The Wal-Mart You Don't Know - Book Report/Review Example

The Wal-Mart You Don't KnowCharles Fishman’s point regards the hidden negative benefits associated to Wal-Mart glamorous look. According to him, many people see Wal-Mart as a savior, source of market, and supplier of goods at affordable cost, yet the reverse is true. In the article, Wal-Mart gets a picture of a venture, which shuns people’s dreams, cuts down profits, and shelters innovators from real anticipations. To explain this, Fishman puts into perspective a gallon of pickles produced by Vlasics that are sold at $2.

97 by Wal-Mart instead of higher prices designed by manufacturer (Fishman 01). In essence, the chain store not only reduced the market, but forced others out of under the same marginal cost. Based on the article, many people lose employment as companies like Wal-Mart providing cheap goods from Wal-Mart. Arguably, Caroline Mills is a 75 years old, which specializes in Yarn, thread and textile finishing materials. Before 2000, the company made good profits and maintained a work force of 2600 people but has since reduced the number to 1200 due to effect from Wal-Mart.

In addition, the company has reduced the number of factories from 17 to 7 with a non foreseeable future. The fall results from reduced prices at Wal-Mart, which creates a competitive advantage over others. Based on Fishman’s perception, the long term consequences of massive sales and fast supply reduces competition while at the same time cutting down producer’s profits. Despite offering a devastating success in terms of brand marketing and great relationship there are damaging concessions directed towards partner businesses (Fishman 01).

This directly affects the economy, which is easily turning into a retailer penalty box. As many suppliers turn into the giant chain store, profits shrink and financial liquidity disappears. In these conditions, manufacturers reduce the number of employees to maintain relationship with Wal-Mart. As such many people buying from Wal-Mart sell away their employment rights hence worsening economy instead of offering solutions.As an economist and future investor, I totally disagree with Fishman’s analysis of Wal-Mart’s operations.

Evidently, the world is undergoing globalizations, which is inevitable. It, therefore, is important to make use of technology and produce better goods within reasonable profit margins. In many instances, companies explain their high prices on the cost of production, which is not the case. Companies like Wal-Mart operate within the limits of Globalization that allows import and export of affordable, accessible and available goods. In this light, it is wrong to criticize its operations based on imports since American firms cannot sustain the supply of over 17000 stores it manages (Del, Elias and Peruta 104).

Undeniable, Wal-Mart runs a large employment base, controls inflation and generates a lot of revenue for the government. Evidentially, Wal-Mart has remained an economy stabilizer for many decades instead of the fluctuating small stores. It is also viable for smaller communities, offers discount and gives customers the privileges of buying goods at reasonable costs. In this light, Wal-Mart is a market and economy savior instead of the negative publicity provided by Fishman. Therefore, few regulatory measures should be in place to control prices; however, further intrusion can result to economic disparity.

Works CitedDel, Giudice M, Elias G. Carayannis, and Peruta M. R. Della. Cross-cultural Knowledge Management: Fostering Innovation and Collaboration inside the Multicultural Enterprise. New York, NY: Springer, 2012. Print Fishman, Charles. Fast Company. The Wal-Mart You Don't Know, December 1, 2003. Web. 6th May 2014.