Walmart Stakeholders Essay
Essay 1
Stakeholders and their interests on the organization
Walmart is one of the largest employers on the planet. The company has about 2.1 million employees across all of its locations across the world, according to reports. Walmart has offices in around 14 nations. This implies that the firm has a large number of stakeholders, including top management, workers, clients, as well as investors.
Walmart has approximately 176 million clients who shop in its stores around the world (Hayden et al. 2002). Each of the organization’s stakeholders has different interests and claims. The top executives, including the CEO, chairman, and Board of Directors, as well as other senior officers, are interested in developing good ideas and judgments that will help the firm gain competitive edge.
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As a consequence, their job focus is on long-term organizational strategy and decisions. The Board of Directors, which is chosen by the shareholders, is supposed to act in the best interest of the organization’s owners (shareholders). The major goal for investors is to increase their wealth (Jones, 2010).
Another concern for Walmart investors is to make sure the company has a positive reputation in the community. Corporate social responsibility can help you achieve this goal. The organization’s reputation is vital since it allows it to attract more consumers as well as other employees, ensuring organizational success. Customers claim to obtain the greatest services from the firm at an inexpensive rate. Employees, on the other hand, desire a good working environment, excellent treatment, and fair compensation for their work (Hayden et al. 2002).
Stakeholder’s authority and responsibilities to the organization
It is important for executives at all levels to be able to make decisions. Deciding what’s good or wrong for the company falls under this category. Stakeholders pick methods to improve organizational performance. It’s critical that the correct decisions are made on a regular basis. Furthermore, ways in which judgments are reached should be enhanced on a routine basis.
It can also boost customer satisfaction and loyalty. Managers and workers will be more likely to discover innovative methods of accomplishing their responsibilities if they work in an atmosphere that encourages collaboration and innovation. It’s critical to remember that the business climate is always evolving as a result of contemporary technology. In Walmart, managers are generally in command of decision-making authority.
Employees, on the other hand, might be involved in the process (Jones, 2010). One of Walmart’s most important roles is to push for new ideas and stimulate creativity within the company. Innovation and organizational change are linked. Change in an organization may be obtained through innovation.
The firm will transform from traditional methods of operation to contemporary ones that may assist it achieve competitive advantage in the current market scenario. Employees and managers are both responsible for organizational change and innovation (Jones, 2010). Managers are tasked with generating organizational transformation.
Managers communicate the same information to staff members through appropriate channels, then to stakeholders such as consumers and shareholders. All stakeholders are responsible for creativity, however. The organization’s ability to enhance the quality of its services and products while also gaining a competitive advantage will be dependent on creativity.
Essay 2
How does Walmart Stores organization involve its stakeholders in decisions?
Unlike other businesses, which tend to focus on a single category of stakeholders and make crucial decisions based solely on the company’s financial success, Wal-Mart invites all interested parties to participate in decision making. According to company policy, both consumers and corporate members must be given equal rights to influence the company’s growth and define future product changes for the target market.
The Walmart Foundation claims that inviting stakeholders to take part in the decision-making process benefits not only consumers but also everyone else involved. In a particular economic climate, it assists people choose what is best for them by involving its key stakeholders in the decision-making process (2014 responsibility report, 2014).
What has been your experience? What do stakeholders report?
Stakeholders generally report issues that are connected to their benefit or the problems they experience when utilizing a company’s services, communicating with its personnel, working for it, or establishing a partnership with Wal-Mart. While the stated effect is somewhat predictable owing to the importance of self-interest in today’s market climate (April 1st is no joke for Walmart suppliers), it is still important that those involved consider things from an impartial standpoint.
The analysis of subjective viewpoints, on the other hand, allows for acceptance of a problem’s many points of view. As a result, the method used by Wal-Mart to acquire and analyze the views of various stakeholders may be regarded flawless because it enables every viewpoint to be considered. As a result, all those concerned – both customers and employees as well as business partners – approveof the company’s solutions for addressing a specific issue.
How do the reports of the different stakeholder groups differ?
