The Ethical Dilemma Facing Wal-Mart Company - Case Study Example

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS Lecturer’s Introduction Wal-Mart, the largest private employer company in the United s, is faced with an ethical dilemma. The company is trying reduce its cost by changing the scheduling method of the work shifts of the employees to adopt the computerized system of scheduling (from Kronos) in order to maximize on its profit. However, this has faced a lot of criticism by the workers’ rights advocates for the impact the computerized system will have on the employee’s lives. 1) The ethical dilemma facing Wal-Mart Company and whether associates also face an ethical dilemma The company is desperate to adopt the move, as it will be very beneficial. Traditionally, the managers arranged the employee’s schedules manually conducting the scheduling process. They had a lot of duties as the duty needed a full day of effort. Taking into consideration the many stores in the chain of the company, then scheduling was a very expensive task to the company. By utilizing the computerized system of scheduling, the scheduling process will be conducted efficiently, and the store manager could utilize that devote time in running other businesses for the benefit of the company. Utilizing the system will enhance the company’s productivity and improve their customer satisfaction (Kampf, 2007). The management has gone ahead to site a 12 percent gain in productivity upon adoption of the computerized system of scheduling. The alerts from the system will also make the company make more money as workers will be cut back hours that they were on call and never attended the duty. On the other hand, adoption of the system there will cause a disruption of the employees causing a decrease in their job stability creating a financial hardship for the company. The scheduling computerized scheduling process is unpredictable requiring the workers to be more flexible with their working hours. The system may ask the works to be on call and resume work in case of a rush or even go home during a low spell. This will result to irregular working hours and inconsistent pays making it difficult for the employees to organize their lives. The system will improve the customer service without considering the consequences that it will have on the lives of the workers. The company requests its associates to submit their personal availability forms as the system restricts the number of hours scheduled. The associates of the company are in a dilemma as some have expressed their concerns as the system is enabling the managers to pressure them to quitting their jobs. The labor rights of the workers are not being respected by the computerized scheduling system as their needs are not considered (Kampf, 2007). If the workers are unavailable or unwilling to work in the weekends or nights, then new workers who admit making less per hour are replacing them. Thus, the company has to make a decision of whether to continue with the system or take into consideration the workers’ rights. 2) What ethical principles apply to this case? How do they apply? The company does not recognize the rights of the works, and it treats works as commodities. Managers are pressuring them to work as their rights are not being respected. They working hours have been reduced, and the system is creating instability in their lives with the un regular working hours. If the workers are unavailable or unwilling to work in the weekends or nights, then new workers who admit making less per hour are employed to replace them. Wal-Mart must consider Descartes’ rule of change. Both sides need to be guided by the ethical conduct principle of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Duke, 2010). The company’s employee relationship should not be simply based on economic terms neither does the managers employee relationship. The employer has an ethical obligation of making business decision in a manner that demonstrates the concerns of the employees that is not demonstrated in the case. Employees need to be treated fairly with respect; need to be paid fairly and good working conditions needs to be provided. In the case, discussed employees are just treated as a commodity and the company’s focus is maximizing on its operations and meeting the customer’s satisfaction (Roozen, De Pelsmacker, & Bostyn, 2001). An ethical employer should not think of an employee only as a means to meet the end. Rather employers need to be treated as major organizational stakeholders if the company needs to meet their goals. Ethical employers protect the wellbeing and protect their employees. An ethical consideration of the company is that it should be loyal to its workers rather than threatening and terminating their jobs. Employees need to be counted relevant on commitment to the company’s and employees especially on the central matter such as pay, raises and promotions. 3) The potential effects of a computerized scheduling system on the employee morale and the consequence on the company The computerized system provides opportunities for the managers not to provide full time and overtime wages to their workers. This results to a rising tension on the organizations as the employees will require more working hours in order to put some bread on the table for their families and households. Assuming that the company is among the companies providing the lowest wages in the United States, the employees need more money in order to meet the daily needs and survive in the society. The computerized system provides more powers to the managers who fire the employees who are not willing to work under the new rules. As a result, the whole system results in a lowered level of employee satisfaction. The employees will not be motivated in their jobs and, as a result, the company may suffer as poor quality services may be a result of the suffered employees morale (Weakliem, 2006). The company needs to be increasing the employees motivation for them to meet the consumer satisfaction. The higher paid and experienced associates consider the system to be putting pressure on them to quit their job if they do not comply with the schedule. Their positions will then be replaced with other employees. References Kampf , Constance . (2007). Corporate social responsibility: WalMart, Maersk and the cultural bounds of representation in corporate web sites. Corporate Communications: An International Journal. doi:10.1108/13563280710723741 Duke, M. (2010). Next Generation Walmart. Vital Speeces of the Day, 425–427. Roozen, I., De Pelsmacker, P., & Bostyn, F. (2001). The ethical dimensions of decision processes of employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 33, 87–99. Weakliem, D. L. (2006). 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