One of the biggest corporations in the world Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is both a national and international phenomenon in terms of its size and operational capability and the impact it has on America both from a business and consumers perspective.
The Impact has been discussed upon on numerous forums and different mediums both print and media with regards to Wal-Mart positive and negative contribution to the American culture, the author will give his spin on the subject matter in view of the PBS Frontline ‘Is Wal-Mart good for America’ which in essence explored the job losses and the needs and wants of the average American consumer in terms of bargains.
In spite of being a giant the biggest critique that the author feels is the insignificant pay scale hourly i.e. both in America and Internationally, which as stated in PBS Frontline in China is as low as 50 cents an hour or $100 a month.
This aspect has reduced the standards of living of the workers of Wal-Mart tremendously in view of the fact that sans any provision of medical benefits and health care and other fringe benefits the workers load is beard upon by the government
The operations of Wal-Mart has also impacted other business especially retail and thus forced numerous small businesses to shut down which had an effect on the communities. Although the Wal-Mart dream seems to be a solution to providing people with limited capacity the luxuries and necessities of life however it has impacted the jobs both in the local market.
One of the major reasons in due to the fact that since Wal-Mart now operates in a globalized economy and thus due to import of goods by Wal-Mart in large volumes the local jobs in manufacturing is cut significantly.
Another significant reason why the author feels that Wal-Mart is not good for America, as it also impacts the environment and has been accused by activists with regards to emitting CO2 and also by selling low quality goods encouraging waste.
The life style impact according to author is appalling as Wal-Mart has given rise to a culture of low price products thus impacting the quality buy in the consumers mind as the other business selling products of the same genre but good quality are seen with suspicion and are compared with the prices of similar products at Wal-Mart.
On a concluding note as an organization Wal-Mart has to come with campaigns and sustained efforts in terms of workplace benefits and also supporting the business and community and thus campaigns like ‘The Real Wal-Mart’ according to the author are not enough the create positive PR (Brownell, 2013).
The efforts and positive impacts on jobs, business and environment has to be seen on a sustained level which will take a while and Wal-Mart should get on with the idea of creating an image which touches the mind’s of both its consumers and the community as a whole.
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As aptly mentioned in Spider Man Comics ‘with great Power comes great responsibilities’ so it’s about time Wal-Mart shows a responsible attitude with the great power it encompasses and have a positive effect both on the culture, environment and communities it operates in all over the world.
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Bibliography
Matt Brownell, “Walmart Asks Workers for Upbeat Stories, Gets a Cart Full of Criticism,” Daily Finance, 15 July 2013 [journal on-line]; available from http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/12/walmart-workers-blast-policies-internal-website/#!slide=976729 Internet; accessed 6 November 2013.
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