Ethical violations and exploitation in Walmart's business practices

Wal-Mart Business Ethics Case Study

Ethical Issues at Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is one of the nation's largest and most profitable retail business organizations, largely as a result of its ability to provide consumer goods at such a low price that they can not be matched by competitors. In some respects, this may seem to benefit society by virtue of increasing the standard of living through the increased availability and affordability of those goods. However, there is substantial evidence that the presumed benefits to society are illusory. That is because in order to offer consumer goods at such low prices, Wal-Mart has, according to many reports, exploited employees, violated the law, discriminated against women, knowingly hired illegal workers, heavily promoted the outsourcing of labor, and contributed to the exploitation of foreign workers while simultaneously undercutting domestic manufacturers by importing tremendous volumes of cheap products from overseas where employment standards and practices fall far short of ethical business practices required domestically (Cram, 2005; Pea, 2011). On balance, it is difficult to argue against that evidence, mainly because it is based on objectively valid facts.

Detrimental Effects on American Society

The detrimental effects of Wal-Mart's business practices actually extend far beyond those individuals who have (almost) no choice but to work for the company. Specifically, because Wal-Mart chooses to pay its workers such low wages, most of them are eligible for state and federal public assistance programs meant for individuals living at or near the poverty level (Cascio, 2006; Cram, 2005; Pea, 2011). Thousands of Wal-Mart employees receive public assistance benefits such as food stamps, housing subsidies, low-income tax credits, and health care services. In effect, Wal-Mart's business practices and choices foist the responsibility of paying for many of their employees' expenses onto the tax-paying general public. Wal-Mart reaps tremendous profits while state and federal financial resources must take up the slack to the tune of millions of dollars annually (Cascio, 2006; Cram, 2005; Pea, 2011).