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

Introduction Wal-mart has transformed the corporate and consumer culture in America and the rest of the world- by focusing on its corporate mission of Very Low Prices, Always, Wal-mart placed itself as a fixture in the everyday lives of millions of people. Fishman (2006) in his book The Wal-Mart Effect shows us exactly how Wal-Mart figures in everyday corporate and consumer lives making it the biggest and most influential company in the world today. This paper evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the book using a sociological perspective particularly on how the author characterizes the impact of Wal-Mart in our contemporary society. Significantly, Fishman had successfully presented us with the positive and negative impact of Wal-Mart both on the business and consumer front. Moreover, to a considerable extent, Fishman was able to show how the interplay of society’s many forces can yield both positive and negative effects. The Wal-Mart Effect Fishman (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 number two retailer Home Depot sells in one year. Rich with anecdotes and stories, the primary thesis of Fishman’s The Wal-Mart Effect is that there is a price that needs to be paid in order to have the cheapest possible 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 take 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 consumers 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 quality of products in order to get the cheapest prices. Furthermore, Fishman successfully showed how Wal-Mart fosters a business relationship 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 through 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 maker 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 production cost would mean sacrificing the quality of the products- not to mention the salary cuts and the ends to which suppliers would go through just 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 wages of its employees, driving its suppliers to lower their employees’ wages themselves and prompting others to make production in sweatshops exploiting children and workers in third world countries, and in driving the mania of consumers for low-priced but products stripped of the product quality that corporations have initially offered. While Fishman’s The Wal-Mart Effect is essentially driven by the popularity of Wal-Mart, its primary weakness lies in its inability 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 provided 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 economy 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-Mart’s goal for low prices is not a simple mathematical formulation- it involves the interplay of the society’s political, economic and sociological actors. According to Fishman, in their bid to get the lowest prices, consumers are suffering both in terms 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 submit to their demands because of the possible change in a country’s economy once Wal-Mart decides to do business with them. Fishman’s audience spans all individuals regardless of gender, age or socio-economic status. This is because Wal-Mart spans all sociological barriers as well- businesses, suppliers, workers, housewives, even the young adults and adolescents are all familiar with Wal-Mart as a part of their everyday lives. Fishman’s 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, Fishma’s 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-Mart’s suppliers and how Wal-Mart has twisted their corporate values in order to adhere to their own. Using simple illustrations, Fishman was able to tell us that Wal-Mart gives what the consumers ask 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 system is the goal of Wal-Mart and it is the very reason why consumers are rewarding the company. While Fishman is a journalist, he offered his viewpoints using investigative journalism means and with scholarly ethics not to go overboard. The goal of Fishman is not to show the myth surrounding Wal-Mart but rather 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   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fishman’s The Wal-Mart Effect does not offer to provide the scholarly or deeper understanding of the success of 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. Reference Fishman, C. (2006) The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Really Works–and How It’s Transforming the American Economy. The Penguin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Press: 294 pages.