Wal-Mart:

But We Do Give Them a 10%

Employee Discount
BY :
DIKSHA VASHISTH
MRIDU BHATNAGAR

S5
S5

INTRODUCTION
Founder: Sam Walton
First Wal-Mart opened in 1962
Global Headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas
Philosophy: Excellence in the workplace,
customer services, and always having the lowest
prices.

 Wal-Mart

operates more than 10,000 retail units under 71

banners in 27 countries. Employ 2.2 million associates
around the world 1.3 million in the U.S. alone.

Walmart

was ranked number one in the 2015 Fortune 500.

Departments

& Services
Apparel, Shoes & Accessories, As Seen On TV, Auto &
Tires, Baby, Beauty, Books, Cell Phones, Clearance Items,
Electronics, Funeral, Sports Fitness & Outdoors, Toys,
Value Bundles, Value of the Day, Video Games etc.

MASS PROTESTS

FACTS OF THE CASE

THEY SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

 Lawsuits

alleged that Wal-Mart forced workers to work "off

the clock" by requiring them to punch out with their time
cards, yet told them they had to continue work.

Lock-in

procedure: Managers would lock the doors after

the store had closed & forced the workers to stay in the
store until all the work had been completed. Employees
stated that they had already clocked out during the lock-in.

Store

managers told employees they could not leave

their positions until the work was finished, and if the
employees could not complete that work in an 8-hour shift,
then the employees must use their own unpaid time to
complete their work.

 Managers

would delete overtime hours from the

worker's time cards so Wal-Mart would not have to
compensate them for the additional time worked.

"One-minute

clock-out" : Managers would use this

practice where workers who forget to clock in after
lunch are later clocked-out by a manager at one
minute after their initial clock-in time. They don't get
paid for the rest of their workday. Multiply these
practices with the staggering number of Wal-Mart
workers and the company could be making off with
millions of dollars that should go to employees.

 Lawsuits

were filed against Wal-Mart for sexual

discrimination with regard to its promotion policies.

Lawsuits were filed when employees claimed they were

also discriminated against in their pay rates. Lawsuits
alleged that female employees received 6.2% less on
average than their male counterparts for similar
jobs. Lawsuits also claimed that female managers were
paid less than males were.

According

to National Labor Committee(USA) 2006 report,

an estimated 200 children, some 11 years old or even
younger, are sewing clothing for Hanes, Wal-Mart, J.C.
Penney, and Puma at the Harvest Rich factory in
Bangladesh.

WALMART: CASE ANALYSIS

HENCE PROVED - GUILTY

Result: GUILTY
On

June 22, 2004, the sex discrimination lawsuit achieved

class-action status and covered 1.6 million current and
former Wal-Mart employees. It was the largest class-action
sex discrimination lawsuit ever to be filed in the U.S.

Results

of an internal audit showed that Wal-Mart's top

executives knew they had violated child labor laws as well
as state laws pertaining to time off for breaks and meals.

The

result of the audit revealed 1,300 violations in which

employees younger than 18 years old were working past
midnight, were working during school hours, and were
working more than 8 hours during a day.

 Charges

revealed Wal-Mart having employees

who were younger than 18 operating
machinery that was dangerous, including
chainsaws and cardboard balers.

One

week audit showed that there were more

than 60,000 violations of workers not taking
their required breaks and more than 15,000
violations for workers not having any time off
to have a meal.

WALMART'S RESPONSE
Associates

out in Front"-Managers agree to meet with 10 rankand-file workers every week from each of its 4,000 stores to get
employee feedback.

Workers

who have been with the company for 20 years would

receive a special polo shirt.

Some

employees received a "premium holiday" in which WalMart would pay a portion of the health insurance premiums.

Wal-Mart

allowed the employees to purchase one item that

would be discounted by 20%, twice their standard 10%
employee discount during the holiday season.

WALMART : CRITICAL ANALYSIS

WALMART'S STRENGTHS
Walmarts

strengths are all related to the size

of its business. These strengths enable the
company to withstand threats despite its
weaknesses. Walmarts strengths for further
global growth are:
Global

organizational size

Global

supply chain

High

efficiency of supply chain

WALMART'S WEAKNESSES
The

[flexible scheduling] policy is designed to force higher-paid fulltime workers to reduce their status to part-time, or quit (and be
replaced with part-time workers), since this would save Walmart
enormous amounts of money from reduced salaries and benefits paid.

Many

warehouse workers are temporary, despite working for the

same facilities often for years on end, they are subjected to rock-bottom
wages, dangerous working conditions and do not receive any kind of
employer-provided benefits.

Walmarts

business strategy relies on a global supply chain to deliver

cheaply made products to its store shelves. This system puts relentless
pressure on suppliers to cut costs which often leads to workers in
developing countries such as China and Bangladesh to toil for incredibly
low wages, sometimes as low as $80 per month.

Learnings & Take away for Self

The reputation of a corporation is developed over time.

A positive reputation can only be earned through open

relationships

Crises can dramatically change a companys reputation

Taking the time to build a good reputation is vital to any

organization

The importance of the Internet and social media

Conduct Public Relations as if the Whole Company Depends on it

Realize a Companys True Character is Expressed by its People.

LESSONS FOR FUTURE

 Ethical

issues Wal-Mart faces are really

not any different from other large
retailers.

Wal-Mart

officials stated that they don't

feel women are interested in
management positions at the company.
Gender biased decisions should be
avoided at all times.