Compare and Contrast Assignment: Wal-Mart’s Strategies (Article Sample)

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Compare and Contrast
The book “They Say, I say”, contains two critics who share contrasting notions on Wal-Mart’s strategies towards their employees. The manner in which Wal-Mart treats their workforce is wholly unjustified. Through Wal-Mart’s anti-union protests, minimal wages as well as women discrimination, Wal-Mart as an institution ought to re-examine their policies thus ensuring better living standards for their workers. The fact that Wal-Mart needs to aim at bettering employees lives, other people think otherwise. For example, Sebastian Mallaby who works at Washington Post as a columnist gives a thought that Wal-Mart should mainly focus on improving peoples’ lives especially the less fortunate in society. Indeed, Wal-Mart should ensure that workers needs are taken catered for and provide minimal prices for poor families. On the other part, Karen Olsson attached to Texas Monthly as a senior editor also iterates that Wal-Mart should give employee livelihood the first priority. Irrational strategies of Wal-Mart need to be changed so as to improve living standards of all their workers.
Wal-Mart would rather create affordable products for their clients instead of high-class benefits for their workers. Sebastian Mallaby trusts that Wal-Mart establishment is enormously beneficial to the poor people. Mallaby goes farther to iterate that Wal-Mart’s aid of $200 billion-plus offers “poverty relief” for clients through their “everyday minimal prices” (Mallaby 620). As Wal-Mart stakeholders embark to give “poverty relief” for customers, they forget to initiate the so-called “poverty relief” to their workers. As a matter of fact, Wal-Mart workers barely receive $18,000 as annual salary when compared to $35,000 average annual returns for Wal-Mart customer (Mallaby 624). It is discouraging that even Wal-Mart’s headquarters fail to notice that they aren’t offering relief for their immediate employees. Sebastian Mallaby claims that failure of Wal-Mart to start up new branches, “Americans who are poor will be chief amidst the casualties.” Instead of poor and less fortunate Americans being casualties, Wal-Mart employees are “casualties”. Low prices blind most Americans neglecting the fact that employees are indeed suffering from the norm. Unequal balance exists between client needs and those of employees (Olsson 609). A mechanism should be derived by Wal-Mart ensuring that both parties obtain the deserved benefits. While Sebastian Mallaby had strong notions towards Wal-Mart Company, Karen Olsson portrays conflicting views from him.
Wal-Mart’s irrational minimal wages trigger employees to experience a difficult way of life. With families to cater for basic needs like food, clothing and shelter, workers struggle in making the ends meet for a decent living. In a bid to altering for budget cuts, Wal-Mart force employees to work for extra hours without pay for minimal wages during the normal working time (Olsson 607). Working overtime requires some compensation or rather appreciation for extra effort put at work. Conversely, Wal-Mart takes advantage over their endurance. Employee treatment in the company is not only unjust but also immoral. An employee, a lady, believes that her working tenure will come to a stop after attaining 90 years (Olsson 615). Workers at the establishment keep worrying about their future retirement plan instead of being supplied with adequate funds to keep them going. To safeguard future generations from facing the same manner of cruelty as workers, it is vital for Wal-Mart to amend their policies. Wal-Mart being among the top employers, low pay would negatively impact the prospect of working in America shunning workers from performing their duties wholeheartedly (Olsson 608).
Wal-Mart ought to take interests of employees at heart treating them as their number one priority. Different studies have come to a conclusion that in a span of a decade, almost 2 million people globally are willing to work at Wal-Mart. Therefore, being among the dominant employers worldwide, the establishment has to alter their ways ensuring better tomorrow for both current and future workers. For sure, Wal-Mart has avoided their obligation of caring for their workers.
Wal-Mart’s low wages also affect employees in seeking for sufficient and efficient health care. Most establishments provide medical schemes for their workers. Upon instances of injury while at work, employees are compensated fully to affirm worker satisfaction. Wal-Mart’s medical plan is too costly at approximately $2,844. The huge sum of money becomes a challenge for Wal-Mart’s workers to raise for a health plan with $18,000 annual salary. Workers are therefore forced to make critical decisions of neglecting a health plan in order to survive in the challenging economy. Despite the fact that Wal-Mart is listed top on the “Fortune 500”, their workers fight to acquire health covers for their families more so kids. Wal-Mart needs to realize that their minimal wages affect both workers and their families. Low wages drives living conditions for both workers and their families to be extremely challenging (Karen Olsson 610).
Organizations provide smooth working conditions for realization of maximum returns. In most instances, this is nor...