The Cause and Effect of Wal-Mart’s Marketing Power

2674 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social responsibility of walmart

Cause and Effect of Wal-Mart’s
In a time where the economy is at its lowest, Wal-mart, the leading retail company in the world, yielded nearly 17 billion dollars. Yet in spite of their soaring profits, over 40 percent of Wal-mart’s employees are struggling to support their families on their meager wages. To contest unfair treatment in the workplace; many employees who are tired of the retaliation, low wages, inadequate health care, and gender discrimination have joined forces nationwide to take a stand against this conglomerate by attempting to organize unions, protesting, and in cases of blatant abuse, filing lawsuits. While Wal-Mart has had much criticism for its policies, the organization denies these allegations and defends its practices. Standing firm, Wal-Mart announces that their associates are a valued component of the company’s success; however, employees of the company believe that actions speak louder than words and find it difficult to conceive that the employers at Wal-Mart have their best interest at heart.

Wal-Mart the Goliath
In 1962, Sam Walton opened his first Wal-mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. Sam’s philosophy of treating his employees as associates and his commitment to saving his customers money would be the driving force of his success. Sam’s strategy of keeping the shelves stocked with high-quality merchandise at the lowest possible prices would prove so successful that he would quickly surpass all other retailers in the industry. In 1970, Wal-mart would add to its empire by going public. This savvy move would not only increase the company’s profits, but it would give it the edge it needed to expand. Soon the Waltons would open other companies Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart International, and Sam’s Club tha...

... middle of paper ...

...s Claim of Sexual Inequity. The Financial Times Limited, p. 1:8.
Matis, I. (2007). Transforming Organizational Culture: The Case of Wal-Mart. San Antonio: The University of Texas .
Matthews, C. (2012, June 29). Time: Business and Money. Retrieved December 8, 2013, from 50 Years of Wal-Mart: http://business.time.com/2012/07/02/ten-ways-Wal-Mart-changed-the-world/
Musgrave, J. (2012, October 5). Female Ex-Wal-Mart Employees File Federal Discrimination Suit Over Promotions. McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
Nelson Lichtenstein. (2006). Wal-Mart The Face of Twenty-First-Century Capitalism. New York: The New Press.
Postal, A. (2011, March 28). Wal-Mart V. Dukes Discrimination Case: Class Action Implications Feared. National Underwriter / P&C, 115 (11), p. 24.
Vance, S., & Scott, R. (1994). Wal-Mart A History of Sam Walton's Retail Phenomenon. New York: Twayne Publishers.

Show More
Related

  • The Success of Wal-Mart: Sam Walton's Dream

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a lot that goes into being a successful company, and making the Fortune 500 list is most every business owner’s dream. Sam Walton is credited with being the founder and first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wal-Mart. Walton and other CEO’s of the company were able to shape the success of Wal-Mart by implementing strategies that would revolutionize the way retail stores do business, all while pushing Wal-Mart to the top spot on the Fortune 500 list. This paper looks at a few different strategies Walton implemented that ultimately benefitted the company to increase revenue. How did Wal-Mart become the retail giant that it is today? T.A. Frank of Washington Monthly gives a brief history of Wal-Mart in his article Everyday Low Vices.

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination at Walmart

    2006 Words  | 5 Pages

    Walmart, the world’s largest retailer and private employer, has established a highly profitable business centered on a low-cost strategy that utilizes logistical efficiencies to create a competitive advantage. Yet, to maintain this low-cost strategy, Walmart has engaged in ethically questionable practices, including gender discrimination in promotion and pay. While the Supreme Court recently ruled against class certification of 1.5 million women in the Dukes v. Walmart case due to a lack of proof that Walmart operated under a “general policy of discrimination”, overwhelming evidence demonstrates that gender discrimination is a persistent problem rooted in the culture of Walmart, despite gender-neutral policies (Biskupic, 2011).

    Read More

  • Is Walmart Good Or Bad For Health And Social Care?

