Unethical Business Practices by Wal-Mart

640 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Walmarts corporate social responsibility practices

If Wal-Mart has such little regard for their own employees, it would make it difficult for a company to have minimal regard to where their merchandise is coming from. On the documentary, The High Price of Low Cost, informs of the countries and Wal-Mart’s effects on these countries, including its presence for manufacturing in China. The workers work in conditions of extreme temperatures from morning until dawn and provided boarding, which is shared with several others and lined with bunk beds. The board and utilities are deducted from their wages even if the workers choose not to stay on the facilities the board is still deducted from their pay. These workers that are looking for employment to make a better future for their families are provided wages of as little as $3 per day. “Doing the right thing and doing things right” (Devin) spoken by their CEO at a conference on their profits and annual reports, however this does not pertain to their employees or their suppliers even though he states “the Wal-Mart way is to stay the course, because Wal-Mart is too important to individual families that are stretching a budget, to important to the suppliers who employee millions of people, to important our associates who we value and love so much." (Devin). Wal-Mart values its employees and suppliers so much; “since 2011, Wal-Mart has spent over $35 million and hired more than 300 outside lawyers, accountants, and investigators to deal with bribery issues” (Sethi) and Wal-Mart’s “penalties under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Securities Exchange Commission regulatory filings are likely to be in the $100 millions, which is such a small fraction of Wal-Mart’s earnings” (Sethi). If only this mega retailer could reinvest this negative... ... middle of paper ... ...e to purchase their products and would not make a profit. So, businesses should have certain social responsibilities to give back to society and if there is a negative impact on society, it should be mandatory that the business take responsibility to do what is right and ethical to benefit society and other countries. Works Cited Basker, Emek. "The Causes and Consequences of Wal-Mart's Growth." Journel of Economic Perspectives. 21.3 (2007): 177-198. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. . Devin , Smith, Greenwald Robert, Levit Laurie , and Gilliam Jim. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. 2005. Documentary. Robert GreenwaldWeb. 2 Feb 2014. Sethi, Parkish. "The World of Wal-Mart." Carnegie Council. N.p., 18 May 2013. Web. 26 Jan 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Wal-Mart Is Good For America

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walmart is bad for America, as some say. The Globalization essay that was handed out in class had many good points. It states that Walmart puts many smaller businesses out of service. A recent study by David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine and two associates at the Public Policy Institute of California, "The Effects of Wal-Mart on Local Labor Markets," uses sophisticated statistical analysis to estimate the effects on jobs and wages as Wal-Mart spread out from its original center in Arkansas. The authors find that retail employmen...

    Read More

  • Impact of Wal-Mart on the US Economy

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wal-Mart has had a significant economic impact on the US, as well as the economies of countries that have relations with the US. Wal-Mart is the world’s biggest company of any kind, with 80 percent of the households in America purchasing something from the superstore; it is the nation’s largest retailer. Wal-Mart’s continuing price reduction has given Americans the advantage of being able to afford 15 to 20 percent more than they previously could. (Hansen) In a world governed by globalization and greed, competition has become rigid; as a result firms like Wal-Mart have utilized advanced marketing strategies to insure that they are on the ‘neck’ of competition, and are the core deciders of the market. (Ortega) However, Wal-Mart made decisions that were of a disadvantage to aspects of the economy, including the depletion on a small scale of Small Town USA.

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price

    515 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wal-Mart represents the sickness of capitalism at its almost fully evolved state. As Jim Hightower said, "Why single out Wal-Mart? Because it's a hog. Despite the homespun image it cultivates in its ads, it operates with an arrogance and avarice that would make Enron blush and John D. Rockefeller envious. It's the world's biggest retail corporation and America's largest private employer; Sam Robson Walton, a member of the ruling family, is one of the richest people on earth. Wal-Mart and the Waltons got to the top the old-fashioned way: by roughing people up. Their low, low prices are the product of two ruthless commandments: Extract the last penny possible from human toil and squeeze the last dime from its thousands of suppliers, who are left with no profit margin unless they adopt the Wal-Mart model of using nonunion labor and shipping production to low-wage hellholes abroad." (The Nation, March 4th 2002 www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020304&s=hightower).

