SYLLABUS: Honors 1105 (Spring 2006)
Wal-Mart: Its Power, Influence and Values in a Globalized World
Carol Nielsen, Prof. of Business Administration Phone: 755-2757
CNielsen@bemidjistate.edu Office: DH 120
Office hours: M 1-5
Louise Mengelkoch, Assoc. Prof. of Journalism Phone: 755-3358
LMengelkoch@bemidjistate.edu Office: Bg 214
Office hours: 1-3 MWF
Course Blog: www.HOPR1105.blogspot.com
Wal-Mart may be the most studied corporation in history – and for good reason. It may also be the world’s most successful capitalistic enterprise and its most controversial. A Google search on Wal-Mart yields 7.4 million hits. An Iowa economics professor has spent 20 years studying its influence and even visited Bemidji before the arrival of our Wal-Mart Superstore in 2002. A University of California campus held an educational symposium on Wal-Mart, as shown in the MSNBC documentary “The Age of Wal-Mart.” In her best-selling book Nickel and Dimed, investigative journalist Barbara Ehrenreich devoted a chapter to the experience of working at a Twin Cities Wal-Mart store. This course will go beyond the question of whether Wal-Mart is good for America. The following questions will be considered:
*What is Wal-Mart?
*How did it become the largest, most powerful employer in the world? *What are the values underlying its operation?
*What is its influence over our personal lives, and our society and politics in a global economy?
*Why do so many people hate Wal-Mart?
*What kind of power and influence do we, as citizens and consumers, have in relation to Wal-Mart?
*What do we, as citizens and consumers, value most and how can our actions in relation to Wal-Mart reflect those values?
Textbooks and other readings:
1. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich, Henry Holt & Co., New York, 2001, pp. 121-192. (Ch. 3: “Selling in Minnesota”)
2. Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart, by Liza Featherstone, Basic Books, New York, 2004, pp. 211-244. (Ch. 7: “Attention, Shoppers”)
3. In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and Wal-Mart, the World’s Most Powerful Retailer, by Bob Ortega, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2000, pp. 188-208 and one other chapter of your choice. (You will need to order this on your own. It may have a different publisher and subtitle, since it was also published in Great Britain, but it can be ordered on-line.)
4. The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman, pp. 128-141 (Ch. 2: Flattener #7) and Ch. 4
5. Competing with the Retail Giants: How to Survive in the New Retail Landscape (National Retail Federation Series), by Ken Stone (1995), Ch. 3 and 9.
6. Los Angeles Times series on Wal-Mart, Nov. 2003
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works/
7. Sam Walton: Made in America, by Sam Walton (1992) (excerpt)
8. The Divine Right of Capital, by Marjorie Kelly (2003), Ch. 9.
We will seek answers to these questions through the following activities:
*Reading, reflecting on, researching and discussing written material about Wal-Mart
*Viewing several documentary films
*Replicating surveys about Wal-Mart and its influence
*Reporting and observation at our local Wal-Mart store
*Arranging for guest speakers with divergent viewpoints about Wal-Mart,
including Wal-Mart representatives and workers, local activists, etc.
*Organizing a campus symposium on Wal-Mart as a capstone experience
NOTE: The following schedule is subject to change, although we will never require assignments to be due BEFORE they are scheduled here. We may have guest speakers or other activities or presentations with short notice, so stay tuned!
Schedule of activities and assignments:
A word about your journal: This assignment is worth 40 points. It will be graded on thoroughness, professionalism and thoughtful reflection on the readings, activities, videos, lectures and discussions. It should also provide convincing proof that you actually did the reading, viewed the videos, etc. In other words, you must summarize content in a succinct and accurate manner. This journal will also be of great benefit to you when you write your research paper for the symposium. We expect that you will write at least 500 words per week. The journal should be organized in a reader-friendly manner, e.g., section headings indicating what, exactly, you are writing about, etc. It is not a diary or a stream-of-consciousness document; however, neither is it a polished essay.
Week 1 (Jan. 11) Discussion Topic: General information
Ice-Breaker (Wal-Mart Bingo)
Survey of class
*What power does Wal-Mart have over your life?
*How does Wal-Mart influence you?
*What are your values? (values exercise)
View: Part of The Corporation in class
*Assignments due Week 2
Activity: Visit Wal-Mart, one other big-box retailer and one locally owned store to compare prices on assigned item. Make sure the item is THE SAME at all three stores. Bring results next week.
Read: Readings #4, 5, 8
View: The Corporation (on reserve in library)
Write: Summaries and responses in your course journal. This journal must be typed. You will be writing responses to readings, class discussions and videos throughout the semester. It will be handed in for grading EACH WEEK beginning week 2. Week 2’s journal entries should include one on The Corporation.
Week 2 (Jan. 18) Discussion Topic: Business and economic issues -- The corporation and how it works, competition, external costs, supply and demand, wealth
Begin discussion of capstone experience: Symposium
Create community survey (Who? What? Why?)
Create guest speaker list (Who? Why?)
Create task list (What needs to be done? Who will do what?)