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    Today Wal-mart has a higher GDP than the entire country of Switzerland, but don’t worry they’re pretty neutral about it. But there has also been news about how they treat there employees. In 2004 an article was released entitled Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart, and soon after Washington got involved. The bad publicity took a toll on Wal-mart and in fact is still today, Maryland passed a law in January, 2006, that said larger employers, such as Wal-mart, must spend at least 8% of their payroll on health benefits for their employees, and now many other states have followed suit. The bad publicity also made it so 8% of customers shop elsewhere because of what they’ve heard, this has caused lower expected sales around the holidays during 2004, and 2005. Some things they’ve done is in 2006 they paid employees on average 9.36 dollars, while other major retailers like Target and Sears pay on average 11.08 dollars. While this can be easily denied by Wal-mart, another way they have gained bad publicity is from something called off-the-clock work. If they had not finished their job they had to clock out and then still finish their job, meaning they wouldn’t get paid for

    Read More

  • Data Analysis Of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

    1853 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wal-Mart initially began its operations in 1945, when Sam Walton leased a ‘Ben Franklin’ franchise variety store in Newport, Arkansas. After relocating to Rogers, Arkansas in the early 1950s, Sam Walton’s ‘Ben Franklin’ became ‘Walton’s 5 & 10’. By 1962, Walton found himself the chain owner of 11 different Walton’s stores across Arkansas. He then decided to rename the chain ‘Wal-Mart’, after himself. On October 31, 1969, after further expansion across the state, the chain was incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Three years later, Wal-Mart was approved and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

    Read More

  • A Critical Analysis of the Article "Progressive Wal-Mart. Really." by Sebastian Mallaby

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mallaby admits Wal-Mart can treat their employees and other retailers unfairly, but as a result everyone can share in the 50 billion in savings that American shoppers consume annually. The pay that employees get is the price they must pay for low priced merchandise. Because of the minimal pay to employees, Wal-Mart strengthens its’ consumer buying power. Giving the American shoppers the savings they need, Wal-Mart’s has ultimately been them successful. Wal-Mart has potentially wiped out the middle class as an employer, but the employees can now work and ...

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Wal-Mart

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    Quinn, Bill. How Walmart Is Destroying America (and the world), And What You Can Do About It. Third Edition. Ten Speed Press, 2005. Print.

    Read More

  • Strategic Management of Wal-Mart

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in the discount, variety stores industry. It was founded in 1945, Bentonville in Arkansas which is also the headquarters of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart operates locally as well as worldwide. It operated 1209 discount stores, 1980 super centers, and 567 Sam’s Club by January 31, 2006. It has also extended its operations to many international countries. It runs its retail stores in two forms: Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Stores. The Sam’s Club sells assorted product lines such as hardwares, electronics, jewelry, and to mention a few. The Wal-Mart stores also offer similar products in addition to the following: health and beauty products, apparel for women, men and children, household appliances etc (www.yahoo.finance.com). The Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Values and Code of Conduct, Corporate Governance: Directors, Executive Management, Committees and Stakeholder will be the key elements that will discussed in this report as it relates to Wal-Mart. In addition to that, the major trends in the general/macro environment and industry will be analyzed.

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination at Wal-Mart

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Discrimination continues to run rampant throughout organizations in both the United States and worldwide. The Supreme Court case, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., dealt with 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees that claim that they had been a victim of gender discrimination. The ensuing pages will discuss the specific issues that the plaintiffs encountered, followed by suggestions from a human resource manager’s stand point in rectifying adverse impact within the Wal-Mart organization.

    Read More

  • Walmart De-Escalation Policy

    2067 Words  | 5 Pages

    In recent news, a Utah court is pondering if the right to self defense superceeds a Walmart “de-escalation” policy, which led to the firing of six Walmart employees. (Kieler, 2014) The former Walmart employees’ behaviors appear to be within human nature to protect oneself and the organization. Why would Walmart view the former employees’ behaviors as damaging to the corporation? What are the impacts of the firings on Walmart’s remaining workforce? How do Walmart’s actions influence employer and employee relationships? The aforementioned questions come to mind when contemplating if Walmart made the right decision(s) following their employees’ actions. Although Walmart views their former employees’ actions as black or white, others within

