...Walmart Movie Analysis Threat Level Midnight MGMT 382, 12:00pm Monday Class Rheanna Ladron De Guevara Mohammad Shojaei Danielle Seymour Teresa Radtke Curtis Anson Amy Self Walmart is quite arguably one of the largest multinational grocery retailers in America. The corporation routinely produces record sales, earnings, and employs more than 2.1 million full time employees. Last year Walmart earned a record four hundred and five billion dollars in revenue. The company was founded in 1962 by business entrepreneur Sam Walton. Walmart’s past (2006) advertising slogan, “Low prices, always”, accurately reflects the appeal the store has to the masses. In an attempt to attain a wider and more diverse customer base, in recent years Walmart has adopted the new slogan: “Saving people money so they can live better lives.” While there’s no doubt about Walmart’s low prices, it’s questionable as to whether Walmart actually allows people to “live better lives.” Not only this, but the ethicality of Walmart’s business practices seem unsound to say the least. After watching the film “Walmart: the High Cost of Low Cost”, the ethicality of Walmart’s business practices and the impact the company has on the communities in which they expand into become apparent. While some argue that Walmart makes unethical decisions quite often that harm the communities they expand into, others assert that Walmart operates within the law and is simply doing business rather than acting unethically...
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...waste, selling sustainable products and using 100 percent renewable energy. With this strategy the company not only aimed to resolve the problem of paying fines to state and federal regulators for its environmental damage but also change its bad reputation among customers. The company also realized its sustainability strategy creates cost advantages and this should turn out an opportunity to maintain its lower price strategy. Customers’ reactions to Wal-Mart’s new sustainability strategy showed that low or middle class consumers’ expectations are not limited to purchase only low price products; they are also willing to buy green, sustainable ones when they find them in affordable prices. This was a sign that Walmart is on the right track. Today’s business practice of Walmart needs to transform more -through quick wins which are actions that makes business sense based on available technologies, products and processes; innovation projects which base on emerging technologies, processes, and innovation; big game challenge which is a way to lead the market works for sustainability, not against it- to complete its sustainable pathway successfully and reach the sustainable business practices level. In this way, they should identify opportunities to develop supply chain, coordinate manufacturers and compete with the rivals. Company should find new ways to get greener supply chain with less capital, lower the operating costs and catch more competitive advantages in the market. Even though...
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...Richard Nashner Working Capital Strategies Walmart is on the path of expanding its brand; this paper highlights its finances by looking at its recent financial reports- balance sheets and statements of cash flow. By doing so, we can therefore make a projection or forecast Walmart’s revenue for 2015. Such projection comes with working capital recommendation, and the new lesson learned from previous financial reports of the company. Working Capital A review of Walmart’s financial statements shows that its net working capital had range from positive to negative and vice versa. Walmart current revised assets total $61,185 billion; an increase of two percent in 2014. The current liabilities in 2014 total $69,345 billion and $71,818 billion in 2013 (Walmart, 2015). This information indicates that Walmart working capital in was negative in 2014 with a balance of -$8,160 billion, which obviously reflects a long term liabilities. In 2013, its working capital was also in the negative of -$11,878 billion; this notwithstanding reflects a decrease of its working capital by over three million dollars. According to Walmart (2015), “ The decrease in our working capital deficit was primarily attributable to a decrease in long-term debt due within one year and an increase in our inventory levels due to lower than anticipated sales across the Company” (p. 27). Walmart as per its first quarter report in 2015 intend to decrease its negative working capital. The company hopes to increase...
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...World Wide Walmart 1 Walmart: INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE Edwina Q. Rawls Capella University Foundational Skills for Business Leaders Professor Chris Banescu May 24, 2015 World Wide Walmart 2 Abstract In today’s world, being in the media is very important when trying to gain a vast customer base online. According to Pozin (2014), a great social media presence is now essential to businesses both large and small. Consumers are looking at company’s social media accounts using the same parameters they look for when searching for Mr. or Mrs. Right. Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and warehouse stores. Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States, the company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated on October 31, 1969. It has over 11,000 stores in 27 countries, under a total 71 banners. It’s the largest company by revenue, private employer, and grocery retailer. It’s known for being a one-stop shop because they sell food, clothes, electronics, and several other essential household needs. Over the years, Walmart has gained a lot more of its customers through social media and its use of the internet. They have had a lot of negative criticism about how the company is run that has overshadowed the positive. Throughout this paper, there will be discussions on several topics. How has the internet and social media effected the company? How has Walmart’s global presence...
