Wal-Mart Ethical Analysis
Abstract
Wal-Mart prides itself on having one of the strictest and most stringent ethics policies in the industry. Employees are not allowed to accept any type of gift, including a cup of coffee. And its 1.3 million employees are encouraged to report any ethics violations that they might suspect or see. With having such a strict policy, Wal-Mart faces around 5,000 lawsuits a year from unethical business practices. Wal-Mart's rating as a company that consumers trust and respect has steadily declined in the last few years. Their image is declining due to negative press giving the perception that Wal-Mart is bad for the economy and is unfair to workers.
Wal-Mart Ethical Analysis Wal-Mart was established in
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3. Follow the law at all times. 4. Be honest and fair. 5. Reveal and report all information truthfully, without manipulation or misrepresentation. 6. Work, actions, and relationships outside of your position with the company should be free of any conflicts of interest 7. Respect and encourage diversity and never discriminate against anyone. 8. Ask your manager or the Global Ethics Office for help if you have questions about this Statement of Ethics, or if you face an ethical problem. 9. Promptly report suspected violations of the Statement of Ethics. 10. Cooperate with and maintain the private nature of any investigation of a possible ethics violation. Wal-Mart’s ethics policy, known as their statement of ethics, is considered to be one of the most elaborate due to the constant updating they do as the business faces new ethical and legal challenges. Ethical consideration has changed considerably since Sam Walton managed the company. The negative publicity receives a high amount of consideration from high stake holders which results in questioning the continuous sustainability with their current business practices. Associates are expected to adhere to many policies, which pertain to; conflict of interest, financial integrity, assets, trading practices, etc. Disciplinary actions, including termination, could be enforced towards any associate that violates or chooses to not follow
2.Demonstrate a working knowledge of the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals and the consequences of non-compliance.
2) What does it mean for an organization to be ethical in its communication and practices?
2. Give some examples of ethical issues that you have experienced in jobs, and explain how HR did or did not help resolve them.
to see where the company is now with the use of a brief Swot analysis.
In the workplace as well as one’s personal life is essential for ethics to be maintained; often taking the right action is not always the most popular choice. It is important for maintaining an upstanding ethical code of conduct to be a productive individual as well as function as an employee in the workplace.
There are sometimes consequences of trying to lower costs to the consumers. One such consequence is that Wal-Mart has been under fire for their employee treatment. They were criticized for low wages and lack of benefits. After it became public about the handling of employees, they suffered a severe decrease in their stocks. In 2006, to help improve relations, Wal-Mart raised pay tied to performance and expanded and improved their health benefits package. They have also been accused of not sticking to proper workplace conditions, discrimination and employing illegal immigrants. In these three cases, Wal-Mart instead of actively addressing these issues, responded by deflecting that they were at fault.
Wal-Mart would rather bribe factories money to move on and brush it under the carpet instead of taking responsibility for their involvement. So, one would have to think this is not due to the lack of knowledge of the practices in the factories, but the choice to ignore and not care of these practices. In 2012, Wal-Mart choose to “make payments to Mexican officials of more than $24 million noted by The New York Times and in Asia there were 90 reports within a year and half period” (Sethi) to cover situations up demonstrating that money talks.
Wal-Mart is a world-wide active American retail trade company and currently the largest retail company in the world. Beginning in 1962, Wal-Mart has made the transition from a small firm in Arkansas to the largest employer with 3, 800 store units in the United States with record revenues today. But nevertheless, since Wal-Mart launched its online branch, it had to suffer from substantial setbacks from competitors such as Amazon.com or Ebay.
Today’s business world presents numerous ethical issues. In today’s world above board/moral ethics in organizations do not often materialize intuitively. Organization must strive to provide employees with a clear understanding of the overall company vision. This will aid employees in practicing the code of ethics, policies and procedures in the workplace. Companies must be unwavering in continuously delivering the uppermost ethics of provision in which customers, applicants and employees are entitled to under fair business practices. One major core value is to uphold responsible and fair business practices.
Ø Explain why ethical consideration IS appropriate and required when conducting business in the 21rst century.
Wal-Mart, the big giant, the place where a lot of people usually do their shopping for the low prices and the variety of products were founded by Sam Walton. Walton was an entrepreneur with an innovative vision started his own company and made it into the leader in discount retailing that it is today. In fact, Wal-Mart is considered to be the biggest company in the U.S. and it has stores worldwide. According to PBS, “Wal-Mart employs more people than any other company in the United States outside of the Federal government, yet the majority of its employees with children live below the poverty line.”(www.pbs.org) In addition, Wal-Mart likes to portray itself as a seller of U.S. manufactured goods
Wal-Mart now has to rebuild their images, procedures on how they conduct business nationwide and how the use ethical business practices. The New York time article reported, “Wal-Mart announces new ethical and environmental principles complete by 2012”. (Robinson, 2008)
Wal-Mart is certainly credited with changing the retail world as we know it with its low prices and big stores with huge selections but it has come at a price. They have struggled with issues that question the ethics as a company and legal issues that question how they manage people. These issues will continue to hurt their organization unless a complete change in management thinking and actions are changed. As a socially responsible organization, their management planning in this area is second to none. Lets hope they take the same effort in improving their image when it comes to ethics and legal issues.
1. What is the ethical dilemma facing Wal-Mart in this case ? Do Wal-Mart’s associates also face an ethical dilemma? If so, what is it ?