Walmart: The Employment of Critical Discourse

Matthew Mays
Westminster College

Introduction
Whether we like it or not, Walmart stores are a prominent part of the twenty-first
century. The company was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton and has been publicly
traded on the New York stock exchange since 1972. In the last fifty-two years Walmart
has grown steadily and is now the worlds largest public corporation, the biggest private
employer with over two million employees, and is the largest retailer in the world.
Currently, Walmart has eleven thousand stores in twenty-seven countries under fifty-five
different names.
Given the considerable size of Walmart, its economic authority, and the 1.3
million Americans they employ, it has become a frequent target for criticism and
examination. Documentaries have been made and books have been publishedall with
the intent to spotlight their depraved business practices and disclose the many
controversies with which they are involved. Some of these controversies include wage
policies, the companys treatment of domestic and international suppliers, low employee
morale, and complaints of sexual harassment and mistreatment. When considering the
nature of these issues and the frequency with which they arise, one cant help but
wonder why so many are willing to work for Walmart.
The primary objective of this essay is to identify and analyze the discursive
means by which Walmart communicates to and attracts prospective employees,
specifically hourly employees that do not work fulltime. Attention will be called to the
prevailing ideology within Walmarts communication and how it has become rhetorically
hegemonic through reproduction to the end that power is abused and inequality is
enacted among existing employees, particularly to the point of employee resistance.
The lens through which this analysis is conducted is critical, with the intent of advancing
principled communication and the moral treatment of Walmart employees.
In order to conduct this examination, three artifacts have been selected. The first
artifact is a communicative coalition that Walmart presents on its website: the provided
descriptions of Hourly jobs, Walmart Hiring Center, Working at Walmart, and About
Us. This communication provides insight to the discursive properties that Walmart
employs to attract potential employees; it represents the foundational ideology that
ultimately pervades the organization. In May of 2013 Walmart launched a national
advertising campaign titled The Real Walmart. This was an effort to combat the
recurrent criticism of their company. On the homepage of therealwalmart.com is a short
video that discusses the opportunity and benefits of working at Walmart. The
examination of this artifact is twofold: the transcription of the speech and a visual
analysis. The third artifact is antithetical to the first two as it is a two-part article authored
by Scott Hochberg published on onlabor.org titled Working at Walmart. The article
challenges Walmarts promulgated ideology through examples of employee
dissatisfaction and controversy.

Literature Review
Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is a fairly new incorporation to the field of
textual analysis. The focus of CDA is largely on the relationship between language and
power, power that is often exercised and reproduced to enable some sort of abuse,
dominance, and/or inequality that leverages one group over another (Van Dijk, 2001).
Power in this sense is best defined, according to Van Dijk (2001), as control.
Thus, groups have (more or less) power if they are able to (more or less) control
the acts and minds of (members of) other groups. This ability presupposes a
power base of privileged access to scarce social resources, such as force,
money, status, fame, knowledge, information, culture, or indeed various forms
of public discourse and communication (p. 355).
CDA tries to illuminate way in which dominant forces in a society [or organization]
construct versions of reality that favor the interests of those same forces (Huckin, 1995,
p. 96).
One vital component of CDA is the context in which critical discourse operates.
Huckin (1995) suggests context is meant to include not only the immediate
environment in which a text is produced and interpreted but also the larger societal
context including its relevant cultural, political, social, and other facets (p. 95). That is,
there are inevitable consequences, intentional or unintentional, that occur beyond the
epicenter of the discourse. Moreover, the texts most often scrutinized are those with the
potential to have real consequences in the lives of many individuals. This is essentially
a macro perspective: the way discourse is produced, circulated, distributed, [and]
consumed in society (Blommaert & Bulcaen, 2000, p. 448). Additionally, critical to a
complete CDA study, is the micro perspective: analysis of vocabulary, grammar, text
structure, figures of speech, and the use of textual silence.
Critical discourse is commonly used at the expense of others, which yields the
reality of resistance. Resistance can be seen and employed in various forms.
Regretfully, the voices of those who endure suppression are rarely loud enough to be
heard. In many instances, CDA practitioners are at the helm to guide the efforts of
opposition. Huckin (1995) states that analysts typically take an ethical stance, one that
draws attention to power imbalances, social inequities, non-democratic practices, and
other injustices in hopes of spurring readers to corrective action (p. 96). Additionally,
Blommaert and Bulcaen (2000) suggest: CDA advocates interventionism in the social
practices it critically investigates [and] thus openly professes strong commitments to
change, empowerment, and practice-orientedness (p. 449).

