...when Walmart was small and maturing business, they were an ideal company in the eyes of employees. But as the company grew into a worldwide empire, so did the number of ethical issues they faced. With promises of low prices to keep to its customers, they have made decisions which have impacted employees. People say Walmart has poor management, have poor wages for both local and outsourced workers. Many people would call these things uneithical, but Walmart claims otherwise. They claim they are helping people by creating jobs, which meet minimum wage standards, and they care about the ethics within their company. There is an abundance of arguments that call out Walmart as being unethical, but what people easily ignore are these lesser known ones that argue for Walmart’s ethical side. The most predominate unethical issue Walmart has received criticism over for countless years is their poor treatment of employees. The retailer is known for paying its store associates minimum wage. These low wages make it tough for an employee to support a family let alone themselves. Because of the low wages that Walmart pays its employees, many of them have to use government assistance such as food stamps in order to survive. This is not only bad for the employees but it is also costing taxpayers. Walmart does not offer benefits to their part-time workers who work less than twenty-eight hours a week. This can be seen as unethical because the employees are already being paid such a low wage that...
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...unethical to shop at Walmart? “If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone… we’ll give the world an opportunity to see what it’s like to save and have a better life.” –Sam Walton (“What We Do”) Walmart was founded on the belief stated above by its founder Sam Walton in 1962. “Saving people money, so they can live better,” was the main objective when Sam Walton opened the doors to the first Walmart (“History”). Today, Walmart is the world’s largest retailer and corporation in the United States and have been awarded and recognized by various organizations for being the best employer throughout United States and other countries. By the Fortune magazine, it is listed as one of the most admired companies in America and many others praise Walmart for its accomplishments (“Is It Ethical to Shop at Walmart?”). Although, Walmart has earned popularity for the low price it provides, they are frequently faced with a lot of criticism and law suit for its employment practices made nationally and internationally. Some of the unethical practices the public criticize Walmart for are discrimination against women, low wages, and bad working conditions. Today, Sam Walton’s promise of a “better life for all” is questioned by employees, unions, environmentalists, recording artists and human rights organizations [Source]. This leaves many consumers to ponder if it is ethical or unethical to shop at Walmart? As mentioned in the above paragraph, Walmart is one the largest...
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...Culture Change Paper Walmart is a global retailer with one of the most profitable business strategies on the planet. Walmart’s objective to offer the lowest prices to a diverse customer base has proven successful over several decades. Walmart began with a humble business model in the early 1960s. Sam Walton, original founder, wanted to provide people with the best prices possible. Sam Walton launched over a dozen locations to the public in the late 1960s. The profitable groundwork and strategy of every-day low prices spread rapidly through the next several decades. Throughout the 1990s, Walmart’s growth soared globally as they continued to facilitate a cost cutting strategy. America’s recent recession encouraged many low-income families to shop for Walmart’s low priced products. Walmart’s low prices may attract budgeting Americans, but their questionable operations are steering many others away. Walmart’s public perception is declining because of their negative organizational culture. Walmart’s employee wages are consistently below the American average, resulting in workers resorting to government aid. Discrimination lawsuits occur annually because of management’s stereotyping and poor leadership. Even Walmart’s ignorance to safe working conditions in other countries is beginning to surface in America’s media. Walmart’s leaders have attempted to address these issues, but ultimately failed to create a climate for change. Walmart’s future leadership must overcome...
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...low priced strategies allowed him to boost sales and negotiate lower prices with his wholesalers. Once Walton’s retail operation started to take off, he decided to change the name to Walmart, by the use of his last name. He then established more than 9,600 factories, stores, and warehouses (Sam’s Club), throughout the United States, Asia, Mexico, Europe, and South America. Walmart has low prices, friendly workers, and many locations, but protesters will argue that the gender discrimination, harsh impact on the surrounding communities, and low wages, outweigh the benefits to Walmart. We thought gender discrimination ended with the ratification of the 19th amendment, but according to Wake-up Wal-mart.com, several cases have been recorded in the Walmart workplace. For example, in 2001, studies proved that for the same job classification, even after taking into account factors such as seniority and performance, women earned from 5 to 15 percent less than their male colleagues. Walmart was sued on this matter by six women claiming that Walmart systematically denied them promotions, and were paying them less than men. This lawsuit gathered more than 1.6 million women, which soon was declared the largest class action lawsuit ever. Due to these conditions, women and men wanted to leave Walmart and...
