Walmart The Main Street Merchant Of Doom Essay

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Wal-Mart and Its Associates: Efficient
Operator or Neglectful Employer?
In the past decade, the primary criticism of
Wal-Mart, one of the world’s largest companies, has been its impact on communities and small merchants. Antisprawl activists and smalltown merchants in particular have taken issue with the company moving into their communities.1
In Case 1—Wal-Mart: The Main Street
Merchant of Doom, these issues, along with WalMart’s international growth and impact, were presented in some detail.
In the past few years, however, other issues concerning the company have become important as well and have begun dominating the news. In particular, Wal-Mart’s treatment of its employees has raised many issues in public and business discussions. Paradoxically, …show more content…

Though it has high turnover, it is viewed by many as a stable place to work, and some individuals have sought to establish careers at the company.
In 2004, Wal-Mart was named America’s Most
Admired Company for the second time in a row in the annual Fortune magazine rankings.2 In spite of this, Fortune writer Jerry Useem asked, “Should we admire Wal-Mart?” He goes on to say: “Some say it’s evil. Others insist it’s a model of all that’s right with America. Who are we to believe?”3 By
2007, Wal-Mart had fallen to nineteenth in
Fortune’s “most admired” rankings, still placing it in the top 20.4
Employee Allegations and Issues. Many different employee-related issues with respect to
Wal-Mart have been the focus of much news coverage in the past few years. The company has been accused of hiring too many part-time workers; offering jobs that are actually dead-end jobs; paying low wages and poor benefits; forcing workers to work “off the clock,” that is, to work overtime without overtime pay; and taking advantage of illegal immigrants. Over the years,

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