Customers typically concentrate on the product’s price, particularly when it comes to creating more discounts for different goods, according to the reports submitted by the entities participating in the decision-making process.
In fact, this is a very common occurrence. The employees of the organization’s partners pay attention to the issues that address the long-term objectives of the business; for example, problems regarding financial stability and Wal-Mart’s major rivals are frequently addressed in responses to surveys commissioned by Wal-Mart. The financial health of the company’s operations is also taken seriously by its personnel, who propose ways to improve salaries.
How does Walmart Stores Organization manage opposing stakeholder interests?
Although most of the stakeholders contribute to the growth of the firm on a regular basis and significantly, a variety of claims filed by stakeholders based on their own needs conflict with the company’s goals and requirements. As a result, Wal-Mart must balance various interests of stakeholders involved while also competing in a competitive market. As a result, as its leading tool for decision making, the organization employs negotiation strategy based on compromise (Zhang & Wei, 2013).
How do corporate values and vision affect their decisions?
Wal-Mart’s decision-making strategy is strongly influenced by its corporate values and vision. The fact that the company considers all stakeholders’ opinions is, in part, the consequence of the organization’s principles being put into action. Because Wal-Mart believes that interacting with its key stakeholders (e.g., Davis, 2007) and meeting their requirements are vital to its success, the decisions it makes are primarily based on those ideals accepted within the organization.
Essay 3
Since its inception in Arkansas, Wal-Mart has grown into the world’s largest retailer and supply chain management. However, the firm has faced and continues to confront challenges from its stakeholders and other parties that are highly critical of its business practices and ethics. At the expense of some of its stakeholders, including Robert Greenwald’s 2005 documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, which revealed a negative reputation for squeezing the little guy to acquire the lowest possible price at the expense of higher earnings.
Wal-Mart is accused of questionable business practices, including the Every Day Low Price (EDLP) approach, by a variety of organizations, including community organizations, religious groups, grassroots organizations, environmental groups, and Wal-Mart consumers as well as present and former workers.
Wal-Mart’s stakeholder concerns include racial and gender bias, supplier treatment, product procurement, child labor, environmental practices, and the utilization of government subsidies. This paper will examine some of these problems and offer suggestions for how Wal-Mart may improve its competitive position by taking a proactive approach to cooperate social responsibility.
Brief History and Business model
Walmart is a multinational big-box store corporation headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart is the world’s second largest public company, the world’s largest retailer, and the United States’ and the world’s biggest grocery seller. With over 1.7 million employees worldwide in 2013, it was also named the world’s largest private employer by Fortune magazine.
Employee engagement is identified as one of the priorities for 2018. The company’s Senior Director for Stakeholder Engagement has mentioned that they are working on this issue, stating, “The pay is still minimal, but issues still exist. However, the recent establishment of a Senior Director for Stakeholder Engagement and their new motto ‘Save money and live better’ reflect their new focus on shared value and CSR.’ They have implemented several elements to their business in addition to these changes:
- Environmental Sustainability
- Increases in US manufacturing
- Woman’s Economic Empowerment domestic and international
- Hunger and Nutrition
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Veterans and Military Families
- Ethical Sourcing
But, as companies grow larger and more powerful, they must adapt to ever-changing global changes in technology and globalization. People are more conscious of their options than they have been in the past, which means Wal- Mart must change its ways or people will shop elsewhere.
Essay 4
Walmart is a global company that has been steadily expanding and looking for innovative solutions to meet the demands of its stakeholders. Stakeholders are defined as “people who stand to benefit or suffer as a result of a business’s policies and activities, and whose interests the firm must satisfy” in our textbook (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2009).
Walmart has a large number of internal and external stakeholders that maintain it at the top of the retail industry. Each stakeholder has an interest in Walmart that contributes to its success. Sam Walton, the company’s founder, had a goal of offering consumers with cheaper goods so they could afford their necessities. The idea of applying these values gives Walmart’s expansion its framework. Because to Sam Walton’s vision, Walmart has become one of the world’s largest businesses.
