Draft of Research Paper: Wal-Mart Business Practices

Wal-Mart store is a leading retail corporation in the United States. It has diversified business practices characterized by a long chain of business activities. The corporation has undergone several successes that have boosted its operations. For instance, the company was the leading corporation in the Fortune 500 list in the year 2014. The listing in the Fortune 500 list put the company at the frontline of earnings from its activities. However, the success of Wal-Mart stores has been engulfed with a series of criticisms. The corporation has been criticized severally to use the malpractices to its advantage. It has been accused of employment malpractices, workplace insecurity, and wrong product sourcing among other malfunctions. The malpractices have been criticized by civil societies and church organizations. The draft of the research paper aims at investigating in depth the malpractices that the corporation engages in and the possible solutions to the issues.

Wal-Mart stores’ activities are driven by the motive of high-income earnings. This motive always keeps the company non-adherent to its malpractices that force it to experience great external influence (Singh, Hansen & Blattberg, 2006). However, the corporation has chosen to turn a deaf ear towards the criticisms. Most importantly, it has not changed its malpractices, which have been the basis of arguments of the critics. The critics have gone a step ahead to publish their criticisms about the corporation in newspapers (Jones, 2011). The reality of the malpractices is that they greatly influence organizational behavior that is a crucial element in an organization.

Organizational behavior enables efficient communication in any organization ensuring that the organization’s employees are motivated in their working places. Organizational behavior is a tool applied by Wal-Mart Stores, and it can lead to great success in its activities (Deru, Kozubal & Norton, 2010). Also, organizational behavior requires the corporation to favorably relate with the stakeholders in every stage of its service delivery. The corporation should achieve a mutual relationship between its employees, suppliers, the legal environment and the people living around the corporation’s businesses (Basker, 2005).

Furthermore, the corporation has been criticized for its employment malpractices. Employment malpractices revolve around the employees’ employment intake and their working conditions. The corporation’s employment intake has been the origin of the critics. It has been accused of basing its interviewing process with gender and racial grounds (DeMarco & Matusitz, 2011). The corporation gives the whites more priority in their jobs rather than equalizing the opportunities to all the races. The employment procedures that the corporation used undermine the affairs of the other races that are in the shortlisting process. The corporation has also been criticized for ill-treating females in the intake process. Wal-Mart’s management has been accused of ill-treating females arguing that females’ productivity level is low compared to the productivity of males (Basker, 2005). The employment intake malpractices around Wal-Mart stores greatly affect the organizational behavior. Employees from the discriminated races and gender feel segregated by the employers. As a result, the employees become demotivated in performing their tasks. The efficiency of the corporation is affected whereby communication within the corporation is at stake of leading to the corporation’s failure (Neumark, Zhang & Ciccarella, 2008).

In addition, the corporation has also been kept on its toes because of insecure workplace conditions. The corporation has been criticized for not ensuring that employees are not guaranteed of their security. The corporation only puts into interest the security of the corporation as a whole. For instance, the corporation has been making workers to work in areas that are dangerous to their health without safety clothing. Therefore, insecure working conditions have led to the decline of organization behavior. The motivation of the workers has declined, and this has in one way affected the worker’s affairs (Basker, 2005).

Harsh working conditions for the employees of Wal-Mart have been experienced though the low wages that the workers have been paid by the corporation’s management. The workers have been frequently seeking for an increase in their pay with no results. The management of Wal-Mart stores aims at ensuring that it maximizes on its earnings. Therefore, it becomes hesitant to increase the pay of the employees. The employees in the corporation have been demotivated by the hesitant nature of the management. The employees have been exposed to harsh conditions in their part time hours whereby they enjoy few benefits (Henderson, 2009). The fact that the corporation has the ability to ensure that the workers’ pay and benefits have been corrected is high because it has the power and influence to do so. However, the corporation goes against its abilities. Consequently, organizational behavior is threatened through the harsh working relationship between the workers and the corporation’s management.

Working conditions have also been threatened through the abuse of immigrants. Immigrants were discriminated, and their basic rights were abused. The abuse of the immigrants’ rights portrayed racial segregation within the corporation. Racial segregation in the corporation ate away organizational behavior whereby the workers in the corporation felt disregarded by the management (Santhosh, 2011). In return, an unfriendly relationship is developed between the whites and other races. The other races are demotivated and do not perform their tasks as required. They also become a barrier in the corporation’s communication because their ideas are not taken into account. Therefore, organizational behavior is highly threatened.

