This investigation covers how the Wal-Mart de Mexico paid off all sorts of government officials throughout the years to receive special zoning privileges and much more as they sought strategic competitiveness against their industry environment. This made it easy for Wal-Mart de Mexico to bypass time constraints as well as hindrances in the political/legal segment that would normally affect them. This all came to light with the help of former executive for Wal-Mart de Mexico, Sergio Cicero Zapata. With the debriefings from lawyer Juan Francisco Torres-Landa, Cicero revealed how the company did whatever possible to expand stores in as little time as possible through bribery hidden as accounting. Controversially, he put the Chief Executive, Eduardo …show more content…
In fact, the rapid growth of Wal-Mart de Mexico can only be attributed to the payments made to lawyers in charge of sending monetary bribes to the government in exchange for a fast expansion and shortcut through legal processes. Attempting to buy the time of public officials through cash is considered a crime. This with the assistance of accounting adaptations is a manipulation of the overall financial view of Wal-Mart de Mexico and thus, those involved should have received a charge in unlawful pursuit. The camouflaging of these bribes as legal fees is a criminal offense. What Wal-Mart failed to consider when entering Mexico was the liability of foreignness which posed an unfamiliar operating environment in which the use of bribery was more common to see. A political risk analysis of Mexico would have avoided these conflicts. Perhaps with this analysis, the illegal donations via Wal-Mart de Mexico totaling at $16 million to the Mexican government could have been avoided. The fact that the real estate executive for the company knew that these “donations” were used as catalysts in the gaining of licenses should have immediately sparked a trial in court. In the closing of this case, the accusations that Mr. Rodriguezmacedo made against Mr. Cicero would be considered defamation of character as they were relayed without evidence. It was not proven that Mr. Cicero was receiving part of the money being paid illegally by Wal-Mart de Mexico or that he was fired when he actually resigned. These were false accusations that could have been brought to court if it weren’t for Mr. Rodriguezmacedo taking back his view of prosecuting Mr.
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.
Few companies create as much controversy as Wal-Mart has done with its approach to maintaining high profits with low costs. Individuals either love or hate Wal-Mart. There are consumers who like the low prices and convenience of shopping at Wal-Mart. Supporters of Wal-Mart also laud the fact that the company creates multiple jobs for not just the individuals who are employed within the stores but also those who create the products that are sold in the stores. Critics of Wal-Mart have issues with the treatment of those individuals who work at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a poor track record when it comes to Fair Labor Practices by giving low wages, bad healthcare coverage, and treats employees. Low wages, no benefits, irregular schedules, and unreliable hours are just some of the horrible working conditions most Walmart workers have to endure.
The first Walmart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas in the year 1962 by a 44-year-old man by the name of Sam Walton. When he first envisioned Walmart, Walton believed that a successful business could be built around offering lower prices and great service. Despite his retail rivals laughing at his supposedly unsustainable business model, the company became hugely successful, and its success exceeded even Walton's expectations. The company went public in 1970, and the proceeds financed a steady expansion of the business. Today, Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, as it has 8,500 stores spread across 15 countries and annual revenues of $400 billion dollars. Moreover, Walmart is the
Wal-Mart has had a significant economic impact on the US, as well as the economies of countries that have relations with the US. Wal-Mart is the world’s biggest company of any kind, with 80 percent of the households in America purchasing something from the superstore; it is the nation’s largest retailer. Wal-Mart’s continuing price reduction has given Americans the advantage of being able to afford 15 to 20 percent more than they previously could. (Hansen) In a world governed by globalization and greed, competition has become rigid; as a result firms like Wal-Mart have utilized advanced marketing strategies to insure that they are on the ‘neck’ of competition, and are the core deciders of the market. (Ortega) However, Wal-Mart made decisions that were of a disadvantage to aspects of the economy, including the depletion on a small scale of Small Town USA.
Mexico is the United States partner, but unlike the United States, it is a country that is underdeveloped and faces many problems (Doing Business in Mexico, 2013).
