Preview

The Pros And Cons Of Wal-Mart

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
888 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Pros And Cons Of Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart is a nationwide company and is a household term almost everyone knows. Some people find it as a store that tends to help the less wealthy, while others find it to be the complete opposite in aiding underprivileged families. Wal-Mart has different attributes to show that it is a good source of assistance for our society. Those services consist of low prices, a variety of goods, and it provides jobs. These details might be over looked when not observed closely, preventing people from truly appreciating what Wal-Mart is doing for our society. Despite all of the controversy, Wal-Mart is good for America.
Wal-Mart preaches the fact that it possesses the lowest-priced goods. Though it may be true in most cases, it hurts local business.
…show more content…
Wal-Mart doesn’t limit its products to one specific need, but to any kind of need. When setting foot Into a Wal-Mart it may be overwhelming to see all of the products to choose from. “A quick look around at the store in Paris makes clear what an employee is up against: thousands of items (90,000 in a typical Wal-Mart)” (Olsson 612). To list a few items, Wal-Mart carries hardware, food, toys, and school supplies. Other stores that specialize in selling these products will lose a good percentage of customers that are needed to keep their business running. This variety can also potentially discourage customers from ever using different businesses. Nonetheless, these different areas of goods will satisfy the needs of many people when located in one area. People may come in for a specific item, simply because they are able to purchase it at the lowest price possible. Another common scenario is that someone may go there for multiple purposes instead of just one. For example, one can complete his or her grocery shopping, while purchasing a computer that is needed for school. Instead of traveling through town to find the same type of a computer for a lower price they can do it all at Wal-Mart because of the convenience the store offers. Not only small businesses but also larger companies can be hurt from this type of convenience. “The average Wal-Mart customer earns thirty-five thousand dollars a year” (Mallaby 621). Best …show more content…
Wal-Mart gives their customers more advantages than disadvantages, when those customers receive low income. As the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, they include low prices, a variety of goods, and jobs that people are willing to work for. These attributes that Wal-Mart possesses are often overlooked but cannot be denied once shown. It gives people an option to fall back on when in need, and is able to grant a more enjoyable way of living. Despite all of the controversy, Wal-Mart is good for

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart 's army of around 3,400 stores has created some job opportunities, but think of all the jobs lost due to choking out small locally owned businesses as well as the thousands of factory jobs lost due to Wal-Mart 's low production demands. Wal-Mart 's size, convenience, as well as its variety of over 120,000 items makes Wal-Mart a fierce competitor to any business. Due to Wal-Mart being built in the majority of cities and towns no matter the social status, many striving small businesses cannot compete with Wal-Mart 's unbeatably low prices and convenience and are forced to terminate their business. This may be an example of "survival of the fittest", but this process is hurting the economy. Eighty percent of Wal-Mart 's suppliers are from China and that means the more Wal-Mart 's there are, the more foreign products floating around, and less American made production (Is Wal-Mart Good for America). This lack of American production is what causes American factories to shut down leaving their employees without jobs. Even if these employees decided to work with Wal-Mart, they would make around half of their normal salary, as well as no pension, health care, or the job security benefits that have been the norm in factory work. "A…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    My views on Wal-mart and the company's effect on the standard of living within the United States varies drastically. I do not think that it is possible to say definitively whether or not their practices are positive or negative when it comes to the effect they have on the standard of living, however, we can measure their effect based on what has been seen in the time they have been open and attempt to foresee a trend.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest retailer. It's the world's largest company--bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of goods last year. It sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its own category of general merchandise and groceries, Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals.Wal-Mart wields its power for just one purpose: to bring the lowest possible prices to its customers.Deenu Parmar presents the fact as people will still continue shopping at Walmart without being concerned about their policies for their employees.Wal-Mart is a success because it sells products that people want to buy at low prices, satisfying customer's wants and needs. However, Wal-Mart critics argue that Wal-Mart's lower prices draw customers away from other smaller businesses, hurting the community.Those comments momentarily make me wonder if I am hurting the economy and the society's norms in the long run by shopping at Wal-Mart.Areas of criticism include Labour wages,Relationship with unions, treatment of product suppliers. Although Wal-Mart denies doing anything wrong and maintains that low prices are the result of efficiency.I have researched few points as a consumer through which i can argued against Deenu Parmar's statement.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    We all want to do what is best for our families, our friends, ourselves and our country. However, our nation’s number one corporation is under constant ridicule for being a negative part of the American way. Wal-Mart is the overall number one on the fortune 500, over taking Exxon Mobile after a one year slip to the number 2 spot. However Wal-Mart is constantly being ridiculed by media and everyday citizens, its employees included. These opinions are often brought forth because of four major issues; the pay and benefits packages of Wal-Mart employees, the quality and buying of their goods from China, big box corporation killing local businesses ,and Wal-Mart taking jobs away and not creating new, stronger jobs .To answer each question I will use research from many different mediums, financial statements, and my personal experience as a three year Wal-Mart employee, and present facts and numbers that would be crucial in making an educated decision, following this information I will present what I believe is strong and weak about Wal-Marts current way of doing business, and then offer my solutions to answer these questions and answer the big question. Is Wal-Mart good or bad for America?…

    • 6224 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Despite what Lindsey said, I believe that Wal-Mart is contributing to the damage of this economy. By making the prices so low, Wal-Mart has to lower the salaries of its workers to make a profit. The employee has to work more hours for less money. That’s why I believe that Wal-Mart is not good for America.…