The corporation has also received criticism due to its anti-union behavior. The corporation has been the main barrier to the employees’ right of joining union. The corporation fires any worker who shows interest in any trade union. Trade unions have been the main bodies that have been pushing for the worker’s rights in the USA. Therefore, workers attached to the trade unions had the power to demand their rights. However, not a single employee in Wal-Mart was granted the right to join the unions. The harsh working condition could not be fought against in the corporation (Chan, 2011). Workers were left with no option rather than to work in the corporations with the harsh working conditions. Civil society’s efforts to fight for the workers’ rights to join the trade unions were futile because the corporation has power and influence over the external influences. Workers are exploited easily by the corporation because there is no trade union that fights for their rights. The anti-union behavior of the corporation’s management leads to the decline of application of organizational behavior in the organization. Trade unions often boost organizational behavior in an organization. Presence of trade unions influences the availability of frequent communication flow because the workers of the organization are ready to present their issues through the trade unions (Santhosh, 2011). Therefore, absence of the trade unions leads to delayed communication in the corporation, hence, affecting organization behavior. 

Discrimination in the corporation has also been extended to the level of lack of worker’s respect. The workers in Wal-Mart Stores are never given the respect they deserve. They are exploited by the corporation’s management in order to increase the corporation’s earnings. Workers go to an extent of working overtime hours for no pay (Santhosh, 2011). In addition, the harsh working conditions have been a major symbol of lack of respect to the workers. The corporation’s management prioritizes its profit earning motive over the workers’ respect. Lack of respect by the corporation’s management has led to consistent boycotts among the workers (Fishman, 2006). It derails the motivation of the workers, hence, affecting organization behavior. In fact, lack of respect in the corporation may lead to diminishing of favorable working relations. Therefore, organizational behavior is completely threatened. As a result of the disrespect, the workers initiated a common organization that would fight for their respect and dignity at work (Basker, 2005). They named it as Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart (OUR Wal-Mart).

Wal-Mart Stores has also been criticized for the discrimination of the disabled persons at work. The disability in the corporation is never granted their rights and privileges at the workplace. The corporation’s management takes advantage of their nature and mistreats them. The disabled persons’ privileges are never granted to them in the corporation. Civil societies have heavily criticized the corporation for the misdeeds to the disabled persons. The civil society has even gone a step further to file lawsuits in court to ensure that the disabled rights in the corporation are adhered (DeMarco & Matusitz, 2011). For instance, a civil society, the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had filed a case against Wal-Mart Stores whereby the corporation had fired a disabled worker. The corporation had denied William Clerk, an intellectually disabled employee at Rockford Wal-Mart Stores, his right as a disabled person. The corporation had no basis whatsoever to fire William Clerk who had his rights (Santhosh, 2011). The reason why the corporation fired Clerk was to maximize the corporation’s success expectations. The firing process of Clerk was not that easy (Basker, 2005). The management of the business began claiming that Clerk had been showing performance issues. He was frequently accused of not adhering to the corporation’s working standards whereby at the end they fired him. Justice was granted to the worker whereby a pay of three hundred and sixty three thousand dollars was paid to the civil society so that it can drop its lawsuits. The harassment of the disabled was a total violation of organizational behavior protocol. Therefore, the integration of organizational behavior in the corporation was made impossible (Neumark, Zhang & Ciccarella, 2008).

Wal-Mart Stores has also been criticized for management policy issues. The corporation has been overlooking management policies that look into the affairs of the workers’ security. Workers have been working with the absence of security policies that motivate them in their working (Deru, Kozubal & Norton, 2010). For instance, the workers work in their places with no protective clothing. In addition, the corporation has no basic security measures that safeguard the worker’s issues. For instance, the corporation lacks insurance measures for its workers. The absence of these measures makes the workers feel insecure, and as a result, organizational behavior is affected in a negative way (Santhosh, 2011). The workers develop a negative attitude towards the work that they are doing, hence, the interaction between the employees and the management is weakened.

Foreign product sourcing policies of the corporation have also been another basis of criticism from the critics on the company. The corporation has had exploitative policies that have affected the foreign product sourcing. The US government had simplified the foreign product sourcing process by minimizing the procedures and barriers involved in the sourcing (Singh, Hansen & Blattberg, 2006). Due to the simplification, the corporation was placed at a better capability of sourcing a variety of resources for its development. However, Wal-Mart Stores took advantage of the loose nature of foreign product sourcing. The corporation exploited the weak foreign supplied and underpaid them for their supplies.

In addition, the foreign product sourcing policies regarding the product’s liability and insurance threaten the foreign suppliers. The corporation overlooks the policies and makes the burden of product liability and insurance to lie on the supplier’s side (Santhosh, 2011). Moreover, the corporation looks into its own interest taking an advantage over the foreign suppliers. As a result, the positive relationship that could have been created between the corporation and the supplier is never achieved. Therefore, organization’s behavior is affected greatly. The supplier feels disfavored by the corporation and his or her ability to freely socialize with the corporation is affected. Consequently, organizational behavior as a tool to foster the corporation’s success is undermined (Neumark, Zhang & Ciccarella, 2008).

