Business ethics
Business Ethics
Walmart Stores Inc. is founded on value-based and code of ethics principles. The value based and code of ethics helps the organization’s leadership in making appropriate decisions. The basic beliefs of the Walmart Stores Inc. focus on excellence achievement and code of ethics. The vision of the Walmart Stores Inc. is based on the global ethics in promoting ethical culture to its global stakeholders. Business codes of ethics are essential for an organization in making right decisions and acting with integrity (Kenny, 2007). Walmart Stores has strived in serving its customers with acts of integrity within the stipulated rules and regulation principles. The Walmart Stores staff is always reminded to consider the code of conduct while integrating and offering services to customers. This has helped in improving the services to customers and winning their confidence. Therefore, Walmart Stores has greatly considered the code of conduct in all global stores in ensuring respects it strive for excellent service to customers.
The guiding principles of Walmart Stores Inc. require all members of staff to follow the firm’s laws all the time. The Walmart Stores employees are honest and fair when dealing with customers. It is essential for both management and employee to reveal and report information truthfully without engaging in manipulation or misrepresentation of data to the senior management (Freeman, 2006). The Walmart Stores branches are supposed to compile information and data to firm’s senior management. This information and data are essential in decision making and hence supposed to be truthfully and dependent for references. Furthermore, the Walmart Stores organization encourages branch managers to promptly report any suspected violation of the code of conduct to the firm’s global ethics office for help. Therefore, Walmart Stores Inc. has indicated the code of ethics for its employees and managers and connecting them to its global ethics office.
Evidence of Continued and Repeated emphasis by the CEO, of the importance of Ethical Conduct to the Corporation and its Business Ventures
The Walmart Stores Inc. CEO has portrayed that global ethics of the firm is responsible for promoting the integrity culture. The Walmart integrity culture covers developing and upholding the firm’s policies. These policies define the ethical behavior of Walmart’s stakeholders in everywhere it operates. CEO emphasizes the importance of raising awareness of ethics policies through the provision of channels connecting the stakeholders to the organization (Manzoni, 2012). The connection channel helps in reporting and brings the ethics concerns to the global ethics office attention. Also, the CEO ensures the provision of confidential and anonymous ethics reporting channel system. Furthermore, it is the mandate of the Walmart Stores Inc. management to ensure the continuation of ethics education and communication system in the organization. Therefore, CEO is committed to ensuring ethical conduct to the Walmart Stores Inc. operations and business ventures.
Through the ethics education, the Walmart Stores Inc. has considered promoting integrity as daily behavior. The CEO seeks in building global consistent ethics education experience focusing on associates that integrate ethics content within the existing functional training areas. CEO points that Walmart Stores Inc. has implemented the consistent education program in the United States and focusing on expanding it around the world using e-learning and instructor guided training. Initiating Integrity in Action Award program is used in recognizing associates in the organization who tend to demonstrate integrity. The Walmart Stores Inc. considers the associate consistent actions and inspiration they offer. CEO expresses that Integrity in Action Award program would foster and sustain the Walmart Stores Inc. culture of integrity and will contribute in driving to success. The program would be based on voluntary nominations and award would be presented to the winner of global votes within the organization. Therefore, all these programs and strategies are evident that CEO has been focusing on promoting the code of ethics and organizational integrity culture.
The processes in place that make it safe and easy for employees or other interested parties to report ethical lapse
The Walmart Stores Inc. has developed a process that is safe and easy for employees and other interested stakeholders in reporting ethical lapse to management. The global ethics office of Walmart Stores Inc. has developed a reporting system that is confidential and anonymous. The Walmart Stores Inc. through the global ethic office, investigate the claims from the reporting office. The investigation seeks to determine whether the cases presented by anonymous are viable or factual (Cowton & Downs, 2015). The reporting system retains the information that is confidential to the global ethics office.
The Walmart Stores Inc. through the global ethics office maintains the privacy of any investigation regarding ethics violation. The management in different branches is supposed to ensure the ethics violation investigation are conducted maintain the privacy of the involved stakeholders (Talaulicar, 2009). The need for ensuring privacy and anonymity helps to protect the image and integrity of the organization. Privacy also ensures that management gets all relevant information concerning the ethics violation. Therefore, the Walmart Stores Inc. ensures the privacy of any nature of the investigation is maintained.
The management of Walmart Stores Inc. embraces the contribution from the employees and other stakeholders on appropriate ethics reporting mechanism that is easy and safe. The employees are supposed to reveal and report any ethics violation information truthfully. Provision and presentation of all the facts relating to ethics violation help in eliminating opinion, biasedness or judgment (Brenkert, 2004). Therefore, global ethics office through the Walmart Stores Inc. branch managers is entitled to ensure ethics violation cases and solutions are easily determined at their levels considering safety measures.
Conclusion and Decisions
Walmart Stores Inc. as an international firm and a good history both in financial performance and business integrity, it would be easier in trading in the publicly traded stock of the company. Basing on its performance in the stock market, the Walmart Stores Inc. records higher sales, and hence it can trade with more than one million dollars.
It would be possible to invest $500,000 in debt of the Walmart Stores Inc. as the company has prominent future showing a positive return. Investing bonds worth $500,000 with Walmart Stores Inc. would result in higher returns. It is evident from the financial reports as they show company’s returns and the possibility of positive rewards to its investors. Considering business ethics on integrity culture, the Walmart provides reliable information regarding its performance. Therefore, it is evident that investors get appropriate financial information tracking the company’s performance.
As a member of the Board of Directors, I would grant Walmart Stores Inc. one million dollar credit for overnight. Business ethics aspects such as integrity culture are essential in determining whether the company is viable to obtain such high credit in a short period. The Walmart Stores Inc. has a good history in business ethics and hence winning the confidence of the creditors. Therefore, it is possible for Walmart Stores Inc. would obtain one million dollar credit for overnight.
References
Brenkert, G. ( 2004). Corporate Integrity and Accountability. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Cowton, C., & Downs, Y. (2015). Use of focus groups in business ethics research: potential, problems, and paths to progress. Business Ethics: A European Review. 24, S54-S66.
Freeman, E. (2006). The Wal-Mart Effect and Business, Ethics, and Society. Academy of Management Perspectives. 20(3), 38-40.
Kenny, K. (2007). Code or Contract: Whether Wal-Mart's Code of Conduct Creates a Contractual Obligation Between Wal-Mart and the Employees of its Foreign Suppliers. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, 27(2), 453-473.
Manzoni, J.-F. (2012). Building and Nurturing a High Performance - High Integrity Corporate Culture. INSEAD Working Papers Collection.16, 1-18.
Talaulicar, T. (2009). Global retailers and their corporate codes of ethics: the case of Wal-Mart in Germany. Service Industries Journal. 29(1), 47-58.
