The World of Walmart (OPINION)

As the largest company in the world, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. tends to attract attention and make headlines, and there has been plenty of both recently.

New CEO Doug McMillon announced a significant change July 24 when he replaced Bill Simon with Greg Foran to lead the company’s struggling domestic division.

Days later, Dollar Tree announced it was acquiring Family Dollar for $8.5 billion, which some believe raises the stakes for Walmart in that Dollar Tree and its now 13,000 stores in North America will be a more formidable competitor, at least in size.

And then there’s Forbes magazine contributor Adam Hartung, who offered his take on the news that actor and comedian Tracy Morgan had filed a lawsuit against Walmart.

Morgan was seriously injured, while fellow comedian James McNair was killed, when their chauffeured vehicle was struck by a Walmart truck.

The scathing review, published online July 15, under the title “Walmart Investors — Worry Plenty About Tracy Morgan Lawsuit,” wasn’t as much about the crash as it was a summation of concerns.

As usual, my interest in most online stories was in the comments section, where a small debate ensued.

Commenter “Tom” said: “Pretty sly. This article has nothing to do with Tracy and how he affects Walmart. I was curious how THAT could be spun, but instead see that it’s just a clever way of getting hits on your article. Nice.”

“Logan Maienschein” added: “Agreed Tom, appears it may be close to review time, and somebody needs some page views … and our replies.”

Hartung’s response: “Tom and Logan, I am not a Forbes employee, and I am not compensated based on page views. So your assumptions are incorrect. It is important that investors understand how this lawsuit will likely bring to the surface how Walmart leadership is pushing employees so hard that they have created a culture, and practice, which leads to unethical and likely illegal behavior.

“You may choose to minimize the title, but this lawsuit is another signal of problems within Walmart that could lead to substantially poorer performance in the near future.”

Whatever is in Walmart’s future, the headlines and attention will, of course, be waiting.