...The Ethics of the Wal-Mart Model There are many opinions on the ethics of the Wal-Mart model, both favourable and unfavourable. The article “ROB Ranks Wal-Mart Among Canada’s Best Employers” (McLachlan, 2009, pg. 287) offers a favourable viewpoint of the model, and the article “The Cost of Walmartization” (McLachlan, 2009, pg. 288) offers an opposing unfavourable view. This paper discusses the theoretical approaches used in each article, along with the supporting evidence that was used in an effort to be convincing. “ROB Ranks Wal-Mart Among Canada’s Best Employers” This article celebrates Wal-Mart being rated by ‘Report on Business Magazine’ among the top employers in Canada. The author uses a teleological approach in describing Wal-Mart’s pursuit of their number one goal which is supported by the quote made by Vice President, Mary Alice Vuicic, “...our number one corporate goal has been to become Canada’s favourite place to work”. (McLachlan, 2009, pg. 287) Ms. Vuicic further implies that rather than simply meeting this goal to a satisfactory degree, their ultimate goal is maximization. In other words, there is no limit to becoming the top employer in Canada and this is evidenced by her quote, “...It’s an ongoing process...The best-employer lists recognize we’ve got a great foundation in place to meet our goal.” (McLachlan, 2009, pg. 287) Another approach used by the author is based on deontology – treating people as ends, not means. The article describes Wal-Mart’s...
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...Responding to Internal and External Factors; Wal-mart Analysis Abstract; this report examines the ways in which Wal-mart responds to internal and external factors such as globalization, new technology, innovation, diversity, and ethics. Wal-Mart is a successful industry giant, so it stands to reason that they are proficient at responding to internal and internal factors and thriving . In this essay we explore Wal-Mart’s programs and initiatives and access if we could use their examples to learn from and grow as managers and business owners. There are various internal and external factors that affect the four functions of Management positively or negatively. Organizations need to pay close attention to these factors because it can enhance the company’s success when used appropriately. The most prevalent factors that management has to be concerned with in this era are globalization, new technologies, innovation, diversity, and ethics. Wal-mart is a big player in the nation nal and global market and must stay reactive to these internal and external factors to stay on top. Wal-mart is addressing each of these issues directly. Globalization has raised numerous questions about the credibility, leading to perceptions. Wal-Mart is one leading store serving millions of customers globally and continues to do so by opening more stores worldwide. Globalization has a great impact on the company. It has broadened their market structure and also increased profit margin. Even...
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...The Bangladesh factory produced garments for several well-known retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Sears Holding Corporation. According to the article, For Wal-Mart, Sears, Tough Questions in Bangladesh Fire, “Bangladesh has become the world’s second-largest clothing exporter, thanks in part to some of the lowest labor costs anywhere: The government sets the minimum wage for entry-level garment workers there at less than $37 a month” (Bustillo, Wright, & Banjo 2013, pg. 2). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, faces the dilemma of seeking the lowest prices from suppliers globally to deliver low price products while projecting a corporate image of high ethical standards and corporate social responsibility. Traditionally, the purpose of a firm is profit creation, and sale of goods and services in a legal and moral manner. However, what has not always been a part of that tradition was the welfare of society and/or philanthropic endeavors. Due to numerous tragic events, like the one in Bangladesh, the issues of the role of business in social responsibility more frequently appears to be a topic of discussion. This has forced the corporate world to concern itself with the social impact of its decision-making. Firms are turning to ethical business models such as the Wall Street Journal Model to help them understand business ethics and to make ethical business decisions. The Wall Street Journal Model consists of three components: “(1) Am I in compliance with the law?, (2) What contribution...
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...Organizational Profile: Wal-Mart Team ABC Ethics 316 June 11, 2012 Week Four Dr. Done It All Organizational Profile: Wal-Mart The following paper will examine the community organization of Wal-Mart. Specifically, insight into the organization’s involvement and responsibility to the community it serves will be shown. Additionally insight into factors influencing Wal-Mart’s social responsibility strategies and identifying the organization’s social initiative will give a better understanding of contributions to the local community. Finally the paper will present the potential ethical and moral effects of the organization’s social initiatives. “Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world” (Datamonitor, 2011, p. 5). The position Wal-Mart holds gives the company a large responsibility to contribute to the community that supports the stores. As an organization Wal-Mart owes its success to the stake holders of their business. Wal-Mart requires the community to continue business operations, Trevino and Nelson state that “a major stakeholder in business must be the communities of which corporations and other organizations are a part” (2007, p. 244). Wal-Mart must consider the community happiness with their business decisions to remain profitable. Wal-Mart gives back to the community in several ways including donations to charitable foundations...
