Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Wal-Mart - Essay Example Wal-Mart has experienced heavy criticism at the hands of several groups and individuals, which include labor unions, workers, and organizations that are smaller in size, environmentalist and organizations. During the period of 2006, Wal-Mart was criticized by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy as they believed that the company was paying 20% less to their employees as compared to the salaries paid by employers of other retail outlets (F. Cascio 1). During the period of 2001, the organization was criticized for paying $800/year less than the poverty line set at $14,630 by the federal government (Hansen 1). Before the death of Sam Walton, the company was operating a total of 1,714 and supercenters and Sam Clubs and the organization has employed 371,000 individuals and was earning a profit of 1.6 billion (Friedman 1). After his demise, the number of stores decreased to 1,647 stores and 1,066 Supercenters, an additional 500 Sam Clubs, and the organization experienced a total profit of $6.6 billion with an increase in number of employees to 1.3 million (Friedman 1). On the surface it seems that the company is performing quite well, but with the death of Walton came in issues regarding unfair labor practices and labor unions forming to clash against Wal-Mart. One of the issues experienced by Wal-Mart is in the area of labor relations. Employees claim that they are paid less than the amount of contribution they make to make the business successful. Wal-Mart itself agrees that its wages are quite competitive and it is one way through which it is saving its cost. As a CEO of Wal-Mart, I would have made changes in this corner. Several changes such as better feedback to employees and fringe benefits can be forwarded to employees to replace the issue of decreased hourly wages. In the field of public relations, the organization needs to ensure that a positive image is created regarding the company. The

Local government is better set up to take care of disaster relief than Essay

Local government is better set up to take care of disaster relief than central governement - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that local governments should be better equipped to set up for disaster relief than centralized government. One of the best reasons for this is that local situations are going to be specific to a region, the problems, potentials, and weather and earth related issues specific with how they should be addressed. A good example of this can be seen in the problems that occurred in the United States after Hurricane Katrina struck and New Orleans and the surrounding regions were left at the mercy of an unprepared government. The problems during that disaster were specific and were not relatable to any other region in the United States. The tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2004 is another example of how local government was better set up to respond than the centralized government. Because local governments are in a position to be better set up than centralized government it does not mean that they are prepared for what can happen. The suggestion in this paper is that local governments are in a better position to prepare for regional disasters and should become prepared in relationship with the foreseeable problems that might affect their local areas. Even though the exact timing of a disaster is not usually predictable, most disasters can be predicted as a probability. This was the case in New Orleans as well as in Turkey where the earthquake that struck recently was predicted long before it actually took place. Still, the city and the government were unprepared for the event. The following paper will explore the theoretical concepts in regard to disaster relief in relationship to local governments while examining the some of the events of the last decade that have brought disaster relief to the forefront of concern for both central and regional governments. Disaster The UN defines a disaster as â€Å"a serious disruption of the functioning of society causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using only its own resources† (Jha 2010: 4). The way in which disasters are measured is through losses, most often first in lives, then in property. A disaster is a tragedy of such proportion that the community is affected is usually close to non-functioning after a disaster and commerce stops in order to focus on creating a unified effort towards saving lives that are still in jeopardy and finding a way to restore the way of life that was disrupted during and after the event. What is often overlooked is that the aftermath of many disasters goes on for years. Long after the attention of the media has stopped focusing on the areas that have been affected, the rebuilding efforts that coincide with the human struggles continue to evolve, the relief an ongoing process that sometimes can take decades to be fulfilled. Disasters that are made by man such as the core melt-down at Chernobyl in the then U.S.S.R are just as devastating as natural disasters , such as Hurricane Katrina. The disaster at Chernobyl, in fact, has left the area uninhabitable for generations to come (Kapucu, Naim, and Alpaslan O?zerdem 2012).A disaster is not defined by its origin, but through its impact on an area and its population. Integrated Emergency Management (IEM) is the theoretical framework for the cooperative efforts of local and central government as they create an approach to effective disaster relief through both sets of entities. The key concepts for cross-organisational functions are flexibility, coordination and leadership (National or local disaster? 2011). Disasters on a small scale happen on a daily basis, utilizing the skills of the police departments, fire and rescue departments, and various other services that are