Assignment:
Choose 3 possible research topics for your symposium paper
Bring with you week 3 for our library visit and document in your journal
Week 3 (Jan. 25): Library visit: How do we research Wal-Mart?
Assignments:
Read: Handouts
Plan for symposium
View Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (on reserve in library)
Week 4 (Feb. 1) Discussion Topic: Media issues -- Advertising, image, PR and coverage
Assignments:
Read: Readings # 3 & 7
View The Age of Wal-Mart (on reserve in library)
Prepare survey
Week 5 (Feb. 8) : Guest Speaker – Prof. Robert Ley on Capitalism
Discuss and finalize community survey
Week 6 (Feb. 15) Discussion Topic: The Wal-Mart Story -- Sam Walton as American Hero and Success Story with a dark edge
Continue work on preparing for symposium, community survey
Assignments:
Read: Readings #1 and #2
View Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (on reserve in library)
Administer survey
Finish abstract for symposium paper
Week 7 (Feb. 22) Labor issues: The employees and how they work, unions, health care, employment conditions
Assignments:
Read: Reading #6, handouts
View: Store Wars and Save Our Land, Save Our Towns (on reserve in library)
Finish up survey
Week 8 (March 1) Discussion Topic: Social and Environmental issues: sustainability, urban sprawl, cultural diversity and other collateral damage
Assignments:
Read: Handouts
View NewsHour segment about Wal-Mart in China
Week 9 (March 8) Discussion Topic: Global issues – Wal-Mart is everywhere
Assignment: TBA
Week 10 (March 22) Discussion Topic: TBA
Assignment: TBA
Week 11 (March 29) : TBA
Assignment: Finalize paper for symposium
Week 12 (April 5) Discussion Topic: Symposium
Week 13 (April 12): Symposium
Post-mortem: how did it go? What did we learn?
Write thank-you and follow-up letters
Week 15 (April 26) Discussion Topic: Ethical issues – The good, the bad and the ugly
Assignment: Turn in symposium paper for grading
Length: 1500-2000 words, APA style
All papers (and presentations) will be posted to the course blog
Grading: Journal 40%
Symposium Paper 25%
Attendance 15% (attendance will be taken – 1 pt. per week)
Participation 20% (self-reported in journal and verified)
Final exam: 8-10 a.m., Monday, May 8
Bring a 500-700 word personal essay about what you learned and how it will affect your future attitudes and behavior. Try to answer the big questions of the course in a personal way. We will share our essays over breakfast. This final meeting is not worth any points, but if you don’t come, you lose 10 points. If you come, but do not have your paper ready, you lose 5 points.
Carol Nielsen, Prof. of Business Administration Phone: 755-2757
CNielsen@bemidjistate.edu Office: DH 120
Office hours: M 1-5
Louise Mengelkoch, Assoc. Prof. of Journalism Phone: 755-3358
LMengelkoch@bemidjistate.edu Office: Bg 214
Office hours: 1-3 MWF
Course Blog: www.HOPR1105.blogspot.com
Wal-Mart may be the most studied corporation in history – and for good reason. It may also be the world’s most successful capitalistic enterprise and its most controversial. A Google search on Wal-Mart yields 7.4 million hits. An Iowa economics professor has spent 20 years studying its influence and even visited Bemidji before the arrival of our Wal-Mart Superstore in 2002. A University of California campus held an educational symposium on Wal-Mart, as shown in the MSNBC documentary “The Age of Wal-Mart.” In her best-selling book Nickel and Dimed, investigative journalist Barbara Ehrenreich devoted a chapter to the experience of working at a Twin Cities Wal-Mart store. This course will go beyond the question of whether Wal-Mart is good for America. The following questions will be considered:
*What is Wal-Mart?
*How did it become the largest, most powerful employer in the world? *What are the values underlying its operation?
*What is its influence over our personal lives, and our society and politics in a global economy?
*Why do so many people hate Wal-Mart?
*What kind of power and influence do we, as citizens and consumers, have in relation to Wal-Mart?
*What do we, as citizens and consumers, value most and how can our actions in relation to Wal-Mart reflect those values?
Textbooks and other readings:
1. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich, Henry Holt & Co., New York, 2001, pp. 121-192. (Ch. 3: “Selling in Minnesota”)
2. Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart, by Liza Featherstone, Basic Books, New York, 2004, pp. 211-244. (Ch. 7: “Attention, Shoppers”)
3. In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and Wal-Mart, the World’s Most Powerful Retailer, by Bob Ortega, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2000, pp. 188-208 and one other chapter of your choice. (You will need to order this on your own. It may have a different publisher and subtitle, since it was also published in Great Britain, but it can be ordered on-line.)
4. The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman, pp. 128-141 (Ch. 2: Flattener #7) and Ch. 4
5. Competing with the Retail Giants: How to Survive in the New Retail Landscape (National Retail Federation Series), by Ken Stone (1995), Ch. 3 and 9.
