Bentonville, Ark. — Wal-Mart has created two new senior management positions for its U.S. division.
Effective immediately, Bill Simon will function as chief operating officer and Pat Curran will be the executive VP of people. According to a company release, both will continue to report directly to Eduardo Castro-Wright, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores U.S.
In a release, Castro-Wright pointed to moves earlier in the year to name a new chief merchant and a new chief marketing officer and said that that today’s two new positions represent “one more step in solidifying the senior management team that will help us reach our business objectives.”
According to Castro-Wright, Simon helped Wal-Mart to develop its $4 generic drug program and will now expand his focus in his latest role at the company to its entire U.S. business. The release said that all five operating presidents will now report to Simon and he will also now be responsible for asset protection and the professional services group.
Curran’s new position has been created as part of an ongoing movement to increase human resources support, and according to Castro-Wright, to “bring that support even closer to the business.”
Curran began as an associate with Wal-Mart in 1983 and moved up the ranks to most-recently act as the senior VP of store operations for the mid-Atlantic and Southeast areas. Her new position has been created as part of an ongoing movement to increase human resources support, and according to Castro-Wright, to “bring that support even closer to the business.”
Susan Chambers, executive VP of people for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. says she looks forward to collaborating with Curran “and providing corporate support to the work she and her team will be doing with out Wal-Mart Stores U.S. associates.”