    • 56 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Case for Walmart

    • 989 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Is Wal-mart the ideal store to shop it? Austrian economic and business professional Karen De Coster and banker Brad Edmonds believe that Wal-mart improves the lives of people in rural areas because it gives them access to a lifestyle that they would not have if Wal-mart did not exist.…

    • 989 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart is good for America because of where our economy is at and the fact that we are in a recession. Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the world and it lures customers there way. They have hundreds of stores all over the world including China, where most of there products are made. It is also known that Wal-Mart is a one stop shopping center which means that you could buy anything all under one roof. China is new economics frontier. In China, most of the workers average twenty five cents an hour with just one break a day. In order for this retailer to be so successful, they usually export out cotton for China in return for clothing. America has cheap materials that they need to make the products that the retailer wants. The founder of Wal-Mart which was Sam Walton died in 1992. Most of Wal-Mart products are foreign. They tend to destroy competitors and it puts there competitors in the dust and they can’t keep up with them. To some people, they think that Wal-Mart shouldn’t be able to get products in like this but in reality, this is legal and Wal-Mart had made a plan and it has been successful for years. Wal-Mart products are always on high demand so the makers in China are always employed and busy despite what they are making. The quality of what China makes is not always on the high end side, but at least is passes the worlds standards. From my perspective, China gives our economy a boost and it is helping out many Americans live there every day life. Since Wal-Mart has partnership with China, it gives China as a country more jobs so they have less unemployment there. With Wal-Mart ahead of most retailers, it gives a chance for target and such stores to find new opportunities to make there business grow. They have made trillions of dollars. In most cases, Wal-Mart was the most admired retail store in the world because of what products they offer and they stand behind there low prices and its a convient store for…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Is Wal-Mart Good for America? I feel Wal-Mart is not only good for America, it is great. Wal-Mart is the place to shop for all your needs over a wide variety of items. Besides the huge variety, Wal-Mart offers their products at everyday low prices. Wal-Mart is a haven for families who struggle to make ends meet, by giving them affordable deals they cannot find anywhere else.…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    July 2nd, 1962 Sam Walton opened the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas. Walmart is a name that is commonly known in every household across the United States of America. It’s right around the corner to nearly all Americans and a haven for bargain hunters, so people think. Walmart brings jobs and helps the economy when they move to the area. This is another misconception Walmart wants you to believe. Walmart actually is doing the exact opposite. Sure it creates jobs, poverty level paying jobs with less than forty hours a week and no benefits. People who own and operate their own businesses, who actually stimulate their local economy, are at risk for going bankrupt and losing everything they have. Why would people want to spend money when they can get a similar product at Walmart for half the cost? There’s a simple answer to that question, people don’t want to spend money they don’t have to. Millions of people in the United States are living paycheck to paycheck working minimum wage jobs. These people can’t afford to buy products from a local family run store. The only places they’re able to go and get everything they need is Walmart and other big box businesses who can offer cheap…

    • 1896 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Its size, power, and low prices are what make Walmart so helpful to America. So why do some people think that Walmart is so bad for American people? (Found in Walmart Nation packet, which was given in class) Many people believe that this is a true debate. Everyone has his or her own point of view. If you think about it, is Walmart really good for America? Walmart has made many changes since it was first opened in 1962, by Sam Walton. By the end of 2003, there were 2,551 Walmart stores in the U.S. and this is all including supercenters, Sam's Club's and the famous neighboring markets.(Found in Walmart Nation packet, which was given out in class) After going over all the facts, Walmart is good for America.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart has long been a staple in our economy. The store has allowed us to perform most of our shopping in one convenient location, thus cutting down the amount of time required to perform our shopping compared to going all over town to shop for what we need on day to day basis. Lately, people have been arguing whether Wal-Mart is actually beneficiary or not to the economy, and about the way it treats its employees. One such group calls its self the Wal-Mart Watch and they are a group of widespread individuals that share common views on how Wal-Mart is harmful to the economy and how badly it treats its employees. On the other hand there are people who practically beg Wal-Mart to come to their town and build a shopping…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Walmart Business Ethics

    • 2051 Words
    • 9 Pages

    With their low prices and ubiquitous presence, the company has attracted millions of customers looking to save money in America, and Walmart has now successfully expanded their stores beyond the U.S. into 14 other countries. (walmartstores.com) A very aggressive corporate strategy has made Walmart one of the most successful businesses in the world, but at what cost? As of today, there are many people who view Walmart as a tyrannical, money-hungry bully, and they do little to counter those views. Yes, they provide financial support to charities, pour money into organizations that help low-income communities, and have even given generously to countries that have undergone natural disasters. However, a multi-billion dollar company giving away money and saying it does good work is not very sincere, nor is it convincing.…

    • 2051 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The good Wal-Mart Seglin describes as thrifty, industrious and offer fair deals. They serve society and due to their exceptional distribution system, pass along gains to everyone. The company employs insightful managers who “democratize the American dream”. The company spurs productivity and helps fight inflation. The good one is “Americas most admired company” (Seglin, 2004).…

    • 1970 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    One Nation under Wal-Mart

    • 1627 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Wal-Mart’s buying power and cost-saving efficiencies force local rivals out of business, thus costing jobs, disrupting communities, and injuring established business districts.…

    • 1627 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    None

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    * Firstly, people receive a significant financial benefit from Walmart such as investors receive dividends, consumers receive low prices. Besides, Walmart also creates many jobs for employees and many businesses benefit for its suppliers. In the other hand, Walmart also create communities benefit such as tax-paying corporate citizens.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays