Take Care of Your Own
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I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart. As an investor, I've considered their stock because it's been a good one over the years. But I don't like the company. I admit that I shop there sometimes, but I prefer to go elsewhere because I think they have questionable business practices.
One of the big ones for me is the way that they have structured their employees. They are not taking care of their employees, as a report shows, with 46% of their employees' children not covered by health care and high out-of-pocket premiums for others. And the great kicker: rewriting job descriptions to discourage unhealthy people from coming to work. Just fire someone if you feel that way. It will still suck, but be honest that you don't want them working there.
Their policy of using many part-time workers instead of full-timers saves them lots of money. Savings they pass on to you, right? Some of that is true and they do donate quite a bit to charity, but did you see the . You know #1, but #s 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are Waltons. Wal-Mart Waltons.
Big business can be good, but in this case it isn't. Many small businesses, ones that are run in the community and support the community are destroyed with each Wal-Mart. More people are unemployed because of the consolidation and their huge stores become monuments to greed in many smaller communities when they close and move on.
You can make money without doing evil. More companies, including Google which lists this as one of the ten credos, would to better to abide by this.
Steve Jones
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Not sure if i understood this correctly but i just had to comment.
will you be taking your business (money to be invested in stock) elsewhere ?? based on their practises with employee treatment?
i know you can make money without doing evil but it will take quite a while for that message to flow through to the bosses and probably also to many of the other stockholders who may only look at this sort of stuff occasionaly or at AGM's (annual general meetings) im assuming america has something similar)
So did you end up buying into walmart?
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Life is far too important to be taken seriously -
Interesting that you should say this as here in the UK Asda (Walmart wholly owned chain) are year after year the UK business that win the employee satisfaction awards.
Interestingly its also a very good stock option as well.
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I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart, but I would caution any belief that the big companies proclaiming innocence aren't just as apt to behave as Wal-Mart does. The reality is that it is fine to have a community spirit when you're small and building, but there is a line that any company passes over where it begins to behave mechanically more than organically. Google will start to do so just as soon as the shine comes off its inflated share offerings, just as every company does, because bean counters will step in to rule the roost. Principles go by the wayside when the investors demand results.
As a small business operator for more than two decades, I've watched a dynamic change in business practices here in Canada (I'm sure elsewhere also) that I find offensive. There are no more handshake deals that can be trusted, very few of the people I compete against pay their staff at the decent rate I try to maintain, and so forth. My choice has always been to eke out less profit for myself, because I've been blessed that I can generate enough profitable work to sustain a good standard of living for my family. I find that passing along the benefits of hard work makes the people that work with me work harder and smarter. But if I had to answer to investors, I'm aware that I would never get away with it.
So, before we blast any one large company and offer any others up as paragons of virtue, we really should make sure what we compare are two companies in the same stage of their lifetime, or the false impression is that scale isn't a contributing factor to management style.
Anyhow, those are my two cents...soon to be reduced to one cent by inflation, taxes and the opening of another Wal-Mart near me.
Frank Buchan
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Steve,
You should take your own advice from your editorial. "You can make money without doing evil." If you think that Wal-Mart is engaged in unethical business practices, perhaps you should stop making money from their stock.....shouldn't you? By purchasing their stock, you are supporting them and whatever evil you believe they are doing.
Shouldn't we try our best to live up to the best of our natures?
Ken Cucullu
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<soapbox>
I wonder why an editorial of this sort would be placed in a newsletter devoted to SQL Server? I have no connection to Walmart - in fact, the jury is still out on my opinion of Walmart. I shop there, but I'm also disturbed by the allegations. That being said, at this point, it's just that - allegations. Nothing has been proven in court.
But I digress. I'm scratching my head, wondering why this editorial found its way into a SQL Server newsletter!
Steve, thank you for your work. I realize that this is a free newsletter with wonderful resources at our fingertips. That being said, I look to see editorials and articles about SQL Server. I'm innundated enough by various political and social causes on a daily basis. I'd like to see a technical and professional resource stay just that.
</soapbox>
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Interesting, one of the amazing kickers for Walmart is the studies that show how harmful they actually are (unless you are a stockholder). They cost the Federal gov't billions each year in health care costs, no other business comes close to doing that. And they found the average wage actually drops in communities that Walmart takes over.
