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.
Wow. I don't know if I am more upset with the fact that this situation happened or the fact that I am not even surprised. I try to stay away from Walmart as much as possible, I can't say I completely boycott it but I definitely make an attempt to find my products elsewhere. I think I started deciding to stay away from Walmart when I first heard about the labor force they have to create all their products and that is why it is so cheap. I think this situation my actually be what I need to hear to push me over the edge and stay away for good. Why would I want to support an unethical organization.
ReplyDeleteNothing about this situation is ethical and to add onto it, we let it slide because it was in don't want to get caught up in the corrupt county of Mexico. It is the same as the way we treat our celebrities, letting them off because they entertain us. How do we expect to like in a world of equality if we let it slide ourselves?
By not hiring an outside investigator and finishing so early in 2005, I perceive it as them trying to cover it up. They did not do a good job ensuring that there was a mistake or fraud and they did not do a good job ensuring that to the consumers either. On the strictly business side of things, I would say they didn't do to bad, seeing as if I was not aware of this until reading this article. Therefore the probably did not lose much of a consumer base during these frauds.
I think the next step is to locate all who was involved and yes, fire them. We have many people looking for a job in today's society, why should we let the unethical business people secure such a highly demanded job. They were conducting or participating in illegal activity, they should not be allowed to continue to work there, they are not trustworthy. As for the consumers, they should explain to them the situation and the consequences those individuals must suffer, to reclaim the brand loyalty they once had! Also an apology is owed to someone, who that might be I am not sure, but Walmart must take responsibility for their organizations mistakes.
No I do not shop at Walmart (mostly because I work for Target), I am not really surprised that this happened Wal-Mart has been amidst scandal for years. Additionally for those who do shop at Wal-Mart I dont think that this boycott will have a long term effect. Many of the Wal-Mart shoppers go for their low prices and that will be something eventually consumers cannot deny.
ReplyDeleteWal-Mart is an American company similar to the Secret Service engaging in (legal in Columbia) escorts, they should know that it goes against their organizational beliefs and the laws of the home country. Wal-Mart is representing the US and US consumer base they need to act abroad that same way they would act in the US, every global consumer should be exposed to a one system Manta for Wal-Mart to follow, so in essence NO they are not acting ethical.
I agree with Mary they were trying to cover it up. When mistakes were made in 05 they should have addressed it and moved forward. Now it looks even shadier than how they started things off. They did not handle this morally or ethically, it gives off the assumption that if they tried to cover this up what else is going on that consumers don't know about.
As leaders of the company its on them what their subordinates do. They should be in control of their company and know whats going on in their subsidiaries. The organizational structure of businesses like Wal-Mart make it possible that this could be elevated through the ranks, so I think that they should both be fired and those involved. Wal-Mart might want to think of a restructure of their Mexican subsidiaries so that issues such as this do not happen again, and when they do they are handled effectively and not covered up. From a PR campaign Wal-Mart needs to reassess their decdication and corporate responsibility to their consumer base and partners.
Yes, I shop at Walmart frequently because they offer their products at the lowest price I can find. To be honest, I probably wouldn't boycott because I am a broke college kid living on a budget, so right now cheap is all I can afford. Walmart is the store that provides that for me.
ReplyDeleteWhat Walmart did is unethical, but the truth is that bribery happens more than it is exposed. Some businesses are ruthless and will do whatever they have to in order to maintain a top spot in the industry. This topic goes right along with business ethics and the contradictions they impose on personal ethics. These two classifications of ethics have been completely separated by society because in business money motivates. People become ruthless and motivated by beating out competition. It's survival of the fittest. Is this right? No, but this is reality.
This whole situation is sneaky so no, I don't think they handled it properly, but rather ignored it.
First of all, anyone involved needs to either resign or get canned. If you are going to uphold a credible image then you need to be employing credible business leaders. It's apparent that these "higher ups" do not hold these qualities. Furthermore, if you are one of the leaders of a company then you are being held to higher standards than other employees. It comes with the territory. If you can't play by the rules then there are consequences you have to face. These executives should not be excused. Get them out of there!
Do you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so for how long?
ReplyDeleteI have shopped at wal-mart many times. I would not consider myself a frequent shopper there. They often control their suppliers via the volume of their distribution capabilities, and therefore, like Alli said, offer products at a much lower price than their competition.
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?
I believe that most of the time, ethical situations are judged SUBjectively, rather than OBjectively as they should. Subjectively, from the point of a Mexican person, bribery may be must less of an issue. And, when operating in a country where bribery is commonplace, and part of how the people of that country do business, one must be mindful of where their parent company is based, and whether or not such behavior would be accepted there, as well as how it will be received and judged by the public there.
