Globalization and the Wal-Mart Effect

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As globalization continues to increase, the fortunes and misfortunes of some businesses continue as well. Wal-Mart is a prime example of globalization, and of a company that is thriving because of it. Wal-Mart makes it goods and services available all around the world, covering twenty-eight different countries and employing over two million people, a prime example of cultural integration (walmart.com). It doesn’t matter where you go or what you do, you always see a Wal-Mart. That is what is called the “Wal-Mart effect”; they have made themselves available to everyone everywhere. Charles Fishman stated in his book The Wal-Mart Effect that more than half of all Americans live within five miles of a Wal-Mart store. For most people, that’s about a ten-to-fifteen-minute drive. Ninety percent of Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart. In fact, when you drive down the interstate, it’s rare for you to go more than a few minutes without seeing a Wal-Mart truck (Fishman C. 2006). If it wasn’t for globalization and cultural integration the goods and services Wal-Mart provides wouldn’t be so available to so many people throughout the world. On June 20th 2011 the company announced its completed investment of fifty-one percent in a South-African based company named “Massmart”. The entry into the African continent gives the organization a chance to “serve the underserved” (Wal-Mart.com). Wal-Mart’s growth in the United States and in many other countries around the world has not come without a price. Yes, they offer unbeatable prices and may have whatever you need, but the smaller “mom & pop” stores are the ones that are suffering. They can’t compete with a giant retail store, and are forced in to going out of business or filing bankruptcy. This is unfortunate, but many would have to agree, it’s not the fault of a giant company like Wal-Mart, it’s the fault

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