Walmart is one of the most successful franchises of all time and continues to take fire from multiple angles, whether it’s about the costing of jobs, the wages, the health insurance, the small business destruction, or the environmental impact, but can always back itself up by negating those claims with facts that proves that it is beneficial to the community.
As America’s second largest corporation, largest private employer, and the largest retailer, Wal-Mart always is making the headlines for their wages, benefits, and working conditions. More often than not, these headlines are not the kind Wal-Mart is encouraging. Wal-Mart receives 5,000 lawsuits a year solely because of employee conditions. In an interview with ‘Dan,’ a manager of Wal-Mart stated that he has seen people forced to do heavy-duty work despite being pregnant or having a medical condition that interferes with the task (Figueroa.) The overworked employees are only the beginning of a Wal-Mart epidemic.
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.
The culture I was born and raised on was that of Mexican-American culture. My parents were born and raised in Mexico, and when they came to America and had kids, they instilled a hybrid of their culture, and American culture, in us. They were each raised in the Mexican culture, but wanted us to be raised as Americans also, and added this to our upbringing.
What is culture? Many people ask themselves this question every day. The more you think about it the more confusing it is. Sometimes you start leaning to a culture and then people tell you you’re wrong or they make you feel like a different person because of your culture. I go through this almost every day. Because of the way I was raised I love Mexican rodeo but I was born and raised in Joliet. This can be very difficult trying to understand culture. I live in this huge mix of culture. Culture is personal. People can have many cultures especially in America and because of globalization. Cultural identity is not one or the other, it is not Mexican or American. Cultural identity is an individual relevant thing.
Mexican Americans have quickly risen to become the majority population in the United States. The Mexican American population has grown so much due to the mass migrations they make from Mexico into the U.S. About 33.7 million Hispanics of Mexican origin reside in the U.S. as of 2012 (Pew Hispanic Center, 2013). Mexican Americans are considered the largest Hispanic origin population, making up two thirds of the whole Hispanic population to reside in the United States. As of 2010, 32 million Hispanics are Mexican American, with 11.7 million immigrants born in Mexico and 22.3 million being born in the U.S. (Pew Hispanic Center, 2013). Today, there are about 52% of Hispanics born in the U.S that have a least
Few companies create such controversy as Walmart has done with its approach to maintaining low costs for everyday items. People either love Walmart because of this approach to keeping prices down or hate it due to the effects it has on the economy. There are a lot of arguments surrounding the minimum wage and employee rights at Walmart. There seems to always be a news article about some employee protest about the wages or how they are treated. Walmart is viewed as an enormous firm that does not take care of its employees because of its minimum wage, treatment of its employees, and how it deals with lawsuits.
One of the most known civilizations that thrived in Mexico was called the Mayans. The Mayans where considered to be pre-Columbian America’s most brilliant civilization. They thrived between 250 and 900 A.D. Thanks to the Mayans we are able to say that we have a calendar and a writing system. They also built cities that functioned as hubs for the surrounding farm towns. A key part of the Mayans was their importance of religion. Their altars were carved with significant dates, histories and elaborate human and divine figures. Just like many civilization the Mayans eventually collapsed in the 10th century. The exact reasons of the collapse are unknown but the most probable reasons are either overpopulation or the damage to the ecological balance.
The core issue in this case is about how Wal-Mart de Mexico covered a vast bribery orchestrated by government officials, authorities, and executives from Mexico. Wal-mart de Mexico perfected the art of bribery by using fraudulent accounting and building stores so fast by getting zoning maps changed and making environmental objections disappear. Wal-mart de Mexico’s executives bribed government officials to aid in getting permits faster, since this is a process that typically takes months to complete. However, the company’s executives managed to get them materialized in days. Bribes were also
Barlow, D. (2012) “Vast Mexico Bribery Case Hushed Up by Wal-Mart After Top-Level Struggle.” Retrieved from, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html?pagewanted=all on 05/04/2014