Do you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when it actually occurred)
I am really stumped on how to deal with this situation, because I can't imagine what the reaction would have been if the news had gotten out.
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?
FIRE EVERYONE. It's the only way to restore confidence in the company's ethical standards. I think that the saying "one bad apple ruin's the bunch" applies to the way that people will think about Wal-Mart if significant members of the organization are not fired for this cover-up.
Do you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so for how long?
ReplyDeleteYes, I do shop at Wal-Mart from time to time. Even though I think this story is crazy, I don't think I would really boycott it. If I had to go to Wal-Mart I would go and buy from there. They are going to be in business either way so I don't know that not having my business will bring them down. I like Target better anyway though.
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?
No, absolutely not. That is just like asking if it was okay for the secret service to do what they did because they were in Columbia. It is extremely unethical either way because they are an American company, operating by our ethics and morals.
Do you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when it actually occurred)
I think that they were definitely just trying to cover it up, since nothing ever came out about it until now. I think they just figured if they hid it then it would be fine.
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?
If they story gets big enough they should definitely send out a public statement. If the story is kind of underwraps right now and not many people know about it then it would probably make things worse to release a statement.
Do you think they should be fired? Please expand on your answer.
Yes! Of course they should. Ethics are one of the first things that business leaders should adhere to. If they do not act ethically, then I really doubt they are good business leaders.
1.I do shop at Wal-Mart here and there but not on a regular basis more for the here and there items. I don’t think I would boycott them because the fact is it happened in Mexico, a place known for shady activity. It’s not like it happened in Central Mass. That would be a different story. I would like to think that Wal-Mart officials hold their domestic stores more accountable and run them under the law here in the US.
ReplyDelete2.I do think it is unethical that they did not handle the situation and rather swept it under the rug. It doesn’t matter that it happened in Mexico because the Wal-Mart brand is still at the forefront of the story. By avoiding the subject they are putting a black mark on the reputation of Wal-Mart. In Mexico this may not be a major issue because it does happen often there but Wal-Mart should be more concerned with their reputation and just being an ethical company rather than covering up a bad event.
3.I don’t think they handled well it seems like they didn’t even handle it but rather avoided it and hoped it went away. I don’t understand how executives in a company could have information like this brought to their attention and somehow just let it go.
4.From a PR perspective I would advise the company to address the situation to put the people’s minds at ease that the company actually does want to fix the issue rather than just avoid it. For the Vice Chairman and CEO I would show them making things right to show the public that they are involved in making things right.
5.I do think they should be fired because they hurt the Wal-Mart name. They did not take care of something that made the company look bad and made the situation worse by pushing it to the side to avoid the situation. By firing them the company would show that the company won’t stand for the actions that will hurt the reputation of the company.
Do you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so for how long?
ReplyDeleteI do shop at Wal-Mart on occasion. It is not somewhere that I frequent so their scandals, have very little affect on my opinion. It would not get me to boycott it. Yet had this happened at a store that I shop at alot, it would probably make me think twice about doing so.
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?
No. No matter how you look at the situation, bribery will always be wrong. It is illegal and that will never change. It doesn't matter where the bribery happened because Wal Mart is a world wide icon, and looked at as an example for up and coming corporations.
Do you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when it actually occurred)
Not really. In 2005 it was basically an "eye for an eye" situation. They implicated people out of anger, although it was good for the truth to come out, it didn't come out in a respectable way.
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?
In order for them to come back from this situation they will have to do some serious making up for their actions. They have greatly dissappointed their customers, and that is often hard to come back from. In all honesty I feel as if those two should be fired, and Wal Mart should start from scratch with a new Vice Chairman and CEO. They wont be able to be trusted, and I just dont think this is something they can come back from.
Do you think they should be fired? Please expand on your answer.
Yes, absolutely. They very clearly were involved in illegal activities and although the situation has been resolved that cannot be overlooked. Their actions have to be addressed so they learn as well as their coworkers learn from their mistakes.
Do you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so for how long?
ReplyDeleteI have shopped at Wal-Mart occasionally, but I wouldn’t consider it to be one of my favorite places to go. I’m not sure that I would boycott Wal-Mart for this reason because to be completely honest I’m not surprised by these behind the scenes bribes.
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?
This is in no way ethical but I feel like bribery to obtain power is all a part of the business world. I feel that many companies tell those white lies in order to get ahead of competition and it’s not that I feel like this is accepted because it is not in our country but it’s not as big of a deal due to the fact that it really isn’t directly affecting us; at least not now.
Do you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when it actually occurred)
After reading the article there was a lot of he said she said they did but what I got from it was that Wal-Mart took action after learning about these bribes and started an investigation themselves. So, Yes, I do believe they handled it and since this occurred in 2005 I don’t think its one of those company scandals that sticks out in my head; like the scandal of Nike.