Ideology
Inherent in critical discourse is the ideology of those who seek to obtain and
abuse power. Sonja Foss (2009) defines ideology as a pattern of beliefs that
determines a groups interpretations of some aspect(s) of the world (p. 209).
Additionally, ideology can be understood as a mental framework or a set of evaluative
beliefs of an individual or group (Foss, 2009). A legitimate rationale is that multiple
ideologies exist in a given context or community. However, as it relates to CDA, a critical
component of ideology is that some ideologies have greater advantage over others;
thus they become hegemonic. Foss (2009) explains:

Hegemony is the privileging of the ideology of one group over that of other
groups. It thus constitutes a kind of social control, a means of symbolic coercion,
or a form of domination by more powerful groups over the ideologies of those
with less power (p. 210).
When an ideology becomes hegemonic it seeks to classify and direct others; moreover,
it becomes increasingly critical when that power is abused. In order to maintain
dominance, ideology (similar to critical discourse) needs to be renewed, reinforced, and
defined through rhetorical strategies and practices (Foss, 2009).
For our purposes, it is important to consider the means and tools by which major
corporations and organizations strategically construct and employ ideology. Iren Goll
and Gerald Zeitz (1991) define corporate ideology as the major beliefs and values
expressed by top management that provide organizational members with a frame of
reference for action (p. 191). Corporate ideology exists to serve multiple purposes:
consider the difference between a frame of reference and a means for justification and
coercion. The ideology of top management has a considerable impact on strategic
decisions. While most organizational members have some power base and access to
decision-making, it is clear that in nearly all organizations, a dominant coalition develops
consisting of an inner circle of members (Goll & Zeitz, 1991, p. 193). Thus, there are
the obvious implications and ramifications on those outside of the inner circle.
The paramount symbol of an organizations ideology is their mission statement.
Simply put, a mission statement articulates the organizations primary objective(s) and
reason for being (Kinicki & Williams, 2009); it is the optimal instrument of
communication. A key component of a mission statement is to be distinctly persuasive
the intent being to influence constituencies to respond appropriately, buy stock, work
faithfully for the corporation, or believe that the organization contributes to society. In
view of our discussion regarding critical discourse, mission statements play a unique
internal role for any organization. Linda Stallworth Williams (2008) contends that these
statements are a corporate guideline that are rhetorically designed in order to ensure
maximum employee buy-inthe implication being that employees will have a greater
level of organizational citizenship and thus identify with organizations expressed
aspirations.
Cheney, Christensen, Zorn Jr., and Ganesh (2004) suggest that some
organizations use strategic ambiguity when formulating vision and mission statements.
For example, highlighting vague value terms such as a excellence or creativity or
friendliness (Cheney et al., 2004). This type of ambiguity affords different individuals
inside and outside of the organization interpretational latitude; thus, increasing the
amount of overall buy-in. Additionally, organizing missions and goals are often
intentionally ambiguous since they allow divergent interpretations to coexist and are
more effective in allowing diverse groups to work together (Paul & Strbiak, 1997, p.
149). As it pertains to critical discourse analysis, Williams and Goss (1975) also
describe this type of ambiguity as a kind of character insurance for people who are
perceived as credible (p. 265). Namely, strategic ambiguity serves as an operational
guise to the critical. Moreover, this approach is a useful strategy that allows people to
save face, delay conflict, test reactions to new ideas, and avoid personal responsibility
(Paul & Strbiak, 1997).

