Ethical Communication Analysis

Running Head: ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 1

An Ethical Organizational Communication Analysis of Walmart

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 2

An Ethical Organizational Communication Analysis of Walmart

Introduction

Walmart is an internationally recognized retail business with subsidiaries and franchises

all over the globe. Sam Walton is the pioneer and founder of Walmart. After retiring from the US

military, Sam started a variety store, where he offered low prices and great-personalized customer

services. At first, everyone was skeptical about the success of the company and expected it to fail.

Instead, the business grew and became successful leading to the opening of the first Walmart store

in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 (Kumar, 2016). Sam’s idea of selling their products at lower and

much affordable prices made the store stand out and supersede their competitors. The likely

success of Walmart's first store led to the opening of subsidiaries in Claremore and Sikeston and

thus making it the New York stock exchange listing. By 1970, thirty-eight outlets were already

opened and operational. Today, Walmart has over 1500 stores comprising a supermarket and a

traditional store in the US not to mention the international subsidiaries in China, Africa, Brazil,

Japan, and the United Kingdom among others. The stores occupy small and affordable space if to

compare with their competitors (Kumar, 2016). The variety of their products and services include

retail goods, financial services, pharmaceutical services and wiring. Everything a customer needs

from baby products to electronics and books is all under one roof in Walmart. The primary attribute

to the success of Walmart is its communication ethics that has played a significant role in

establishing itself in the market. Therefore, analyzing ethics in the communication of Walmart, it

will be possible to develop an understanding of the role it plays in profiling an organization.

Ethical Communication Assessment of Walmart

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 3

Successful businesses and organizations are always guided by a specific code of ethics and

standards. The code of ethics ensures professionalism among the stakeholders while the business

standards set the adequate criterion for products that are accepted from the suppliers. Walmart Inc.

has values that promote the smooth running of the company. These values include respect for

everyone, strive for excellence, and Walmart’s most important, service to the customer. Despite

being under the guidance of the Global Ethics Office, Walmart as a single corporation tries to

uphold integrity and acceptable conduct towards its employees, customers and the community at

large. By emphasizing integrity and honesty, it has attracted more customers as compared to

similar enterprises.

The management of Walmart Inc. provides a guide stating the principles and values that

help in governing the organization. Apart from outlining the rules and regulations, the guide

describes the procedure to follow when one experiences an ethical dilemma. The Global Ethics

Office is mandated with the role to provide the necessary information to anyone who comes to

inquire about moral issues. All the stakeholders are encouraged to report all unethical cases to the

later’s manager and provide valid information to help in the case. Additionally, the Global Ethics

office is required to guarantee the privacy of all the involved stakeholders and personal

information. Such reassurances make it easier to report and solve ethical dilemmas in the company.

Integrity and honesty are core values that form a foundation for the success of any organization.

The management of Walmart always acts and leads the team by following this principle.

Additionally, the management is required to make informed decisions without any violation of the

rules. To ensure fair decisions are made, Walmart is against workplace romantic relationships in

order to avoid conflict of interest.

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 4

Walmart stores supply almost half of the American population with groceries. Therefore,

a massive percentage of the population is directly or indirectly dependent on the chain. A report

published in The Guardian shows how an investigation by the Food Chain Workers’ Alliance

proved inconsistencies in compliance with the Walmart code of ethics. The report findings indicate

that despite Walmart strives to maintain ethical code of conduct they can violate some principles.

For instance, the seafood section mentions that a shrimp industry in Thailand uses slave labor.

Despite the claims on respect to humanity, the stores continue to make profits for the unethical

supplier. According to Walmart’s code of ethics, slavery is unethical; however, they ignore this

point. Further, the environmental compliance of products sold in Walmart was under investigation

as well. It was sought to prove whether the products sold in the store were safe for human

consumption and what the environmental hazards had arisen if there were any. In the findings,

Tyson, a food processor supplier gave an account of how the Environmental Protection Agency

fined him over accidental chemical leakage after leaking anhydrous ammonia. Tyson was one of

the Walmart’s suppliers of meat; thus, the environmental compliance of the later can be doubted.

All in all, Walmart is an international and renowned company, and if the above mentioned data

became known to a broader public, the chain could have lost considerable percentage of the

customers around the world. Therefore, the quality of suppliers should be investigated in the first

instance.

