Subject: The overall impact of Walmart’s Business Practices on its Organization, employees, and consumers. Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to identify organizational behavior issues within the Walmart Corporation. The original company visionary and founder Sam Walton passed away on April 5, 1992. Since his passing, Walmart has changed leadership. How has this change affected the leadership, ethics, and culture of Walmart? This research paper will examine these areas. Introduction A company’s ethics stems from its values. A companies values come from the visionary of the company. Sam Walton was the visionary and founder of the Walmart Corporation. Walton’s vision was based upon bettering people’s lives and serving the good …show more content…
Reminding the entire company of what the firm’s values are is how this can be achieved. Values are important in how they look in the workplace. The only reason employees read the handbook is to find out how much vacation time they will get. Major Issues in question Walton was a tremendous learner when it came to trends and techniques. Walton embraced new technologies leading associates in accepting his visions for a universal Walmart environment (Horrman, 1999). Sam Walton died on April 5, 1992, but was active in the business until just a few months before his death. On March 17, 1992, President George Bush called Walton "an American original who embodied the entrepreneurial spirit and epitomized the American dream." Rob Walton replaced his father as chairman of the company, and Wal-Mart carried on without its original visionary leader (Chain Store Age, 1999). Sam Walton’s simple value formula was to have everyday low prices for the American working class. Walton’s formula exhibited the most basic traits of successful leadership: A clear, easy to understand vision; constant communication of the vision and consistent adherence to it. It was not until Walton’s death at age 74 that management of the company began to shift away from this formula of success. Sam Walton’s original visions was to make Walmart your local neighborhood store where you could find whatever you needed for your home. Today Walmart is
Question 1: What were the rights of Walmart, the employer, during these two organizing drives?
The term “ethics” is defined as moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior. When speaking of business ethics, one is referring to the study, and examination of moral as well as social responsibility relating to business practices, also including its application to the four functions of management as well as the decision-making process in business (Batesman, pg.167). This internal factor can easily influence the how an organization goes about accomplishing the four functions of management. Wal-Mart, like most businesses believe they uphold ethical standards in their business practice. According to Wal-Mart’s statement of ethics, leading with integrity in a workplace is key to running a business (Wal-Mart Ethics pg.10). Leading with integrity, and expecting teammates to work with integrity is one of their main focuses- Wal-Mart’s original founder Sam Walton said,” that it has always been an ethically led company” (Wal-Mart Ethics pg.4). They follow their three basic beliefs: respect for individuals, service to the customers, and striving for excellence (Wal-Mart Ethics pg.5). Although organizations may have their code of ethics, they still come across the occasional ethical problem in the company. Wal-Mart for example, had an issue with an employee named, Chalace Epley Lowery. Lowery believed that another
Wal-Mart is one of the largest retailers and employers in the world. It currently has over 2 million employees (www.statisticbrain.com). This is mainly due to the tenets Sam Walton introduced to the company. Associates of Wal-Mart focus on respect for the customer as well as respect for the employee. There are three values that associates live by which retains employees and grows Wal-Mart’s business:
Sam Walton, a businessman and entrepreneur with an innovative vision, started his own company, which became the leading in discount retailing today. His brilliance and unusual business practices lead him and his associates to acquire a successful company for over thirty years. Even after his death, the company is still growing steadily today. Walmart executives still continue to rely on Walton’s traditions, concepts, goals, and philosophies. He exerted a tremendous influence and left a legacy behind.
The principal objective of this research paper is to demonstrate how several people have been impacted by the gigantic company Wal-Mart. This paper explores an argument in favor regarding how the company has been performing its business and how thousands of individuals have beneficiated from it. The factors will be explained in detail which will be leading us to the conclusion that Wal-Mart is creating a positive environment throughout and every angle of society.
customers unbeatable prices that their competitors find difficult to challenge. But in providing those “great deals” it deducts from other sources. Walmart directly imports from Asia and in turn Asia produces cheaply made items and sells to Walmart for a low cost. Thus,
This paper will discuss the structure of Wal-Mart's corporate culture and how it influences their employees. In order to understand an Organization Behavior there are different elements that will create the employees perspective of the organization’s culture such as the management’s philosophy, vision, values, and goals. The driving force of these elements will create the culture of the organization. An organization’s culture will define the leadership, and dynamics of the organization. With each element listed the employees of the organization will identify this as work life that will guide their level of motivation. Depending on which level of motivation the employees are at
The practices of Wal-mart has impacted American workers and our economy in unthinkable ways. Charles Fishman reported that the chain is ‘helping accelerate the loss of American jobs to low-wage countries such as China.” Walmart has doubled its imports from China from 1999 to 2003, buying some 12 billion in merchandise in 2002. Fishman also states that “The giant retailer is at least partly responsible for the low rate of U.S. inflation, and a McKinsey & Co. study concluded that about 12% of the economy's productivity gains in the second half of the 1990s could be traced to Wal-Mart alone.” One way that I as a consumer confront the problems caused by globalization is to shop at local business that do not produce their products in low wage
the superior tracking capability of RFID chips would reduce shrinkage and other forms of loss by up
When Sam Walton died in 1992, the company was taken over with the same cheapness in mind. Only, the new leaders at Wal-Mart didn’t show the employees that they were still important.
“If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone… we’ll give the world an opportunity to see what it’s like to save and have a better life.” Those were the words spoken by Wal-Mart’s late founder Sam Walton. He believed that he could build a great business by offering low prices and great service. His goal was to target was the small rural areas in America and offer great deals on products, but is competitors thought his ideas would never work. They were wrong Wal-Mart stores grew rapidly all across the country. Mr. Walton credited a lot of Wal-Mart’s success to the associates because they provided customers with a great shopping experience that kept them coming back. Since Wal-Mart became so successful Sam Walton created other stores
There are so many organizational behavior concepts to take into consideration for the success or failure of any organization, business or company. The way these concepts are handled by management and employees will either keep the business open or these same concepts could end up in closure of this same business or organization. Management and employees are the people who will make the "win or lose" situation occur. Communication, motivation, and power and politics are some of the concepts that will cause a business to succeed or fail. Businesses must be competitive to stay alive, or these same businesses will
Sam Walton 's first venture as a milk boy is when he understood the value of a dollar and the knowledge of how far a dollar could take one in life. From Sam 's first five and dime stores in the 1950 's to his opening of the first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962, no one could have predicted the enormous success of this small-town merchant. Today, fourteen years after his death, Wal-Mart continues to grow and leadership of this company continues to rely on many of the traditional goals and philosophies that Mr. Walton left behind. In keeping one step
1. What is the ethical dilemma facing Wal-Mart in this case ? Do Wal-Mart’s associates also face an ethical dilemma? If so, what is it ?
Business ethics and values are closely related, their effect and application in business activities correlate and they make one to ask very important questions that may or may not guide an individual in an organisation to make an ethical decision.