Businesses should be held accountable for certain standards in relation to their impact to society and/or give back to society. Without consumers purchasing their products, businesses would not be able to survive. Society and business are interdependent upon each other, and sometimes impact negatively and positively, but should have a duty to want to take a responsibility to “do the right thing”. Citizens are bound by judicial case law; businesses should be bound by certain moral obligations to society to encourage ethical behavior. With more strict laws and/or regulations, it would enforce businesses to uphold a higher standard to society instead of just receiving a profit from society; such as businesses like Wal-Mart that thrive on small communities and areas that have protected for environmental purposes maybe to fulfill a psychological or due to the fact Wal-Mart has the complex that eventually the organization is a prime example that money and time can buy everything whatever the cost and barriers may come in their way. Whether they are participating in unethical practices with their employees or with regards to the environment, either way the corporation and all businesses should be held to some form of ethical, legal, and/or regulatory standards towards society. Wal-Mart is one of the largest privately owned businesses in the world “totaling revenue of $421.8 billion and a net income of $16 billion in 2011” (Sethi). Being one of the largest companies makes them the largest employer in the world, “with 2.1 million employees worldwide in 2010” (Sethi) with over “3,400 U.S. store along with more than 550 Sam’s Club locations in 2007 giving over 1.3 million employees” (Basker 177). One would think the company would have to ... ... middle of paper ... ... mention, the hazardous fires that took place in 7 of their factories, one of which they factory blocked off entrances so workers could not leave the facilities, and killing little under 1,000 people; also including but not limited to 2 of these factories having a stampede killing and injuring several hundreds of employees. Works Cited Basker, Emek. "The Causes and Consequences of Wal-Mart's Growth." Journel of Economic Perspectives. 21.3 (2007): 177-198. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. . Devin , Smith, Greenwald Robert, Levit Laurie , and Gilliam Jim. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. 2005. Documentary. Robert GreenwaldWeb. 2 Feb 2014. Sethi, Parkish. "The World of Wal-Mart." Carnegie Council. N.p., 18 May 2013. Web. 26 Jan 2014. .
Walmart is bad for America, as some say. The Globalization essay that was handed out in class had many good points. It states that Walmart puts many smaller businesses out of service. A recent study by David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine and two associates at the Public Policy Institute of California, "The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets," uses sophisticated statistical analysis to estimate the effects on jobs and wages as Wal-Mart spread out from its original center in Arkansas. The authors find that retail employmen...
Wal-Mart has had a significant economic impact on the US, as well as the economies of countries that have relations with the US. Wal-Mart is the world’s biggest company of any kind, with 80 percent of the households in America purchasing something from the superstore; it is the nation’s largest retailer. Wal-Mart’s continuing price reduction has given Americans the advantage of being able to afford 15 to 20 percent more than they previously could. (Hansen) In a world governed by globalization and greed, competition has become rigid; as a result firms like Wal-Mart have utilized advanced marketing strategies to insure that they are on the ‘neck’ of competition, and are the core deciders of the market. (Ortega) However, Wal-Mart made decisions that were of a disadvantage to aspects of the economy, including the depletion on a small scale of Small Town USA.
Wal-Mart represents the sickness of capitalism at its almost fully evolved state. As Jim Hightower said, "Why single out Wal-Mart? Because it's a hog. Despite the homespun image it cultivates in its ads, it operates with an arrogance and avarice that would make Enron blush and John D. Rockefeller envious. It's the world's biggest retail corporation and America's largest private employer; Sam Robson Walton, a member of the ruling family, is one of the richest people on earth. Wal-Mart and the Waltons got to the top the old-fashioned way: by roughing people up. Their low, low prices are the product of two ruthless commandments: Extract the last penny possible from human toil and squeeze the last dime from its thousands of suppliers, who are left with no profit margin unless they adopt the Wal-Mart model of using nonunion labor and shipping production to low-wage hellholes abroad." (The Nation, March 4th 2002 www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020304&s=hightower).
