Wal-Mart is the largest company in the world and it is the major grocery dealer in the United States and has great impact on the community also there are many branches in different parts of the world and millions of people are working in this company. The company gives extreme value to the workers. They are paid good salary and various monetary and non-monetary incentives. Moreover, they are treated well. Each day, this company does large volume of sales. When compared to other companies in United States, today it stands on the top position in retail business. Its products have high demand in the market as they are provided at the lowest prices. “Today, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer with 13 million “associates” in more than 3200 facilities and sales of $244.5 billion in the fiscal year ending January 31, 2003. Because of this impact, Wal-Mart has been confronted with many ethical challenges.” (Brewer 160). This company provides various benefits to the society when they face some problems. The company found that there were some negative aspects for the company; so it began to take corrective actions to overcome from these drawbacks. Wal-Mart was criticized by labour union, society group and so on. It conducted a lot of programs in order to support the local societies and the organizations which are under crisis. It investigated and found out where the company has no presence in the homeland, but at the same time its presence is very essential for the local people. In such places it opened branches to meet the people’s demand. When a craft supplier in the town stopped its business because of competition, this company started selling the craft and also provided the craft to the customers at a price lower than the prices at which other shops supplied. This gave great benefits to the craft shops in that town itself and they could survive for a long period. The small cities in every nation reaped benefits from Wal-Mart because it opened many stores in most of the small cities. The people from local community got jobs in this company as it established its branches in small cities. It also invested funds for the goodwill of the nation and for the public. The main objective of Wal-Mart foundation is that it enhances the educational facilities, health facilities, charity services, environmental protection and offers various opportunities for the job seekers. It also offers various training programs for the job seekers to improve their talents and also gives better support to the employees in the company. Wal-Mart existed in a good position in the competitive market because it could wipe out small business organizations. This happened because when this company provided products at low prices, the demand for their products increased in the market. The other small companies couldn’t sell their products like Wal-Mart, because they don’t have much financial background like Wal-Mart. This company also opened big markets in small cities and the customers became more satisfied with Wal-Mart as they got all facilities like big cities. One of the main benefits is that all the things are available in this store at low price and the people need not go to many shops for buying their entire requirements. The main advantage of the low price policy of Wal-Mart is that it could meet the needs of local people, particularly those who cannot buy the products at high price. ” In over four decades of operation, Wal-Mart managed to retain most of the elements of culture it had when it first started out, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit which often drives start up companies to success.” (The Good and Bad of Wal-Mart’s Culture). Wal-Mart succeeded in selling its products without any wastage and accomplished in increasing its productivity; so this company did not face any loss in the history of its business. Most of the products are manufactured by the company itself and achieved success in every field. It uses the latest technology to enhance the business worldwide. Some of the technologies the company implements are data communication technologies for improving its business communication easily and effectively.
There are many questions that arise in the American economy which includes whether Wal-Mart affects the country’s economy in a good or bad way. The individual business transactions are made easy by introducing the corporate concept. The corporations are the best part for maintaining the country’s economic development in a consistent way. The stakeholders are an important part of the firm and the management of the organization is always in connection with the stakeholders. ”Since the stockholders own shares in the firm, they have certain rights and privileges, which must be granted to them by management, as swell as by others. Sanctions, in the form of “the law of corporations,” and the other protective mechanism in the form of social custom, accepted management practice, myth and rituals, are thought to reinforce the assumption of the primacy of the stack holder.” (Freeman 1).
Stakeholder concept
All the people who are part of the company are considered as the stake holders, which include the customers, employees, stockholders etc. The idea behind managerial capitalism is to recapture the control of the entire organization and also this concept helps to improve the interest of the stockholders in a business organization. But, in the managerial capitalism external interference is more. According to the concept of stakeholders in an organization, the stakeholders have the right to put forward some decisions in the firm. In Wal-Mart the customers are superior to employees which helped it to expand its market worldwide.
Two different types of stakeholders are part of Wal-Mart. They are market stakeholders and non-market stakeholders. Stockholders, executives of the company, employees, consumers, online and gasoline retailers etc are the major market stakeholders. The non-market stakeholders include the politicians, labour unions, worldwide retail stores etc. Each of the stakeholders has his/her own objective within the organization. In the market stakeholders, the stockholders have the right to accept profit from the business because they are the one who invest capital for the business. The executives of Wal-Mart have the right to analyse the stock price because the increase in the stock value will determine the compensation of the chief executives. The employees of Wal-Mart are also part of the stakeholders in the company, because the security of their life is the job and income that are gained from Wal-Mart and they always try to achieve the maximum growth of the company. Since it is the largest retailer shop in US, almost all the people are the customers of Wal-Mart and they become the important stakeholders of the company. Since it is the largest retailer shop in US, it can sell its products at lower cost which will affect other similar firms functioning and they fail in the business field. Nowadays, online delivery of goods and services is the easiest method of transaction, and it takes place by means of online retailers. Also the role of suppliers is important for the success of an organization. In the corporate business, efficient management is necessary because all the stakeholders are waiting for the benefits from the company. Wal-Mart has an efficient management, which makes the company a global retail enterprise.
Wal-Mart mainly focuses to reduce its selling price which helps it to increase the business to a large extent, because many of the customers are ready to buy the products at minimum cost which facilitate the people of America to improve their living standard. By analysing all the working strategies of Wal-Mart, it can be said that Wal-Mart is good for the economic growth of America. It is successful in meeting the requirement of the customers in an efficient way. According to Brink Lindsey “Wal-Mart is good for America,” he says. “Wal-Mart is doing what the American economy is all about, which is producing things consumers want to buy … offering consumers a wide range of goods at rock-bottom prices. It is meeting the market test”.” (Is Wal-Mart Good for America? Introduction).
Wal-Mart is good for American middle class people because the low pricing strategy of the firm is really helpful for such people. Also the working strategy of this firm is to give a positive impact in the country’s social, economic and political development.
Works Cited
Brewer, Edward C. Corporations and Business, Large and Small: Case Study: The Wal-Mart Way, 2005. (Provided by the Customer).
Freeman, R Edward. A Stakeholder theory of the Modern Corporation. (Provided by the customer).
Is Wal-Mart Good for America? Introduction. WGBH Educational Foundation. 2007.
The Good and Bad of Wal-Mart’s Culture. ICMR. 2003.