Global organizations ethical & cultural issues Essay

Global organizations ethical & cultural issues - Essay Example Such challenges may include ethical and cultural issues that corporations face as they seek to expand their presence in the global arena. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. faces ethical, social responsibility & cultural issues as it seeks to expand its operations outside the United States. Indeed, this research paper addresses and analyzes the cultural, ethical, and social responsibility issues affecting the operations of Wal-Mart outside America. Wal-Mart is a global retail corporation that operates a chain of large retail stores in various formats across the world (Forbes, 2013). The global organization has its headquarters in America and stands out as the largest private employer with more than two million employees across the world. The corporation has about 8500 stores, which operates in 50 states in the United States and in 26 countries across the globe (The New York Times, 2013). The global organization has a low price philosophy, which attracts a wide a customer base (Forbes, 2013). Neve rtheless, with the diversity of its operations and many employees the corporation faces numerous ethical, cultural, and social responsibility issues relating to its operations and workforce. Walmart has been expanding its operations outside US especially to areas where it can establish a strong retail store. The global organization opened retail stores in Japan, Germany, China, and South Korea but faced various cultural issues that limited its success and sometimes led to the closure of such retail stores. Notably, Germany was the first place that Walmart opened its stores outside Europe (Landler & Barbaro, 2006). Nevertheless, cultural issues in Germany grounded its operations. The cultural issues included the corporation’s failure to provide all products and services under one roof as seen in American stores (Landler & Barbaro, 2006). Moreover, the merchandise at the Walmart stores in Germany was inefficient for the customers. The retail store irritated the German customers by placing all the premium products at an eye level and placing the discounted products at the bottom or the top most shelve where customers struggled to get the discounted products (Landler & Barbaro, 2006). Additionally, the WalMart’s product line in Germany did not suit the shopping and cultural traits of the customers. In fact, the German culture negated the American culture that Walmart propagates in that shoppers opt to shop daily in various local stores dealing in household goods and groceries instead of shopping once a week as Walmart advocates (Landler & Barbaro, 2006). Walmart had issues in satisfying the cultural and shopping habits of a normal German shopper who seeks to the most efficient and limited time in shopping (Landler & Barbaro, 2006). The retail store in Germany mandated customers to spend longer time in shopping to the dismay of the German shoppers. Additionally, the retail store introduced strange management practices that did not conform to the Germa n culture. Indeed, the management requires employees to attend the morning exercise before the shift that annoyed many German employees (Landler & Barbaro, 2006). Furthermore, the store required sales clerks to smile at customers. This negated the German culture where men viewed this as flirting and the German culture viewed the behavior of smiling at strangers as an abnormality (Landler & Barbaro, 2006). In fact, this trend disturbed many German cashiers and derived hard feelings as the smiles were