Homework 9: Is Wal-Mart Good for America?

Wal-Mart has faced many ethical issues. The book defines ethics as “standards of moral behavior, that is, behavior accepted by society as right versus wrong.” I was surprised by the fact that Wal-Mart is so ruthless to its suppliers. It’s a little disappointing to find out, because they can put a company out of business just by discontinuing business with them all because they can’t afford to lower their selling price by a couple of cents. This is why I do not think that the strategies that Wal-Mart is using are fair. The new kinds of jobs that would be created from outsourcing are all the jobs created in China and the management back in the United States. The book defines outsourcing as “contracting with other companies to do some or all of the functions of a firm, like its production of accounting tasks.” The jobs that would be lost would be all the people who worked in the factories that produced the goods sold to Wal-Mart. Because of their pricing policy Wal-Mart benefits the most. Also, the customers benefit from the price policy because Wal-Mart tries to offer the lowest prices possible. The documentary definitely opened my eyes to how dog eat dog the competition can be between Wal-Mart suppliers. Wal-Mart is just doing what it needs in order to be very successful. I will still shop at Wal-Mart after watching the video. Consumers really benefit from Wal-Mart because they offer a large variety at super low prices that almost everyone can afford. Also it is convenient to shop there because you can get everything you need in one stop for cheaper. The workers of Wal-Mart have not benefited as much as they should have. The jobs offered to people are low paying with little benefits, like health care.