Walmart Case

at Wal-Mart

F l e x i b l e Schedul ing

for employeesGood or bad ?

AboutWAL-MART

MILLION

DOMESTIC

WORKERS

$379$476

BILLION SALES REVENUE IN 2008

BILLION SALES REVENUE IN 2014

+25%

*United States Securities and Exchange Commission; March 21, 2014

MAKES it theTOP RETAILER

in USA

HOW?

MONEYS A V E

L I V EBETTER

low Operational Costlow Prices

Just-in-Time Inventory

TheCase

M A N U A Lwork scheduling

is COSTLY andI N E F F EC T I V E

KRONOS

% I M P R O V E DP R O D U C T I V I T Y

H I G H E R CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

How itworks

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTPUTS

BUTwait......

UNPREDICTABLEW O R K H O U R S

UNSTABLEh o u r l yW A G E S

CaseSOLUTIONS

1What 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?

E T H I C A LDILEMMAfaced by

Wal-Mart

Value 1

R e s p o n s i b i l i t y of

increasing

shareholders’ value

Value 2

R e s p o n s i b i l i t y ofensuring

employee welfare

E T H I C A LDILEMMAfaced by

Associates

Value 1

E a r n i n g al i v i n g

Value 2

L o o k i n g af terf a m i l y

BEFORE we

M O V E on

STAKEHOLDERS

c u s t o m e r s

e m p l o y e e s

m a n a g e r s

O P T I O N S

continue as is account for employee welfare

close Kronos

2What ethical principles apply to this

case? How do they apply?

GoldenRule

Do unto othersas you would

have them dounto you

Categorical

I m p e r a t i v e

If everyonedid this, could the

society survive

Utilitarian

P r i n c i p l e

Which action achieves the

higher or

greater values?

Risk Aversion

P r i n c i p l e

Which actionproduces the

least harm?

3What are the potential effects of

computerized scheduling on employeemorale? What are the consequences of

these effects for Wal-Mart?

Ef f e c t s on

EmployeeM o r a l e

l o w m o t i v a t i o nl o w j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n

i n s e c u r i t i e s

g r i e v a n c e s

f a m i l y p r o b l e m s

C o n s e q u e n c e sfor

Wal-Mart

l o w q u a l i t y s e r v i c ew e a k c u l t u r e

b a d i m a g e

l a w s u i t s

u n s u s t a i n a b l e g r o w t h

“The l a b or of ah u ma n b e in g is not acommod i ty or article

of commerce”Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914