Wal-mart: the challenge of managing relations

1. BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY
Assignment on
WAL-MART: THE CHALLENGE OF MANAGING
RELATIONS
NAME- ARCHIKA SINGH
ROLLNO. – 19DM047
SECTION-A
SUBMITTED TO:
DR. NAVIN SHRIVASTAVA

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The case discusses about perhaps the biggest retailer on the planet, WAL-MART. In 2018, it made
sales of more than $501,000. It has about 1.9 million workers all around the globe. The Company
was begun by Sam Walton in 1945, which continued developing into the brand that we know
today. In the present situation Wal-Mart has around 2640 rebate stores, 2396 supercentre, 670
Sam's Clubs and 435 neighbourhood markets, just in the United States.
Wal-Mart uses a key strategy of providing the customers with a large variety of good quality
products and services at an affordable price. They place high importance on the belief belief that
it wants to embrace and reward things like integrity, diversity and mutual respect for individuals.
Wal-Mart flourishes with three convictions that are extremely essential, it makes progress toward
perfection, it places high regards for each person and fantastic services to the client. Wal-Mart
satisfies these convictions just as it was assessed that by utilizing Wal-Mart a normal buyer would
spare around $100,000 billion every year. Wal-Mart likewise turned into the main retailer that
showed up on the Fortune 500 rundown in the year 2005. It recorded offers of over $300 Billion
that year. In 2006 Wal-Mart came in second, after Exxon Mobile. The benefits for the organization
rose about 13% to more than $10 Billion and the business additionally rose by 10%. Aside from
being the second on Fortune 500's rundown, the organization was additionally named as the "Most
Admired Company in America" in two successive years for example 2003 and 2004. In 2005 Wal-
Mart slipped few places and came in fourth after brands like Starbucks, General Electric and Dell.
In 2006, it slipped much further down the stepping stool and came in at the twelfth spot.

3. Wal-Mart is the greatest retailer on the planet as well as the organization that utilizes the biggest
number of individuals. Concerning the enthusiasm of partner bunches that comprised of clients
and financial specialists, Wal-Mart showed itself to be powerful.
For this situation we talk about that different issues that were looked by Wal-Mart in past and we
likewise take a gander at the present circumstance of Wal-Mart through alternate points of view,
for example, that of government, workers, stakeholders, and so forth. The case examines different
ethical issues that included different stakeholders of Wal-Mart shifting on a ton of components,
for example, working condition and separation to foreigners.
It additionally deals with different indictments forced on it by the Environmental Protection Act,
because of its demonstration of infringement of laws concerning the nature of air at different areas
all through the city. The case additionally talked about the various advances taken by Wal-Mart to
handle these charges forced upon it and attempts to improve the evil notoriety that it had as of late
picked up among its stakeholders by executing systems, for example, vitality preservation
measures, giving gifts, reusing and giving supplies in type of debacle help reserves

4. Q1.) Evaluate how Wal-Mart has ranked and responded to
various stakeholders.
Ans) The stakeholders for Wal-Mart can be partitioned into two noteworthy classes for example
Essential Stakeholders and Secondary Stakeholders. The essential stakeholders include investors,
shoppers and contenders. The optional stakeholders comprise of workers, providers and the
network. The positions of the investors likewise are
1) Investors/Shareholders-This is the gathering that Wal-Mart puts over its need list. Its needs
the financial specialists who are chiefly intrigued by the benefits from the organization and who
need Walmart to make the most benefit while spending minimal measure of cash. This prompts an
expansion in the gaining per share. Walmart limits the expense by commanding the providers and
limiting the wages. Walmart's essential target is to make benefits, on the grounds that without
benefits there would be no business by any stretch of the imagination.
2) Consumers-When we take a gander at any buyer, they need items and administrations at
low cost and at great quality. Walmart effectively satisfies this reason by furnishing the customers
with products at low cost by keeping up its low costs nonexclusive system. Walmart addresses the
intrigue that clients have as stakeholders. The essential explanation behind the notoriety of the
organization is on the grounds that it gives merchandise at low costs.

5. 3) Competitors-Walmart has an upper hand because of the market size and the low costs it
puts. The organization organizes at vanquishing the contenders to remain ahead in the market.
4) Employees-Any worker in an organization searches for two essential things, great wages
and employer stability. The reason workers are positioned low as far as need is on the grounds that
Walmart is more centered around making benefits than on dealing with its representatives.
Walmart makes benefit by cutting costs at every possible opportunity and that incorporates cutting
the compensation of the workers. Accordingly, the enthusiasm of workers isn't very much kept up.
5) Suppliers-Walmart being over the chain in their market does not give any accentuation to
the providers. They realize that they are over the chain and subsequently the providers would need
to work with them to sell their items and thus they persecute the providers to get the most advantage
for themselves.

