Walmart, criticized but

above all…
Walmart at aglance..
• Wal-Mart –
• An Introduction American public corporation that
runs a chain of large, discount department stores.
• World's largest public corporation by revenue
• Largest private employer in the world
• Fourth largest utility or commercial employer
• Largest grocery retailer in the United States ( 20%
) Largest toy seller in the United States ( 22% )
Why walmart..
• Founded - Arkansas, USA(1962) by Sam Walton
• Headquarters - Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S.A.
• Products - Discount Stores, Super centers,
• Neighborhood Markets Revenue - US$ 351.1 billion (2007)
• Ranked # 1 on Fortune 500 list
• Net income - US$ 11.3 billion (2007)
• Total assets - US$ 151.193 billion (2007)
• Total equity - US$ 61.573 billion (2007)
• Employees - 1.9 million (2007)
• Slogans - The Lowest Prices. Guaranteed! - Save Money, Live
Better (U.S.) - WE SELL FOR LESS every day! (Canada) Wal-Mart at
a Glance
Operation of walmart..
• List of Assets In U.S.A.- Wal-Mart Stores Division U.S.
(3,900)
• Wal-Mart Discount Stores (1,033)
• Wal-Mart Super centers (2,349)
• Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets (124)
• Sam’s Clubs(585)
• Internationally- Stores in 14 countries outside U.S. (2980)
• Joint venture with Bharti Enterprises to enter
India(2006).
Corporate Strategy of walmart..
• The Corporate Strategy Sam Walton gave 3 policy
goals to define Wal-Mart's business –
– # Respect for the individual
– # Service to customers
– # Strive for excellence Walton’s practices-
• # Consistently stock the shelves with a wide range of goods
at low prices
• # Keep the store open later than most other stores,
especially during the Christmas season
• # Discount merchandising- - Buy wholesale goods from the
lowest priced supplier - Pass on the savings to the customer
Criticism of Wal-Mart..
• Wal-Mart Local communities Store openings.
• Pricing and Competition Issues Sued by many competitors for predatory pricing
(intentionally selling a product at low cost in order to drive competitors out of
the market)
• Employee and labor relations Wages A Substantial Number of Wal-Mart
Associates earn far below the poverty line .
• 69,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees in Colorado had been forced to
work off-the-clock In December 2005.
• Child labor violations and Illegal workers Internal Wal-Mart audit conducted in
July 2000
• Health Insurance Wal-Mart reported in January 2006 that its health insurance
only covers 43% of their employees.
• Labor union opposition Efforts of UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers
Union) to interact with workers.
• Taxes The estimated total amount of federal assistance for which Wal-Mart
employees were eligible in 2004 was $2.5 billion One 200-employee.
Reaction of walmart…
• Sam Walton launched the “Buy American” campaign in the
1980s.Agreed to pay 5% more for products made in US.
• “No Comments”, says Wal-Mart Few weeks later, Glass
returned for another interview, saying he wasn’t prepared
with the facts the last time.
• Even in the situations when PR could’ve helped the
company, the executives faltered. When Wal-Mart entered
Canada in 1995, company officials seemed very unsure
and dubious during a press meeting.
• The Wal-Mart Reaction For most of its 43 years, Wal-Mart
has been notoriously tight-lipped.
Contn’d…
• Wal-Mart does wake up…But is it too late?? “For too long others have had
free rein to say things about our company that just aren’t true. We’ve
decided it’s time to draw our own line in the sand.” - Lee Scott, CEO, Wal-
Mart Inc.
• Wal-Mart’s Benefits Manager sent a letter to New York Times,
ascertaining that the company provided health benefits to its employees.
• Accelerating the image makeover, Wal-Mart increased its political
donations to $1 million In an alliance with NPR (National Public Radio),
Wal-Mart announced in radio shows about being a good employer and
bringing job opportunities and quality goods and services to local
communities Began offering scholarships for journalistic studies in about
10 universities all across the USA.
• Wal-Mart recruited former presidential advisers, including Michael K.
Deaver (Ronald Reagan's image-maker), and Leslie Dach (Bill Clinton's
media consultant) to set up a rapid-response PR team in Arkansas.
• Scott kept promising to tell the real story and
provide the real facts.
• Wal-Mart also bought paid search ads from
Yahoo! and others A basic search on Yahoo!
resulted in a sponsored link to the site
walmartfacts.com saying, “Who drives Wal-
Mart? Want to know the facts? Go to
walmartfacts.com”