CSR Issues in Walmart

Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue (approximately four hundred and eighty billion dollars) and the largest private employer in the world with two point three million employees. Walmart is also one of the world's most valuable companies by market value, and is also the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. “One Nation Under Walmart” is a case about how Walmart has taken over the retail business and the effects of their market domination. The case also shows statistics of how much percentage Walmart is of many suppliers’ sales. According to the case Walmart has a 30% market share of all household items. Twenty-eight percent of Dial’s business and twenty-four percent of Del Monte’s business go through Walmart stores. It is also worth noting that Walmart imports ten percent of all United States imports from China. The case states that Walmart is able to offer cheaper prices because they put so much pressure on their suppliers to lower their prices. The case, “One Nation Under Walmart”, explains the problems that some people have with the massive retailer. One of these problems is how Walmart has forced numerous local businesses to close their doors through their extremely competitive pricing. They are able to purchase bulk goods at such low prices and thus pass the savings onto customers. As a result of these lew costs, rivals are driven out of business which results in a loss of jobs. Jobs are vital to the success of a community and with Walmart causing job

Many people may ask the same question. “Is Wal-Mart good for the economy?” or even “What are Wal-Mart’s standards for suppliers?” Wal-Mart currently has over 4,000 stores in the United Stated and about over 3,000 internationally. As many people may know, Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world. In the year of 2004 Wal-Mart had accounted for 6.5 percent of the retail sales. The wellbeing and prosperity of specialists over their production network is the Mindful Sourcing bunch 's top need, which may be the reason Wal-Mart suppliers are contractually needed to sign their “Benchmarks for Suppliers” before they can even be endorsed to deliver stock available to be purchased at Wal-Mart. These Norms for Suppliers make clear their essential desires for suppliers and processing plants in regards to the treatment of laborers and effect on nature. Suppliers are as well needed to show the “Norms for Suppliers” in the nearby dialect in all industrial facilities where items have been made for them, so specialists know the desires of suppliers and plant administration. In this case, many citizens may believe that Wal-Mart may be both good and bad for America in many different ways. This store has been the cost of many people losing their jobs, but it has also helped keep the United States inflation down. Although Wal-Mart does help create many jobs for people, it does not pay them at

In fact, small businesses are affected by Wal-Mart in an upsetting way. Wal-Mart destroys competitors with

Walmart is the go-to shopping center for most Americans, but are they fully aware of the negative impact Walmart has caused America? Many people shop where they can find everything at once and is in a decent distance from their home, but most shoppers don’t realize what they are really purchasing or the truth about the stores they buy from. If more Americans knew what they were really getting out of their shopping trips at Walmart they probably wouldn’t come back. Walmart has a privative effect on America more than people realize. The people they hurt in the process of trying to “Save money” and “Live Better” are the backbone of the business, the products they sell might as well be used, and their crime rate escalates more and more, and

Wal-Mart and other big box retailers are destroying the cultural landscape of America. As Ehrenreich states "wherever you look there is no alternative to the megascale corporate order, from which every form of local creativity and initiative has been abolished by distant home offices." Wal-Mart is a key player in the cultural homogenization of America. It is impossible to "think outside of the big box." Everywhere you go in America you find KFC, Home Depot, Best Buy, Circuit City, Burger King, etc...

4. Relations with Suppliers- Wal-Mart has in place a system that helps to achieve their goal of lower prices. This Information Technology system includes computers, networking, and internet that cuts inventories and waste and helps with speedy delivery. This system also helps Wal-Mart to keep in constant contact with suppliers by transferring the data that suppliers need so they know what Wal-Mart needs. Wal-Mart also works with suppliers to improve their production and squeezes the best prices out of its supplier. The video referred to Wal-Mart as the customer’s agent. All of this focus Wal-Mart puts on suppliers reduces costs and lowers prices. Wal-Mart’s technological/logistical leadership remains unmatched by competitors (Web, 2005).

“Over the course of [a few years after Wal-Mart entered a community], retailers' sales of men’s' and boys' apparel dropped 44% on average, hardware sales fell by 31%, and lawn and garden sales fell by 26%. In towns without Wal-Marts that are close to towns with Wal-Marts, sales in general merchandise declined immediately after Wal-Mart stores opened. After ten years, sales declined by a cumulative 34%.”

Some may claim a Walmarts’ arrival in a community is helpful to improve the growth and development in the community, but others tell a different story. Many claim that a Walmart is great way to create new jobs in the community. They are partially right, between construction and development, plenty of jobs are created. Also, about 300 retail jobs are created based on the amount needed to run a Walmart super center twenty fours a day, seven days a week. However, Kenneth Stone, a professor of economics at Iowa State University, conducted a study in which two Super Walmart centers in two different states were evaluated. The study lasted about two years and showed that for every one job Walmart had created, 1.4 jobs were lost in local communities (Davidson 1). Walmarts’ low prices come with additional costs that we are

If Wal-Mart has such little regard for their own employees, it would make it difficult for a company to have minimal regard to where their merchandise is coming from. On the documentary, The High Price of Low Cost, informs of the countries and Wal-Mart’s effects on these countries, including its presence for manufacturing in China. The workers work in conditions of extreme temperatures from morning until dawn and provided boarding, which is shared with several others and lined with bunk beds. The board and utilities are deducted from their wages even if the workers choose not to stay on the facilities the board is still deducted from their pay. These workers that are looking for employment to make a better future for their families are

The suppliers are the root of their supply chain management system. To maintain high quality products, Wal-Mart has developed supplier standards that all perspective suppliers must meet. Wal-Mart supplier standards reflect many of the sensitivities of the global community as well as meet their suppliers', customers', and shareholders' expectations about how Wal-Mart conducts its business. Wal-Mart regularly monitors the factory base of their suppliers in order to assure that their suppliers must comply with the legal requirements and standards in the jurisdictions in which they conduct business. This includes labor and compensation laws, health and safety laws, and environmental laws.

Wal-Mart now has to rebuild their images, procedures on how they conduct business nationwide and how the use ethical business practices. The New York time article reported, “Wal-Mart announces new ethical and environmental principles complete by 2012”. (Robinson, 2008)

Wages and benefits are not the only complaints Wal-Mart is now facing. Recently, Wal-mart was accused of denying women equal pay and opportunities for promotion (Bianco, 2003). Wal-Mart attempts to distract from their past and present diversity issues by devoting an entire section of their webpage to this subject but until Wal-Mart can show statistical proof reflecting their claims of fair wages, good benefits, and equal treatment, the complaints by the unions and consumers will continue. These upper level management decisions are having a negative impact on the company and providing an unhealthy organizational culture for the organization.

As stated on the corporate website (2017), “Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, where 2.3 million associates meet the needs of more than 260 million customers every week.” These numbers are huge, and with so many locations around the globe, they have had allegations been made by employees regarding their dissatisfaction about poor work conditions, gender discrimination, low wages, poor benefits, and inadequate health care. Walmart has been criticized for its policies against labor unions and this issue has prompted public outrage, (Johansson, 2005) which is of great concern for the market. The company has also faced criticism for being anti-union, but it has claimed that it is rather pro-associate, whereby employees

Wal-Mart are aware of this and so by examining Wal-Marts practices using the 'best fit' perceptive will give a better understanding as to why they have adopted their various practices by linking them to their key organisational strategy and

The key facts and critical issues presented in Wal-Mart: The challenge of managing relationship with the interested parties involves making ethical decisions and fulfilling these needs for the stakeholders involved consist of the following elements: