7 Eleven Case Study

Ethical, Management and Cultural Diversity Issues in 7-Eleven

Introduction

Exploitation can be defined as using someone, whether it be for their labour resources or skills, and in return offering an unfair compensation. With apparent gaps in legislation, this has resulted in some employers underpaying workers, therefore exploiting them. The exploitation of labour in the workplace has been a human rights issue in society for many generations. In the eyes of the employer, exerting cheap investment with abundant profit seems to be an easy decision as “the ultimate source of profit is the unpaid labour of workers” (Lapon and Marx, 2011). But, when it comes at the expense of employees, it becomes an ethical and legal issue.

Australia is known

Ethical issues in business can depend on the individuals in charge, however when making decisions in conjunction with ethics, the legality and effectiveness of these actions need to be considered.

7-Eleven is Australia 's biggest convenience store chain, known nationally for its cheap "Slurpees", food and petrol. Their products are known for low prices and easy accessibility with 630 stores nationally; however, its employees pay the price for working there. Majority of 7-Eleven staff are on temporary foreign visas, limiting their possible working hours to 20 hours a week. To compensate for this limitation, 7-Eleven management assured to their workers that they would be able to work twice as long on a rate of approximately $20-$25 an hour. However, they failed to mention that this hourly rate was only applicable to 20 of their working hours, as on paper they cannot be paid full-time (40 hours/week). With the employees working in contravention of their visa conditions, this clearly abides Fair Work

However, rather than attempting to make up for the half-pay scam, many senior executives, including Russell Withers, stepped down from their positions on the board. It can only be assumed that they were not able to handle the repercussions and backlash from the Australian public, therefore acting in an act of cowardice. This not only portrays a negative assumption of the organisation but risks success of staff recruitment and the retention of the workers they have. Although majority of the board resigned, Michael Smith

The consequences of non-compliant pay situations must be made evident, serving as a lesson for all boards and CEOs to make known that the well being of organisations ' staff should be the priority rather than the pursuit of wealth and power.

• Pursuit of wealth and power Greed and values of business extend beyond profits to care for the personal well being of staff.

• Russell Withers cowardice

• Michael Smith rather than resigning, he tried to fix and rebuild his reputation (ABC News,