Leading Retailer Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leading Retailer - Case Study Example The main aim of the company is to help people save money to help live better. The growth of the company over the years has been immense. The company pays a lot of attentions to the needs of the stakeholders and helps provide the stakeholders with the desired results. The biggest retailer in the world with over 971 discount stores, 2447 super centres, 132 neighborhood markets, and 591 Sam's clubs in the US, Wal - Mart has been able to very smoothly make its way to the top of the retailing industry. The company is spread over the 14 countries and employees almost over 2.1 million people. The company has made enormous revenue of over $378,799 million for the year - end January 2008. Being the largest retailer in the world, Wal - Mart is faced with a lot of competition and making all the happenings, issues, events etc of Wal -Mart always in the limelight (Money Central, 2008). The company works on the basic values which mainly revolve around the respect for individuals, service to customers and striving for excellence. The management of the company is said to be very efficient and the managers are known to be work by the values of the firm. However the company still faces a number of issues pertaining it employees, each of whom are known as associates in the company. The vision of the company is to become the leaders of the retail industry. This however can only be achieved by ensuring that the customers receive what they desire out of the company. The mission of the company highlights their constant need to improve the services provided to exceed customer expectations and to provide customers with reasonably priced goods of great quality. The company's basic va lues of respect for individuals, service to customers and striving for excellence speaks for itself. Wal - Mart has tried to ensure it reaches out to the majority of the American population and the major customer groups accounting to almost 23 percent belong to families where the annual income is lesser than $25,000. It was also noted that almost half of the customers of the superstore are blue-collar workers and most of the families are either unemployed or elderly (Featherstone, 2005). The Issues: Wal - Mart in some recent reports has been accused of not treating their employees fairly and making the employees work over the shift hours. The company has also been accused for paying the employees much lower than what they should receive. According to a number of reports the employees have actually disclosed the fact that they receive pays which are way below the minimum level of pay that has to be given to the employees. The company claims to give importance to the employee's growth and careers. The company's website claims to provide the employees with a competitive pay, skills development and health benefits for the employee and family. However a recent article in Business Week highlighted the fact that the company has been paying employees about $8.23 per hour, or $13,861 a year. This pay is well below the federal poverty line of $14, 630 for a family of three. Other