In Wisconsin, a new employee of Walmart actually gets handed a state funded health insurance brochure (BadgerCare) when applying for a job and asking about health insurance. Pretty easy to make money when you don't have to pay employees anything.
Cheers
http://twitter.com/widba
http://widba.blogspot.com/ -
Gee, SS 2005 just came out and your message today is on Wal-Mart. If I wanted another rant about Wal-Mart I would just turn on the evening news.
If you don't like Wal-Mart don't shop there. If people don't like the wages and benefits that they provide, don't work there. If you don't like the business practices of Wal-Mart, don't invest.
While other retailers ban the Salvation Army bell ringers, Wal-Mart welcomes them. Guess it is all in how you look at the issue.
BTW I have read articles about their competitors and they don't pay any better.
Scott
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I'm not fond of WM either, but they are successful because many many customers are, especially in rural areas where for years people have had limited selection and high prices supporting 'mom and pop' business (which actually means in many cases the kids work there for nothing). They responded by opening their wallets.
Unfortunately part of the problem in this country is the employer model of healthcare which is kind of an accident of history (and unfortunately is now entrenched in service availability and pricing). There is no rational why one's employer should be involved at all in people's medical activity any more than they should be involved in one's home purchase.
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-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
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Maybe you should just stick to writing about computers.
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>> Maybe you should just stick to writing about computers.
LOL.
I say go get 'em Steve. I shop at Wal*Mart because of their low prices. Hypocritical perhaps, because I think their staffing policies leave something to be desired, but low prices mean I can take care of my family better than if I pay higher prices elsewhere.
Virtually every non-food item sold in Wal*Mart is now made in Red China. Remember a few years ago when Wal*Mart had a made in the USA gaurantee? Wal*Mart apparently adopted a new policy, "Screw That, We're Buying From China(tm)".
John Scarborough
MCDBA, MCSA -
Nice Pic John, it's been years since I played with the vikings...
Steve, I really have to agree with Brandon - this is a really useful resource, but I get the impression that more and more of the editorials relate to social issues - first employment, employee retention, and other non-sql-server-specific issues, and more recently big company practices, social responsibility and "Evil"... I'm not sure I understand the relevance.
Thanks for the site and newsletters anyway, it's not quite become irritating enough to unsubscribe
http://poorsql.com for T-SQL formatting: free as in speech, free as in beer, free to run in SSMS or on your version control server - free however you want it.
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If Wal-mart is so terrible to their employees, why do people continue to work there?
In market economics, price is the equalizer between supply and demand, and on a large scale, the price is a very accurate indicator of market value. Every employee of wal-mart is free to seek employment elsewhere, so if they decide to stay it can mean only one thing: that their wages (price) are exactly what their services and skills (supply) are worth to meet Wal-marts staffing needs (demand).
If Wal-mart were to artificially raise it's wages, the supply of willing and capable employees would certainly increase, but Wal-mart would gain no benefit. A sledgehammer doesn't work any better than a claw hammer to pound in nails, so to speak.
All the complaints against wal-mart fall under one basic theme: People want Wal-mart to be the charitable one. It should be the benevolent care-taker, and its employees are entitled to its generosity. Put another way, let us punish those who succeed!
Note: I am not affiliated with Wal-mart in any way, except as a satisfied shopper.
All that being said, can we please consider only topics that relate to technology? When I'm in the mood for political debate, I go to http://www.americasdebate.com
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For the record, I'm not a shareholder of Wal-Mart and never have been. I've looked at the stock, never bought it.
I'll also get a little more on topic. This was kind of an outgrowth of the ethics article from last week.
Wal-Mart is a large company and they have more of an ability to affect the market than most other companies. Kind of like Microsoft in that way. And I think, a responsibility to set an example in that regard.
I don't think Target or KMart or other retailers are much better, but Wal-Mart specifically targets hiring older people who need benefits. Target seems to target teenagers and 20 somethings, who could still use benefits, but maybe less.
Lastly, Wal-Mart often kills lots of other jobs. So if you were working at a smaller, regional grocery store, maybe even unionized, and a Super Wal-Mart opens next door, you may lose your job. Also there are less jobs where Wal-Mart and other large retailers exist overall. People don't always have a choice.
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Wal-Mart may not be perfect but that movie taints the facts See http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-11_22_05_AM.html.
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