Wal-Mart’s Globalization: Wal-Martization

Americans like to shop at Wal-Mart because their prices are low. Many Americans think that the products that they purchase from Wal-Mart are manufactured in America, when in reality they are actually produced overseas. The reason why Wal-Mart can sell their products at low such prices is because by going overseas and outsourcing their manufacturing, their products are produced at much lower prices. For example, Bangladesh workers earn nine cents an hour for making clothing for Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart biggest outsourcer is China. Wal-Mart is the largest importer of Chinese goods. They have a team that searches the world for the cheapest raw materials, manufactures, and shipping campaign. What this does is allow Wal-Mart to relocate to a cheaper country, or force countries to lower wages so Wal-Mart can produce cheaper goods. The bottom line for Wal-Mart is finding the way to accomplish their goals as cheaply as possible. They are willing to do this at the expense of the workers in these countries.

One product of Wal-Mart’s outsourcing is that jobs are cut in the U.S. and operations are closed because Wal-Mart can do everything cheaper. Wal-Mart can also have a large affect on companies in other countries, and their demand can force them to lower wages, harder work, and longer hours.

The factories overseas also feature very poor conditions for the workers. Some people have compared these conditions to prison like conditions. For example, some of the problems faced by overseas workers include force overtime, locked bathrooms, starvation wages, and denial of access to health care. Additionally, workers have been fired and blacklisted if they attempted to defend their rights against these abuses. Many workers are forced to work seven days a week for as little as 12 to 28 cents an hour with no benefits. Also, a lot of the work is done by young people, age 17 to 25. Often, they are housed in dirty dormitories and they are held under surveillance 24 hours a day.

I think that Wal-Mart is benefiting from those people that are working like slaves for them overseas and getting paid next to nothing, while Wal-Mart is sitting on top in the United States getting praised for their profits and the work that they are not putting in.

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