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Walmarts competitive analysis
Essay on walmart history
Competitive advantage of walmart over others
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Walmarts competitive analysis
Essay on walmart history
Competitive advantage of walmart over others
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the essay titled “Labouring the Walmart Way”, author Deenu Parmar explains the unhealthy effects of Walmart, how to stop them, and the challenges of doing so. Parmar begins by detailing how Walmart has done little for local economies. By hiring financially vulnerable people, the franchise insures that no one would dare to unionize; thus ensuring employees will only earn the bare minimum, and thus out-competing local competition. Parmar also goes on to explain how a local community removed Walmart. They were able to do this through the use of fierce union protests that made the store unprofitable.
Olsson’s article “Up Against Walt-Mart” is an investigative reporting. Wal-Mart say “We Sell for Less” and “Everyday Low Prices”. Wal-Mart managers push the employees to the limit; they just want to see how much they can get away with without having to hire someone else. The company is the world’s largest retailer, with 4220 billion in sales, and nation’s largest private employer, with 3,372 stores and more than 1 billion hourly workers. Its annual revenues account for 2 percent of America’s entire domestic products.
In the recent years Walmart has been far our performing its top two competitors; Costco and Target. With a market cap of 212,195,024, Walmart had beaten its competitors who remain at 65,969,279 for Costco and 43,701,237 Target (NASDAQ, Competitors). This means that for Walmart, the total market of all of their goods and services far surpasses its top two market competitors. As investors, you may ask why Costco is second to Walmart’s regarding sales. Well when we take a closer look, we see that “Walmart’s treatment of its customers and employees has not always been then best.
Some people may wonder how, with such low prices, Wal-Mart can sustain such a large profit margin. Well according to Jim Hightower, that answer lies within Wal-Mart’s workforce. Hightower believes that Wal-Mart is tricking its workers into thinking they are, “one big, happy family,” when in reality those workers are being exploited. According to Jim, Wal-Mart is diverting their workers from the actual issues such as, “fair wages, hiring discrimination, or unionization.” This is backed up in the 2004 documentary aired by PBS called, “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?”
The main claim that is being targeted in Karen Olsson's article ''Up Against Wal-Mart'' is how Wal-Mart is a company which, despite soaring profits, one that shames Unionization and fights to keep ''associates'' quality of life low. There are several statements throughout the article made by Wal-Mart employees and union representatives that elude to the retail giant being a monopoly. The article mentions that even though workers are being pushed to the limit it is hard to survive without a second job or relying on food banks and government health care, which results in ideas like retirement being a foreign concept. The article sheds light on how Wal-Mart has a ''zero tolerance'' approach to unions, Managers are being taught to take offence
Walmart was founded in the summer of 1962 by Kingfisher, Oklahoma native Sam Walton. Although Walton’s original vision for the store was relatively modest, the half century since its founding has seen Walmart morph into one of the biggest companies in the world. Today headed by one Doug McMillon, Walmart boasts more than 5000 stores in the United States of America alone and employs more than 1.5 million people. Walmart is undoubtedly an American institution, yet each Walmart store feels like its own little country. Walmart seems to have its own laws and customs and the people who shop their on a regular basis appear almost primitive in their behavior as they go about raiding the store’s shelves and wrestling with fellow customers for discount flat screen televisions and bulk packages of two-ply toilet paper.
This video brought more insight on an economic perspective when it comes to Wal-Mart. Up until now, my knowledge has admittedly come from the vast cloud of Netflix documentaries. Which tend to show a much more empathetic, personal or sociological perspective of the inner happenings of the giant company. No matter what I am watching, the theme remains the same with Wal-Mart, economic gains for those able to supply mass quantities for the demands as retailers are “urged” to ramp up production, supply Wal-Mart and ship to America from places like China. Some of what surprises me most in “Is Wal-Mart Good for America,” is how one company has managed to single handedly create a global retail and economic trade model for an entire generation.
Due to the size Walmart and its magnitude of power, as previously mentioned, once Walmart financially supports businesses and buy from them, they are forced to satisfy Walmart’s demands. These businesses have to please Walmart because they will buy so much of what they produce that without Walmart, they would be forced to close due to the substantial amount of financial
Walmart is known to put other stores out of business and left unheard of. While this may be good for them, this is bad for those employees who work or those businesses. These people use these jobs to take care of their families, and Walmart is taking that opportunity away by trying to compete for the areas customers. Ethan Wolff-man stated “A 44-year-old grocery store in North Carolina saw a 30% sales drop immediately when a nearby Walmart opened a couple of years ago, according to a Bloomberg News story. Whenever the mom-and-pop supermarket cut prices, the Walmart would match or undercut them.
Rising income inequality and wage stagnation threaten the future of America’s middle class. While corporate profits break records, the share of national income going to workers’ wages has reached record lows. Wal-Mart plays a leading role in this story. Its business model has long relied upon strictly controlled labor costs: low wages, inconsiderable benefits and aggressive avoidance of collective bargaining with its employees. As the largest private-sector employer in the U.S., Wal-Mart’s business model exerts considerable downward pressure on wages throughout the retail sector and the broader economy.
This debate focuses on the importance of Walmart for the families and the economy of America. Richard Vedder and John Tierney were for the debate while Amy Traub and Nelson Lichtenstien are against it. In Richard’s opening statement, he praises Walmart and clear the poverty issues Walmart solves in the opening statement. Tierney addresses that Walmart saves and redistributes money from developed to developing countries. He touches on saying that many trial lawyers and unions target Walmart.
Union Policy A lot of controversy has been raised around Wal-Mart because of the anti-union policy they have in practice throughout their corporation. The anti-union policy that Wal-Mart has in place, does not support the formation of unions, defined as groups created to help people voice their problem that have developed in the workforce, concerning wage, labor and safety laws. Wal-Mart is against the formation of unions and what the unions “fight” for. Some corporations are against unions, and some support them in belief that they workers can constructively change the way they are treated. Sometimes unions turn violent and protest the work force, this may be one reason that Wal-Mart has an anti-union policy.
The documentary “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices” made 9 years ago by Robert Greenwald talks about the negative effects Walmart has on local businesses and the economy. Walmart is also criticized for its low wages and poor service, as clearly stated in the documentary. It also is argued that the company is a monopoly that hurts small businesses and the American economy altogether. This documentary is an effective argument because of the negative effect on people’s communities, their strong monopoly, their strong acts of racism towards black people, and Walmart’s negative effect on the economy. This documentary also highlights the many ways Walmart has been accused of harming its employees and the community, and it shows how the residents
It’s hard to drive through a city in the United States without seeing the trademark bright blue sign indicating you are about to pass a Walmart. With a slowly shrinking middle class, more Americans are finding themselves in need of cheaper goods to support their families. Fortunately for these families fighting off poverty, or even the middle class looking to save a few pennies, Walmarts are continuing to pop up all over the place. In fact, 90% of people living in the United States, live within fifteen minutes of one. The rise in the number of franchises has led many people to ask themselves if this is actually good for America.
For decades now, Walmart has been one of the most successful retailers in America. Walmart has become a household name in nearly every house in the country, even outside of this country, because of their low prices and vast selection. But despite all the popularity that has been built up with Walmart, its impact on the American economy and society has been mostly negative. As being one of the biggest box stores in the world, Walmart has left a huge trail of destruction in the way they treat their workers, their customers, small businesses, and local communities. To start off, as the largest retailer in the U.S., Walmart has buying power which they use to negotiate lower prices from their suppliers.