Dive Brief:

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Friday announced another round of executive shifts and a few departures, which all indicate a general tightening up of team structures when it comes to operations.

• EVP Mike Moore, who had led the retailer’s smaller-format “Neighborhood Market” unit, is shifting to EVP of the supercenter division in the U.S., where the stores and the division itself are larger.

• U.S. SVP of innovations Mark Ibbotson will get additional asset protection responsibilities and his operations will work more closely with Walmart Global eCommerce to integrate grocery home shopping. And Pam Kohn, EVP of Walmart Realty, and Joaquin Gonzalez Varela, EVP of Walmart East, are departing.

Dive Insight:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the world’s largest retailer, so it can be difficult to make significant changes in corporate structure. But in the past several weeks, Wal-Mart is doing just that, and it looks like the aim is not just to turn the ship, but to run a tighter one. The company appears to be shifting from a more traditional organizational structure, in part perhaps to get a better handle on its e-commerce and small-format operations, and just maybe to become a more nimble company.