Wal-Mart and Capitalism

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that Wal-Mart has become a controversial company primarily because it has become immensely powerful and thus relatively immune to constraints usually imposed by effective competition. The paper relates that wherever a Wal-Mart store has opened, the efforts of much smaller competitors to retain a share of the retail market have failed since they cannot match Wal-Mart's lower prices or huge inventory of retail products. The paper reveals that this imbalance enables Wal-Mart to continue to expand, which creates an even greater imbalance that Wal-Mart exploits to expand even further.

From the Paper:

"The massive expansion of Wal-Mart over the past forty years and its current position as the largest retailer in the world have stirred debate as to whether this company's unprecedented success should make it a template for 21st Century Capitalism. Advocates and critics alike of Wal-Mart's business model generally agree that this company is indeed becoming a template for 21st Century capitalism, but they disagree as to whether Wal-Mart's business policies and expansionist agenda are beneficial over the long-term to free market economies."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart." Democratic Staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, February 16, 2004. Online. Available: http://www.edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/walmartreport.pdf. 4 October 2006.
• Featherstone, Lisa. Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart. New York: Basic Books, 2004.
• Head, Simon. Inside the Leviathan. The New York Review of Books, Volume 51, No. 20. December 16, 2004.
• Lichtenstein, Nelson. Keynote Address: "Wal-Mart: Template for 21st Century Capitalism?" Papers presented at a conference on Wal-Mart held at the University of California, Santa Barbara, April 12, 2004.
• Slater, Robert. The Wal-Mart Triumph: Inside the World's #1 Company. New York: Portfolio Trade, 2004.

More papers on Wal-Mart and Capitalism:

• Research Paper # 91785 : "WalMart and Marx"
• Marketing Plan # 146915 : "Recession Marketing Plan for Wal-Mart and Target"
• Analytical Essay # 129825 : "The Darker Side of 21st Century Capitalism"

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