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WALMART: MAIN STREET MERCHANT OF DOOM

Walmart: The Main Street Merchant of Doom

Navdeep Singh

300875649

Ethics and Stakeholder Management (MGMT 703)

Section 004

28 May 2017

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WALMART: MAIN STREET MERCHANT OF DOOM

Abstract

Walmart has often been in the course of debate on its acceptance and whether it is a merchant of

doom or not. My view is that Walmart has indeed become a merchant of doom due to the affect it

has on businesses, exploiting loopholes in the law and unethical dominance.

Economic Considerations: As far as the economic considerations are concerned, Walmart has

provided a plethora of job opportunities at all levels. In the case of small businesses, Walmart is

the reason urban traffic has increased thus meaning more customers in the community it enters.

Walmart has read the situation and always made attempts to encourage buying from domestic

firms rather than foreign firms. A program called the Buy American plan was introduced, which

meant sizable orders from domestic manufacturers to keep domestic firms afloat. (Carroll and

Buchholtz,600). This has benefited local manufacturers -Primary stakeholders. Moreover such

is the impact of Walmart, many have time and again said that it is solely responsible for deflation

in the retail sector (Carroll and Buchholtz,574).

On the flip side, It is of no secret that the main criticisms of Walmart is of its ability to keep

competitors out of business, there were many such instances of huge backlash in specific towns it

enters particularly small ones. This involved Special-Interest Societies- a pluralistic society

with own specific agenda. One such example is in Iowa City where the public started a petition

to put a referendum to halt Walmart from entering and destroying the competition, as fate would

have it, the petition failed and Walmart successfully entered the market.

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Legal Considerations: In a country like Canada, no one can escape the legal aspects no matter

how large the corporation might be. Walmart follows all legal processes and files taxes

responsibly and on time.

On the Other hand, Walmart increasingly has its labor practices questioned. Below par labor rates

and no benefits for workers particularly in overtime situations. There existed a major lawsuit

back in 2004 when a lady in the name of betty dukes claimed that she was denied promotional

and training opportunities during her time at Walmart (Sellers,2005).She also argued on having

adult magazines covered as it conflicted with her religious beliefs which also ended up in

controversy.

Ethical Considerations: The fact that Walmart provides a plethora of job opportunities and

scope is what is in its favour.According to the case study, Walmart employees more than 257000

African American associates, around 41000

Asian and 171000 Hispanic associates.

Numerous campaigns were organized by

Walmart, to be specific the zero-waste-to-

Landfill program promoted recycling waste

products by first separating them into 50

categories and then recycling them.

(http://corporate.walmart.com/global-

responsibility/sustainability/)

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WALMART: MAIN STREET MERCHANT OF DOOM

However, A well-known example of Walmart taking advantage of its power, was when it was

newly located in Kinder, Louisiana. There was a clear presence of cut throat competition and a

price war. Walmart employees secretly went to competitors and noted down their prices for

comparison. This obviously was a sign of bad practices not ethical by any means. (Carroll and

Buchholtz,602). Furthermore, Walmart over the years has got bad publicity for the same,

Walmart known for implementing The Walmart Way and neglecting all cultures and values of

towns they wish to expand. (Carroll and Buchholtz,603).

Philanthropic Considerations: Frankly speaking Walmart has undertaken many such initiatives.

One such initiative is the collaboration with the childrens hospital foundation which provides

info to the public about recycling through The Childrens Miracle Network telethon.

Conclusion: Hence through all the points explained in detail, Walmart has shown promise in

mending its ways especially when it comes to the ethical and philanthropic initiatives but still

has a long way to go in terms of businesses, exploiting loopholes in the law and unethical

dominance.

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References

The Childrens Hospital Foundation of Manitoba. Miracles at Wal-Mart

Retrieved from :http://goodbear.mb.ca/press/miracles-at-walmart/

Carroll, B,A , Buchholtz, K, A.(2012). Business and Society. USA: South-Western Cengage

Learning

Walmart. Sustainability.Retrieved from:

http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/sustainability/