Ethics are moral principles that can be used to help guide peoples decisions. We are all different and therefore our beliefs and opinions differ. There are many ethical theories, and according to Panza and Potthast (n.d.) the following are some that are widely used. Virtue ethics is one theory which states that personality is the most important thing. Living an ethical life, acting right, requires that one develops and demonstrates the quality of courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. It also requires that greed, jealousy, and selfishness is avoided. Utilitarianism states that the amount of happiness and suffering created by a person’s actions is what matters the most. As a result, acting rightly includes maximizing the amount of …show more content…
(Panza & Potthast, n.d.) Ethics is very important to a company’s success. Ethical behavior can bring benefits to a business. They can attract customers, which can lead to a boost in sales and profits. It can attract the right employees and increase productivity. It can also attract investors and keep the company’s share price high. Unethical behavior on the other hand can damage a company’s reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders. It could also result in lower profits. In 1962 in Rogers, AR, a man by the name Sam Walton founded the well-known retail store Wal-Mart, dedicated to make a difference in the lives of their customers by offering everyday low prices. (Walmart, 2014). Despite their effort trying to save people money, Wal-Mart has been caught up in some scandals, which has given the company a bad reputation. In 2005 Wal-Mart paid bribes in Mexico to win market dominance and to speed up building permits. It is said that it is difficult to get all the permits needed to open a business without paying off low-level officials. The former Wal-Mart executive gave names, dates and bribe amounts. He knew a lot, he said it was because he had been the lawyer in charge of obtaining construction permits for Wal-Marts in Mexico, which they refer to as Wal-Mart de Mexico. Wal-Mart sent investigators to Mexico City, where they uncovered evidence of widespread bribery. There was a paper trail of
Ethics and ethical behaviors are the essential parts of healthy management. From a management perspective, behaving ethically is an integral part of long-term career success. Wide access to information and more business opportunities than in the past qualifies ethics as a key necessity in business world. Management ethics is the ethical treatment of employees, stockholders, owners and the public by a company in a fair manner. A company should have commendable ethics in place besides striving to make profits. In other words, employees should be treated well, whether they are employed in their hometown, country or overseas. By being respectful of the environment in the community a company demonstrates exceptional ethics. Excellent record keeping also play a pivotal role since this acts as a respectful gesture towards stakeholders and owners. Furthermore, it
The company uses foreign labor, including child workers, and sweatshops. This creates a hard life for those who are forced to meet Walmart’s needs. The company has been accused of paying officials in foreign companies in order to keep many details silent. But, we cannot know if those allegations are
Also the importance of understanding ethics in a business is away of collecting lacking information of employees involved, like power or to helping to harm the employees, customers and everyone involved in the company. One of the most positive ethic roles a company is practicing giving to charity donation each year is practicing ethical behavior. The benefit of the company can allow additional taxes, and send a positive message. Therefore, the business can bring in a lot more customer’s, and increase a positive image towards the relationship with the business to allow the firm to bring in more new employees. Also business and personal ethics is a learning experience for young and through adulthood, is a practice through our daily lives. Some business give their employees information that contain statements, policies, and other responsibilities that all employee should follow. While these effects are if the employee refuse to respect the organization by following the business guidelines.
In the corporate world, everything is a competition. With so many companies fighting to be on top, do some ethical dilemmas get slid under the rug? In 1991 Walmart opened its first international store in Mexico City. Since then, Walmart has rapidly taken over the supercenter industry employing 2.3 million associates worldwide and ending the fiscal year of 2016 with a total revenue of $485.9 billion. (Walmart, Inc.). How has Walmart been able to grow so much so quickly? Ever since the Wal-Mart de Mexico’s bribery scandal that surfaced in 2005, the company has been under fire for allowing such illegal acts to take place. It’s first important to understand how Walmart got involved in the bribes, how corporate dealt with the allegations when they became aware of them, and then discuss ways in which Walmart can improve their policies and practices to make sure that this undesired behavior doesn’t happen again.
The first Wal-Mart was opened on July 2, 1962 in Rogers Arkansas. Wal-Mart since then has now opened their stores in 27 different countries outside the United States. Walmart has had problems in their business. One of the major problems Walmart has had is it’s low wages to their employees. Another problem is Wal-Mart has violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act which has caused them to pay millions of dollars. Last of all, in recent studies it has shown that were a Walmart is build has a correlation with crimes. Walmart has had questionable ethical business practices in their stores.
