Flexible Scheduling at Wal-Mart: Good or Bad for Employees - Research Paper Example

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING AT WAL-MART Flexible Scheduling at Wal-Mart Affiliation Data Ethical Case: Flexible Scheduling at Wal-Mart: Goodor Bad for Employees? 1. What is the ethical dilemma facing Wal-Mart in this case? Do Wal-Mart’s associates also face an ethical dilemma? If so, what is it? The original manufacturer of computerized time clocks is Kronos who has clearly explained the data collection mechanism which goes beyond data collection involving software and services. The company has also started providing application for managing workforces plus it also provides consultation, education and support services to its customers. This system is being considered to be adopted for utilization in Wal Mart and the employees must abide by the rules of this system after its implementation. Wal-Mart is adopting Kronos as the system for the computerized scheduling of shifts. It can produce a working schedule for every store in a matter of hours. The employees at Wal-Mart are facing an ethical dilemma by the Kronos system. The new scheduling is favored by Wal-Mart as it increases the profit margin and reduces the cost but on the other hands it is unfavorable to the employees. As scheduling for employees requires personal judgment and takes in to consideration the needs of the employees, the new software is unable to do so. The ethical dilemma that Wal-Mart will face after the complete installation of Kronos will be beyond control. This system urges the management to hire fewer numbers of employees as needed according to the number of customers at the store. This conflicting condition where employees will be asked to visit at different hours will result in an ethical dilemma as the new system will decrease the job stability of the employees. The minimum wage staff will be highly affected and may leave the company and the reputation of Wal-Mart will be badly influenced. As the employees need to fill a form for informing the hours they can be available at so that a computerized scheduling system will make a shift schedule accordingly. The ethical issue of misinforming the employee may arise if the employees fill wrong information in the form to have a shift schedule with longer hours. The high paid associated feel that the new computerized system makes them quit their job as they are unable to meet the shift requirements asked by the company which comprises of some hours in day time and late hours. If these associates quit, they will be replaced by inexperienced lower staff as this may result in poor customer service (Walmart, 2013). 2. What ethical principles apply to this case? How do they apply? The ethical principle that applies in this situation is “Do unto others as you may have them do unto you.” After the computerized scheduling system, we see that the employees of Wal-Mart are dissatisfied and some are relying on opportunities where they can depend on false information to get a proper schedule of working hours. On the other hand, most of the employees are demoralized and the high quality of their service will also get affected. In this case the higher management of Wal-Mart should decide how they can implement a system of scheduling the working hours of their employees which may not influence the quality of the work adversely. For acquiring faithful and sincere services from the employees with high quality, Wal-Mart has to accommodate its employees who are hardworking and sincere with their work (workplacefairness.org, 2014). Wal-Mart has to focus on its employees which produce a high level of customer service. The profits of Wal-Mart are already very high as they are the one of the top retail stores of the United States. So instead of concentrating on higher profit margins, the attention should be on high customer service. The computerized scheduling system is here to stay and with time we will see that other companies with chain stores will adopt it. The important part is the co-existence of the system with the satisfaction of the employees. It is an ethical principle that every organization should behave and function in the interest of the people, environment and employees. When all these three factors are satisfied, the profit margin will increase and the growth of the company will progress at a high rate. Factors such as lower costs and a higher number of sales or services with customer satisfaction cannot be achieved if the employees of a company are not satisfied. The employees can play a significant role in determining the reputation and sustainability of the organization. An organization should be managed by following the ethical principles of business where needs and wants of the employees are properly aligned with the interest of the company. The true success of the Wal-Mart lies in the satisfaction of the employees who don’t have to rely on unethical means to gain longer shift hours. 3. “What are the potential effects of computerized scheduling on employee morale? What are the consequences of these effects for Wal-Mart?” Wal-Mart is adopting the computerized scheduling system for the employees. The purpose to adopt this new method is to reduce the cost. This program helps in determining the number of employees present at a certain time. This availability of employees is dependent on the number of customers. During the early hours, the number of workers will be less but during the rush hours, the number of workers will increase. This new computerized scheduling system helps companies in reducing their cost and helps in complying the federal wage and hours wage laws. But on the other hand, this creates de moralization for employees. The employees can be called at various hours when the number of customers is high where as in the early hours of the day many employees are sent home as they are not needed (Kenneth, 2010). This results in irregular part time work as employees are made available for part time hours and not on the regular hours. The income of the employees has also being reduced. By being available for 35 hours a week with a manual scheduling system, some employees get as fewer as 12 hours shift now. This demoralization of the employees will result in consequences of losing the experienced and competent staff by Wal-Mart. As these employees have the option of moving to other companies where a manual scheduling system is available, it can assure a regular schedule of working hours and a regular income. Those employees who may stay at Wal-Mart can be demoralized at provide a poor quality customer service. References Kenneth, L. (2010). Management Information Systems: Managing The Digital Firm. Pearson Education India. Walmart. (2013). Walmart and Workers. Retrieved from makingchangeatwalmart.org: http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/walmart-and-workers/ workplacefairness.org. (2014). The Good, The Bad and Wal Mart. Retrieved from workplacefairness.org: http://www.workplacefairness.org/reports/good-bad-wal-mart/wal-mart.php Read More