Case For Wal-MartEssay Preview: Case For Wal-MartReport this essayThe Case for Wal-MartIn todays world whenever Wal-Mart comes up in general talk it usually brings mixed emotions to many. There are two sides to the debate over what is liked and disliked about Wal-Mart. There are those who are for Wal-Mart and those who detest Wal-Mart and all it stands for. Wal-Mart strikes a nerve with many and the accusations against them are numerous, and seem to be growing daily. The arguments against Wal-Mart include paying relatively low wages compared with other corporations, not paying part-time workers benefits, discriminating against women, not giving back to the community as well as driving small town shops out of business because they cant compete with Wal-Mart. Those are just some of the topics worth debate in the case for Wal-Mart.
Wal-Marts slogan is “Always Low Prices” and it has been true for years. Wal-Mart has kept their prices low and that slogan is exactly what people want to hear. People like to save as much money as they can and buying something at Wal-Mart can sometimes save people a lot of money, rather than spending more at some other retail store. But this usually fuels the debate against Wal-Mart for the fact they have low prices. Many feel Wal-Mart comes into small town markets where they build their huge stores and run most small town shops right out of business. The argument is that those small town shops cant compete with Wal-Marts low prices. This has an obvious affect because naturally if people can pay less for an item they probably will. The problem is that most of Wal-Marts critics think they come into these towns with prices so low that it drives out their competition. Once they are successful in doing that Wal-Mart will gradually raise their prices. There is truth to that statement but only half of it. Wal-Marts prices are low and it sometimes does drive smaller businesses out but Wal-Mart has never raised prices after the fact. Wal-Marts slogan again “Always Low Prices;” they do not need to raise their prices with the volume of business they do.
With that being said, many people still refuse to shop at Wal-Mart but heres an example of the savings it can bring. Say that some product is needed almost daily and Wal-Mart has it at a significantly lower price than the competitor. By buying that product from Wal-Mart just think of the difference in price between the two stores and calculate the savings, then multiply that out yearly. Just think of all that money saved on just one little item and how much money could be saved to spend on other things. Maybe low prices arent such a bad thing.
Another reason for Wal-Mart is they have everything. Where else can you go to a hardware, grocery, and novelty store all in one building? Sad thing about that statement is that is only some of major departments covered by Wal-Mart. They also deal with gardening, sporting goods, electronics and entertainment departments. Many new Wal-Marts are called Supercenters, partly because they took the old Wal-Mart department store and added a grocery store to it. They also have been expanding with new stores opening almost daily around the world. With all of what Wal-Mart offers, no wonder its one of the largest companies worldwide. It has gotten that large because people can do in one store what normally would take them three to four different stores to accomplish. If that isnt enough think of the time it saves people by being able to get everything in one store rather than driving around town to many different stores to get what they need. Wal-Mart is convenience.
There are so many things about Wal-Mart that one would think people would enjoy but still people come with accusations against them. One example is that Wal-Mart doesnt pay benefits to part-time employees. Well, what about other large retail stores where full time employees dont receive benefits? What makes Wal-Mart the bad guy? Wal-Mart isnt the only employer looking to get higher profits and pay employees less, just look at all the job cuts nationwide due to outsourcing jobs to other countries. Why pay employees a high salary when the same job can be done for half the cost and the same work gets done. This is nothing new, this has been going on for years but Wal-Mart always gets the negative attention.
[quote=Randy_Virgil]
The fact that the entire state of Massachusetts is getting $16 TRILLION for every month spent in outsourcing, a job that only 3 jobs were made will only make me happier. The fact that most of the jobs in our state are done by a tiny percentage and only 1 or 2 jobs are done by more than 50% isn’t really inspiring. Wal-Mart and its partners should take a different approach and work with the state to figure out what a better solution would be.
[quote=randy_virgil][quote=Randy_Virgil]
I can tell you that there’s a lot of love, passion, and passion for these jobs in all communities and not just in Massachusetts. That’s the hard thing about all these jobs, they’re just not good at what they do. They just don’t create a better life for the people in them. The things I get excited about are that I’m on the side of business and the people in my community, both inside the store and outside it. In fact, what this show is about is that our state has so many of the best people that business should be able to provide for.
[quote=Troy_Rice]
For all this talk about job security and the importance of worker-friendly practices like the use of automated call centers (which means people will call us, email us, whatever) it still doesn’t quite translate to really having to deal with people like mine who literally don’t want them to help. Just make sure if they’re in the office that you get to say something to them. I’m sure most of them will give you some work but I know that they’re scared to ask for it and may feel that they have to ask for it themselves in order to get a job.
[quote=Randy_Virgil]
This show is really about the value of worker-friendly practices in the workplace. Not just for workers but for business. We should all be asking for more, for better jobs, for those things that we all have a right to strive for. It needs to be a place where employees can ask for help rather than just get some scraps at the end of the day. We must start from the ground up when there are people who see how much we’re losing with that. It does feel bad to see businesses put all their eggs in one basket. For me personally, having to work 30 or even 50 hours a week and not get back to where I was at the end of the previous day isn’t something I would ever want to get a part-time job. It puts me under tremendous pressure