Wal-Mart: The Challenge of Managing Relationships With Stakeholders

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Categories of Stakeholders
Response to the Various Stakeholders
Improving Ethical Culture and Responding more positively
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

Stakeholders to an organization are the individuals who are affected by the decisions and the actions that the organization takes. Other entities such as the politicians affect many organizations and this makes such entities stakeholders to the organization. Stakeholders are very important to the survival of an organization and any organization should look for some ways that it can use to manage stakeholders in the organization. An organization needs to understand the needs of its stakeholders and should respond to these needs. An organization needs to enhance its relationship with each group of stakeholders. Managing an organization’s relationships with its stakeholders is one of the most complex and challenging issues because different stakeholders have different interests in the organization and the need for each group of stakeholders must be dealt with separately. Each division in an organization can be given a certain group of stakeholders to manage so as to reduce the challenges that are associated with managing stakeholders. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is one of the largest retail companies in the United States and has many stakeholders. This paper will seek to analyze how Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has ranked stakeholders and responded to them.

Categories of Stakeholders

Wal-Mart recognizes that there are so many different groups of individuals who have a stake in the organization. Wal-Mart divided all its stakeholders into two major groups namely the marketing stakeholders and the non-marketing stakeholders. The entities in the group of market stakeholders are the group of individuals affected economically by what the company does (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2009, p.43). Simply, these are individuals with an economic stake in the organization. Examples include stockholders, Wal-Mart executives, employees, communities where Wal-Mart is located, consumers, non-profit organizations, online retailers, gasoline retailers, and other retailers. The entities in the category of non-market stakeholders are the group of individuals who do not have an economic stake in all the activities that the organization engages itself in. These entities mostly have a political stake in the activities of the organization. Examples include labor unions, international retail stores, and politicians.

Response to the Various Stakeholders

Wal-Mart responds to each group of stakeholders depending on a specific group of stakeholders. To maintain a good relationship with its stockholders, the organization ensures that the stockholders get dividends and that the value of their stock goes up. The employees are motivated to work hard and help the organization meet its developmental objectives. The organization sells its goods to customers at a lower price relative to the price of other organizations and also ensures that all goods are readily available and accessible to consumers in the communities where they are located (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2009, p.54). It also provides funds to many non-profit organizations and this helps benefit the community. The organization’s website allows online retailers located in areas where the organization does have a branch to be able to order goods. This improves relationships with online retailers.

Wal-Mart enhances its relationship with employees by providing them with good benefits. This helps improve its relationships with the labor unions. In other countries where the organization has opened some branches, it works closely with public relations firms in those countries to avoid moving backward. The organization also ensures that it follows the laws in those countries. The organization also funds politicians and this helps it expand its operations in different areas. Some groups fight to keep Wal-Mart out of their community and others are quite hostile such as the labor unions. Some former employees also keep on complaining about the organization and its operations. When dealing with such cases, the organization uses all the means that are available to it so that it can win these cases. This way, the organization wins the hearts of many stakeholders. It uses top law firms and top public relations firms to help its cases in courts against individuals and other organizations that challenge it.

Improving Ethical Culture and Responding more positively

Wal-Mart has previously had issues especially in the municipal zoning disputes in the United States. The organization also has some issues with labor unions. The organization needs to change its labor law to one that satisfies labor organizations and the employees. This will help avoid labor disputes that the organization experiences with labor unions. In line with politics in the United States, Wal-Mart is known to fund republicans than the democrats. This shows some level of business and this may have an effect on it if the democrats win. The best thing here is to be fair and to fund any candidate whom they feel is worth their funding regardless of the political stand. Collaborating with all stakeholders is however the secret to managing the stakeholders’ relationships (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2009, p.88).

Conclusion

Stakeholders to an organization affect the survival of the organization. Any organization should manage its relationship with its stakeholders in such a manner that it will satisfy the demands of each group of stakeholders. Wal-Mart Stores inc. provides retail services in the United States and other countries. The organization has grouped its stakeholders into market stakeholders and non-market stakeholders. It responds to the demands of different stakeholders in a way that ensures that the stakeholders feel that their demands have been fulfilled. However, there is still room for improvement.

Reference

Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J. and Ferrell, L. (2009). Business Ethics, Ethical Decision Making & Cases (Seventh Edition). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.

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Wal-Mart: The Challenge of Managing Relationships With Stakeholders

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