Wal-Mart World: The World's Biggest Corporation in the Global Economy

by Brunn; Stanley D.

• ISBN13: 9780415951371
• ISBN10: 0415951372
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-08-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Now that Wal-Mart has conquered the US, can it conquer the world? AsWal-Mart Worldshows, the corporation is certainly trying. For a number of years, Wal-Mart has been the largest company in the United States. Now, though, it is the largest company in the world. Its global labor practices and outsourcing strategies represent for many what contemporary economic globalization is all about. But Wal-Mart is not standing still, and is opening up stores everywhere. From Germany to Beijing to Mexico City to Tokyo, more than a billion shoppers can now hunt for bargains at a Wal-Mart superstore.Wal-Mart Worldis the first book to look at this incredibly important phenomenon in global perspective, with chapters that range from its growth in the US and impact on labor relations here to its fortunes overseas. How Wal-Mart manages this transition in the near future will play a significant role in the determining the character of the global economy.Wal-Mart World'simpressively broad scope makes itnecessary reading for anyone interested in the global impact of this economic colossus.

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
Part I Wal-Mart and the World
The Geostrategy of Global Business: Wal-Mart and Its Historical Forbears	3	(12)
Peter J. Hugill
Wal-Mart Nation: Mapping the Reach of a Retail Colossus	15	(12)
Matthew A. Zook
Mark Graham
Wal-Mart's World	27	(20)
Steve Burt
Leigh Sparks
Part II Early Years and Store Location
Discounting Northern Capital: Financing the World's Largest Retailer from the Periphery	47	(8)
William Graves
Wal-Mart Supercenter Market Share of Grocery Retailing in U.S. Metropolitan Areas	55	(8)
J. Dennis Lord
Wal-Mart-scapes in Rural and Small-Town America	63	(16)
Holly R. Barcus
Part III Organizational Culture
Falling Prices, Happy Faces: Organizational Culture at Wal-Mart	79	(12)
A. Jane Dunnett
Stephen J. Arnold
Wal-Mart: The New Retail Colossus	91	(8)
Ellen I. Rosen
Labor and the Wal-Mart Effect	99	(16)
Jennifer Bair
Sam Bernstein
Wal-Mart as a Phenomenon in the Legal World: Matters of Scale, Scale Matters	115	(28)
Lea S. Vander Velde
Part IV Culture, Communities, and Conflicts
The Institutional Semiotics of Wal-Mart Flyers and Signage in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and China	143	(20)
Stephen J. Arnold
Nailin Bu
Ulrike Gerhard
Llke Pioch
Zhengxin Sun
Cathedrals of Consumption: A Political Phenomenology of Wal-Mart	163	(16)
Barney Warf
Thomas Chapman
Visualizing Wal-Mart as Home: Where the Heart Is and King of the Hill	179	(14)
Benjamin Smith
Examining Wal-Mart's Relationships with Local Communities through Investigation of Advertising	193	(10)
Alecia M. Brettschneider
Fred M. Shelley
Wal-Mart and Partisan Politics: From Agricultural Volatility to Red-State Culture	203	(10)
Fred M. Shelley
Adrienne M. Proffer
Lisa DeChano
The Wal-Martification of Teotihuacan: Issues of Resistance and Cultural Heritage	213	(14)
Margath A. Walker
David Walker
Yanga Villagomez Velazquez
Part V Globalization
Global Production and Distribution: Wal-Mart's Global Logistics Empire (with Special Reference to the China/Southern California Connection)	227	(16)
Edna Bonacich
Jake B. Wilson
ASDA: Wal-Mart in the United Kingdom	243	(18)
Steve Burt
Leigh Sparks
Challenges Facing Wal-Mart in the German Market	261	(14)
Susan Christopherson
The Myth of Wal-Martization: Retail Globalization and Local Competition in Japan and Germany	275	(18)
Yuko Aoyama
Guido Schwarz
Penetrating the Great Wall, Conquering the Middle Kingdom: Wal-Mart in China	293	(22)
Shuguang Wang
Yongchang Zhang
Consuming Wal-Mart: A Case Study in Shenzhen	315	(16)
Lucia Lo
Lu Wang
Wei Li
Supermarkets and the (M)art of Ling Shou	331	(12)
Chris Webster
Globalization of Food Retailing and the Consequences of Wal-Martization in Mexico	343	(14)
James J. Biles
Wal-Mart Goes South: Sizing Up the Chain's Mexican Success Story	357	(12)
Chris Tilly
Bibliography	369	(30)
Contributors	399	(4)
Index	403