    Read More

  • Contraversy of Wal-Mart as An Ethical Company

    1835 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wal-Mart is a huge global retailer employing millions of people, serves millions of customers annually and operates in over 13 markets (Walmart/AboutUs). Prior to 2008, they consistently rated high by their peers and appeared in Fortune Magazine’s list of top 20 most admired companies (Fortune Magazine). The question is however, is the company ethical? This paper looks at various criticisms and praise in specific areas and applies normative theories in an attempt to answer this question.

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart and Corporate Social Responsibility

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Wal-Mart Corporation is a multi-billion dollar low-cost retail organization, consisting of 6400 stores and 1.8 million sales associates worldwide. Wal-Mart’s influence on the retail world and the enormity of their corporate size is unparalleled. Wal-Mart can easily report sales of $312.4 billion dollars per fiscal quarter and net profits of $3.8 billion dollars. Wal-Mart promises her customers "Always low prices. Always!" and upholds this motto by providing low prices to her customers and high return on investment to her stockholders. One way that Wal-Mart has managed to maintain a competitive edge over other low cost retail giants and provide low prices is by cutting wages and by not offering too many company benefits to their employees. Full-time employee working at Wal-Mart only make $8 an hour, while only 45% of the workers can afford to be covered by health insurance. Wal-Mart also increase part time employees from 20 percent to 40 percent so that they do not have to cover all of their employees for health insurance . Although Wal-Mart may not provide excellent benefits to her employees, it successfully performs as a legitimate business operating in a capitalistic society. Wal-Mart upholds the primary fiduciary duty to satisfy her stockholder and follows free the market libertarianism model, which states that a business should not interfering with the free market. In a free market Wal-Mart has a direct responsibility to her primary stockholders rather than the employees of a company.

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart and The Nine Principles of Sustainability

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Don Soderquist (2010), former long-serving chief operating officer at Wal-Mart, ethics are about simply doing what is right. (p. 14). Wal-Mart has often been criticized for many of its management’s business decisions. From news reports of obtaining goods from countries where employment practices are far from ethical, to taking out million dollar life insurance policies on its terminally ill employees, ethical standards can seem non-existent at the upper levels of this large organization. Prioritizing stakeholder interests is an area that Wal-Mart tends to have major struggles. The steps listed in their “Statement of Ethics” looks like they are trying to establish the correct path.

    Read More

  • The Problems With Wal-Mart's Low Wages

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Freeman, R. and Ticknor, A. (2003). Wal-Mart Is Not a Business, It's an Economic Disease. Executive Intelligence Review. Downloaded from the World Wide Web November 9, 2013 fromhttp://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3044wal-mart.html

    Read More

  • Is Walmart Good Or Bad For Health And Social Care?

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    Today Wal-mart has a higher GDP than the entire country of Switzerland, but don’t worry they’re pretty neutral about it. But there has also been news about how they treat there employees. In 2004 an article was released entitled Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart, and soon after Washington got involved. The bad publicity took a toll on Wal-mart and in fact is still today, Maryland passed a law in January, 2006, that said larger employers, such as Wal-mart, must spend at least 8% of their payroll on health benefits for their employees, and now many other states have followed suit. The bad publicity also made it so 8% of customers shop elsewhere because of what they’ve heard, this has caused lower expected sales around the holidays during 2004, and 2005. Some things they’ve done is in 2006 they paid employees on average 9.36 dollars, while other major retailers like Target and Sears pay on average 11.08 dollars. While this can be easily denied by Wal-mart, another way they have gained bad publicity is from something called off-the-clock work. If they had not finished their job they had to clock out and then still finish their job, meaning they wouldn’t get paid for

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Wal-Mart

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    The major findings of this report indicate that throughout the United States, Wal-Mart employees are being deprived of the wages they are entitled to. It has been reported from state to state all over the United States, that many employees are working overtime without being paid. According to the Beyond “Higher Expectations”: Wal-Marts Real Cost” journal article, it was stated that, “Working off the clock and through meal breaks is widely reported among employees and as of 2005, Wal-Mart faces 44 class action lawsuits in 31 states over wage and hour abuses... It has also been stated that a California jury ruled that Wal-Mart illegally deprived over 100,000 California workers of their lunch breaks”(Figueroa). It is a common problem in every Wal-Mart no matter what part of the country it is in, there always seems to be unpaid wages to its employees who are forced to work off the clock and if they refused they are threatened in losing their jobs and being replaced by someone else. According to the Documentary Film by Robert Greenwald, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Shane Youtz, a former Wal-Mart employee, Said he was often asked to “work of the clock or else they would threaten you by losing your job”(Greenwald). Edith Arana, also a Wal-Mart employee stated that, “ If you had only thirty minutes left on your eight hour shift, and you haven't finished putting away stacks of clothing, they would tell you that you couldn't leave until you finished it even if it meant working off the clock”(Greenwald).