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...Culture Change Paper Walmart is a global retailer with one of the most profitable business strategies on the planet. Walmart’s objective to offer the lowest prices to a diverse customer base has proven successful over several decades. Walmart began with a humble business model in the early 1960s. Sam Walton, original founder, wanted to provide people with the best prices possible. Sam Walton launched over a dozen locations to the public in the late 1960s. The profitable groundwork and strategy of every-day low prices spread rapidly through the next several decades. Throughout the 1990s, Walmart’s growth soared globally as they continued to facilitate a cost cutting strategy. America’s recent recession encouraged many low-income families to shop for Walmart’s low priced products. Walmart’s low prices may attract budgeting Americans, but their questionable operations are steering many others away. Walmart’s public perception is declining because of their negative organizational culture. Walmart’s employee wages are consistently below the American average, resulting in workers resorting to government aid. Discrimination lawsuits occur annually because of management’s stereotyping and poor leadership. Even Walmart’s ignorance to safe working conditions in other countries is beginning to surface in America’s media. Walmart’s leaders have attempted to address these issues, but ultimately failed to create a climate for change. Walmart’s future leadership must overcome...
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...Introduction 3 OB issues and situation analysis 3 Conclusions 7 References 8 Appendices 12 Introduction Wal-Mart stores Inc. is the world’s largest retailer with reported gross earnings of 460 billion U.S. dollars for 2014. It has 4,281 stores in the United States and over 11,100 stores worldwide. Wal-Mart hires more workers than any company in the whole world; in 27 different nations around the world it has hired over 2.2 million workers. The interest on Wal-Mart stems from their ability to provide products to its customers at relatively low prices, earning them a competitive advantage over other retailers, since their products sell five times more than other American stores. However this has involved both positive and negative effects on the long term. These sales at low prices to customers have been achieved as a result of their low cost imports and high integration with foreign suppliers from various countries around the world especially China. Due to the high volume of imports a large number of small businesses have been destroyed together with jobs in the manufacturing industry; the US economy has been affected by an increased trade deficit and the local manufacturing sector has also been affected by this growth. Moreover, Wal-Mart has received critics over their working conditions and the pay system used in various countries. Some of its workers are unsatisfied with the compensation and believe they are overworked and this has led to strikes and boycotting...
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...deals together. It is also important that customers trust a company in order to make purchases from it. If customers feel that their money is going to be used for an unethical cause, they may choose to do business with another company. One often overlooked aspect of trust in a business setting is how much employers trust their employees and vice versa. This paper focuses on two companies (Walmart and Hewlett Packard) that have taken a major public relations hit recently. We will describe the events that caused these major hits and steps that the companies could have taken to prevent them and their responses to the incidents. Walmart Walmart has been one of the most successful companies in recent history. According to cnnmoney.com, they have ranked as one of the top 2 companies in the Fortune 500 since 2007 (Fotune 500, 2011). Walmart has over 2 million employees and is the second largest employer in the world. In the next five years it is estimated that they will add 500,000 more employees (Gardner, 2011). Former Senior Vice President of Walmart, Ron Loveless gives ten reasons why Walmart has been so successful. He credits leadership, communication, corporate structure and ethics, among other things as the reasons for success. He says, “The effort to be an "ethical" company was a key ingredient to our success” (Walmart's Top Ten Building Blocks for Success., 2011). Many people would argue that Walmart’s lack of ethics is the reason that they are so successful. One reason they...