The issues presented by the critics on the discrimination and malpractices of Wal-Mart Stores can be sorted out to ensure a favorable environment between the corporation and its stake holders. The solutions to the malpractices can be an accelerating factor for the corporation’s success (Jones, 2011). The corporation’s malpractices turn away stakeholders who could contribute significantly to the success of the corporation. In addition, the solution to the malpractices could solve the corporation’s ability to integrate with organizational behavior. Consequently, the corporation is placed at a better position to benefit from the advantages of organizational behavior as an organization’s success tool.

The general solution of the malpractices within Wal-Mart Stores is the cultivation of ethics within the corporation’s management. Ethics is the study of moral values within a social setting that ensures that the relation of different stakeholders in the setting is favorable and friendly (Tippett, 2011). Ethics within the corporation’s management could help to solve all the malpractices within the corporation. Moreover, ethics could help in ensuring that the management is mindful of its stakeholders rather than making the corporation to be more considerate of its own affairs. Ethics creates a favorable environment for the smooth running of the corporation. The corporation is able to achieve its targets much easily because the mood barriers that its stakeholders have created could have been eliminated.

Cultivation of ethics in the corporation is a lasting solution if the management upheld the ethics. The upholding of ethics is a target of the corporation when the management learns the importance and benefits of ethics. The management should see the light for this solution to work (Tippett, 2011). As a result of cultivation and upholding of ethics in the corporation, the attainment of organizational behavior is made easier because there will be creation of a friendly environment in which the stake holders van freely socializes. As a result, the stakeholders will feel free to present the issues affecting the performance of the corporation (Fishman, 2006). Organizational behavior as a tool of success in the corporation would be applied in terms of idea generation because ethics upholding would motivate the stakeholders to come up with the ideas. Consequently, the corporation will grow in a diversified way due to the socialization and generation of new ideas of the corporation stakeholders.

Discrimination is another malpractice that ought to be solved hastily. Most of the malpractices in the corporation are forms of discrimination. Formulation of non-discrimination policies is a lasting solution to evade the discrimination practice of the corporation. The non-discrimination policies would improve the internal working environment of the corporation (Chan, 2011). The internal wrangles in the corporation such as worker’s strikes would be made easy to solve because there would be minimal malpractices to solve. This solution is boosted by the initialization of the equal treatment policy of workers. The equal policy would help to solve the racial and gender discrimination malpractices. All the races would be guaranteed an equal opportunity to participate in the corporation’s activities (Fishman, 2006). In addition, initialization of the same treatment policies should be considerate of the various cultures of different races. The appreciation of the cultures would help reduce discrimination in the corporation. Workers would feel free to practice any of their cultural practice while still in the corporation. Moreover, the beliefs of the respective workers would be maintained (Tippett, 2011).

Non-discrimination policies would help to promote organizational behavior. The policies would break the barriers that are evident in the corporation revolving around the social setting of the corporation. The socialization of the stakeholders in the corporation would be easier because the policies would make the socialization much more secure (Chan, 2011). The workers from different races and genders would bring ideas that are much important to the corporation more readily. The diversified pool of ideas would be a benefit of organizational behavior whereby the corporation would succeed in a great way.

Trade unions are also a crucial solution to the malpractices in the corporation. The loosening of the corporation’s tight rules on the non-union allowance of its workers would help in detecting the malpractices in the corporation. Furthermore, the corporation would be kept alert on any malpractice that a single member in the corporation commits (Fishman, 2006). Therefore, the solution of the malpractices would be made much easier with the availability of trade unions in the corporation.

Trade unions would also boost the corporation’s organizational behavior. Trade unions are social groups that give their views on the workers’ welfare. The ideas generated by the corporation would be efficient in the running of the corporation because they will ensure the workers’ rights are granted unto them. In return, the workers are motivated, and the attainment of the organizational behavior in the corporation is easier (Singh, Hansen & Blattberg, 2006). It is for a reason that the workers would feel more comfortable socializing with the corporation’s management because of the security of the trade unions. As a result, the workers contribute in issues reporting to the management and the generation of the business development ideas (Fishman, 2006). The success of the corporation would be realized much easily because the ideas would diversify the corporation’s activities.

Legal interference with the malpractices of Wal-Mart Stores would also be a solution to the points presented by critics on the corporation. The corporation would be kept at its toes to stop practicing discrimination policies to the groups involved in its business activities. For instance, through the successes of the corporation, several lawsuits have been filed against the corporation for its misdeeds (Roberts & Berg, 2012). These lawsuits have changed the corporation’s management ideological approach on the respective misdeeds whereby they accept to correct their misdeed. Despite the fact that the corporation is much more powerful and has the influence, legal approaches towards the corporation would be the best option to counter the influence and power the corporation has.

Legal approaches to the misdeeds of Wal-Mart Stores would enable the corporation to integrate organizational behavior as a tool of success (Roberts & Berg, 2012). This is because legal approaches mainly look for equal and fair dealings whereby no party takes the advantage of the other. The corporation’s stakeholders can socialize with the management freely because they felt secure and protected by the legal measures. As a result of the socialization between the corporation and the stakeholders, it would enhance the businesses success (Fishman, 2006).

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