Wal-Mart One of the Key

¶ … Wal-Mart One of the key changes in the 21st century is globalization. This has had a profound effect on retailing, particularly for organizations like Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is the 3rd largest corporation globally, the largest private employer in the world (2 million employees) and the largest retailer in the world with revenues nearing $450B (Wal-Mart, 2013). When a company is this large and has millions of employees, they are clearly in the public light.

Numerous books have been written about the company, there has been enormous media attention, and even though the company is a megacorporation, it must remain somewhat sensitive to the public perception of its operations. The social initiatives put forward by Wal-Mart are often aligned with the concept of utilitarianism and social equity. The idea of the "greatest good for the greatest number" fits well within this model since it seems to be a law of numbers that drives the company's views.

One would expect, for instance, that with 2 million employees, there would be a percentage that are disgruntled, believe the company unfair, etc. The company has no real choice than to subscribe to some of the basic principles of Corporate Social Responsibility -- this is what stakeholders and customers demand of a 21st century organization. Whether the motivation for such is in the interests of the company or the consumer is moot.

The company has no choice but to subscribe to principles of equality, diversity, fairness, and to donate and/or sponsor causes that it can use to buttress its reputation. There is a clear dichotomy in many megacorporations, and Wal-Mart is no exception. In fact, there seems to be two Wal-Marts: one good, one not so good. The good Wal-Mart is thrifty, offers great prices to customers, serves society with a superb model of distribution, fights inflation and provides opportunities for many.

The other side is the company wants to grow even more. This part uses illegal immigrants, is often discriminatory, pays the lowest wages possible, and holds suppliers hostage (Seglin, 2004). Which is the real Wal-Mart? The answer is that they both are real. In a company with thousands of stores, thousands of executives, millions of employees and customers, there are those who are ethical and believe in the initiatives for the common good. Similarly, there are those who simply use initiatives as window dressing to appease the public.

Because the market is so competitive, and because of some of the negative publicity generated regarding the company, it is important that WalMart continues to innovate, find ways of retaining customers and employees, and works to change a potentially negative paradigm into a more positive one. Part 2 -- Madrid Workers In early May, 2013, thousands of doctors and nurses in Spain went on strike to protest cuts in governmental funding of healthcare.

Living in the United States and paying a large premium for insurance, this writer's cultural beliefs initially ask why it is the government's responsibility to fund healthcare to the level it is in Spain, as opposed to sharing those costs with the users of the system? (Day, 2013). Indeed, one is also reminded of the fiscal crisis in Greece and the notion of social welfare.

All of these presumptions color the ethical perspectives on this issue, since they seem to point to a view that the citizen is "owed" something as opposed to working for it. Ethically, who would not want better health care for all; who would want to deny individual needs? However, by the same token, what other programs and issues will suffer in Spain if austerity.