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...low priced strategies allowed him to boost sales and negotiate lower prices with his wholesalers. Once Walton’s retail operation started to take off, he decided to change the name to Walmart, by the use of his last name. He then established more than 9,600 factories, stores, and warehouses (Sam’s Club), throughout the United States, Asia, Mexico, Europe, and South America. Walmart has low prices, friendly workers, and many locations, but protesters will argue that the gender discrimination, harsh impact on the surrounding communities, and low wages, outweigh the benefits to Walmart. We thought gender discrimination ended with the ratification of the 19th amendment, but according to Wake-up Wal-mart.com, several cases have been recorded in the Walmart workplace. For example, in 2001, studies proved that for the same job classification, even after taking into account factors such as seniority and performance, women earned from 5 to 15 percent less than their male colleagues. Walmart was sued on this matter by six women claiming that Walmart systematically denied them promotions, and were paying them less than men. This lawsuit gathered more than 1.6 million women, which soon was declared the largest class action lawsuit ever. Due to these conditions, women and men wanted to leave Walmart and...
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...Walmart Swot Analysis Walmart, which is a multinational retail company is based in the US. It majorly deals with selling groceries and general merchandise. The company has developed a well organized planning method that is used to analyze and evaluate the opportunities and threats, strengths and weaknesses detected in a particular business venture. The method is known as Swot analysis. Despite the strengths approved, there is an existence of certain weaknesses which have been found to be existing in the Swot analysis of the company. Some of the weaknesses include; (1) employee turnover, which is high, (2) negative publicity, (3) little differentiation (4) labor related lawsuits, and (5) inappropriate marketing aspects (Dess, 2012). 1. Inappropriate marketing aspects. This is one of the major weaknesses concerning marketing identified in Walmart company. In this case, the company has failed to fully expand into new markets with respect to national and international levels. Because of the economic effects such as traffic and problems concerning the environment, many parts across the US attempted blocking Walmart introduction. This was done due to the company's damaged reputation. When the company conquers and acquires a new location, it finally insists in new stores which are unethical to be opened. For example, the company shut down business in Germany and South-Korea claiming that they were under-performing (Roberts & Berg, 2012 ). 2. Lobor related lawsuits Every year, Walmart...
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...discuss the Walmart Corporation, its role of ethics and compliance, the procedures used to ensure ethical behavior, the processes Walmart uses to comply with SEC regulations, and a review of Walmart’s financial performance over the last two years. Role of Ethics and Compliance of Walmart The Walmart Corporation prides itself on its ethics and compliances to standards and regulations. Walmart shares all of its strategies and performance ratings in its annual reports, news releases, public filings, conference calls, and Internet resources so that all information is readily available to the public and potential and current stockholders. In regard to financial ethics of Walmart, the requirements are that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Senior Financial Officers (SFO) must supply fair, full, understandable, and timely release of financial rankings in the periodic reports, which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) examines. The CEO and SFOs of Walmart are responsible for reporting information that there may be in regard to deficits in operations in specific or general areas that could have a negative impact on the accurate reporting of financial data. Fraud involving associates who may be acting unethically must be brought to the attention of the SFOs, CEO, and any other corporate managers so they follow appropriate disciplinary actions to resolve the issues. The CEO and SFOs of the Walmart Corporation strictly back the financial ethics of Walmart. Walmart...
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...history of Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton in Rogers, Ark. It is an American multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. They focus on making a difference in the lives of their customers, and helping customers and communities save money and live better. In 1969, the company officially incorporated as Walmart Stores, Inc. Walmart started its public trade on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. With the continued rapid growth, Walmart was operating in 11 states with 276 stores by the end of 70’s decade. In the 1980s, the first Sam's Club opened, serving small businesses and individuals, and the first Walmart Supercenter opened, combining a supermarket with general merchandise. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the company rose from a regional to national giant, Walmart was the number-one retailer in the nation. In 2000s, Walmart focus on offering customers a seamless shopping experience, whether they are online, in a store or on a mobile device. Also, during these times, Walmart put some effort in implement several environmental measures to increase energy efficiency. Today, the company has grown to be the world’s largest and arguably, the most emulated retailer. The social cultural segment is concerned with a society’s attitudes and cultural values. A major social cultural trend is the continued growth of suburban communities. The increasing number of people living in the suburbs has a number of effects. Walmart...