Method

The primary objective of CDA is to analyze text with a critical perspective. It tries
to discover and illuminate the features of a given text that are most indicative of the
author/publishers position and ideology. There are a number approaches that an
analyst may assume when conducting an examination. Thomas Huckin (1995) offers a
systematized format to follow that is applicable to the majority of critical text; his format
will be used for this analysis. The general strategy involves two stages. The first is to
examine the text from a broadened perspectiveconsidering the text as a whole. In the
second stage, the analysts perspective transitions from large (text-level) features to
small (word-level) features (Huckin, 1995). The following topics are instrumental to this
analysis: genre, framing, omission, presupposition, and topicalization (Huckin, 1995). A
brief description of each topic will be provided at each stage of the analysis.

Analysis
Genre
Readers of a text rarely begin by deciphering it word-by-word. Rather, most
consider the text as a whole. Huckin (1995) suggests that most texts belong to certain
genre or text type. Typically, there is set of formal and intentional features that serve the
purposes of the text-producer.
In considering the first textual artifact, the provided descriptions of Hourly jobs,
Walmart Hiring Center, Working at Walmart, and About Us, (written artifacts) there
are several distinguishable elements that contribute to the publishers intended genre. A
similar format is followed in each of these sections. They begin with an emphasis on the
customer. There is discussion about the millions of customers who are turning to
Walmart each day for an opportunity to live better (Walmart, 2014). Within the firs two
sentences of each section, the word better is used. Walmarts mission is to help people
save money so they can live better. When creating any type of document, more often
than not, the most important information is placed in the foreground. By following this
pattern, the publisher intends to introduce to (or remind) the audienceprospective
employeesthat the first priority and/or privilege of a Walmart employee is that they are
helping customers live better.
The second emphasis, as it relates to the format of these written artifacts and the
intended genre, is the accentuation of numbers. Any numerical reference is listed as
tens of thousands or millions. This emphasis serves two purposes. The first is that
there and numerous customers that patronize Walmart; therefore, that many people are
receiving an opportunity to live better. The second is more overt in some texts and more
implicit in others: because Walmart is so large (emphasis on numbers), the company is
full of opportunity.
The last element discussed in these texts is the employees. If the most important
information is placed first, then it can only be assumed that the information of least
importance is placed last. Employee opportunity is mentioned, directly or indirectly, in
each of the written artifacts.
With our training and development and benefits, there are real opportunities for
your future. Working here means opportunity for you and your career. For tens

of thousands of people every year, a job at one of our stores opens the door to a
better life (Walmart, 2014).
The idea of opportunity, however, is somewhat ambiguous in that opportunities are not
detailed or defined. It is left to the reader to decide what opportunities are available.

