Abstract: The purpose of this 2-page MLA paper is to determine, from research, if Wal-Mart effectively manages conflict, if they have policies and if they follow them; and by using examples of conflict and grievance if they are effective. Bibliography offers four sources.
Wal Mart and Team/Conflict Management
Wal-Mart has recently been involved in a lot of internal conflict based on the way that employees are treated; interestingly, it has decided to deal with the problems using multi-faceted solutions. Wal-Mart insists that it is a community-, team- and equal-opportunity employer, that diversions have been local problems and created by individuals that were not aligned with corporate policies. As the world’s largest retailer, it is very difficult to enforce policies and values across the board, but it has recommitted to doing so, instituting various solutions to improve the feeling of fairness and teamwork in the company, on the floor, and in general.
It is very important that Wal-Mart manage its troubles internally – it has strictly kept unions “out” of their stores, and wants to keep doing so, to keep costs of labor down. Their formal statement is that they are not against unions, but that unions are not consistent with their work ethics; when meat cutters in Texas Wal-Marts unionized, Wal-Mart eliminated the meat cutting functions in their stores. Unions say that Wal-Mart severely underpays employees while the company insists they are well-paid.
New job classifications for employees will raise salaries and allow promotion opportunities previously unavailable to most rank-and-file workers. A newly created corporate compliance team of 40 people will oversee new policies and report back to management.
The company also has been accused of preferential treatment of some employees and lack of equal opportunity for others; it created an office of diversity last November and named Charlyn Jarrells Porter senior vice