6. Q2.) Why do you think Wal-Mart had the recent number of
ethical issues that have been in the news almost constantly?
Ans) If we take a gander at the fundamental motivation behind why ethical issues exist; we would
understand that ethical issues are made when the very establishment of the organization or the
administration at the top level is unethical. The likelihood of an organization with ethical top-level
administration is right around zero. Passing by this understanding we understand that the real
motivation behind why Walmart has been in the news as of late for ethical issues is on the grounds
that the organization was increasingly centered around benefits. Their USP was that of Low-Cost
Strategy. They set focuses for themselves which they needed to accomplish using any and all
means. Their accentuation constantly lay on the way that the organization ought to make benefits,
the closures ought to legitimize the methods. They put accentuation on significantly the clients and
how to furnish them with a low cost so their business skyrockets and they totally overlooked
different stakeholders and essential ethicals in the fair treatment.
The focal point of the organization constantly laid after setting aside cash and making the most
benefit. This was not a one stage process, rather must be dealt with at each level from development
of the stores to its activities. Walmart ceaselessly constrained the providers to improve the quality
and arrangement of their item. Neglecting to do as such they were not permitted to convey their
item in Walmart any longer. Factors, for example, sex segregation, implying that solitary 10% of
the top supervisors were ladies and furthermore that ladies having a similar activity profile as a

7. man were paid generally less. When it came to things, for example, work assignments,
compensation, preparing ladies were segregated.
Walmart paid the representatives extremely low wages, on occasion even beneath the lowest pay
permitted by law set in the nation, they were compelled to do things they would not like to and
were frequently made to stay at work past 40 hours with no advantages. They were denied breaks
to utilize rest room and were likewise bolted inside rooms until the work was finished.
Joined alongside these components was the absence of consideration for condition, no legitimate
tempest guidelines or water transfer framework makes Walmart a reckless business and
subsequently clarifies why they were in the news for ethical issues.

8. Q3.) What do you think Wal-Mart could do to develop an
improved ethical culture and respond more positively to its
diverse stakeholders?
Ans) Walmart could have taken different measures to improve the ethical culture in their
association. Any organization needs to deal with its stakeholders else it dangers losing all that they
have constructed. Some potential estimates that could have been taken by Walmart are-
1) Walmart stores should utilize a particular kind of low mercury light for example T-8 and
an effective lightning framework knows as electronic stabilizer. This would diminish the measure
of vitality utilized by their stores by an extraordinary sum. This vitality could be utilized for
different purposes and furthermore the assets utilized for age of this vitality would be spared. This
would be valuable for the nature just as for the organization
2) The correspondence arrangements that the organization pursues ought to be changed. There
ought to be a smooth progression of data in the organization between the supervisors and the
workers. They could cause groups for this particular reason with the goal that the representatives
to don't feel disregarded. This would improve the work confidence of the representatives and
furthermore any issue that they face could be settled.

9. 3) In the examination we saw that the organization was in the news a great deal since it didn't
generally hold fast to the laws set by the administration. This has a negative effect on the notoriety
of the organization just as on the stakeholders related with the organization. An organization with
terrible notoriety will bit by bit lose any business coming its direction. Holding fast to laws sets a
genuine model for different organizations and furthermore boos the spirit and trust of the
stakeholders.

10. Q4.) What are laws violated by Wal-Mart in U.S? Also
analyse the case w.r.t Indian Laws?
Ans) The various laws violated by Walmart include-
1) In June 2001 it violated American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and was fined $750,200
because denial of employment because of disability
2) In October of 2003 Walmart stores were raided by FBI and 250 illegal immigrants were
found working in their stores.
3) In 2003 a complaint was filed against Walmart for discharging waster water related to
vehicle miniatous without having proper permits
4) Walmart has also been alleged by EPA for violating certain air quality restrictions in
Connecticut and Massachusetts. It had to pay $50,000 as civil penalty.
5) In California, the employees filed a class action lawsuit that claimed that Walmart
continuously denied break meals to workers violating a law in California that stats requires
the company to give a 30-minute break within first five hours of shift
6) In June 2004, a sex discrimination case was filed against Walmart for not giving women
equal pay, rights and promotions.
7) The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed fifteen lawsuits
against Wal-Mart since 1994. Out of these 10 are still pending and 5 have been resolved
With respect to Indian laws, various laws that would have been violated are as follows-

11. a) The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976- The female employees in the same position as their
male counterparts are denied equal opportunities in terms of remuneration leads to
violation of this act.
b) The Environment Protection Act, 1986- The mismanagement of hazardous waste and
material handling and no-compliance to obtain permits leads to violation of this act.
c) The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 - The non-compliance by Wal-Mart in not giving
minimum wages to its associates would lead to violation of this act.
d) The Trade Union Act, 1926- This law states that forming a trade union is legal. Wal-Mart
tries to dissuade the formation of trade unions and it leads to violation of the law