. 

“We take MicroMasters content that matches their specific needs and organize it into lesson blocks,” Dr. Eva Ponce, the program’s executive director, said in a release. “The company chooses the most relevant modules, and we structure the course based on these requirements.” 

MIT also works with each client company to pick the course’s duration, the weekly study effort required to complete the course, and the instruction mix that fits their educational goals. Goals for companies vary from staff upskilling to career development to staff retention.