    Read More

  • The United States Of Walmart Rhetorical Analysis

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within an excerpt from, “The United States of Wal-Mart,” John Dicker explains that Wal-Mart is a troubling corporation. Dicker begins his article by discussing why the store is so popular within the news in an age of global terrorism, coming to the conclusion that Wal-Mart has a huge scope in the United States and that it has more scandals, lawsuits, and stories than any other supercenter. Continually, he goes on to explain that Wal-Mart outsources jobs and their companies demands makes it hard for employees to have livable wages and good working conditions. Furthermore, Dicker addresses the claim that Wal-Mart provides good jobs, by destroying this perception with statistics showing how employees live in poverty and that their union scene

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart is Bad For America

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    Besides all the points that I have stated, Wal-Mart has had to pay fines due to breaking Child Labor laws and Illegal Immigrant laws; fines up to $11.5 million for just those two types of laws. Wal-Mart is not good for this economy, for the people, and the company, in a whole, is criminal. If the people let Wal-Mart stay on the track it is on, the United States will not have anything but Wal-Marts. Wal-Mart will become a monopoly and put everyone, who started with something more than greed, out-of-business.

    Read More

  • A Critical Analysis of the Article "Progressive Wal-Mart. Really." by Sebastian Mallaby

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mallaby admits Wal-Mart can treat their employees and other retailers unfairly, but as a result everyone can share in the 50 billion in savings that American shoppers consume annually. The pay that employees get is the price they must pay for low priced merchandise. Because of the minimal pay to employees, Wal-Mart strengthens its’ consumer buying power. Giving the American shoppers the savings they need, Wal-Mart’s has ultimately been them successful. Wal-Mart has potentially wiped out the middle class as an employer, but the employees can now work and ...

    Read More

  • Strategic Management of Wal-Mart

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in the discount, variety stores industry. It was founded in 1945, Bentonville in Arkansas which is also the headquarters of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart operates locally as well as worldwide. It operated 1209 discount stores, 1980 super centers, and 567 Sam’s Club by January 31, 2006. It has also extended its operations to many international countries. It runs its retail stores in two forms: Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Stores. The Sam’s Club sells assorted product lines such as hardwares, electronics, jewelry, and to mention a few. The Wal-Mart stores also offer similar products in addition to the following: health and beauty products, apparel for women, men and children, household appliances etc (www.yahoo.finance.com). The Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Values and Code of Conduct, Corporate Governance: Directors, Executive Management, Committees and Stakeholder will be the key elements that will discussed in this report as it relates to Wal-Mart. In addition to that, the major trends in the general/macro environment and industry will be analyzed.

    Read More

  • Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices

    1949 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our society. From grocery shopping, to changing your oil and even filing your annual tax returns, Walmart is always there, everyday. Started by Sam Walton in 1962, it began as a small operation catering to a small Arkansas community. It was started on principles very similar to small local businesses in small towns. Today Walmart has gotten a different, darker reputation. On the surface, Walmart may seem like the solution to everyday issues. Low-income families are attracted to the low prices, and people who work odd hours benefit greatly from the 24 hours a day that many Walmarts are open. Lately, Walmart has also managed to be publicly recognized as a store that sells many of today’s green products, including organic food, environmental conscious cleaning products, as well as, paper products made from recycled paper. However, underneath all this, Walmart has a different side. Exploitation of its workers is widespread amongst Walmarts who do not belong to a union, especially in the United States. Wal...

    Read More

  • Walmart Reflection Paper

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Walmart’s throughout the United States continue to succeed. Two things that they continue to succeed at is telling the Walmart story in commercials, where we see they continue to lie and “staying the course.” Throughout the documentary they look into struggling families and how Walmart is a big factor in that. The Hunter family ran a hardware store by the name of H&H Hardware and after serving there town for 48 years had to close down due to the arrival of Walmart. Numerous other Mom and Pop businesses will continue to close down due to Walmart and the ability they have to drop sales and also knock the value down on numerous items. Due to most Walmart employees conscious, employees often have to stay late with no overtime pay due to the amount

    Read More

More about Unethical Business Practices by Wal-Mart

Open Document