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...practices the earth is suffering, this has a direct impact on our lives. From using up our earth’s natural resources for power, we have created pollution and increased global warming effects. Besides everyone on an individual basis needing to practice sustainability, it is highly important for companies to utilize sustainability ethics. Companies big and small have immensely contributed to dwindling our natural resources and polluting our planet. Raw material suppliers, manufacturers, distributers and the companies they operate for all need held accountable for their part, and each link in the chain needs to develop and implement a sustainable ethics policy. Walmart has been a big contributor to this ethical dilemma. Walmart not only operates unethically regarding sustainability in their retail, warehouse and distribution locations; they also are responsible for the unethical actions of their suppliers. Walmart has received many different scolding from activists and has been boycotted for many different unethical actions and inactions. The company has decided to tackle the ethical dilemma of sustainability directly. Walmart is taking steps to develop a standing sustainability ethics policy throughout their entire supply chain. The results of their actions are being applauded. Every small change Walmart makes is important. The universalism moral decision making principle best describes the reasoning and theme of the ethical dilemma of sustainability. Universalism’s “moral authority...
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...scale organizations to characterize leadership traits, motivational factors, perception and achievement of goals and so on( Katz, 1955). In this paper, I will be analyzing the American retail establishment Walmart’s leadership front, in order to examine their successes and failures. Discussion Founded in 1962, Walmart came about as a much publicized brainchild of Sam Walton, who had already plenty of experience in merchandising and retail. Under his initial leadership, Walmart expanded throughout the nation with its success blazing a trail for all to follow. Through Walton’s unique leadership traits, Walmart was also introduced in international markets, and several high scale achievements made the organization seem quite untouchable. The management and leadership styles utilized within the organization produced a corporate culture that was exemplified and went on to achieve success on a colossal scale, changing the entire landscape of retailing in America(Wal-Mart Retail Divisions, 2007). The organization was committed to valuing its customers and through effective leadership as well as management practices, Sam Walton was able to create a unique identity for Walmart, thus achieving his vision. Cost-cutting used to be one of the features of Wal-mart culture among employees, as everyone pitched in to ensure the company remained completely sincere to its customers and not spend the funds on their own. Walton would ensure that proper discipline in following business ethics were...
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...of Ethics: Walmart Nina Brown PHL/323: Ethics in Management August 8, 2011 David Rubenstein Evaluation of Business Code of Ethics: Walmart A code of ethics is a set of written guidelines issued by an organization to its employees and management regarding ones conduct and behavior (Business Dictionary, 2011). Principles and standards are important, but they are also crucial in everyday life expectancy as well as his or her work setting. The function of a code of ethics policy is to provide its personnel, administration, board of directors, and others an orientation that abides by a business course of action, principles, and ethical standards. Each business should develop a code of ethics as a standard for his or her industry to abide by daily. It should concentrate on major factors important to the individually industry requirements. The honesty of an industry and its workers is essential to the general success of the organization as a unit. This evaluation focus is on Wal-Mart the number one fortune 500 company in the world. This process will include general information about Walmart including its mission statement, ethical system, and it putting into practice on an employee, management, or board of director level. This paper will also include information on modifying the existing policy, reactions expected from employees and managers, effects of organizational culture and the effect on the organization itself. History In 1962 the first Walmart discounted store...
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...retailer to know and provide all their customer’s needs globally. This strategic initiative points to the opportunity Wal-mart Corporation have with the Next Generation Wal-mart and the mission of saving people money so they can live better (Wal-mart, 2010). Wal-mart realizes in the world’s present economic state, offering their customers a way to save money is their best opportunity to remain successful. Affect that providing goods at a lower cost than its competitors has on cost for Wal-mart-Mike Wal-mart’s pricing strategies have made them the market leader within the United States and their strategic planning initiatives not only make their additional operations efficient in order to capitalize on the overall profits, it also has an effect on their prices and overall sales (Wal-mart, 2008). Based on...
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