6. Los Angeles Times series on Wal-Mart, Nov. 2003
http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works/
7. Sam Walton: Made in America, by Sam Walton (1992) (excerpt)
8. The Divine Right of Capital, by Marjorie Kelly (2003), Ch. 9.
We will seek answers to these questions through the following activities:
*Reading, reflecting on, researching and discussing written material about Wal-Mart
*Viewing several documentary films
*Replicating surveys about Wal-Mart and its influence
*Reporting and observation at our local Wal-Mart store
*Arranging for guest speakers with divergent viewpoints about Wal-Mart,
including Wal-Mart representatives and workers, local activists, etc.
*Organizing a campus symposium on Wal-Mart as a capstone experience
NOTE: The following schedule is subject to change, although we will never require assignments to be due BEFORE they are scheduled here. We may have guest speakers or other activities or presentations with short notice, so stay tuned!
Schedule of activities and assignments:
A word about your journal: This assignment is worth 40 points. It will be graded on thoroughness, professionalism and thoughtful reflection on the readings, activities, videos, lectures and discussions. It should also provide convincing proof that you actually did the reading, viewed the videos, etc. In other words, you must summarize content in a succinct and accurate manner. This journal will also be of great benefit to you when you write your research paper for the symposium. We expect that you will write at least 500 words per week. The journal should be organized in a reader-friendly manner, e.g., section headings indicating what, exactly, you are writing about, etc. It is not a diary or a stream-of-consciousness document; however, neither is it a polished essay.
Week 1 (Jan. 11) Discussion Topic: General information
Ice-Breaker (Wal-Mart Bingo)
Survey of class
*What power does Wal-Mart have over your life?
*How does Wal-Mart influence you?
*What are your values? (values exercise)
View: Part of The Corporation in class
*Assignments due Week 2
Activity: Visit Wal-Mart, one other big-box retailer and one locally owned store to compare prices on assigned item. Make sure the item is THE SAME at all three stores. Bring results next week.
Read: Readings #4, 5, 8
View: The Corporation (on reserve in library)
Write: Summaries and responses in your course journal. This journal must be typed. You will be writing responses to readings, class discussions and videos throughout the semester. It will be handed in for grading EACH WEEK beginning week 2. Week 2’s journal entries should include one on The Corporation.
Week 2 (Jan. 18) Discussion Topic: Business and economic issues -- The corporation and how it works, competition, external costs, supply and demand, wealth
Begin discussion of capstone experience: Symposium
Create community survey (Who? What? Why?)
Create guest speaker list (Who? Why?)
Create task list (What needs to be done? Who will do what?)
Assignment:
Choose 3 possible research topics for your symposium paper
Bring with you week 3 for our library visit and document in your journal
Week 3 (Jan. 25): Library visit: How do we research Wal-Mart?
Assignments:
Read: Handouts
Plan for symposium
View Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (on reserve in library)
Week 4 (Feb. 1) Discussion Topic: Media issues -- Advertising, image, PR and coverage
Assignments:
Read: Readings # 3 & 7
View The Age of Wal-Mart (on reserve in library)
Prepare survey
Week 5 (Feb. 8) : Guest Speaker – Prof. Robert Ley on Capitalism
Discuss and finalize community survey
Week 6 (Feb. 15) Discussion Topic: The Wal-Mart Story -- Sam Walton as American Hero and Success Story with a dark edge
Continue work on preparing for symposium, community survey
Assignments:
Read: Readings #1 and #2
View Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (on reserve in library)
Administer survey
Finish abstract for symposium paper
Week 7 (Feb. 22) Labor issues: The employees and how they work, unions, health care, employment conditions
Assignments:
Read: Reading #6, handouts
View: Store Wars and Save Our Land, Save Our Towns (on reserve in library)
Finish up survey
Week 8 (March 1) Discussion Topic: Social and Environmental issues: sustainability, urban sprawl, cultural diversity and other collateral damage
Assignments:
Read: Handouts
View NewsHour segment about Wal-Mart in China
Week 9 (March 8) Discussion Topic: Global issues – Wal-Mart is everywhere
Assignment: TBA
Week 10 (March 22) Discussion Topic: TBA
Assignment: TBA
Week 11 (March 29) : TBA
Assignment: Finalize paper for symposium
Week 12 (April 5) Discussion Topic: Symposium
Week 13 (April 12): Symposium
Post-mortem: how did it go? What did we learn?
Write thank-you and follow-up letters
Week 15 (April 26) Discussion Topic: Ethical issues – The good, the bad and the ugly
Assignment: Turn in symposium paper for grading
Length: 1500-2000 words, APA style
All papers (and presentations) will be posted to the course blog
Grading: Journal 40%
Symposium Paper 25%
Attendance 15% (attendance will be taken – 1 pt. per week)
Participation 20% (self-reported in journal and verified)
Final exam: 8-10 a.m., Monday, May 8
Bring a 500-700 word personal essay about what you learned and how it will affect your future attitudes and behavior. Try to answer the big questions of the course in a personal way. We will share our essays over breakfast. This final meeting is not worth any points, but if you don’t come, you lose 10 points. If you come, but do not have your paper ready, you lose 5 points.
posted by Louise Mengelkoch at
7:36 AM