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...Wal-Mart – A Model of Success Through Effective Management Many start-up business venture fail early the process of establishment; however, some do make it through the early years and go on to become models of success. Most of the companies struggle or fail because of a lack of focus in the functional areas of management as well as their inability to adapt to internal and external factors that they cannot control. The Beginning Wal-Mart, one the largest retailer in the world, began in 1992 as a small company in Rogers, Arkansas, it has grown to more than 8000 stores operating under 69 different names in 27 countries ("History Timeline," 2012). The company’s success comes as a result of their management model and their ability to take advantage of factors such as strategic globalization, every-changing technology, innovative thinking, cultural diversity, and ethical qualities. Going global. Wal-Mart “employs 2.2 million associates worldwide and serves 200 million customers each week” ("History Timeline,” 2012). In 1991 Wal-Mart made the decision to go global with the opening of a Sam’s Club Store in Mexico City ("History Timeline," 2012). To overcome possible language barriers and to adapt to local cultures, in some countries the company hires its general managers from the local areas. The company’s size and revenue makes it a major contributor to the world economy. Had Wal-Mart decided to only establish stores within the certain states or within only the United...
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...it was. Wal-Mart’s goal was to help the people of Kava live better lives and save money. Wal-Mart also would help donate money and food to help rebuild the economy for the People of Kava. Wal-Mart’s presence in Kava would go through a series of decisions in order to make our presence successful. Decision-making is when we take our goals, find ways to implement them, and also make our goals achievable. There were many decision making process that we could have used in making our presence in Kava, however using the decision making that is most effective for a large corporation as Wal-mart would be rational style of decision making. Rational decision-making model “This is the most popular type of model and is based around a cognitive judgment of the pros and cons of various options. It is organized around selecting the most logical and sensible alternative that will have the desired effect. Detailed analysis of alternatives and a comparative assessment of the advantages of each is the order of the day” (decision-making confidence, n.d.). Using this decision making model was the most effective for a new company such as Wal-Mart. The Managerial departments would make the future decision whether it is based on warehouse and human resources. This would allow us to see how we would like our managerial and departments to be run and implementing the types of ethics and behavioral we would for our managerial departments to demonstrate into their daily roles. Keeping the ethics and cultural...
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...Integrating Values-The Legality, Morality, and Social Responsibility of Wal-Mart’s Response to Sex Discrimination and Pay Lawsuits Nova Southeastern University MGT5015_Legal, Ethical, Social Value Business September 9, 2012 We certify that we are the author of this paper and that any assistance received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed in the paper. We have also cited any sources from which were used data, ideas of words, whether quoted or paraphrased. I also certify that this paper was prepared by us specifically for this course. Table of Contents Abstract (Natalie Rondon) 3 Introduction ( Natalie Rondon) 4 Legal Section (Franciso Amado) 5 Ethic Section Utilitarian Ethical Analysis (Kyle Lozito) 8 Kantian Ethical Analysis (Christian Varillas) 14 Additional Ethical Analysis (Natalie Rondon). 18 Social Responsibility Section (Shirley Simmonds). 20 Conclusion (Natalie Rondon). 25 References. 26 Abstract This is a library research paper on the integrating values of Wal-Marts to sex discrimination and pay lawsuits that Wal-Mart has encountered over the years. The paper will discuss the legality of the situation and how Wal-Mart might be able to fix the issues that they are having. The paper will also discuss Utilitarian ethical analysis, Kantian ethical analysis and Socrates and the Socratic method. It will go into detail if Wal-Mart as a company has acted ethical or moral against its employees based on the ethical analysis...
