Walmart Code Of Ethics Essay

The CEO and all senior financial officers also have an additional code of ethics. They are responsible for full, accurate, and timely disclosure in reports required to be filed by the SEC. Each member is also required to report any material untrue fact that comes to their attention or any deficiency in the design/operation of internal controls. Each member must report any violation of their code of ethics or any violation of other laws, rules, or regulations (Walmart 9). This additional codes of ethics is important because it holds all of the executives accountable for their actions. This should aid in preventing fraudulent reporting by management because this code can be cited when looking at disciplinary action.

There are several factors that account for the changes in the way business is conducted today. Factors such as increased global competition, economic conditions, technology, electronic commerce, workforce diversity, and ethics have all play a significant role in how business is conducted. How a company conducts itself as a business and a corporate citizen is critical to its success.

People know and choose Wal-Mart because of its daily low prices. Wal-Mart sells its bargains every opportunity it gets, and convinces customers forgetting about everything except the low prices. Undoubtedly, Wal-Mart is one of the most successful corporations of all time. However, the tremendous success of Wal-Mart certainly comes with a correspondingly massive amount of responsibility. The strategy of low prices usually comes at a deadly unethical cost. Although some of its business practices such as “Low prices, always”, and helping in saving money are ethical, most of its business practices are unethical.

If there has been unethical behavior going on in an organization, the organization needs to examine the behavior and dismiss the unethical people to save the organization. By creating a code of ethical conduct, this will give guidelines and practices that are

There should be training on ethical behavior for all everyone in the organization, including executives, managers, and employees. The ethics program is essentially of no use unless all staff members are trained about what it is, how it works and their roles in it. All staff must be aware of and act in full accordance with policies and procedures, so it is imperative to make ethical training mandatory for all employees from the top down in order to set a good example that specifies no employee is above the law. Training should permit all employees to become familiar with the company's code of ethics, and also include topics such as responsibility, respect, impartiality, trustworthiness and empathy. The ethics program is essentially useless unless all staff members are trained about what it is, how it works and their roles in it (Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for Managers, n.d.).

Lowry had copied papers for her boss Mona Williams prior to hearing that Wal-Mart’s is planning a 15 billion dollar stock buy back and felt that maybe her boss has traded stock information. Although Lowry, discreetly had gone to the ethic department to inform them of her finding of information she thought was unethical. Upon doing so even though Lowry omits she did not know whether her boss had done anything wrong. Moreover, the ethics departments told Lowry that day they did not see any wrongdoing. Even though Lowry acted in good faith, “pointing out that their might have been some wrongdoing” However, her name is revealed by the Communication department and giving to Business Week and to her boss. In dispute, however, are the circumstances that led Lowry looking for a new job. Since the incident has asked

A code of ethics highlights the responsibility and accountability standards of each and every employee within the organization. These codes are also motivating factors that guide the employees’ behavior, set the standard regarding ethical conduct, and build an organizations trustworthiness within

What are some other key issues or codes of ethics do you feel are vital for organizations to succeed? Accountably, respect, integrity and performance excellence. Give at least two examples of different organizations values and/or codes that you feel exemplifies your beliefs and why. Kraft I like the Kraft code of ethics because they only contain just 10 very short rules of ethical behavior that every employee must obey and follow. Kraft’s code of ethics allows their employees values to guide their actions in just about all cases.

As many organizations have or seek to establish a global footprint, it is imperative that they establish a written code of ethics that clearly lays out what the company stands for as well as enforce it. This is required as it will establish the acceptable behaviors for those that fall under the code of ethics. Taking the time to develop this is key to successful interactions with internal and external shareholders as well as reducing negative perceptions by stakeholders.

Every company should have a code of ethics, because it maintains the company’s values, culture, and reputation. It communicates to employees that the company is committed to doing business responsibly. It also guides employees’ conduct and how they should interact with each other, customers, vendors, contractors, and the general public. Code of ethics set clear standards and expectations for employees, and if everyone in the company adheres to these policies, then the company will create a culture that reflects the code. Companies with code of ethics also show that they are committed to integrity and social responsibility, which in turn will make their customers feel more reassured, and help with the company's bottom line as well as protect the company from potential liability.

Most organizations implement a code of ethics to establish proper standards and procedures for line managers and employees. Additionally, Dowlen and Festing et al., ‘‘HR professionals have an important role to play in instituting a strategic plan for legal compliance and developing corporate codes voluntary compliance’’ (p. 271). Ideally, a well-written code of ethics will provide guidance and understanding on how staff members should handle certain situations. For example, Lisa Magloff from Chron Business, states that ‘‘The Kraft code of ethics contains just 10 short rules of ethical behavior that all employees must follow. The introduction to the Kraft code of ethics suggests that employees should let values guide their actions

Jeffrey Seglin, a business ethics columnist for the New York Times, participated in an event sponsored by Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. He described two Wal-Marts one as evil and one as good. The evil company is very, very big and does everything to grow bigger. They use illegal immigrants to mop floors and are accused of locking employees inside overnight. They practice gender discrimination, pay low wages and deteriorate suppliers and competition. The bad one "is the enemy of all that’s good and right in our nation" (Seglin, 2004).

After reviewing the three videos that were recommended for me to watch about Walmart, I later had a different perspective of Walmart as a company. With Walmart opening in many countries and towns it has lessened the amount of the small businesses in the area by competition. 5,000 Walmart are opened and still counting. This is an ethical problem to a certain extent. Small business owners know that they are small and that there will be some type of competition, but they probably never imagined that the competition would be a multimillion dollar company. That is not ethically Walmart’s fault. Where Walmart has a problem with is the amount of money and benefits that they give their employees. Walmart doesn’t compensate their employees the amount

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

Wal-Mart, the big giant, the place where a lot of people usually do their shopping for the low prices and the variety of products were founded by Sam Walton. Walton was an entrepreneur with an innovative vision started his own company and made it into the leader in discount retailing that it is today. In fact, Wal-Mart is considered to be the biggest company in the U.S. and it has stores worldwide. According to PBS, “Wal-Mart employs more people than any other company in the United States outside of the Federal government, yet the majority of its employees with children live below the poverty line.”(www.pbs.org) In addition, Wal-Mart likes to portray itself as a seller of U.S. manufactured goods