IGCSE: Case Studies: Trans National Corporations – Wal-mart

•        Wal-mart was first opened in 1962 in Arkansas in the USA
•        Stores opened around across the USA soon after and also opened stores in China, Japan, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, India and in the UK (where it’s called ASDA).
•        It owns over 8000 stores and employs over 2 million people

Positive effects:

•        Wal-Mart creates lots of jobs for example, in Argentina three new shops opened in 2008 creating 450 more jobs.
•        Wal-Mart invests money in sustainable development for example; in Puerto Rico 23 stores have solar panels fitted onto their roofs to generate electricity.
•        Wal-Mart donates hundreds of millions of dollars to improve health in countries it is based in. E.g. In 2008 in Argentina the company donated $77,000 to local projects and gave food to help feed 12000 people.
•        Wal-Mart offers more skilled jobs to local people in LEDC’s
•        Local Companies and farmers supply to Wal-Mart, which in Canada created about $11 billion of business per year.

Negative effects:

•        Wal-Mart can cause smaller shops in the area to go out of business
•        Not all Wal-Mart workers are payed the same wages e.g. in the USA workers earn about $6 but in China they earn $1 per hour
•        Some companies that supply Wal-Mart work long hours e.g. In Bangladesh the max a worker can work is 60 hours per week, but the company that supplies Wal-Mart with Clothing work workers around 80 hours per week.
•        These stores take up lot’s of land that would have been used for farming e.g. A Wal-Mart in Hawaii is roughly 21000m².