Business ethics principles and practice

Business Ethics

"Wal-Mart: But we do give them a 10% employee discount" reveals a highly quantitative standpoint, by pointing out the facts behind Wal-Mart's management of its human resource. The editor places an increased emphasis on revealing years, amounts, facts and figures and all these are intended to provide a clear image to the reader. Additionally, they are intended to preserve the objectivity of the authors in presenting the situation at the company.

Aside from the vast integration of facts and quantitative data, the author nevertheless presents the details of Wal-Mart's numerous ethical issues. For instance, the company asks the employees to work longer hours, which are unpaid; the employees will often be given tasks to complete right before the end of the shift, and will have to complete the job during unpaid overtime.

Then, the company is also blamed for discriminating against its employees. The more relevant examples in this sense are observed in cases of promotions into middle management positions, when multiple candidates would have been better prepared for the job, yet the promotions had been offered to Caucasian males. The largest American retailer then reduced the health care coverage of the employees, many of them having found themselves with mounting bills they could not pay.

Another blame brought to the company is represented by their discouragement of unions, to a point at which their staff members are prohibited from forming and joining labor unions. The company's respect for labor laws is as such shaky -- at best -- and irregularities are even observed in the company's employment of under-aged youth.

The ethical issues faced by Wal-Mart are not however singular within the retail industry, as several other companies are facing them. Retailers are often blamed for asking their employees to work long hours, which are compensated or uncompensated. On other occasions, retailers are blamed for offering minimum wages to their staff members, as well as limited benefits, including the provision of poor health care coverage. In the case of Wal-Mart however, the issues are more critical since they are numerous and well documented by the media and the company's critics.

In the case of discrimination against women, Wal-Mart officials have defended their decisions stating that women were not interested in managerial positions. On the one hand, such a perception would be slightly accurate as the women are more oriented towards the home and the family. Still, it is even more so true that today's women are ambitious and career oriented, and Wal-Mart's decisions have been raised by discrimination, other than any justifiable argument.

At the level of health care, these accusations can be perceived as both ethical, as well as practical. For the company, they are practical decisions aimed at increasing their financial stability. For the employees however, they generate personal losses, and do give raise to ethical concerns.