Wal-Mart, being one of the largest and most successful companies in the U.S has looked for expansion overseas. The company has a very strong market research team that analyzes the different options and opportunities, and now it has more than 10,000 stores in 27 countries. However, the means Wal-Mart used to enter in some of those markets have been questioned. Investigations have shown that the company bribed officials in several countries to obtain permits and licenses to construct, operate, and manage some of the stores.
One specific case to analyze is the investigation that was made by the New York Times of how Wal-Mart entered into the Mexican market. The article illustrates the things that Wal-Mart did to gain “permission” to open strategic stores, among others, in Teotihuacan, very close to the pyramids and the tourist area.
According to the research, the store opened in December of 2012 after more than $200,000 in payoffs to officials, in order to acquire permits and licenses, and to speed up the regular process that would have them opened after the Christmas season.(Barstow). The payoffs were made to important and public figures including the former Major of the city Guillermo Rodriguez, the top official of the entity in charge of safeguarding the cultural heritage of Teotihuacan: INAH, and to most of the officials part of the committee in charge of reviewing and investigating the cases of new commercial entities in the city. Also, Wal-Mart provided “gifts” and “donations” to schools and public organizations in order to distract the population that was raging against the store opening.
When Wal-Mart decided that a store in Teotihuacan, a very busy tourist area, was a great idea, and that it would attract around 250 customer...
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... by the people of Teotihuacan; among other things, Wal-Mart donated supplies to elementary schools in the community and built new offices for community leaders.
Even though Wal-Mart de Mexico is a subsidiary of Wal-Mart, many of the decisions it takes have to be approved by Wal-Mart headquarters. The New York Times investigation revealed that the former lawyer of Wal-Mart de Mexico turned to the headquarters and told them, in addition to other facts, about the altered map. Even though the company started an investigation, it was closed with no irregularities found. This has made the ethical behavior of the company very questionable, and today, Wal-Mart is under an investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission that is revising the case to know if Wal-Mart committed any violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. (Barstow).
Edemariam, A. (2009, March 14). It all began in a small store in Arkansas.... The Guardian. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from http://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/mar/14/wal-mart-us-economy
It’s a place everyone knows, much like the post office or even city hall. Wal-Mart. That is where the oddity lies, in the fact that a retail store is just as well known as staples for towns across the nation; not to mention the fact that Wal-Mart isn’t just in the United States, but around the world. Founder of the billion dollar industry, Sam Walton, did expect success from his endeavor, but no one could have foreseen just how influential the retail store would be. Wal-Mart is an astonishingly successful business with humble beginnings, but may have a rocky road ahead in terms of social issues due to the treatment of employees and it's strong effects on the economy.
...ff. By the end of 2014 Wal-Mart will have appointed 10 market-level Chief compliance officer in its International division to build and lead the compliance teams in the company’s retail markets around the world. This effort is critical for promoting the long-term sustainability and capability of the company’s anti-corruption compliance team.
...al-Mart’s methods to keeping these prices down have been immoral. In addition, they have taken advantage of town resources for example, subsidies, employee benefits and exploitation of cheap labor. Even though they have surpassed significantly in attracting customers all over the nation, they failed to do so ethically. This has created losses to competitors, and the battle for profit is an ongoing one. Therefore, I believe that Wal-Mart has become an economical disaster to competitors and the US as a whole. This is due to the exporting of huge amounts of funds to Asian countries, which in turn reduced the funds in the US due to continuous import costs.
With the ability to control its stock and see at a glance how any store is performing, Wal-Mart is able to keep its finger on the pulse of its business and make critical adjustments as necessary. The low transportation costs it achieves with its own transportation system makes it possible to deliver goods to different stores within or under 48 hours, and transportation costs are only 3% of the total costs, as compared with 5% for their competitors ("Wal-Mart 's Supply Chain Management Practices: The Benefits Reaped"). Its advanced methods of transport, This combination of technology and down-home attention to customers as people makes Wal-Mart hard to beat on any soil, and it uses the winning formula to maximum advantage.
Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is a legal battle concerning whether or not the company engaged willfully in gender-based discrimination. Underlying causes, organizational culture and ethical issues will be examined in determining how the largest private employer in the United States could have fallen prey to unfair labor practices.
With its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart was commissioned in the hands of its founder Sam Walton. Generally, the Wal-Mart effect is structured in a manner that it aids economic experts to evaluate attached global and local economic effects to the famous Wal-Mart retail. The term Wal-Mart effect is often employed by analysts to refer to the wide variety of both negative and positive influences of the retail business (Hiltzik 1). Evaluation of the retail’s effects is significant as the business is not only a key figure is the world’s economy but also it is arguably the most performing private economic retail. Briefly, Wal-Mart has conventionally caught the eyes of consumers since it not only boosts their experience by suburbanizing local shopping but also it avails low commodity prices for necessities (Neumark, Junfu, and Stephen 406).
"Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 9 Apr 2014. .
Overall, Carlsen is able to provide a convincing case against Wal-Mart and their latest “step in a phenomenal takeover of Mexico’s supermarket sector.” She conveys multiple rhetoric devices and is able to do so in a relatively short article. Though Laura effectively uses the three primary persuasive appeals logos, pathos, and ethos throughout the piece, her argument is most successful when she takes a more direct approach in reaching her target audience, saying “The dispute is not a battle between past and future. It is a struggle over a country’s right to define itself.” She also states Wal-Mart’s practices interfere with on the country’s “contemporary integrity” by constructing on the ancient site. Her tone, along with her use of various rhetoric appeals, contributes to creating an effective and successful argument.
Wal-Mart, the multi-billion dollar corporation and the second largest employer in the world, is the most controversial corporation in the world. Wal-Mart stands as a global powerhouse and affects countless individuals around the world. This company is constantly receiving criticism from unions, human rights groups, small towns and small businesses. There are accusations of Wal-Mart treating workers poorly and driving small businesses out of business. However these accusations are false and over exaggerated. Wal-Mart offers families and low income individuals quality products at affordable prices. Their workers are paid competitive wages and are treated with respect. Wal-Mart opens their stores in rural and under developed areas. Wal-Mart improves the lives of the folks who live rural area and improves their lifestyles.
Besides all the points that I have stated, Wal-Mart has had to pay fines due to breaking Child Labor laws and Illegal Immigrant laws; fines up to $11.5 million for just those two types of laws. Wal-Mart is not good for this economy, for the people, and the company, in a whole, is criminal. If the people let Wal-Mart stay on the track it is on, the United States will not have anything but Wal-Marts. Wal-Mart will become a monopoly and put everyone, who started with something more than greed, out-of-business.
"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." Top Documentary Films. Web. 8 Aug 2011. .
Every month, Wal-Mart de Mexico executives received a detailed schedule of the payments performed. These payments, however, were then “purified” in accounting records as simple legal fees. These were basically Mr. Cicero’s allegations. However, this was not the first indication of corruption in Wal-Mart de Mexico. In an investigation in 2003, it was found that Wal-Mart de Mexico had systematically increased sales by aiding favored high-volume customers avoid sales taxes. Wal-Mart de Mexico had failed to enforce their own anticorruption policies. As the investigation from Mr. Cicero’s allegations moved forward, there was corroborating evidence in Decemeber 2005 that there were hundreds of gestor payments, mystery codes, rewritten audits, evasive responses from Wal-Mart de Mexico executives, donations for permits, and evidence gestores were still being used. At last, Mr. Rodriguezmacedo wrapped up the case saying that there was no evidence or indications of the bribes. Instead, he attacked the integrity of his accuser, Mr. Cicero. They attacked it by saying his conduct was typical of someone who engaged in fraud.
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).
At the first, Wal-Mart only operates its business in home country. However, Wal-Mart became more integrated and independent by expanding internationally. In 1991, Wal-Mart start expands the business at international level which includes 26 countries outside of the United State such as Mexico, China and Canada. Now, Wal-Mart totally has more than 6100 stores in foreign country. The step taken by Wal-Mart is to improve and maintain their achievement outside of the home country. Wal-Mart’s strategy which expands their market at international level gains a lot of benefit to their business.