Wal-Mart Synopsis
Wal-Mart was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. Wal-Mart is the largest retail store in the US and is larger than any other chain in the world. The company currently has 1,636 retail stores. There are 1,093 Wal-Mart Super centers, 502 Sam's Clubs, 31 Wal-Mart Neighborhood stores and 1,183 international stores. Wal-Mart was ranked number one on the Fortune 500 list in 2007 with $351,139 revenues, an 11.2% increase since 2005 (e.g., Cable News Network, 2007).
Wal-Mart provides "one stop family shopping"; combining groceries and general merchandise departments. Wal-Mart is known for their competitive prices and management strategies they employ. The company has three basic beliefs or philosophies Sam Walton built the company on: respect for the individual, service to our customers, and strive for excellence. (e.g., Wal-Mart, 2007)
Wal-Mart's stakeholders are the stockholders, Wal-Mart executives, employees, communities where Wal-Mart is located, consumers, and nonprofit organizations in which Wal-Mart donates.
The majority of Wal-Mart's employee base work at Wal-Mart stores and get paid the local minimum wage. Most employees are not entitled to any benefits. The issue that faces Wal-Mart and their stakeholders today is the company's push to enable a union from forming. Wal-Mart consistently violates workers' internationally recognized right to freedom of association by taking advantage of weak US labor laws and creating anti-union campaigns that deny workers the right to choose freely whether to organize. Wal-Mart inundated workers with anti-union information, highlighting the downsides to organizing, while limiting worker's access to contrary views. The company continuously reminds employees of their anti-union views. Employees began to fear the ...