Framing
Huckin (1995) describes framing as the perspective, (angle, slant) the writer is
taking (p. 99). Text as a whole cannot merely be a collection of facts, figures, and
details; moreover, in order to be fully persuasive, they need to be unified toward the
same purpose.
It is not uncommon for a corporation in todays market to convey through various
means that they offer solutions or a particular service that benefits customers. Walmart,
however, frames their text in a more unique wayespecially when considering their
competitors. The idea portrayed throughout the written artifacts is that customers and
entire communities need help. As a result of people needing help, Walmart is doing
something noble by providing goods at low costs. Every day, millions of customers turn
to us to help them live better (Walmart, 2014 emphasis added). This statement yields
two connotations. The first is that millions are in need of some kind of help. The second
is that Walmart is the only place to turn. Ultimately, the text frames Walmart as a
rescuing and honorable entity whose sole purpose is to assist those in need.
One particularly powerful way of framing a text is through visual aids. Analysts
should be alert to photographs, sketches, diagrams, formatting devices, and other visual
embellishments (Huckin, 1995, p. 99). On each page of the written artifacts is a picture
of a Walmart employee whose appearance is neat and professional. Next to the picture
is a caption relevant to their job description. One caption reads: Im saving people
money so they can live better (Walmart, 2014). Below the each picture and
corresponding caption is the individuals name, job title, and an additional caption that
reads: Im making better possible (Walmart, 2014). This added visual representation
further leverages the way in which Walmart frames their textual premise; there is great
communicative efficacy in juxtaposing text and visual communication.
An added element to Walmarts overall framing approach is the idea of
opportunity. Though the meaning of opportunity is rather vague and ambiguous in
written text, a video on Walmarts website, therealwalmart.com, endeavors to educate
the audience of what opportunities are available and what fulfilled employees look like.
In showing this video to a group of individuals, many of whom have patronized Walmart
in the last sixty days, they unanimously agreed that the look and feel of The Real
Walmart video was incongruent with their real experiences with and perceptions of
Walmart. The video features individuals in the following places: coffee shop, health club,
an upscale home goods store, and a library. Walmart is linking good-looking,
professional people with these types of places. A viewer cant help but feel that Walmart
is overcompensating and misleading the audience.

Omission
The initial inclination of an analyst is to look for the aspects of a text that are most
obvious. What are the most noticeable and explicit rhetorical features that give insight to
the authors position? Quite frankly, what are they saying? Conversely, Huckin (1995)

calls attention to the concept of omission. He notes: Omission is often the most potent
aspect of textualization, because if the writer does not mention something, it often does
not even enter the readers mind and thus is not subjected to his or her scrutiny (p. 99).
Both the written artifacts on Walmarts website and the video from
therealwalmart.com discuss a variety of different topics and use diverse means to
communicate their message. There are two noticeable and recurring statements that
relate to employee compensation. They center on the following ideas. First, Walmart
repeatedly declares that working in their stores opens the door to a better life, i.e.
opportunity (Walmart, 2014). The second theme is the amount of attention given to
Walmarts overall financial success; numbersin the millions and billionsare
mentioned regularly. This strategic communicative alliance may lead a perspective
employee to think that (1) since Walmart is bigthere will be plenty of job opportunities
that lead to money. And (2) since the company as a whole is profitablemy personal
compensation will be more than competitive.
Interestingly, in terms of omission, there is one feature of compensation that is
not discussed or mentioned throughout Walmarts artifacts: pay for hourly employees.
For obvious competitive reasons, many companies will not disclose specific hourly
wages. However, it is not uncommon for an organizations job posting to express, in one
way or another, that the company offers a competitive wage. One leading cause of
Walmarts criticism is that hourly employees are underpaid. By conveying the term
opportunity in an indistinct, vague manner and focusing on overall results,
compensation is merely conjectured by potential employees. Furthermore, by not
professing to offer competitive wages, Walmart cannot be held accountable for not
doing so; they have intentionally given themselves an out by not promising competitive
or at least reasonable wages in the first place.

Presupposition
One key component of persuasive rhetoric is the concept of presupposition. A
reason for its manipulative prowess is that presuppositions are difficult to question.
According to Huckin (1995), many readers are reluctant to question statements that the
author appears to be taking for granted (p. 101).
There is power in Walmarts discursive approach to money. Money is an element
that affects every human life. The dominant presupposition within Walmarts rhetoric is
that low prices are indisputably they way to a better life. As an associate, your job is
about more than selling affordable productsits about giving millions of customers the
opportunity to live better. This mission also extends to everyone who works for us
(Walmart, 2014). Indeed, it is a challenging notion to dispute. By spending less money
on day-to-day products at Walmart, an individual or family in turn has more money for
alternative pursuits and financial obligations: mortgages, vacations, hobbies, etc. The
likelihood of an average Walmart patron to consider the greater context of low employee
wages, the livelihood of local stores, international suppliers, and working conditions for
factory workers is minimal, especially when goods are being purchased at a low price.
Given these realities, an employees thought process may be no different if they feel
they are contributing to the financial wellbeing of their community.

