Wal-Mart
is the world’s 18th largest corporation and an American
multinational that runs chains of large discount department stores and
warehouse stores.
In
September 2005, a senior Wal-Mart lawyer received an alarming e-mail from a former executive
at the company’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico. In the e-mail
and follow-up conversations, the former executive described how Wal-Mart de
Mexico had orchestrated a campaign of bribery to win market dominance. In its
rush to build stores, he said, the company had paid bribes to obtain permits in
virtually every corner of the country.
The former executive gave names, dates and bribe amounts. He
knew so much, he explained, because for years he had been the lawyer in charge
of obtaining construction permits for Wal-Mart de Mexico.
Wal-Mart dispatched investigators to Mexico City, and within
days they unearthed evidence of widespread bribery. They found a paper trail of
hundreds of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million. They also found
documents showing that Wal-Mart de Mexico’s top executives not only knew about
the payments, but had taken steps to conceal them from Wal-Mart’s headquarters
in Bentonville, Ark. In a confidential report to his superiors, Wal-Mart’s lead
investigator, a former F.B.I. special agent, summed up their initial findings
this way: “There is reasonable suspicion to believe that Mexican and USA laws
have been violated.”
The lead investigator recommended that Wal-Mart expand the
investigation.
Instead, an examination by The New York Times found,
Wal-Mart’s leaders shut it down.
Neither
American nor Mexican law enforcement officials were notified. None of Wal-Mart
de Mexico’s leaders were disciplined. Indeed, its chief executive, Eduardo
Castro-Wright, identified by the former executive as the driving force behind
years of bribery, was promoted to vice chairman of Wal-Mart in 2008. Until this
article, the allegations and Wal-Mart’s investigation had never been publicly
disclosed.
This
is a perfect example on how huge and powerful corporations abuse their power
and let greed takes over, resulting in unethical and immoral decisions. While
Wal-Mart was able to bribe its way to permits in the matter of days other local
companies were waiting for their permits for years, talking about destroying
communities with their size and power.
Not
taking sides or anything but I personally have never shopped in Wal-Mart and
never will.
Please
read the article below and reflect on the following questions:
Questions:
Do
you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so
for how long?
Do
you think it is ethical what Wal-Mart did and is bribery accepted by society
just because it occurred in a corrupt country like Mexico?
Do
you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when
it actually occurred)
What
would you do now from a PR perspective in order to restore Wal-Mart’s image as
well as the reputation of Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro Wright and current CEO
Michael Duke?
Do
you think they should be fired? Please expand on your answer.
