Walmart Weaknesses

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On July, 2nd 1962, Sam Walton realized a dream when he opened the first Walmart location in Rogers, Arkansas (Rowell, 2016). The concept behind the store was simple, “The Lowest Prices Anytime, Anywhere” (“Our History”, 2016). Within the first ten years of opening its first location, Walmart had become an incorporated company, opened 23 additional locations, and was publicly traded on the NYSE (“Our History,” 2016).
The 90’s brought continued success as Walmart was named America’s #1 retailer with more stores being built each year and profits exploding (“Our History”, 2016). Walmart began expanding globally and had stores in Mexico, Canada, and China by the end of the 90’s. As Walmart entered the new millennium they were honored with being …show more content…

The strength in sustainability is that it includes renewable energy and a focus on people and the environment. Walmart states that “ten years ago Walmart set out in earnest to find a more sustainable approach to our retail business. We set long-term goals to operate with 100 percent renewable energy, to create zero waste in our own operations and to sell products that sustain people and the environment” (Walmart, 2016). Walmart has transparency of political engagement, Walmart makes all the information from WALPAC about federal contributions accessible to the public on the FCC website. Their governance is strong because Walmart Established a Compensation, Nomination and Governance Committee (CNGC) to oversee the tools necessary for the board to be effective. They compare themselves to other companies to ensure they are maintaining effective governance processes. The Board committee is set up in a way that complies with the laws of Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), in that they have an independent auditor. Customer relations is another strength of Walmart’s CSR policy. Walmart has invested billions each year into programs for training associates to help make the customer experience more enjoyable. Walmart says, “We value the trust of our customers. We work to preserve that trust by raising our …show more content…

There is only a small portion of the CSR that mentions bribery and/or corruption, we feel this is a weakness because Walmart has had some very public scandals involving bribery, most recently in getting their Mexico stores built. The weakness of not addressing the disadvantage their suppliers have because of Walmart policies. K. Evans states, “Wal-Mart subjects its suppliers to strict regulations on product quality and employee working conditions, for example, which add production time and increase overhead for the suppliers. Their competitors, meanwhile, can operate at lower costs and turn out products more quickly” (Evans). We found the lack of emphasis on employees to be a weakness in the CSR because there is no mention of employees being able to earn shares in the company, or any opportunity for advancement. Lastly, when we were reading through the Global Report we realized that it mostly focused on North American operations and fails to address the operations they have in other parts of the world. Why is there no discussion about the other places that fall under their umbrella but are outside of North

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