Driving Consumer Needs: Evaluating the Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman Essay

IntroductionWal-mart has transformed the integrated and consumer culture in America and the slumber of the manhood- by focusing on its embodied mission of Very misfortunate Prices, Always, Wal-mart placed itself as a fixture in the e reallyday lives of millions of people. Fishman (2006) in his parole The Wal-Mart gist shows us exactly how Wal-Mart figures in occasional corporate and consumer lives making it the biggest and most influential association in the world today.This report evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the book using a sociological perspective inciteicularly on how the author characterizes the relate of Wal-Mart in our contemporary high society. Significantly, Fishman had successfully presented us with the cocksure and negative impact of Wal-Mart both on the worry and consumer front. Moreover, to a immense extent, Fishman was able to show how the interplay of societys many forces can paying back both exacting and negative effects.The Wal-Mart Eff ectFishman (2006) characterized the economic power of Wal-Mart it is bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors and General Electric and rakes about US$244.5 bullion sales in 2005 and it outcasts the competition by selling in three months what the depend two retailer Home Depot sells in 1 social class. comfortable with anecdotes and stories, the primary thesis of Fishmans The Wal-Mart Effect is that there is a wrong that needs to be paid in parliamentary law to have the cheapest affirmable prices in everyday Wal-Mart stores- and this price significantly affects the greater part of the American as well as the global society in that Wal-Mart pushes its suppliers and employees to come upon the negative side of providing its customers with the lowest prices.The fundamental strength of the book is the ability of Fishman to dissect the core strategy of Wal-Mart in lieu with the consumers demands. Wal-Mart is projected by Fishman as merely an instrument in feeding the need of consume rs for very low prices- or paying for something with almost nothing. Even consumers who rejects the cheap prices at Wal-Mart is shown by Fishman to spend at least US$450 a year at Wal-Mart- a proving testimony that consumers are willing to sacrifice the persona of products in order to get the cheapest prices.Furthermore, Fishman successfully showed how Wal-Mart fosters a subscriber line kind with its suppliers and its competing companies- suppliers and other companies are powerless in lieu with the invincibility of Wal-Mart in the retail sector. Almost all companies sells at Wal-Mart- being the number one retail store in the country, companies cannot afford not to sell at Wal-Mart. Fishman contends that despite the negative impact of Wal-Mart on the suppliers end, they choose to sell at Wal-Mart because not selling at Wal-Mart would mean losing their biggest clientele.Interestingly, Fishman provides the readers with an entertaining work by means of the illustration of examples. For instance, Fishman showed that while Wal-Mart is a very powerful player in the retail industry, not all suppliers and companies are scrambling for Wal-mart to sell their products. Fishman (2006) illustrated the case of Snapper, the manufacturer of quality and durable lawn mowers where the CEO had refused to sell at Wal-Mart because of the incompatibility of their corporate values with that of the company.Selling prices at almost the same level of the proceeds court would mean sacrificing the quality of the products- not to mention the salary cuts and the ends to which suppliers would go through besides to meet the price that Wal-Mart dictates for their products.Thus, this leads to the fourth argument of Fishman- the cost of low prices for Wal-Mart consumers is manifested in the very low advantage of its employees, driving its suppliers to get down their employees wages themselves and prompting others to make doing in sweatshops exploiting children and workers in leash wor ld countries, and in driving the mania of consumers for low-priced but products marginal of the product quality that corporations have initially contributeed. musical composition Fishmans The Wal-Mart Effect is essentially driven by the popularity of Wal-Mart, its primary weakness lies in its unfitness to provide a deeper evaluation of the long-term impact of The Wal-Mart Effect on the consumers. For one, the benefits of Wal-Mart to the consumers is not long-term in nature, Fishman however, did not explore this topic. Moreover, Fishman neither provided a business and sociological framework that shows how Wal-Mart is perceived in the greater part of the society and how Wal-Mart perceives its consumers.Wal-Mart has been a subject of many commentaries and success stories in the business world. For consumers, Wal-Mart is like a haven and similarly, the literature has also projected Wal-Mart on all the positive qualities that can be given to a company. Fishman (2006) in his book provid ed us with the good and the bad effects of Wal-Mart- whether it is more positive or negative the author does not say but argues that the impact of Wal-Mart on world markets is very vast. The impact is such that an American eating a Salmon from Wal-Mart significantly affects the delivery of Chile.What Fishman (2006) shows is not just the business side of Wal-Mart but its larger impact on the American and world society in general. For one, Wal-Mart significantly dictates the economies of most countries because of their ability to dictate the supplier of their products. Hence, Wal-Marts goal for low prices is not a simple numerical formulation- it involves the interplay of the societys political, economic and sociological actors.According to Fishman, in their request to get the lowest prices, consumers are suffering both in price of quality and in forcing suppliers and their workers to cut down on operational and production costs. On the other hand, political institutions are being pressured by Wal-Mart to furnish to their demands because of the possible change in a countrys economy once Wal-Mart decides to do business with them.Fishmans audience spans all individuals disregardless of gender, age or socio-economic status. This is because Wal-Mart spans all sociological barriers as well- businesses, suppliers, workers, housewives, even the early adults and adolescents are all familiar with Wal-Mart as a part of their everyday lives. Fishmans The Wal-Mart Effect is therefore more than just an interesting book it presents an open-minded presentation and analysis of Wal-Mart and its impact on the greater society.By illustrating examples, Fishmas the Wal-Mart Effect succeeded and how it had benefited the common American in providing low prices and at the same time, illustrated the cases of Wal-Marts suppliers and how Wal-Mart has twisted their corporate values in order to adhere to their own. employ simple illustrations, Fishman was able to tell us that Wal-Mar t gives what the consumers supplicate for- cheaply priced products. However, he also showed the cost of these low prices- sweatshops, measly wages for its employees, changing corporate goals and driving consumers to demand for cheaper products. Feeding this type of consumer trunk is the goal of Wal-Mart and it is the very reason why consumers are rewarding the company. season Fishman is a journalist, he offered his viewpoints using investigative journalism means and with erudite ethics not to go overboard. The goal of Fishman is not to show the story surrounding Wal-Mart but or else to offer an alternate view on how the company operates and how it achieves its goals. Notably, Fishman was successful in providing a book that covers not just a description but rather a deeper understanding of how Wal-Mart works and how it affects every individual and the society.Conclusion Fishmans The Wal-Mart Effect does not offer to provide the scholarly or deeper understanding of the success o f Wal-Mart but rather it seeks to present a more balanced view of how Wal-Mart strives to give cheaper products to the consumers. Using an easy-read tone of writing, Fishman captures the imagination and the interest of its readers and takes them into a journey of the different facets and strands of the company. Fishman succeeds in providing the details that readers need in order to form their own conclusion. While most part of the text is judgment-free, one is left asking how the biggest company in the world has achieved that much power to change the very society that created it.ReferenceFishman, C. (2006) The Wal-Mart Effect How the Worlds Most Powerful companionship Really Worksand How Its Transforming the American Economy. The Penguin Press 294 pages.