    Read More

  • The History Of Walmart

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walton grew up in a rural area in the United States. He tried lots of things such as running variety stores before founding Walmart. Walton believed that discount stores could succeed in smaller markets based on the success of many Ben Franklin stores which were located in smaller markets. From the beginning, Walmart focused on small-towns, in rural or suburban areas. In 1962, Walton started his first Walmart store in the small town of Rogers, Arkansas. Then, Walmart grew up by following Walton’s expansion strategy in which new stores should be adjacent to existing Walmart markets and distribution lines. (Ortega, In Sam We Trust) Besides the concern about geographic location, Walmart also understood customers’ shopping habits - they preferred

    Read More

  • Walmart History

    2325 Words  | 5 Pages

    Wal-Mart began operations in 1964 and has since become the world leader in retail. Walmart began with goals to provide consumers with goods when and where they wanted them (Frank, n. d). Walmart developed cost structures to allow its company to offer consumers everyday low pricing. Walmart’s corporate mission focuses on a global growth strategy through concentrated integration. Wal-Mart's supply chain management supports a fast and responsive logistics system. In this paper, I will converse about the history of Walmart, and its supply chain management

    Read More

  • Global Human Resource Management

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first Wal-Mart store opened in July of 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton who believed that the future of retailing was in discounting and to avoid competing with established giants like Sears and Woolworth, Wal-Mart’s stated out of the large cities in the beginning and this strategy help avoid competition, while in rural areas Wal-Mart began growing their customer base by offering ways to save money and shorter travel distance, Sam Walton felt the best way to make customers happy was to provide the low prices every day (Farhoomand, 2006). The company needed to continually find ways to control the operating costs so the savings would then be passed on to Wal-Mart customers in the form of lower prices than the competitors. Walton was opposed to having any kind of employee unions for its company and saw them as a disruption and an inconvenience (Farhoomand, 2006). The continued search for lower prices made him aware of business related travel cost, Wal-Mart executives stayed in low cost hotels when they traveled and the cost related to the services provided by suppliers, Wal-Mart helped suppliers improve operations and efficiency to produce lower cost. Walton wanted the suppliers to correct any nonessential or insufficiencies existing in their business structures as a way of gaining lower prices and higher value products for its Wal-Mart stores. To further push savings Wal-Mart forced cost down by eliminating the middleman and buying directly from the manufacturers. This cost saving also applied to executive salaries Walton felt providing employees with stock options, training opportunities, and allow employees to grow and develop would be a better way to engage and involve them in his vision (Farhoomand, 2006).

    Read More

  • Operational Planning For Wal-Mart

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wal-mart has a reputation for caring for its customers, of course their employees, and for the prospective public. So Wal-Mart can be an industrial leader for the world of shoppers with an eye for lower affordable prices, company decision makers would continue it's systematic strategies that it's founder and president established years ago. Sam Walton believed in three guiding principles in his strategy planning they were to provide the customer with good value and service, to have a good relationship with its associates, and to be involved with the community.

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices

    1949 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our society. From grocery shopping, to changing your oil and even filing your annual tax returns, Walmart is always there, everyday. Started by Sam Walton in 1962, it began as a small operation catering to a small Arkansas community. It was started on principles very similar to small local businesses in small towns. Today Walmart has gotten a different, darker reputation. On the surface, Walmart may seem like the solution to everyday issues. Low-income families are attracted to the low prices, and people who work odd hours benefit greatly from the 24 hours a day that many Walmarts are open. Lately, Walmart has also managed to be publicly recognized as a store that sells many of today’s green products, including organic food, environmental conscious cleaning products, as well as, paper products made from recycled paper. However, underneath all this, Walmart has a different side. Exploitation of its workers is widespread amongst Walmarts who do not belong to a union, especially in the United States. Wal...

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart: The Challenge of Making Relationships with Stakeholders

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    Employee stakeholders have another story. The discrimination lawsuits ranging from female employees not getting equal pay or equal positions, to disabled employees, class-action lawsuits stating that Wal-Mart doctors questionnaires to prevent disabled workers from applying, Wal-Mart does not rank very high with these employees. Lawsuits stemming from Wal-Mart’s failure to monitor labor conditions at oversea factories and hires illegal immigrants add to the rift in relations between the employees and the company. Wal-Mart continues to deny charges...

    Read More

More about The Cause and Effect of Wal-Mart’s Marketing Power

Open Document