Walmart would be the most important internal stakeholder. Stakeholders in the stock market exist, too. Investors purchase shares in Walmart with the expectation of a profit. When Walmart expands and grows, the shares will rise, resulting in a financial gain for investors while also assisting Walmart. If earnings at the store fall, shareholders might withdraw their money and invest it somewhere else, reducing both Walmart’s and its own earnings.
Consumers are the driving force behind Walmart’s success. By remaining true to its motto of “the lowest cost,” Walmart will continue to generate earnings and save consumers money, allowing them to live better. Customers select Walmart over other businesses because they are unable to beat its pricing anywhere else. Customers remain why Walmart is on top as long as they are delighted.
Essay 5
Many businesses have recently begun focusing on the interests of other stakeholders, in an attempt to balance profit with other objectives. When companies focus on stakeholders’ interests, they can avoid transferring damage to investors’ wealth. Stakeholders’ views are often assumed to be the company’s “social duty,” and companies must maintain stakeholder connections in order to provide long-term benefits for shareholders.
This connection may assist stakeholders in avoiding conflict, turnover, and litigation. Obviously, a firm’s primary goal can be accomplished through collaboration with stakeholders rather than confrontation with them (Smart et al., 2002 p17). Stakeholders are people or organizations who are affected by an organization’s activities, policies, and objectives directly or indirectly (Henry Frechette, 2010).
Stakeholders can be categorized as internal (managers and workers) and external (shareholders, customers, and suppliers) (BPP F9 p 14). Stakeholder interests may overlap or conflict. Company board members must consider the interests of stakeholders. They are unable to make a decision based on their own interest or their connection with others organization. When board members have company interests that align with their personal interests or those of another person or organizations, a conflict of interest arises (Anon, no date).
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
CSR has many meanings for different people. CSR refers to a company’s business processes that have a positive influence on society (Mallen Baker, no date). According to Aaronson (2003), CSR is defined as business decision making that incorporates ethical values, compliance with legal standards, and respect for persons, communities, and the environment around the world.
Stakeholders are concerned about the company’s goods and services, how it promotes the potential problems to the environment and local communities, as well as how it develops and treats its personnel. The fact that stakeholders are worried about issues is due to their interests being affected by organizations’ activities. As a result, if a firm has done any actions that violate CSR, there will be a corporate conflict with stakeholders.
The conflict between stakeholders and businesses under CSR has occurred at Wal-Mart. When building the second supercenter Wal-mart store in Champaign-Urbana, Wal-Mart created environmental problems. Without utilizing the correct technique, Wal-Mart cleans the construction site.
When it rains, the tons of sediment that have been stockpiled on the construction site will flow into the rivers and streams, causing changes to both life and drinking water for people. In addition, pesticides and fertilizers were used at the parking lot by Wal-Mart. Because chemicals are carried into the waterways when it rains on the site, animals, plants, and human health are all affected. (2001)
Water pollution is a major environmental problem that requires immediate attention. The simplest approach to reduce water pollution is for Wal-Mart to follow the regulations set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Only EPA allows inspections of Wal-Mart to evaluate their water pollution level, according on certain standards (Lindsay Robinson, 2001). Another method to control water pollution is for Wal-Mart to switch from chemical fertilizer to organic fertilizer.
To protect the surrounding air quality, Wal-Mart confirms with another environmental protection problem by using organic fertilizer. Organic fertilizer isn’t packaged in bags, so it doesn’t contribute to air pollution (Mark Jeantheau, 2006). Furthermore, when constructing their new stores, Wal-Mart should employ mitigation methods such as mug fencing and regular cleaning of nearby roadways to minimize sediment pollution (Mark Jeantheau, 2008).
Management
Shareholders and management (directors / managers) are in agency relationships (Ross, Westerfield, Jordon, 2007). If one party (principal) delegates another person to do things on their behalf, the agency relationship will form (Kaplan Publishing, 2007, p19). However, the principal and his agents might have a conflict of interest. Instead of acting in the interests of the principle, the agent may act in his own interests.