Moreover, refrigeration and computer-based technologies made Walmart the largest seller

of groceries and food in the US. The former ensure that raw food can be stored for more extended

periods and still be safe for human consumption. In the interview to The New York Times, then

Chief Executive Officer of Walmart, Doug McMillon, stated that he aimed of implementing new

strategies that used technology in serving the customers, it was a way of keeping up with their

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 5

competitors like Amazon (Walmart, 2016). It was Doug’s role to strategize on keeping the retail

business of Walmart relevant on the market. Besides, it is vital to mention that Doug was a middle-

rank employee before his promotion to the head of the Walmart stores. The prior experience helped

in arriving at informed decisions that steered the organization to success. His example will help in

anticipating ethical doubts concerning the company’s promotion system.

Stakeholders are highly valued in the success of Walmart. It became evident when the

stakeholders arrived at a unanimous decision in Illinois to vote against the policy that aimed to

compensate the executives in case they lost their jobs due to corruption. This occasion established

that there are fairness and involvement of stakeholders in decision-making processes. Additionally,

an article published in the New York Times in 2012 reported on the escalating corruption of a

Walmart subsidiary in Mexico (Walmart, 2016). This resulted in the closure of the store while

investigations were carried out. However, the short time closure was extended when the executives

of the store were incriminated. Since the company could no longer proceed with the investigations,

it became a federal case. The act of handing over the investigations to federal officials increased

the trust that customers and other stakeholders had for Walmart. Doug gave comment on the

Mexican corruption case in his inaugural statement and promised to uphold the integrity of the

organization even further.

Employees provide businesses with human capital without which the business is deemed

to fail. Organizations invest in their employees to increase their productivity. Walmart applied this

principle when they raised their employees’ salary some years ago. However, there are allegations

that the company violates rules and refuses to give medical leaves to its employees. In the last year

New York Times article by Rachel Abrahams, she interviewed an employee who almost lost her

job because of being sick. Katie Orzechowski, the interviewee, narrated on how she almost lost

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 6

her job when she missed her work shifts due to her pregnancy that later on resulted in a miscarriage.

In her correspondence, Katie gave her hospital admission papers and doctor notes as an explanation

of her sick days, but the management gave her a deaf ear. She had to return to work while still

sick; she tells Rachel that she was still bleeding which was embarrassing for her. Katie’s story is

a proof that Walmart is sometimes not keen on employee welfare. Additionally, Rachel's articles

further indicate how the organization continues to violate rules against the discrimination of

pregnant employees. She records a lawsuit from a former Walmart employee who was fired after

missing two workdays because of complications from her pregnancy. The two cases prove the

discrimination against pregnant employees and women in general.Thus, the organization should

abide by the laws especially the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Despite the success of Walmart, it is evident that there are negative effects that come along

with it. Discrimination and violation of rules and policies that are inconsistent with the means to

success is a major problem in the organization. The inclusion of sick leave in the employee contract

should be mandatory. In the case of pregnancy complications, the company should draft a different

working schedule for the expectant mothers, but indicate the deductibles that come with the special

programs. Inevitable and accidents beyond human control should not be a reason to fire employees.

Instead, the necessary policies should be put in place. Consequently, suppliers to the Walmart

stores should be forewarned of the business risks that they are likely to encounter before signing

the contract. This will save them from high loses, for instance, Tyson, the processor as mentioned

earlier.

In retrospect, the structuring and implementation of the code of ethics and the business

standards in the Walmart Inc. are not as successful as it ought to be. A little restructuring is,

therefore, necessary to ensure that the rules are successfully implemented. Several things that the

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 7

code of ethics and principles should include. A yearly review of these principles will ensure that

the code is up to date. Situations that should be exempted from a specific policy rule or punishment

should also be stated to avoid confusion in the future.it is necessary to take a complete audit of the

suppliers and processors before granting them a contract. The auditors should be thorough and

ensure that the soon to be supplier meets the requirements and that the means used as a source of

labor are legal and safe. Since the double standard, application of ethics in the Thailand issues is

due to bribery and conflicts of interest; corrupt executive officers should be fired to maintain a

good reputation for the integrity of the organization.

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS 8

References

Kumar, R. (2016). Valuation of Walmart. Theories and Concept, (2008), 265–289.

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-802303-7.00012-7

Walmart. (2016). Walmart Annual Report 2016. Walmart. Retrieved from

http://s2.q4cdn.com/056532643/files/doc_financials/2016/annual/2016-Annual-Report-

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