Research Paper on "Sustainable Business Development Wal-Mart"

Research Paper 4 pages (1061 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Sustainable Business Development

Wal-Mart is one of the leading corporations at the global level and the ultimate leader of the American retailing industry. The strong position of the company within the national industry is further more attested nowadays, as the economy poses immense risks for the companies. In this setting nevertheless, Wal-Mart continues to thrive and to register increasing revenues and profits (Website of the Wal-Mart Stores, 2012).

The success of Wal-Mart can be attributed to two specific elements:

The ability to attract consumers through the offering of the lowest possible price, and the creation of scale economies and competitive advantages that help it operate in an efficient manner to minimize costs and maximize results.

In other words, the business approach implemented by Wal-Mart was one based on operational efficiency and cost reduction to a minimum. This approach allowed them to provide customers with the lowest possible price, attracting as such millions of price sensitive consumers in America, but also across other global regions as well.

Still, the business model implemented by Wal-Mart has widely been criticized. In other words, stakeholders from both within as well as outside the firm have pin pointed to numerous shortages of collaborating with Wal-Mart. These are best centralized in Robert Greenwald's 2005 documentary Wal-Mart: the high cost of low price. In it, the following issues are forwarded:

Wal-Mart cut personnel costs to a minimum by offering its employees minimum wages and not providing them with adjacent benefits, including adequate health care

Wal-Mart asked its employees to put in long hours and did not pay them for the extra effort. One employee recollects that she would often be asked to complete hour long tasks, ten minutes before her shift was over. Since the task had been assigned during her shift, she would not be paid for the additional time spent in the firm.

The Wal-Mart employees have also argued that they felt discriminated against, especially when competing for managerial positions. The company has the good habit of promoting its own employees into middle management functions, but they seem to prefer white males rather than any other category.

Customers have often complained that the quality of the products, as well as the services at Wal-Mart is decreased. The low quality of the services could be pegged to the low levels of satisfaction on the part of the staff members, and the low quality of the products could be pegged to the fact that the company strives to import products from the most cost effective regions and to save on transportation as well. The quality of the products tends to decrease throughout these transportation and long storage processes.

Local farmers often point out that their fresh produce are being lost as a result of natural decay as Wal-Mart imports its fresh produce, allowing the local crops to rot and subsequently causing impressive financial losses to the farmers

Customers and employees alike have complained that Wal-Mart filled its stores with cameras and security agents to prevent any thefts, but did not do the same in its own parking lot. Here, in the absence of security and adequate lighting even, people were assaulted and even killed.

Ultimately, at the… READ MORE

How to Reference "Sustainable Business Development Wal-Mart" Research Paper in a Bibliography

Related Research Papers:

Wal-Mart Case Issues: CI#1: Consumer Term Paper

Wal-Mart CASE STUDY

CASE ISSUES:

CI#1: CONSUMER SAFETY

The Wal-Mart Stores have been severely criticized for their intense desire to present customers with the cheapest products on the market and… read more

Term Paper 15 pages (4206 words) Sources: 1+ Style: APA Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Procter and Gamble Research Paper

Proctor & Gamble Sustainable Business

Procter & Gamble: Sustainable Business Development

Through Best Practices in Supply Chain Management

Procter and Gamble (NYSE:PG) is the world's leading producer and marketer of… read more

Research Paper 3 pages (950 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Wal-Mart Analysis Industry Information in Completing Thesis

Wal-Mart Analysis

Industry Information

In completing an analysis of the Big Box Retailing industry of which Wal-Mart is the most dominant participate, the key factors of the industry's growth potential,… read more

Thesis 12 pages (3480 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Walmart HBS 9,794 024 Case Study

Wal-Mart has grown from a small regional discount retailer operating in small towns to become a global retailing force. The company's early successes were based on avoiding competition and a… read more

Case Study 3 pages (788 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Business Expansion Report on Proposal for Wal-Mart Essay

Business Expansion

Report on Proposal for Wal-Mart engagement in China.

The Wal-Mart store is one of the leading American subsidized markets for domestic goods that have been subsidized. In the… read more

Essay 11 pages (4330 words) Sources: 11 Style: Harvard Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>