Essay Example on Walmart: The Global Retail Chain With Low Prices and Discounts

Walmart is a chain of stores that specializes in retail sale and operates nationally. It is the place where most people make their purchases due to the low prices and the discounts offered. Sam Walton established the business in the year 1962 whose innovation was influenced by his entrepreneurial skills. Some of the services provided include stores with groceries and discount and also hypermarkets. Walmart has a lot of employees compared to other companies in America. However, most of its employees live in poor conditions especially those with children. Walmart sells products that are manufactured in other foreign countries contrary to those produced in the US. For better decision making in business, the management should ensure ethics in business are well understood (Caroll & Buchholtz 2014)

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Walmart does not believe in third party intervening into its business, and therefore it has not joined any labor union organizations. The employees, therefore, address their issues directly to the management which is a policy in the company. This, however, does not benefit the employees as the organization can terminate the employees contract. Due to the lack of any help from the labor unions, the employees quit their jobs as a result of the low payment.

Walmart prevents its employees from consulting any representatives from unions, and this is unethical because the National Labour Relations Act provides guidelines that employees should be allowed to form unions by their employers which are their right (Unethical Business Practices 2015). A complaint was filed against Walmart by United Food and Commercial Workers Union to the National Labour Relations Boards where Walmart was accused of giving bribes to employees to report other employees who tried to join any union. Bribing employees is an act of encouraging dishonesty, and it is unethical.

Walmart is also alleged to punishing employees for their absence in work despite having notes from their doctors regarding their sickness. Walmart does not accept these notes. It is also accused of violation of the rights of Americans with Disabilities and even Family and Medical Leave Act (Abrams 2017). This is unethical for the company to punish people due to their disabilities and medical problems. Walmart should not violate these laws as they are essential for all the workers. It is however not uncommon for Walmart being sued and accused of mistreatment of its employees (Cills 2017).

Walmart was also accused of failing to provide better seats for cashiers who had asked for them. This was a Class Action Lawsuit in which the Walmart argued that each cashier was supposed to file their individual's suits; hence the issue could not be solved(Farfan 2019). The judge however certified the case. This is unethical as the actions taken by Walmart shows that they do not engage their employees and have a weak relationship between them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, companies will always be subject to problems. The companies that overcome these problems are those that identify any unethical issues and address them early to prevent any problems. Walmart has failed to overcome these unethical problems, and they probably will lead to suffering. Walmart should, therefore, put more effort and maintain the right name. Walmart should ensure that they treat their employees well and improve their ethical practices. Regarding this, the employees will be satisfied and will not have problems working or reasons to complain.

Works Cited

Caroll, Archie, and Ann Buchholtz. Business and Society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education, 2014.

Abrams, Rachel. Walmart is accused of punishing workers for sick days. New York Times, 2017. Retrieved from www.nytimes-com,cdn.ampproject.org

Farfan, Barbara. Another day, another Walmart class action employees lawsuit. The balancesmb, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.comwalmart-classic-action-employee-lawsuits-3974960

Cills, Hazel. Walmart accused of punishing workers for sick days, miscarriages, and pregnancy. 2017. Retrieved from jezebel.com.cdn.ampproject.org

Unethical Business Practices: Walmart unethical business practices. 2015. Retrieved from https://cnbc-tvn-bizness.com/unethical-business-practices/walmart-unethical-business-practices/