The wage hike is expected to set Wal-Mart back about $1 billion, a hefty sum for sure, but a relative drop in the bucket compared to the company's market capitalization (total dollar market value of all its outstanding shares), estimated at almost $275 billion.

Wal-Mart also announced plans to revise parts of its oft-criticized employee-scheduling process. The current system attempts to match employee supply to customer demand. This leaves many of its workers in the lurch by not providing regularly scheduled hours, instead requiring many of them to remain on call without any certainty about how many hours -- and how much pay -- they'll get from week to week. Although vague on the specifics, the company said it will start "providing associates a more transparent, accessible schedule," and by 2016 will offer "some associates" fixed schedules each week with two-and-a-half weeks advance notice.

We dig into the debate over dollars and cents in this interactive explainer produced by Newsbound. You can scroll through the whole presentation at once, or view specific chapters by selecting the table of contents button on the bottom left of the screen. Sources for each slide are also included at the bottom.

(View mobile/fullscreen version here)

Relevant ELA and Social Studies CCSS Standards

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7 Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7: Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.

Integrate this topic into the following high school social studies units

US History
(based on:The American Vision, CA Edition (McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 2006)

• Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1933-1939

• The New Frontier and the Great Society, 1961-1968

• The Politics of Protest, 1960-1980

• Politics and Economics, 1971-1980

• Resurgence of Conservatism, 1980-1992

US Government
(based on: American Government, Prentice Hall, 2006, CA Edition)

• Unit 2 - Political Behavior: Government by the People

• Unit 3 - The Legislative Branch

• Unit 4 - The Executive Branch

• Unit 6 - Comparative Political and Economic Systems

Economics
(based on: Econ Alive! TCI, 2010)

• Unit 4 - Economics of the Public Sector

• Unit 5 - Measuring and Managing the Economy

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In Raising Minimum Wage, Wal-Mart Joins Widening Group of Retailers, Cities and States [Interactive Explainer]