Mars, formally the chief administrative officer for Wal-Mart in the United States, stepped down. Jose Luiz Rodriquezmacedo Rivera, once the general counsel at Wal-Mart’s Mexican division, quietly left the company. And H. Lee Scot Jr., who was Wal-Mart’s chief executive, will retire from the board. These men belong to the list of executives from the uppermost reaches of Wal-Mart’s management who held critical positions when corruption scandals engulfed the company’s
Wal-Mart took action in defending its image. In 2005 the company launched an internal investigation that dug into the operations of Wal-Mart de Mexico. The reports put
In 1962 Wal-Mart Inc. was founded by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas. Mr. Walton desire was that “true leadership depends on willing service” which became the foundation that Walmart was built upon. Not to mention how that is main reason why the business has been successful in the past fifty years. Having a business which sold products that were lower in price and offered great services was the advantage point of why Walmart has been so widespread. One special reason why Mr. Walton had a difference perspective in running Walmart was that he depended upon his associates and the relationship he created with them shaped much of the achievement in the business. He started building Walmart in small towns not considering what other people told him
Admiring how ethics takes a role in the workplace is a significant way to start individual's thinking about the emotional and psychological aspects of ethical decision-making. There are many steps businesses can take into account when incorporating ethical decision-making into their practices, beginning with ethics training. All businesses, regardless of for-profit status should embrace ethics training at all levels of the organization. When an entire business takes part in learning the values of ethics together the program will be more successful. Ethics training is an important motivator for productivity as well as a way to practice the organization’s values. This training will enhance awareness of employees and open up the opportunity to discuss unusual ethical decisions that may
Within a competitive world, companies should become ethical throughout many perspectives. Ethics refers to the standards of right and wrong in an attempt to influence behaviour. (Kinicki 2015, p.83) In stating this, companies can be ethical within numerous occasions such as ethics and financial performance, ethical performance, ethics and sustainability and ethical competition such as competitive advantage. Despite the positive side, there are also some negative implications towards ethics.
Ethics is the system of rules that governs the ethical systems of values. In class, we defined four universal principles of ethics: universalism, egoism, utilitarianism, relativism, and virtue ethics. Of the four listed above, I agree with the utilitarianism concept. Utilitarianism is an ethical system stating that the greatest good for the number should be the overriding concern of decision makers. I believe of the four approaches, utilitarianism is the best option for multiple reasons. It makes the decision-maker appear and act selflessly, work for the greater good, and ultimately listen to the majority of the individuals they are representing by doing what they ask/request.
Wal-Mart emerged in the early 1960’s as a one-stop shop, advertising everyday low prices. The idea quickly took off and expanded beyond the original store in Arkansas to all across the U.S. by the 1980’s. People loved the convenience Wal-Mart provided, eliminating multiple trips to different stores and saving time. They also saved money by shopping here, so it was an obvious choice for many consumers to shop at and support Wal-Mart. But behind their low prices and convenience, a more sinister motive exists. The true price of big business like this is unfair wages, unethical practices, destruction of the environment and damage to local companies.
Wal-Mart’s practices can be seen to be unethical due to the effect it has had, predominately on factory workers, and manufacturers, but also other citizens in the United States as well. However, the benefits that China and some other countries have reaped due to the massive amounts of revenue that Wal-Mart and other companies
Walmart is under investigation for the allegations of bribery carried out by executives in Mexico eager to boost the company’s growth in that Market. The New York Times was first to break the story describing the Mexican scandal as “a prolonged struggle within the company that pitted its much publicized commitment to the highest moral and ethical standards against its relentless pursuit of growth”.
Due to the increase of public awareness in the recent years, a company needs to maintain its moral image. This has also led to the governments all over the world becoming more vigilant in their regulation of these organizations. Government restriction, taxes and environmentally sensitive areas are some of the biggest and most expensive hindrances faced by business organizations, costing them millions of dollars. For some cases, it becomes too expensive for companies to be ethical in tackling various obligations. This forces them to change their approach and look for alternative actions.