So we got onto the subject of Wal-mart today in History. This subject always amuses me. Wal-mart has to be one of the most hated corporations in the world (Microsoft being the other major competitor). Yet when I think about all these people ripping into it I fall back to what I always think of when the Wal-mart debate rages: they did what all Americans dream of. Think about it, capitalism basically is a pull yourself up into the realm of the wealthy and stay there (the whole the rich get richer and the poor get poorer thing). Wal-mart is all about that. Sure they trample on the little guys but that's how America's economy works.
Incidentally the probably more hilarious thing is while middle/upper class people tend to rail on how Wal-mart keeps the poor poor and exploits its workers and all that I've yet to actually see them motivate the lower classes. The arguement that you should pay more for your food works great if you actually can afford to not shop for the lowest price but I've yet to see an argument that deals with the fact that Wal-mart does well because it's so cheap. It's funny really that the only solution we have is to basically burden the lower classes with higher prices somewhere else to punish Wal-mart. Middle/upper classes won't suffer much (maybe some but it just might mean we buy a little less I doubt anyone will starve) while some lower class folks probably take full advantage of the prices that Wal-mart can force out of their vendors. Now is it a good thing what Sam Walton's Empire is doing? Can't really say that I think so but the company has put itself in a good place. They have enough power to influence government, they control a huge amount of the market, and they serve a niche which would find it probably harder to live without them. I'm not quite sure when they pulled this all off but let's face it, they make more money in a year then most national governments! Last numbers I saw put their GDP in the Top 20 of the world! Any changing or affecting them is going to have to be far more comprehensive then somewhat embittered liberal (or otherwise) idealism.
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Wegs is on Blogger.
Wal-Mart is always an interesting topic and is commonly discussed in my business classes. Capitalism is not about the poor getting more poor and the rich getting more rich - that may be an effect of the capitalism we see....but capitalism is about anyone garnering wealth with certain advantages, especially for those with wealth, with education, and with power. Not entirely unlike other systems the world has seen, but different.
As a company, Wal-Mart is a great competitor. They are smart and getting smarter. While they're strengthening their position, they also have many, many threats. The global environment is rapidly changing at all times and as quickly as it grew, it could fall even faster.
One thought, though. No one likes an unethical company. Even though it may seem like money is the only thing that matters to people, you'll find customers respect companies that are altruistically ethical. Those companies are far more likely to make it for the long haul, and Wal-Mart must always remember that.
True enough that Wal-mart has no few enemies. However as long as they stay above the board they should be able to weather most storms. If anything we've learned from the Enron and Worldcom is that bad bookkeeping will destroy a company overnight.
As for ethics, well that's very foggy thing these days. We like to think we all have good intentions but it's all to easy for us to turn a blind eye to problems of nameless people on the other side of the country or the world.
Wal-mart should be an interesting case study of what happens with a mega-corporation for better or for worse.
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