International Business: Wal-Mart Assignment
Question #1: Do you feel that the company has dealt with each of these issues effectively? Justify.
Answer: Wal-Mart has faced several quandaries in its efforts towards continuous domestic and international development. One issue which this company had to deal with was facing protesters who did not want Wal-Mart to be built near their home. These people were fighting against Wal-Mart because of the fear that this large corporation could in fact force smaller local stores out of business. Protesting against the construction of a new Wal-Mart in his area, one man had posed the question, "Low prices at what cost?" These people felt as though Wal-Mart would create a detrimental loss of good jobs nearby. In response to this, Wal-Mart allowed a vote to occur by the city council. The company handled the situation well, and only went through with the construction once they had held this vote. However, these citizens were still offended by the creation of this store locally.
Wal-Mart is able to keep their prices so low because of low-cost Asian imports. While Chinese workers work in factories making 25 to 50 cents an hour, Wal-Mart sells items for the lowest costs possible. This makes competitors unable to compete with these amazing prices, though this is ethically wrong. This issue has been addressed on several occasions, and Wal-Mart associates respond by saying that the company currently fully obeys China's Trade Union Law. The world's largest retailer fails to be based upon ethics, which enable many to be against this company.
To keep these low prices, Wal-Mart also has very low wages for all of its workers- inside and outside of the country. This presents a problem with the workers, but not much action is taken to change this. With the number of people which Wal-Mart employs, a raise in the pay would greatly affect the gross income of the company.
Question #2: Identify and explain two competitive advantages that Wal-Mart currently has over other companies in its
Answer: Wal-Mart has faced several quandaries in its efforts towards continuous domestic and international development. One issue which this company had to deal with was facing protesters who did not want Wal-Mart to be built near their home. These people were fighting against Wal-Mart because of the fear that this large corporation could in fact force smaller local stores out of business. Protesting against the construction of a new Wal-Mart in his area, one man had posed the question, "Low prices at what cost?" These people felt as though Wal-Mart would create a detrimental loss of good jobs nearby. In response to this, Wal-Mart allowed a vote to occur by the city council. The company handled the situation well, and only went through with the construction once they had held this vote. However, these citizens were still offended by the creation of this store locally.
Wal-Mart is able to keep their prices so low because of low-cost Asian imports. While Chinese workers work in factories making 25 to 50 cents an hour, Wal-Mart sells items for the lowest costs possible. This makes competitors unable to compete with these amazing prices, though this is ethically wrong. This issue has been addressed on several occasions, and Wal-Mart associates respond by saying that the company currently fully obeys China's Trade Union Law. The world's largest retailer fails to be based upon ethics, which enable many to be against this company.
To keep these low prices, Wal-Mart also has very low wages for all of its workers- inside and outside of the country. This presents a problem with the workers, but not much action is taken to change this. With the number of people which Wal-Mart employs, a raise in the pay would greatly affect the gross income of the company.
Question #2: Identify and explain two competitive advantages that Wal-Mart currently has over other companies in its