According to Prof. Gary Gerrefi from Duke University, for a long time it uses to be the big multinational manufactured company like general motor that was on top in a global economy. Nowadays, global retailer like Walmart has become the most powerful company. Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. According to the video, for one part Walmart is good for America because it provides things consumer want to buy and by the same way give them the price they want. It offers goods for all social classes, it is a large employer, that help solve unemployment by providing many jobs for a million of people, and finally it pays taxes to the government …show more content…
that help boost the country’ economy. On the other, hand Walmart is not good for American because even though it provides many jobs to the population, it provides most of its employees with only minimal wages and few benefits. This situation impacts the economics of the country; such as the economic would not be able to remind strong because so many employees would not be able to put much in the economic. Furthermore, employees can stay in the same position for many years. For instance, a friend of mine working there told me that the company do not offer challenging positions which is according to me an ethical problem. Besides that, after watching the video I found that the company also plays with numbers; concerning the price of products which is also a big ethical problem related to customers.
For example, according to the video customers would see products and think the price is low but in reality it is not. Moreover, with suppliers they were an ethical issue because of the Walmart’s power in the market. Some examples are; Walmart can basically pick their price and if the supplier cannot match it, they find someone else who can. The video showed one of the Chinese supplier explaining that Walmart would even go further and organized a meeting with four customers, and they would choose the one that offer the lowest prices. Small business also suffers a lot because of Walmart’ supremeness in the market. First, small retailers fail because Americans choose Walmart products that are cheaper, better, more accessible services than its competition by using a pricing strategy and the push system which is a system that help them produces more products than customers in order to have enough available if demand increases. Secondly, those small businesses suffer because of Walmart low prices, this is because Walmart is using china’s supplier. For instance Rubbermaid one of the American supplier was almost put out of business because their prices were too high for
Wal-Mart. Also, Thomson supplier of TV glasses close its door because their prices were high for Walmart this is why they found others competitors in china. They went to China because they make profit on items made there. In China employees’ wages are very low ($100/month). Walmart has around 6000 suppliers and 80% of them in China. To conclude, there are many things worse than good so Walmart is not good for America, they give low wage to employees, they do not want small business to stand, and finally they strengthen China’ economy instead of America’ economy.
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 ...
The success of Wal-Mart is so great, that many people believe that Wal-Mart is becoming a monopsony . Suppliers are forced to deal with Wal-Mart because of the large percentage of sales at Wal-Mart cash registers. As such, Wal-Mart also has the ability to dictate prices of the goods it receives from the suppliers. Every day, more and more retail stores close their doors for good because Wal-Mart controls such a huge margin of the retail sector.
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 Stores, Inc. is the world's largest retailer, with $285.2 billion in sales in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2005. The company employs 1.6 million associates worldwide through more than 3,700 facilities in the United States and more than 2,400 units in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. More than 138 million customers per week visit Wal-Mart stores worldwide." (Walmartfacts.com)
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.
The simple question, is Walmart good for America. My classmates whose views differ from mine are more concerned with a few individuals that Wal-Mart may have had an adverse effect on. These people are only a small part of what makes up The United States of America, this question is for the greater good of the country not a few individual who need to better adapt to changing times. Wal-Mart is good for America, because it keeps us involved in world trade, sustaining our economy, the corporation is groundbreaking constantly, applying new innovations and efficiencies, and it keep the interests of the consumer to heart.
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).
Wal-Mart is, to some extent, a values-based corporation. The Wal-Mart Corporation takes a strong, direct stance on many issues. This can be seen in many items in which they refuse to sell, such as; music and games with explicit content, adult magazines, and the morning after pill. This shows character in the company because they are foregoing potential profits in order to enforce values that they believe in. Wal-Mart is probably making some people very happy by this moral stance that they have undertaken, and it gives a message to the public that Wal-Mart is not a heartless corporation like many others.
The problems with Wal-Mart begin with its supply chain, where many of the workers who make its products pay the price for low-cost items by laboring in sweatshop conditions. Wal-Mart has been in the courtroom many times defending its labor standards in many different countries; they all allege the same thing—that Wal-Mart ignores its own “standards for suppliers” and tolerates abuse of workers in its supply chain. “As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart has the power to set higher [labor] standards within the industry,” says Maquila Solidarity Network president Ian Thompson. “Instead, it continuously pressures its suppliers to produce cheaper and quicker, encouraging sweatshop abuses.”
...be purchased at discount prices, saving people money they can choose to spend elsewhere or even save. While saving customers time and money, Wal-Mart also contributes to the local economy by adding countless employment opportunities to the communities where they are established. Wal-Mart is also there to help local, national, and worldwide charitable organizations through its philanthropic foundations and partnerships. Aside from these benefits, who can argue with the sheer fun of the come as you are atmosphere of the store and its diverse employment standards? Nowhere else can you go shopping and people watch then at your local Wal-Mart store.
Whether it's a brand new 59” LCD widescreen television or merely a pack of gum, each purchase you make from a Walmart store inadvertently results in a higher price paid; both within your community as well as the greater world around you. Relying entirely upon you-the ever consuming scavenger – to fuel the bustling utopia of the manufacturing industry, exists Walmart. More importantly, Walmart relies upon the oblivion towards matters outside of our own lives that we as society generally project. However, by looking past our own greed in a world full of price cuts and sales, we can expose Walmart for what it truly is; an entirely corrupt corporation feeding off of countries' vulnerabilities and reaping the benefits.
In reference to the Five Forces Model, being the largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart’s position is strong overall. Rivalry among competitors is fairly weak.
When the question is raised regarding whether or not Walmart is good for America? The answer should be “yes they are good for America” because there is always room for improvement and they need to get back to the roots or foundation of the original management philosophies that Sam Walton worked so hard to establish. The Walmart Corporation has had some issues that have been publicized to a larger extent that other companies, but it can be remedied. An American without Walmart would be economically disastrous, so it is better to fix and fine tune compared to the idea of complete
"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices." Top Documentary Films. Web. 8 Aug 2011. .
Walmart’s throughout the United States continue to succeed. Two things that they continue to succeed at is telling the Walmart story in commercials, where we see they continue to lie and “staying the course.” Throughout the documentary they look into struggling families and how Walmart is a big factor in that. The Hunter family ran a hardware store by the name of H&H Hardware and after serving there town for 48 years had to close down due to the arrival of Walmart. Numerous other Mom and Pop businesses will continue to close down due to Walmart and the ability they have to drop sales and also knock the value down on numerous items. Due to most Walmart employees conscious, employees often have to stay late with no overtime pay due to the amount