Wal-Mart Stores Inc. – A Dilemma of Ethical Issues

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. – A Dilemma of Ethical Issues

Background:

Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store back in 1962 and since then the company has opened country wide chain of stores including 7,390 stores and club locations in 14 markets worldwide offering discount retailing to its 176 million customers every year (Wal-Mart Stores Inc.). The company employs more than 1.9 million people who work with the company making it a strategic, tactical and operational success for so many years of service and expansion.

The company has implemented a corporate culture which emphasizes team work by respect of each other, service to customers and achieving business excellence. As the company expanded through its operations it started to become subject of severe criticism by those who were involved in some way or another with the company. The company has devised code of ethics that covers its operations however some issues do tend to arise due to misconduct or mishandling of certain aspects of the company’s dealings.

Research Question:

The current research paper will examine the company’s code of ethics highlighting its salient features and examine the controversial issues which had their implications on the company’s business. The following research questions will be attempted to reach conclusions

What are the different ethical issues arising over the last years of Wal-Mart’s operations?
What do these ethical issues imply and their effect on the company’s policy and business?
How the company responds to such ethical issues? Whether they seem reasonable or not from the researcher’s point of view.
What lies ahead if the company aims to fulfill the requirements to avoid such ethical issues?
What conclusions could be shared for similar businesses?
This research would be carried out after devising of a research methodology which will have its limitations and therefore the current project relies heavily on the subjectivity and judgment of the researcher.

Works Cited
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. History. 2008. 3 January 2008 <http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/297.aspx>.