Information System Security and Ethical and Legal Issues

SIGNIFICANCE OF CODE OF ETHICS: THE WALMART CONTEXT

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Significance of Code of Ethics: The Walmart Context

Walmart is an organization which, like many other reputed organizations, operates ethically adhering to the Code of Ethics that has been meant to act like a guidebook for both the organization’s management and its employees on a global basis. Being a retail giant with multinational presence, it is imperative for Walmart to enact a policy adherence regulation which makes it mandatory for every employee of the organization operating in different regions of the globe to follow the organization’s Code of Ethics and to resort to its clauses as a primary step to understand conflicting issues and to address any problem, and also for self-clarification and doubt-clearance. Being an organization which believes in the principles of globalization and incorporation of modern means of communication (as a way of promoting employee wellbeing and diversity, and employee performance), Walmart takes into account issues like use of social media and workplace privacy as issues of paramount importance, and the management of the organization strives to ensure the presence of ethics in every such policies which regulates and supervises the company’s own processes of using social media (as a promotional tool), the processes in which employees use the social media, and the ways in which workplace privacy is protected and sustained.

There has been a pivotal objective behind the establishment of Walmart’s Code of Ethics which is mandatory to be followed by all the members of the organization working for it in different regions of the world. The organization’s management believe that it is through ethical behaviors and through the willingness to speak up for highest standards that the members of the organization will eventually earn and keep trust of the organization’s customers and the trust of both the local and global community (Walmart, n.d.). The organization believes in everyday low cost and everyday low prices, but only if such objective is accomplished through everyday integrity (Walmart, n.d.). Walmart’s Code of Ethics is the organization’s spokesperson in terms of conveying the ethical principles of the organization. Within its operational policies the organization has given place to a section dedicated to the use of social media for promotional purposes and the Code of Ethics of the organization speaks of how a member of Walmart should use social media in a way which refrains from putting the organization’s reputation at stake or from violating the organization’s policies. Use of the social media for wrong and unethical purposes can put an organization and an individual both in trouble. Walmart is quite aware of the fact that, today’s workplaces are ingrained with the use of social media and hence, an organization must have in reserve policies which can handle any issue of unethical use of social media in the workplace. It is noteworthy that, social networkers (who are also employees of different organizations) can put the reputation of their organization at stake and thereby put the wellbeing of the organization’s stakeholders at stake by unethically using social networking sites to promote a negative image of the organizations they work for. Organizations which do not have a Code of Ethics encompassing the rules and regulations meant for putting under control the use of social media by their employees (in terms of their professional life) are the ones that feels the difficulty of incorporating ethical practices in the course of their employees’ use of social media in the workplace. A study by Ethics Resource Center (ERC) found (as cited in Ethics Institute of South Africa, n.d.) that, social networkers (employees in specific) often through unethical use of social networking platforms for defaming their employers and organizations, put the reputation of the concerned individuals or organizations at stake. It must be noted, in this regard, that, “Social networkers talk more freely than non-social networkers about their jobs and their company. Although social networkers claim that they think about risks before posting something online and they consider how their employers would react to what they post, the study found that they do air company linen in public.” Walmart is aware of such things and hence, the organization has in reserve policies to guide those who want to communicate with Walmart through social networking sites like Facebook. For Facebook, for instance, Walmart has a separate usage policy which states that both the organization’s employees and users who want to communicate with the organization should use the platform responsibly without doing anything that breaks the law, and the employees are directed to be polite and courteous in their social networking interactions with stakeholders and potential customers (Walmart, n.d.). Users who want to communicate with Walmart through Facebook are urged to keep their profile real and to stay on the topic without communicating redundant issues (Walmart, n.d.). Walmart reserves the right to remove content to Facebook that violates such guidelines (Walmart, n.d.). Moreover, relating the Code of Ethics to both social media usage policy and the clause of workplace privacy, Walmart’s Code of Ethics strictly directs that, “All associates should ensure their use of social media does not compromise the confidentiality of Walmart trade secrets, highly sensitive or sensitive business information” (Walmart, n.d.). It must be noted in this regard that if an organization is devoid of a Code of Ethics which ensures workplace privacy then such an organization’s confidentiality can be put at stake. Lack of workplace privacy policy can make an organization vulnerable to undue intrusions which can make it possible for some unethical employees to put at stake the organization’s important business documents by exposing them to its rival organizations. Walmart has always remained aware of the need of ensuring workplace privacy to protect the confidentiality of the organization and all of its members. As a part of its privacy policy, Walmart, in its Code of Ethics, has mentioned the clause that, “Where permitted by law, associates have no expectation of privacy as to the use of Walmart communication tools (such as email or voice mail). Walmart has the right to and does monitor communications tools, including the content and usage of such tools” (Walmart, n.d.). Such clauses ensure workplace privacy and also highlight the need of having a Code of Ethics in practice.

In conclusion, it can be said that to ensure ethics in its business operations, Walmart has in place a Code of Ethics which not only ensures that the organization’s members are using the social media ethically and others are interacting with Walmart ethically, but it the organization also ensures that through the proper application of the clauses of the Code of Ethics the management is able to protect workplace privacy and thereby protect the privacy of the organization’s stakeholders. There hardly exists any discrepancy in terms of practicing ethics in adherence to the established Code of Ethics.

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References

Ethics Institute of South Africa (n.d.). Social Networking in the workplace – is part of your organisation’s ethics programme? Retrieved February 14, 2016, from http://www.ethicsa.org/index.php/resources/articles/business-ethics/6911-social-networking-in-the-workplace-is-part-of-your-organisation-s-ethics-programme

Walmart (n.d.). Global Statement of Ethics. Retrieved February 14, 2016, from https://www.walmartethics.com/uploadedFiles/Content/U.S.%20-%20English.pdf

Walmart (n.d.). Walmart Policies and Guidelines. Retrieved February 14, 2016, from http://corporate.walmart.com/policies