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...feel that their money is going to be used for an unethical cause, they may choose to do business with another company. One often overlooked aspect of trust in a business setting is how much employers trust their employees and vice versa. This paper focuses on two companies (Walmart and Hewlett Packard) that have taken a major public relations hit recently. We will describe the events that caused these major hits and steps that the companies could have taken to prevent them and their responses to the incidents. Walmart Walmart has been one of the most successful companies in recent history. According to cnnmoney.com, they have ranked as one of the top 2 companies in the Fortune 500 since 2007 (Fotune 500, 2011). Walmart has over 2 million employees and is the second largest employer in the world. In the next five years it is estimated that they will add 500,000 more employees (Gardner, 2011). Former Senior Vice President of Walmart, Ron Loveless gives ten reasons why Walmart has been so successful. He credits leadership, communication, corporate structure and ethics, among other things as the reasons for success. He says, “The effort to be an "ethical" company was a key ingredient to our success” (Walmart's Top Ten Building Blocks for Success., 2011). Many people would argue that Walmart’s lack of ethics is the reason that they are so successful. One reason they say that is because of the poor working conditions. According to “100 Best Companies To Work For”,...
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... I get it the wealthy are hard workers but also do middle class workers. Most economists say that inequality is needed to reward hard work, talent and innovation. I think in some areas especially when it comes to tax it needs to be distribute equally. Why is it that rich people are getting taxed much less and middle class workers are being tax everywhere but right. That concept within itself is backwards give us middle class workers a break. The government wants us as a people to spend more, well how can we do that when we are constantly struggling to make ends meet. Top one percent income earners are white collar jobs such as bankers, lawyers and doctors etc… but what about the blue collar ones like nurses, teachers and construction workers. They all serve a purpose just like the...
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...UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES OF WALLMART AND NIKE INTRODUCTION Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., branded as Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's second largest public corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2013, the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees, and is the largest retailer in the world. Walmart remains a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family, who own a 48 percent stake in Walmart. It is also one of the world’s most valuable companies. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51 percent of its US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the company rose from a regional to national giant. By 1988, Wal-Mart was the most profitable retailer in the US and by October 1989 it had become the largest in terms of revenue. Geographically limited to the South and Lower Midwest up to the mid 1980s,...
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...this case, the major issue is the conflicts between Walmart and local manufacturers. Because of the low price in Walmart, local manufacturing business cannot survive in the market. Also, production process in Walmart creates many environment problems. Meanwhile, importAlso, to produce low cost merchandise, Walmart provides extremely low wages and benefits to labors, which put workers in a hard condition. taking advantage of illegal immigrants. •Gender discrimination against women. • Most sued company in America in respect of lawsuits. 3. What sub-issues or related issues are present in the case that merit consideration now? Analysis and Evaluation 1. Who are the stakeholders in the case and what are their stakes? What challenges, threats or opportunities are posed by these stakeholders? From government perspective, US government gain good reputation. Walmart, as a US company, brings many good reputations. For Chinese government, it is a good supplier to Walmart. Walmart creates many job opportunities in China. However, Walmart harms nature environment in China. From owners perspective, The Walton Family earns a lot of money. However, it gets bad reputations in the society. To fix this problem, it can give back to society , such as donations. From Employees perspective, employees in Walmart get jobs. However, they can only get low wages. Labor unions argue for labors rights. It is against Walmart’s low wages and unsafe working environment. From community perspective...