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...Ethics and Compliance FIN/370 August 13, 2012 Christopher Hernandez Ethics and Compliance Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is one of the most well-known and successful retail stores in the country. Wal-Mart fosters the pricing philosophy of “everyday low prices” (Wal-Mart, 2010, p. 3), which helps the company remain a leading competitor within the retail industry. Another reason for Wal-Mart’s success is its attitude of leading by integrity. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is a worldwide conglomerate. The company understands to stay competitive it must adhere to ethical guidelines and regulations. The following will illustrate the role of ethics and compliance within Wal-Mart’s financial environment, its procedures for ethical behavior, financial markets in the United States, SEC regulations, Wal-Mart’s financial performance for the last two years, and its financial health. The Role of Ethics and Compliance According to Wal-Mart’s CEO, Mike Duke, ethics and integrity has been a part of the company’s culture since its inception in 1962 (Wal-Mart, 2008). Ethics and compliance play major roles within the company’s financial environment. “Wal-Mart has a Statement of Ethics applicable to all associates” (Wal-Mart, 2003, para. 1). The CEO and Senior Financial Officers must conduct business in an honest and ethical manner. The Senior Financial Officers include the corporate controller, financing and tax associates, accounting officers, and the CFO. They must comply with the laws set...
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...stakeholders should be stressed in the very beginning. As the cornerstone of the corporate strategy, risk management plays a crucial role in promoting business ethics and social responsibility. Since any failure to appear in business integrity could result in a ruin of reputation, both of employers and employees should commit themselves to maximize returns to their shareholders. Therefore, how to evaluate and control the risk within corporations has become the center of business development. Strengthening customer loyalty and investors’ confidence could differentiate companies from their competitors mainly by improving intra-organizational ethics. On the contrary, ignoring business ethics from the companies could encourage their major competitors to use that against them, thus resulting in an enormous loss of share in the market. In addition, taking the initiative in business ethics could allow corporations to avoid interruption of taxation and regulation. Conversely, the dishonest business acting is possible to force the company into litigation or penalization by the law agencies of local governments. However, merely concentrating on the intra-organizational ethics could underestimate the influence of extra-organizational force. The propriety of legal enforcement and monitor systems can also facilitate the business ethics within corporations. Without powerful reporting and monitoring agencies, companies will even more likely to undertake unethical practice in their businesses...
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...that an average 5,000 lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart each year. “According to Forbes magazine when an employee starts his shift at 9A.M, three lawsuits will be filed against the company by the time he or she takes a coffee break at 10:30 A.M” (Riper, 2005). Walmart management has violated several employment laws, and they were aware for many years that they had problems companywide concerning Fair Labor Standard Act, but they still chose to ignore it without any sufficient action. The following are just few highlighted and noted violation Walmart has made: * Extensive violation of Child labor * Sexual discrimination (different wages and promotion standards for men and women) * Exploitation of illegal immigrants. * Violation of state regulation, requiring time for breaks and meals. An internal audit of Walmart for one week of time record indicated the following: * 60,767 missed breaks * 15,705 lost meal times * 1,371 instances of minors working long hours or during school hours. Despite the knowledge of this violation's by the management, they still continued to take place till someone filed a lawsuit against the organization. Since 1999 Walmart has settled multiple lawsuits amounting in excess of $500 million. Even with these lawsuits the company hasn't changed the way it handles the employee issues. As of now Walmart has 76 wages, hour and overtime cases still pending against them. Women Vs Wal-Mart Betty Dukes Vs Walmart, which is considered...
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...Without a transfer of value, a customer doesn’t feel welcomed and may shy away from a specific business. A firm’s honesty plays a major role in establishing a customer base and retaining one. This idea of ethics in the field of marketing is incredibly important as dishonesty is frowned upon and the marketplace will respond negatively to a dishonest firm. Firms are in a constant battle competing with one another trying to create the best marketing mix. Having a solid mix, companies have a well-established product, price, promotion, and placement to attract customers and maintain them for years. Wal-Mart, well known for their cost leadership strategy providing goods at the cheapest price has taken it a step further with their new online price comparison tool. An article in the money section of The Intelligencer, a local newspaper for Bucks County, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 23rd explained the tool. The article is titled “Wal-Mart’s New Pricing Game. As stated before, Wal0mart competes in a cost leadership strategy. Cost leadership, in basic words, means the lowest cost of operation in the industry. Wal-Mart has been known for many years to offer the lowest prices giving their customers the biggest bang for their buck. The Intelligencer’s article reports that Wal-Mart is introducing an online tool allowing “shoppers to compare prices its prices on 80,000 food and household products to those of its competitors”. The tool is referred to...