Topicalization

The final and most narrow step of this analysis is topicalization. This measure is
a process of studying the artifacts sentence-by-sentence in order to ascertain and list
the topics of each sentence. By choosing what to put in the topic position of each
sentence, writers create the slant that influences the reader (Huckin, 1995).
Sentence topics of the written artifacts
Customers turning to Walmart
Value of our products
Millions of people
Better life
Reach
Making a difference
Integrity
Low prices are indisputable
Greater access to our products
Create jobs

Make better possible

Live better
Success
Save money
Opportunity
Help save money
Profit
Save money
Taking the lead
Live better in more ways

By topicalizing the above sentences the authors position and slant becomes
increasingly evident; these sentence topics substantiate the framework for the text.
Moreover, the topic of one sentence often continues as the topic of the next in order to
reinforce the authors intent. The leading topics among the above sentences refer to
living better, serving customers, low prices, and saving money. Consequently, they
contribute to the critical discourse that Walmart employs in order to serve their own
purposes.

Conclusion
Walmart has not shown any signs of stopping or slowing down; for the
foreseeable future, it will continue to grow, both domestically and internationally. And
despite the recurrent and ever-intensifying criticism they receive, people continue to
seek their employment. It begs the question: why? For what reasons are individuals
willing to work for a company whose business practices are continually called into
question? This analysis contends that Walmart effectively utilizes critical discourse as a
means to justify their inappropriate actions and attract new employees.
There are two methods by which Walmart puts critical discourse into practice.
First, Walmart uses a narrative to communicate their ideology. Narratives are accounts
of connected events; they help us interpret reality and make sense of the people, places
and actions in our lives (Foss 2009). Walmarts narrative consists of a ubiquitous need
for individuals to save money. In general, they suggest that people need a place to turn
to for financial help. Walmart portrays itself as doing something honorable in selling
products and goods at low pricesalmost as if no other corporation or entity is willing to
fill this need. Accordingly, those who are willing to work at Walmart are helping the
cause by giving millions of customers the opportunity to [save money and] live better
(Walmart 2014). It is believable. Just about anyone can relate to wanting to save money
or get a good deal. Also, there is dignity to be found in helping people; it appears to be a
win-win. At face value, this is a great story; what is there to criticize?
The second method used is that of strategic ambiguity. Ambiguity in this context
refers to using language that avoids specifics. Repeatedly, Walmart uses the phrase
live better and the term opportunity. Without a provided definition or further

explanation of this phrase and term, the meanings are left open with the intent of
individual interpretation. Walmart employs 1.3 million Americans and regularly peddles
their ideology through advertisement to millions more. By withholding specific
explanation and providing supporting information through statistics and rhetorical
vocabulary, Walmart is able to strongly communicate their ideological narrative and elicit
a certain response, with minimal exclusion.
Walmarts convincing narrative and use of ambiguous terms are indeed effective,
as evidenced by its growth, financial success, and the millions they employ. However,
as criticism continues to climb and spread throughout the United States and foreign
countries, one cant help but wonder how long Walmarts success will truly last. The
third artifact used for this analysis, specifically to garner contextual examples of
Walmarts improper practices, is an article titled Working at Walmart, published on
onlabor.org. This account, written by Scott Hochberg, spotlights the employee
resistance that stems from sexism, wage gaps, and working conditions. Although these
issues have not been addressed at length in this text, it is vital to understand, from a
critical perspective, that they exist and that millions of lives are negatively affected. The
existence and prevalence of these issues plainly discredit Walmarts ideological
narrative in that many hourly employees are not living better.

References
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(2014) About Us. Retrieved, from http://careers.walmart.com/about-us/
(2014) The Real Walmart. Retrieved, from http://www.therealwalmart.com/

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