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...UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR BUSINESS SCHOOL ECB30103 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT GROUP ASSIGNMENT: WALMART PREPARED BY: GROUP MEMBER 1) NURSYAHIDAH BINTI RAZALI 62283113720 2) NURUL NABILAH BINTI RAZALI 62283313248 3) NURUL ZAITUN BINTI ABDUL MALIK 62283313168 4) UMMI KHALSUM BINTI RAHMAT 62283313053 PREPARED FOR: LECTURER’S NAME: MOHD HAIZAM BIN MOHD SAUDI 1. What is the nature of the company business? What are their product lines? Wal-Mart is the World's largest retailer. It has over 11,500 stores in 28 countries across the globe. Wal-Mart is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. Walmart products include discount stores, cash and carry wholesale, warehouse club, super-center, supermarket and superstore and also an e-commerce business. 2. Develop a suitable vision and mission statement for the company. Vision i. To be the best retailer in the hearts and mind of consumer and employees. ii. To promote ownership of Wal-Mart ethical culture to all stakeholder globally. Mission i. Saving the people's money so they can live better. ii. If we work together we will lower the cost of living for everyone. iii. Save money. Live better. 3. Using the following template, develop EIGHT (8) core business objectives in fulfilling the stakeholder’s expectation. Please refer...
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...by their competitors, society, and the country. They are the largest employer in the country, they own massive supply chain networks, and stores in every town across the country. However, in the case of Wal-Mart, there is no David out there to knock them down. Arguably they are no true competitors in their industry. Because of being this perceived giant, Wal-Mart is able to be a bully with vendors, associates, and competitors. Further, because of being a giant everyone is watching them. Threats and Challenges The simple answer of what threats and challenges Wal-Mart currently faces centers around their associates wages and health care. However, why do they face this challenge instead of what they are doing to resolve them is a purely a national social and economic phenomenon. Why do associates stay in unskilled labor positions with poor wages for a career? Simply put it’s the best career opportunity for them now. While retailers still have a portion of their workforce that are simply using their current job while they work on degrees or look for better jobs thus intending to only be there on a...
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...Running Head: WAL-MART STORE INC Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chrisp, Courtney; Richardson, Maria E.; & White, Sherri Leadership & Org Behavior GM591 Professor: Robert Churilla mariae.richardson@yahoo.com DeVry/Keller University Online 02/17/2013 Introduction Wal-Mart Stores Inc., founded by Sam Walton in 1962, is one of America largest discount department stores. Wal-Mart’s primary mission is to bring consumers high quality goods at a low, discounted price. Wal-Mart operates more than 8,692 retail units across three business segments of retail worldwide that offer a wide array of general merchandise, including groceries, apparel, electronics, and small appliances. In addition, the company is the world’s largest retailer and grocery chain according to sales volume and just over half of their sales comes from grocery items. Over 54% of the company’s stores are located in the United States, with the majority of international stores located in Central and South America, and China. (Jaeah, 2012). Wal-Mart was started in Rogers, Arkansas during the early 1960’s. Sam Walton traveled all around the country researching what consumers wanted in a retail store. When Walton first opened Wal-Mart he “built it under the foundation of honesty, respect, fairness and integrity”. Walton tried to create a culture that shared the same beliefs as he did. Out of his beliefs he chose the three strongest which he felt best suited his store: respect...
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...Wal-Mart: Corporate Giant or Corporate Beast? Ever since Wal-Mart’s establishment, there has been an ongoing debate amongst shoppers of whether or not the company is a magnificent creation or a complete monster. On one side, costumers cannot deny that their everyday savings certainly do draw a smile on their faces; while on the other side, costumers feel that there must be some terrible reason for the prices of their products to be so low. This mystery that has stewed up this ongoing debate over the years about Wal-Mart needs to be discovered. In order to discover this mystery, research on the topic has to go all the way back to the beginning stages of the company. From the birth of the company to present day empire it has created, one question must be answered: corporate giant or corporate beast? Wal-Mart has a long history and they have been around much longer than what most people think. The founder of Wal-Mart was Sam Walton. Sam Walton was born into a farmer’s family in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. [31] He had one brother whose name was James Walton. Sam’s father was a farmer until he decided that farming was not producing enough revenue and decided to become a mortgage man. Sam grew up in the great depression where he learned many moral values like working hard. He had many odd jobs so he could help his family out with money. The family then moved to Florida, while there Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in the state’s history. After graduating...
