Business Plan- 7-Eleven (Ethics)
Ethics
Ethical Issues Faced by 7-Eleven
It must be brought to attention that for the successful running of a business, it is really important that its rules, policies and procedures are built on the foundation of ethics. Ethics have to be incorporated into a business’s philosophy and management so that it can run smoothly and prevent its reputation from getting tarnished. White mentioned in his book that in the present era, businesses are going global which means that there is a strong need to focus on ethical principles and guidelines because if any unethical move is identified in any region of operation, the image if the business will undergo suffering at the global level. Moreover, concerns for doing business the ethical way is increasing as more awareness is being created among the individuals about basic human rights, business laws, and ethical practices.
We agree that 7-Eleven is one the biggest retail store chain operating in several parts of the world since decades. The store promises to offer fresh and premium quality products to its valuable customers twenty-four hours a day every day. Unlike other stores, 7-Eleven has the advantage of being open to the convenience of its customers at any place and anytime. 7-Eleven has always enjoyed a fair reputation among competitors unless an ethical issue rose up and soiled its image.
It has been reported few months back that the issue of underpaid employees and fake payrolls has been associated with 7-Eleven stores. Employees who work in 7-Eleven are mostly foreigners. More than half of the workforce is composed of students who belong to overseas and cannot work for more than twenty hours depending upon the regulations. Since students and needy employees wish to work more hours a week, 7-Eleven takes advantage of it and allow them to work for exceeding hours and in return pay them less. If any employee tries to raise voice against this unethical and unjust practice, the store managers blame him for violating the employment laws. The issue came to light when an employee took the courage and reported the matter to concerned legal authorities and federal courts. The senior management reacted to the issue with shock and claimed that they had no prior knowledge of such an unethical practice going on at the 7-Eleven stores and they expressed deep apologies to the stakeholders. The senior management including the chairman and two directors resigned from the organization as they believed it was the right thing to do (Ferguson 27). Such issues and others by renowned companies not only ruin their reputation earned over years as well as harm the brand equity, brand loyalty and customer expectations.
Other Possible Ethical Issues
There can be several issues of ethical nature which business can face other than the one mentioned in the case of 7-Eleven. For instance, the hot ethical issues are of gender inequality. Promotions and increase in compensation are offered to male employees only and females are always kept deprived of their rights. In the western and eastern societies which are dominated by males, females are not respected for their professionalism and always given ranks lower than their male counterparts. Females have the responsibility of looking after the family and children as well as earn outside the premises of their homes which is a challenging task. What worsens their misery is that they are not respected for what they do rather than mistreated and underpaid for their job (Donaldson, Patricia and Margaret 77).
Another possible ethical issue which is commonly seen even in the most successful companies is of sexual harassment. As the lifestyle is changing, more females are joining professional fields. As women are conventionally viewed as mere objects of sexual gratification, male employees try to dominate them by harassing them in direct or indirect ways. Training are provided to men to avoid the incident of sexual harassment and females are educated on their rights regarding this ethical issue. Another issue which can be faced by 7-Eleven, as well as other multinational businesses, is of cultural diversity. A diverse workforce is considered as more productive, skillful and creative which is why employers prefer the idea of having people with diverse ethical and cultural values. Diversity can sometimes give rise to prejudices and biases among peers and employee-supervisor relationships which can have negative impacts on performance and career development.
Resolving Ethical Dilemma
Ethical issues need to be resolved as soon as possible because when given public attention, these issues bring negative image for the respective organization. The case of an ethical dilemma at 7-Eleven can be restored by making genuine apologies to the employees who have been treated unfairly by managers and offering them their true salary amounts. Extra money for making them suffer for years should also be offered along with messages of reassurance from senior officials that similar events would never be repeated with them in future and the organization will ensure that their rights are protected. Press conferences can also be arranged where sincere apologies are made and the stakeholders are given guarantees that 7-Eleven would make sure to work on ethical grounds in future.
References
Donaldson, Thomas, Patricia H. Werhane, and Margaret Cording. Ethical issues in business. New Jersey, 1983.
Ferguson, Adele. "7-Eleven Wage Abuse Scandal Has Lessons For All Directors" Financial Review. Financial Review, 5 Oct 2015. Web. 28 Apr 2016.
White, Gary W. "Business ethics." Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship 6.4 (2001): 49-49.