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?
Its hard to say what I would do to restore the image of Wal-Mart because this is something that happened so long ago. Its hard to say since the news hadn't gotten out. If the situation was reversed or this was something current I'm sure it would have a much more controversial appearance in the media.
Do you think they should be fired? Please expand on your answer.
Anyone involved in illegal behavior directly involving funds of the company should not be allowed to continue employement at the company. But the article said that one of the key executives in charge of the bribery payments quit the company in 2005.
Do you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so for how long?
ReplyDeleteI shop at Wal-Mart once and a while. Yes this could get me to boycott, I don’t really shop there that much so not shopping there at all wouldn’t be a problem there are many other store that I could go to.
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?
I 100% think it was unethical what they did, they basically they swept it under the rug and pretended it never happened witch is wrong. I feel like it doesn’t matter where it happened it’s to bad it was in Mexico but the brand is so well known. In my eyes Wal-Mart needs to take a step back and worry about how people look at the company and run there business the right way rather than making more choices and trying to cover it all up.
Do you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when it actually occurred)
No not at all they took the approach of not facing what happened and just tried to let it all pass. The right thing would have been to take the problem head on and fixed it rather than trying to forget about it.
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?
I would tell them to address the situation even though it happened it 2005 people still no it happened and they need to at least speak about it and show the people that shop there that its not going to happen again. Their brand name is still high even though this happened but I feel like would help up their rep for just speaking about it.
Do you think they should be fired? Please expand on your answer.
Yes because they didn’t do their job. It hurt the company’s rep and it doesn’t seem like they really cared because they were still making money. By firing them it makes the company look like they are doing the right steps to prove they are doing good business. And if they don’t more people might lose the trust of the company and not shop there anymore.
Do you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so for how long?
ReplyDeleteI rarely shop at Wal-Mart, and really only visit their store if I DESPERATELY need something. The store closest to my town is not kept in great condition, and usually items are found in complete disarray. I wouldn't boycott Wal-Mart over this though, most because I do not posses much of a care for them in the first place. However, I do think it is a bit ridiculous that they were able to cover up such a big scandal and essentially monopolizing strategy for success.
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?
No, not at all. Many businesses (probably not corporations) could have had a chance to thrive and operate, but Wal-Mart essentially pushed them out of their barriers. I don't really think it was accepted, it was just more or less covered up or unknown. I think this is a perfect example of of an international business problem. I will be a bit ethnocentric here and state: I don't think Wal-Mart would have gotten very far in this ploy in the United States. It seems like this monstrous company will do anything to simply make a dollar.
Do you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when it actually occurred)
Again, no. I think they didn't realize they wouldn't get caught. Wal-Mart should have mandated these stores to close to clear their name, but instead they continued operations as usual. It seems that they will lose a lot of respect in corporate America as a result.
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?
I would try to squash the issue as old news, and continue with operations as normal. I would definitely double check the legitimacy of the store permits world wide, and then move on. I don't really believe there is much else they can do at this point.
Do you think they should be fired? Please expand on your answer.
Yes, that should not even be a question for upper-level management. In order to effectively and efficiently move past the situation, all those involved in the situation should be terminated from their position with Wal-Mart.
1. Do you ever shop at Wal-Mart? Could this get you to boycott Wal-Mart and if so for how long?
ReplyDeleteI do not shop at Wal-Mart, primarily because (like Ed) I work at Target. For this reason, "boycotting" Wal-Mart would be unnecessary.
2. 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?
No! Wal-Mart's actions were unethical by ALL means. In fact, Wal-Mart has proven a failure in regard to corporate social responsibility.
No, bribery is not accepted by society merely because it occurred in a corrupt country such as Mexico. This is especially true when the bribes in question are initiated by top management and/or executives of a prominent company such as Wal-Mart.
3. Do you believe Wal-Mart has handled the situation well in the past? (In 2005 when it actually occurred)
NO. As stated in the article, Wal-Mart's global headquarters immediately launched an investigation of the practice. However, despite finding significant evidence of suspicious behavior AND clear violations of Mexican and U.S. laws, Wal-Mart effectively shut down the investigation.
4. 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?
If Wal-Mart wants to restore its image, it should consider firing Eduardo Castro Wright (if he is not civil enough to resign, that is). As the man who personally approved of the bribes, Wal-Mart's reputation (both in Mexico and the United States) will be further damaged, and public outcry will ensue if he remains vice chairman.
5. Do you think they should be fired? Please expand on your answer.
To go along with my response to the previous question; yes, Eduardo Castro Wright should be fired without question. However, the extent of CEO Michael Duke's involvement has not yet been determined. Although he was chairman of Wal-Mart International at the time of the scandal, this doesn't mean that the bribes couldn't have been completed without his knowledge.