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...Onion Strike During the year 1979 a group of Mexican American farm workers organized a strike to protest poor wages and bad working conditions in Raymondville, Texas. Raymondville was known for its agricultural area and it was also known as the onion capital of the world. Mexican Americans realized they were being treated poorly and that they were Americans as well and had the exact same rights as the whites who were living at Raymondville. Juanita Valdez was one of the leaders in charge of the onion strike. She thinks there was change in the community and that they were successful with the strike because it marked the birth of a political movement. The people from Raymondville knew they needed change in their life’s and had to do something about it so they organized strikes that either helped Raymondville for the better or for the worse. The strikes affected the people from Raymondville in the long run instead of helping them. The leaders who organized the strikes were Tony Andrea and Juanita Valdez and they believe the strike was won in their favor, but many local residents such as Thomas Rains a former Raymondville school board member stated “The strike crippled the onion business that fueled much of the local economy.” Willacy County used to be the main county as far as onions are concerned and it was all lost after the onion strikes protest. Instead of bringing progress towards the community it decreased job opportunities to Mexican Americans. As of result of protesting...
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...Introduction Wal-Mart stores Inc. is the world’s largest retailer with reported gross earnings of 460 billion U.S. dollars for 2014. It has 4,281 stores in the United States and over 11,100 stores worldwide. Wal-Mart hires more workers than any company in the whole world; in 27 different nations around the world it has hired over 2.2 million workers. The interest on Wal-Mart stems from their ability to provide products to its customers at relatively low prices, earning them a competitive advantage over other retailers, since their products sell five times more than other American stores. However this has involved both positive and negative effects on the long term. These sales at low prices to customers have been achieved as a result of their low cost imports and high integration with foreign suppliers from various countries around the world especially China. Due to the high volume of imports a large number of small businesses have been destroyed together with jobs in the manufacturing industry; the US economy has been affected by an increased trade deficit and the local manufacturing sector has also been affected by this growth. Moreover, Wal-Mart has received critics over their working conditions and the pay system used in various countries. Some of its workers are unsatisfied with the compensation and believe they are overworked and this has led to strikes and boycotting in recent years. Other critics such as gender discrimination and off-the clock work have forced the administration...
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...Walmart in Japan I. Problem identification phase Introduction Walmart is an American international retail company that is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company began operations in 1962 after being founded by Sam Walton and incorporated in 1969. The present brand name—Walmart—came about in 2008 and before that it was referred to as Wal-Mart. The company is famous for operating chains of large discount departmental stores and warehouse stores. Presently, the company is the 18th public corporation in terms of size and the biggest in terms of revenue, private employment, and retailer (Walmart 2011 Annual report). Furthermore, the largest shareholders are the Walton’s with 48% shares; hence they control the company. The company has approximately 9000 stores in over 15 countries all operating under different names. For instance, in Mexico it is called Walmex, in UK Asda, and in Japan Seiyu. This article analyses Walmart in Japan through three phases. The three phases are: problem identification, analysis, and solution phases. Background Walmart bought 6.2% of Seiyu in May 2002 (Holstein 73). The shares of the company increased over time and in 2005 December, Walmart was the majority shareholder of 50.9%. In 2008, Seiyu was entirely owned by Walmart whose headquarters are in Tokyo. The company has 419 retail units that are inclusive of: Seiyu Hypermarket, Seiyu Supermarket, Wakana, and Seiyu General Merchendise. Setting operations in Japan was not an easy feat...
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