However, because of their own interests rather than seeking for investors’ money, management makes judgments. The agency problem will arise when this occurs. (Kaplan Publishing, 2007, p20). Wal-Mart was the first to discover the agency problem. Wal-Mart has a code of ethics that prohibits them from accepting free goods or entertainment from suppliers, potential suppliers, or anybody else who might influence their business decisions or transactions.
However, before hiring Draft FCB to handle $570 million advertising, former Wal-Mart marketing executive Julie Roehm had received expensive presents and entertainment from the firm. Furthermore, during her romantic relationship with one of the company’s employees (Anon, 2007), she broke the company’s policy and created a conflict of interest for herself and shareholders.
In the case of a conflict, an ethics manager should be hired by Wal-Mart to avoid it. As a result, Wal-Mart can demonstrate to the world that they are resolving poor ethical issues by looking at their criticism. Ethics managers who occupy management positions in organizations must set company ethics (Carolyn Smith, 2010). When supervisors take gifts from or provide favors to suppliers who may violate company standards, they should disclose this information to the Ethics Committee or the Wal-Mart Foundation.
Suppliers
Payable suppliers are those that provided goods and services on credit terms to the firm. Their aim is to get the whole payment from businesses before the due date. In addition, they wish to keep a good relationship with firms and be prepared to receive delayed payments in order to maintain it. Furthermore, suppliers and retailers focus on reducing their rivals’ earnings in order to increase their own profits because there are numerous economic entities between them (BPP, 2009).
This situation is similar to the previous one, except that it’s caused by a competition-oriented mistake. For example, despite supplier incentives for maximum quantity purchase, retailer wish to keep inventory as little as possible in their warehouse so they do not have to pay higher inventory holding costs. Suppliers will provide a discount if the company places an order for goods at the greatest amount (WU Jun, ZHANG Lei, WANG Mengya).
Wal-Mart is a large global chain that delivers high-quality services and goods at low costs. Instead of competing on price, Wal-Mart pressures suppliers to give items at a lower price than market value. (WU Jun ZHANG Lei WANG Mengya). To reach their impractical objective, Wal-mart put pressure on suppliers to do so.
Suppliers are in a bind since Wal-Mart wants suppliers to satisfy their low price by selling products at reduced prices. Suppliers have to shut down some factories eventually because suppliers give Wal-Mart with low-cost items, while nevertheless losing money on each unit sold. Suppliers must meet Wal-Mart’s demands to alter the packaging or marketing approach on their goods from time to time in order to preserve the trading relationship with Wal-Mart (Gogoi, 2007).
To fulfill its everyday low pricing policy, Wal-Mart may outsource low-cost items from overseas countries like China (Charles Fishman, 2003). The use of coordination to maximize profits is one method to manage conflict. This mechanism improves the overall operation of the system over the sum of all parts of its sub-systems.
The supply chain system can be shared with other organizations, allowing for an exchange of knowledge, logistics, information, money, and knowledge. This may lead to a mutual relationship between suppliers and retailers in order to fairly distribute profits while minimizing inventory levels, risks sharing, and improving information sharing (WU Jun et al., ZHANG Lei et al., WANG Mengya).
Conclusion
In the United States, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer and a successful business in the market, providing low-cost goods to its customers. This encourages Wal-Mart to expand its operations outside of the country. The performance and investors of Wal-Mart are linked; shareholders are worried about company performance since it will have an impact on their stock holdings if the firm performs poorly. This paper analyzes why Wal-Mart isn’t prospering across the world.
The primary reason behind Wal-Mart’s current circumstances is internal and external concerns. Internal issues included management and employee conflicts, whereas external difficulties include supplier and environmental conflagrations. These disputes might lead investors to lose confidence in the company and its share price would be influenced.
Because of these factors, Wal-Mart will have a much more difficult time competing with their rivals in the global market and expanding their business to new areas. In order to avoid these issues from occurring, Wal-MArtin should come up with some solutions to resolve the rivalries. So that Wal-Mart can maintain a positive relationship with its stakeholders and investors rather than breaking it.