A Macro-Sized Microcosm describes how Wal-Mart is a ‘macro-sized microcosm’ for America’s socioeconomic problems. New technology in the marketplace has created a conflict between labor and capital. This is ruining the U.S. manufacturing base. This reading states that Wal-Mart benefits by relying on suppliers and subcontractors. Wal-Mart buyers demand the lowest price possible, making it competitive with their suppliers. A way they do this is by adding cost efficiencies. These demands make it difficult for suppliers to provide employees with decent wages and suitable working conditions. The government endorses these circumstances. The federal and state governments support Wal-Mart with about $4 billion. This includes “free or reduced price land, tax breaks, sales tax rebates, state corporate income tax” et cetera. Most Wal-Marts in the U.S. receive government subsidy. This makes the price of commodities low and keeps them ahead of the
I don't see Wal-Mart as a huge retailer trying to take over the world with cheap prices. I see Wal-Mart as business that has played their cards the way they were dealt. Our economy is poor right now; banks are hurting because people a...
The Wal-Mart Corporation is a multi-billion dollar low-cost retail organization, consisting of 6400 stores and 1.8 million sales associates worldwide. Wal-Mart’s influence on the retail world and the enormity of their corporate size is unparalleled. Wal-Mart can easily report sales of $312.4 billion dollars per fiscal quarter and net profits of $3.8 billion dollars. Wal-Mart promises her customers "Always low prices. Always!" and upholds this motto by providing low prices to her customers and high return on investment to her stockholders. One way that Wal-Mart has managed to maintain a competitive edge over other low cost retail giants and provide low prices is by cutting wages and by not offering too many company benefits to their employees. Full-time employee working at Wal-Mart only make $8 an hour, while only 45% of the workers can afford to be covered by health insurance. Wal-Mart also increase part time employees from 20 percent to 40 percent so that they do not have to cover all of their employees for health insurance . Although Wal-Mart may not provide excellent benefits to her employees, it successfully performs as a legitimate business operating in a capitalistic society. Wal-Mart upholds the primary fiduciary duty to satisfy her stockholder and follows free the market libertarianism model, which states that a business should not interfering with the free market. In a free market Wal-Mart has a direct responsibility to her primary stockholders rather than the employees of a company.
Within an excerpt from, “The United States of Wal-Mart,” John Dicker explains that Wal-Mart is a troubling corporation. Dicker begins his article by discussing why the store is so popular within the news in an age of global terrorism, coming to the conclusion that Wal-Mart has a huge scope in the United States and that it has more scandals, lawsuits, and stories than any other supercenter. Continually, he goes on to explain that Wal-Mart outsources jobs and their companies demands makes it hard for employees to have livable wages and good working conditions. Furthermore, Dicker addresses the claim that Wal-Mart provides good jobs, by destroying this perception with statistics showing how employees live in poverty and that their union scene
Wal-Mart is one of the world's greatest assets to most people. It provides consumer's a place they can go to virtually get anything they need from, car repairs, to groceries, prescription's, even the latest toys and electronics. With all that said, this paper relates to the different forces in business that affects business: competitive, economic, political + legal + regulatory, technological, cultural + social, demographic, and natural forces. Although there are technically seven we are going to focus on competitive, political, technological, and natural forces.
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 ...
Quinn, Bill. How Walmart Is Destroying America (and the world), And What You Can Do About It. Third Edition. Ten Speed Press, 2005. Print.
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.
Walmart is a company that can be seen from many different perspectives. Due to its vast size; it can be easy to identify its faults and environmental issues surrounding the company. However, they are well aware of these problems and criticisms and have made many efforts towards issues around the world. The motivation and desire Walmart have to improve the world we live in today can be seen through their treatment of employees, suppliers as well as their efforts towards the environment and other humanitarian issues. Given this, there is still endless resources on the web proving the company to be one of a negative burden on society.
"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." Top Documentary Films. Web. 8 Aug 2011. .
Greenwald, Robert. "Walmart: The High Cost Of Low Prices FULL MOVIE." YouTube. YouTube, 01 November 2005. Web. 21 May 2013.
Walmart needed high levels of growth to continue to survive and saturation of domestic market. Global retail expansion has attracted many large-sized companies with targets to increase business profits and market share. Global expansion not only attracts large organizations but also small to medium-sized companies, companies new to international expansion, as well as those who are already expanding in the international arena. However, there are also well-known retailers who failed in their expansion in certain global markets due to regulatory, legal and cultural challenges, competition, and attempting to change local shopping behavior. The lower pricing strategy was their basic strategy to expand Walmart’s philosophy, “Every Day Low Price” to all parts of the world. The only challenge was the distribution system; the company had given in to union demands from the state-run. Walmart was not influenced. The marketing strategies still involved huge discounts and great values on all of their products, similar to strategies in their home country: maintaining low prices every day, especially middle-class customers, yet maintaining profits. They also suggested