Corporate Irresponsibility

            Recently Wal-Mart has performed many acts of corporate irresponsibility. Wal-Mart pays its employees lower than other unionized competitors in other markets even thought they could afford to pay their employees more. The average Wal-Mart associate in California earns 26% less than the average wage of a UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers Union) worker at one of the three major supermarkets. Wal-Mart offers cheap health care plans but they come with high deductibles. The health care plans they provide fail to cover almost 700,000 of its employees. Wal-Mart’s 2010 health care includes cheap premiums of $27 per pay period for family coverage, or $702 per year, however this plan has a high annual deductible of $4,400!

Week 4 – The Marketing Environment

Wal-Mart’s target market would have to be people in the suburban and rural areas. Wal-Mart’s consumers are everyday families who live from pay check to pay check. Years back Wal-Mart’s demographic was lower middle class families and poorer, but they have been trying to target middle and upper middle class with the recent economic recession. Wal- Mart targets to these groups of people by offering a selection of quality merchandise at an affordable price. The families Wal-Mart targets are from various different backgrounds. Basically Wal-Mart markets to people on a budget no matter what their age or ethnic background.

Country of Origin

Shirt - China
Jeans - Vietnam
Beanie - China
Jacket -  China
Underwear - China
Bra - China
Socks - Indonesia
Boots - Thailand

Week 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Before talking about Wal-Mart’s ethics and social responsibility, one has to understand the concept of ethics. Ethics is about personal moral principles it deals with concepts of good and bad. Ethics can also be seen as behavior that is judged. Wal-Mart has three basic beliefs and guiding principles. These beliefs are respect for the individual, service to the customer, and striving for excellence. Wal-Mart also has a set of Guiding Principles on their cooperate website. The principles are as followed;

• Always act with integrity.
• Lead with integrity, and expect others to work with integrity.
• Follow the law at all times.
• Be honest and fair.
• Reveal and report all information truthfully, without manipulation or misrepresentation.
• Work, actions, and relationships outside of your position with the company should be free of any conflicts of interest (discussed later in this guide).
• Respect and encourage diversity, and never discriminate against anyone.
• Ask your manager or the Global Ethics Office for help if you have questions about this Statement of Ethics, or if you face an ethical problem.
• Promptly report suspected violations of the Statement of Ethics.
• Cooperate with and maintain the private nature of any investigation of a possible ethics violation.
• When involved in an ethics investigation, you should reveal and report all information truthfully. You should present all the facts you are aware of without personal opinion, bias, or judgment.

            Wal-Mart has participated in social responsibility by supporting Hunger Relief, Chile Earthquake Relief, Tsunami Relief, and Haiti Earthquake Relief. Wal-Mart also does many things for the community; Wal-Mart has awarded $4.5 Million through a Teacher Rewards program.  In 2009 the Wal-Mart foundation gave more than $9.6 million in donations to local organizations in New York State.

You can also find Wal-Mart's Statement of Ethics on their cooperate website.
http://ethics.walmartstores.com/ 

Week 2 - Strategic Planning & Competitive Advantage

Competitive advantages allows my company, Wal-Mart to deliver enhanced customer satisfaction and value. Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer of general merchandise; because they focus on customer service, and have a large selection of products at lower prices. Wal-Mart is able to keep their prices down because of a variety of reasons. One factor is how frugal they are with their employees (Efficient Labor); Wal-Mart has been seen as giving their employees meager wages. Wal-Mart tries to save every penny the can; even with factors like the cooling and heating of the store (No-frills good and services). Wal-Mart also keeps their prices as low as possible by persistently pushing its suppliers (New methods of service delivery). Wal-Mart demonstrates two competitive advantages, which set the store apart from other discount stores. The first being the partnership with Sam’s Wholesale Club which is a membership warehouse. The second being Wal-Mart stores offer the Wal-Mart neighborhood market which has the services of a traditional grocery store. All these factors provide evidence for why Wal-Mart is the larger retailer in discounting general merchandise.

Wal-Mart - Brief History

“Saving People Money So They Can Live Better”

            Wal-Mart is an American founded public corporation that has a chain of discount department stores and a chain of warehouse stores. Wal-Mart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas, U.S. By the end of 1970’s the company grew to 276 stores in 11 states.  By 1983 Wal-Mart opened the first super center and the first Sam’s Club membership warehouse. Wal- Mart became an international company in 1991, opening its first Sam’s Club in Mexico City. The sole purpose of Wal-Mart is to help people save money to help them live better.  Wal-Mart hopes to make a difference in the lives of their associates, members and customers.  Wal-Mart provides economic advancements in the communities it serves throughout the world.