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...Cross Cultural Perspectives: Wal-Mart ETH/ 316 June 11, 2012 Laura Brodkey-Scott Cross Cultural Perspectives: Wal-Mart Introduction Wal-Mart is defined as the giant of retail and it is one of the largest companies in the world. It has grown to not only be a staple in America but internationally as well, touching base in countries such as Japan and China. It is a popular supercenter that is located worldwide. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer and the largest company in the history of the world due to globalization and this due to the way they conduct business operations. Wal-Mart management has implement ways to overcome the challenges that are presented the ethical and social responsibilities in regards to globalization. This paper will present a breakdown analysis on how Wal-Mart has conquered the challenges of globalization and how they manager to remain the largest profit-making organization both in the USA and globally (Rosenfeld, 2007). In addition the paper will breakdown how the organization deals with ethical perspectives within this global icon known as Wal-Mart. Globalization Wal-Mart management embraced globalization and used it to develop a monopoly of international markets across the world. Wal-Mart has supercenters in the following countries: Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Japan, China and India. According to Glynn Davis (2008), Wal-Mart’s international market gives us a vast idea of the variety...
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...Wal-Mart’s Organizational Ethics Leslie Conley ETH/316 October 1, 2015 Lawrence Pickett Wal-Mart’s Organizational Ethics Everyone in business is worried about doing what is right and not being seen as wrong. There has been a lot of attention focused on ethics and integrity in business these days. Every organization is driving and pushing for changes in these areas. Any thoughts of quick-fixes for ethical behavior in businesses can be scary, but good ethical behavior for any business is fundamental to its success. For entrepreneurs, ethical conduct is usually missed or ignored. Many business experts regard ethics as something to preach, but not acted on and, therefore, make it even more unethical. According to Suttle and Demand Media, Organizational ethics is the principals and standards by which businesses operate (n.d.). They are best demonstrated through acts of fairness, compassion, integrity, honor and responsibility. The key for business owners and executives is ensuring that all employees understand these ethics. One of the best ways to communicate organizational ethics is by training employees to company standards. With these thoughts in mind, we need to address organizational ethics with awareness and support for all involved within the organization. External social pressures influencing organizational ethics External social pressures have driven most companies in business to be aware of the expectations on them to act in a manner that is ethically correct. They have...
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...Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT Organizational Assessment Sherry Crowe MGT416 Operations Management A02 Dr. Carson March 19, 2014 Argosy University The Wal-Mart Corporation On May 9, 1950, Sam Walton opened up Walton’s 5&10 in Bentonville, Arkansas. The first store with the Wal-Mart name, opened in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and was financed 95% by Sam Walton himself. Since its beginning in Arkansas, Walmart has helped millions to save money and live better. Walmart has changed from being a retail store accessible with set hours to be available anytime and anywhere for their 245 million customers. Walmart offer its 245 million customers retail shopping in 11,000 stores under 69 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 10 countries (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2013). The company is considered one of the largest employers in the world; Walmart employs 2.2 million associates worldwide. In the U. S., Walmart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam's Club warehouses comprise the choices of Walmart stores to which customers have access (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2013). As Walmart continues growing successfully the corporation has experienced global success, which has led the corporation to be in constant of change of strategies that provide that the corporation continues fulfilling its mission while offering new products, bettering the human resource management and developing its personnel, and expanding its social responsibility by helping the different...
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...Case analysis on ‘Human resource strategy and productivity at Wal-Mart’ Course: MGT 489 # 7, Fall 2015 Submitted To Dr. Muslima Zahan Assistant Professor Submitted By |Name |Student ID | |MD. Zahid Hossen |111 0104 030 | |Mehedi Hasan |121 0212 030 | |Mohammed Irfan |121 0823 030 | |Nujhat Nakiba Khushbu |123 0279 030 | School of Business and Economics North South University Date of Submission: 13/10/2015 Letter of Transmittal October 13th, 2015 Dr. Muslima Zahan Assistant Professor Strategic Management (MGT 489) School of Business North South University Subject: Submission of the case analysis on “Human resource strategy and productivity at Wal-Mart” Madam, We would like to thank you for assigning us with this course-work for the course of strategic management. This case study has given us the opportunity to combine our theoretical...
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