Ethics Wall Mart Essay

1. What financial impact do you think the lawsuit could potentially have on Wal-Mart? Ans. Wal-Mart is the biggest or largest retail store in the world. Naturally, their earning and employees are also more compared to other corporate. The lawsuit against the company was not the company needed when they were facing other legal issues such as the child labor and employment of illegal immigrants. Six women who say women were treated lower than the male even if they acquired equal posts; qualification and experience filed the lawsuit. The six women who filed the case against Wal-Mart are not only asking the company pay for the unfair deed but also asking them to pay back and compensate for all 1.6 female employees against whom Wal-Mart discriminated. This would cost the company a fortune because these 1.6 female workers were entitled to promotions, salary increment, trainings and other such things. To compensate or reimburse that much amount for that much workers would surely have a huge and major impact on the company’s financial position. The other way in which this lawsuit could affect the company’s financial position would be through the transaction or sales. Other thing is the reputation and goodwill of the company. 2. What are the major moral complaints of the females suing Wal-Mart? Do you believe these moral complaints are justified? Why? Ans. Major Complaints: Difference in the promotion scheme between male and female employees, The lower payment of wages and salaries to female employees even they were at same level with male employees, Unequal distribution of management training among the male and female employees, Male allotted a better job assignment compared to women even they were equally qualified, ranked and experienced. Yes, I believe these complaints are justifiable because we can see from every point that women were not treated fairly and equally. It wasn’t that women lacked in anything or that they were unwilling to work, it was because they were woman. We can very well compete with men and in some cases may even prove better than them but it is act like this what is pulling the power of women down. The six women who sued Wal-Mart didn’t sue for nothing; they had physical proof and evidences of the discrimination laid upon them. Some of the evidences were found in the employees’ records where by Richard Drogin, a statistical expert found out that employee at Wal-Mart was divided into two main groups, hourly employees who occupied the lower levels and salaried managers who occupied the higher levels. Compensation increases from one level to the next. In 2001, salaried managers made about $50,000 a year while hourly employees made $18,000. Drogin found out that not only 65% of hourly employees were women but also 33% of salaried managers constituted women. So at both the point women earned less than man. When we also look upon the experience level, an average woman was far more experienced than an average man because women worked or stuck there for longer than men. Women despite having other responsibilities like raising a kid or managing the home, they dedicate more where they work that is why they have less turnover rates. So this adds up to another reason why the lawsuit was appropriate or justifiable. 3. What factors do you think might account for the discrepancies the Drogin report uncovered? Ans. The company took the women employees for granted. At first the founder Sam Walton wanted equality but after passing away the core value was lost. The management took the women employees for granted so didn’t feel the need to promote them. 4. What, if anything, do you think Wal-Mart should do to correct these discrepancies? Should the company institute an â€Å"affirmative action† promotion program for female employees? If so, what should this program be like? Ans. 1 ) Work Discrimination Here I am talking about the actual work or labor work. Women at Wal-Mart seem to be working at par with men but still they are not paid at par. To compensate for the women’s losses they could reduce their work time or they could allocate women to areas where minimum energy is required. For example they could work at displaying of items, as a cashier, and such places where not much of hard labor is required. 2) Facility such as Day Care Wal-Mart is one of the biggest retail all over the world and they have lots of property they own. If they established some Day care centre for their employees especially the female employees then those employees who have kids can drop their kids in those centre and work carefree in the store. The centre could be near the store and they could also charge some amount as charge but this could not only benefit the workers but also the company for could avoid unnecessary absenteeism 3) Women’s Association An association called the Women’s Association can be formed in every retail store so that female employees can come together to discuss their issues and forward suggestions and feedback. Such programs do not have to disturb their normal work time, it could be conducted once in every month or whenever major issues arise. 4) Equal Respect At Wal-Mart’s women were mostly looked down and not given the respect they deserve. A woman may be somebody’s mother, wife or sister. Men at Wal-Mart fail to see that and they criticized women of their looks, their past, future and their purpose in life. So therefore women should be given respect and treated equally. Yes definitely the company should institute an â€Å"affirmative action† in order to promote program for the female employees. From my point of view, since the company is based in the United States they should associate their program with the Statue of Liberty . That statue denotes the power of women and it signifies the right to freedom for all the U.S citizens. The title or the main theme of such program could be â€Å"Liberty for Women†   . Whereby they could stress the freedom to speak, advance and employment especially for the female workers. They could relate women to some famous figure such as the Mother Teresa or simply their own mom. On this particular day they could give all the female employees a one-day holiday and let them embrace themselves. The company should however grant monetary compensation for this day. This way women employee could proudly say they work at Wal-Mart and dedicate completely to their work and avoid complaining. Some of the points they could keep in mind while pursuing such program could be as follows: * The right and responsibilities of women * The importance of women * The success of women till now * The potential and ability of women * The sacrifices women make in every aspect of life * And maybe life without women 5. Do you think the women deserve to win the lawsuit? Ans. Yes I feel that they should win the lawsuit. The grounds on which they are fighting is right. As everyone is equal in today’s world, the demand for female employees to have their salaries equal to that of men is justified. The company can frame new policies for salary, wages and promotion, which doesn’t discriminate men and women employees. So in the future both genders have equal opportunities and are paid equally.