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Walmart Business Analysis Essay

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Wal-Mart Business Analysis For the final group project we chose to complete a management analysis on Wal-Mart. Covered in this paper are the issues of productivity, hiring practices, corporate social responsibility and culture, diversity and affirmative action, the use of information technology, leadership, teamwork, and managing ethics. Productivity is very important to any successful business. Wal-Mart has increased its productivity through many different advances. Business analysts have long admired Wal-Mart's logistics management, even though the public recognizes them for their low discounted prices. Wal-Mart has always been resourceful at moving and stocking goods, building its stores as branches around distribution center hubs. …show more content…

Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million Associates in the United States alone and the majority of store associates work full-time, which is well above 20 to 40 percent found in the retail industry today (Wal-Mart Facts, 2006). Wal-Mart promotes from within the store and over seventy-six percent of the store management started in hourly positions (Wal-Mart Facts, 2006). According to Business Week, 2003, a sales associate earned an average of $8.23 an hour for annual wage of $13,861.00. In 2003 the poverty line for a family of three was $15,260.00 (wakeup, 2006). It seems that Wal-Mart has to promote within to keep the moral up. If the promotion is not there, employees will only stay for the so-called benefits or until another "job" comes their way. In the areas of corporate responsibility and culture, the results of the analysis were bittersweet. Wal-Mart violated the Clean Water Act in 9 states in October 2004 they were sued for $3 million to make changes to their building codes (The real, 2005). But on a positive note, according to Business Respect, "Wal-Mart pledges major focus on the environment targeting the ultimate use of renewable energy sources and producing zero waste through their doubling the fuel efficiency of the truck fleet within the 10 years" (Business Respect, 2005). Wal-Mart stores founder Sam Walton learned of a technique used in factories in South Korea that involved calisthenics and a company cheer that motivated the

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