In the infamous prose “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” Robert Paarlberg, a Harvard international affairs expert divulges on the ongoing warfare with the issue of sustainability. Paarlberg focuses on how the rise in global starvation increases in less developed nations, but it is often ignored by those in developed countries because of their fixation with the green revolution. He asserts many claims as to why Africa and Asia still have high food deprivation rates, which quite contrary to popular belief has nothing to do with overpopulation. This stems from lack of investment into agricultural infrastructure and investments. His criticism of whole foods shoppers seeks to bring awareness to the issue of world hunger and how the quest to eat organically
The company I chose to discuss is Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy is the current President and CEO. Chick-Fil-A’s mission statement explains what they value and what their commitment is to the community. According to the Chick-Fil-A website “For the past 66 years, we have built a foundational commitment to service – service to our customers, service to our franchised Restaurant Operators and their Team Members, and service to our communities. This begins in the restaurant – one customer at a time.
They believe that the solution to their problems is by laying off its employees, without taking into account that they are at a fault as a whole. This relates to the assumption “Production of data is not affected by organizational politics” from “Give the Kid a Number”. It is clear that the Whole Foods management is laying off their employees in order to make up for their mistakes. Indeed they haven’t stated this, which is basically showing that when people are in the position to be able to influence data whatever way they like in order to suite their own purposes (Garham, 1982). Through further research I found that Whole Foods is opening up 365 new stores, this is inconsistent with their conclusion to layoff employees.
The ethical success of Whole Foods Market and The Hilton Hotel was rooted from their similar contributions to the community and environment. Whole Foods Market is one of the most successful companies in the food industry, that is well known for their contributions to society. Furthermore, The Hilton Hotel is a worldwide company in the hospitality industry that is complemented on their contributions globally. In addition to being recognized for their corporate social responsibility. However these companies in different industries have many contributions in common, for ethical success beyond what's mentioned below.
The common good principal appears to be in full force at Whole Foods. This principal really sticks out to me when thinking about the culture that Whole Foods has developed. The common good moral principal is based on actions resulting in the greatest good for the greatest number of people concept. This is exactly what Whole Foods is trying to facilitate by their “heroic’ efforts.
PHIL 1404 Unit 1 Written Assignment XXX University of the People PHIL 1404: Ethics and Social Responsibility Instructor Dan Johnson June 14, 2023 Introduction A company establishes a social contract with society (that permits and facilitates a firm’s existence), allowing it to operate and conduct business (Byars & Stanberry, 2018). In exchange for this permission, the company is obligated to act in the best interests of society as a whole, not just its shareholders (Byars & Stanberry, 2018). This means that, according to the principles of the social contract, a company should contribute to the betterment of the community that enables its existence, benefiting both society and itself.
The factors that are appealing to working at Whole Foods are workplace autonomy and their ethical standards for social responsibility. After much research I concluded, Whole Foods Market has a motivated and accommodating employee atmosphere. The autonomy of Whole Foods Market projects a satisfying workplace environment that in turn assured customer appreciation. This management style encourages employees to use the training received to better serve their customers. The Whole Foods case study states, “Management’s job at Whole Foods is to make sure we hire good people, that they are well trained, and that they flourish in the Workplace, because we found that when people are really happy in their jobs, they provide much higher degrees of
McGregor’s Theory Y plays a significant role in John Mackey’s, Co-CEO of Whole Foods concept of conscious capitalism. According to John Mackey, successful companies must look beyond maximizing profits and shareholder value, they, must also focus on the employees, as well as, the culture. Therefore, companies must hire suitable employees, as well as, train them to be advocates for the business (Kreitner and Kinicki, 2013. Opposite of Theory X, Theory Y focuses more on human motivation and encourages employees to foster self-direction, self-control, and in the appropriate environment, seek responsibility. Not only does this method of managing a business engage the employee, but it also boosts the company profits and promotes communication between
Whole Foods appear to have an admirable and active viewpoint in sustainability, corporate social responsibility and environmental awareness. Whole Foods themselves state that, from their inception in 1980, ethical and environmentally friendly policies have been integrated into their operations at both a local and company wide level (2017.) Perhaps what is most impressive about their policy is that it is not just a case of making token gestures; their policies are apparent in their everyday business operations, and are extended to, and expected of, their employees. After all, Whole Foods believes that in an ideal future, companies, governments and institutions will all be held accountable for their actions (2017.)
In Roger and Me, Michael Moore argues that it is unethical for the General Motors manufacturer in Michigan to disregard its social responsibility as a company. Notably, Michigan was the birth place of the car-manufacturing company. This means that it was its sole social responsibility to ensure that the people in the region were employed and they had sustainable income (Crane & Dirk 12). However, the situation was contrary to this situation. It can be argued that the CEO Roger Smith was applying a utilitarian and hedonic type of leadership (Crane & Dirk 24).
The Yum! Corporation has a focus of diversity and social responsibility and this flows through to their internal environment. Yum considers sustainability of responsibility to influence the community while giving the shareholders expectable returns at the same time. “ Because YUM the largest restaurant company in the world and we're passionate about helping people better themselves and their communities, we're working to address these priorities: • The health and nutritional needs of our customers • Feeding the world's hungry • Being responsible and intentional in our actions toward the sustainability of the environment and agricultural resources on which our business depends • Building people capability in our associates around the world”
Furthermore, this paper will discuss some proposed solutions to the current ethical issues facing Walmart that could assist Walmart in its objective of continued growth in an ethical and sustainable manner. One of the major ways in which Walmart was able to grow and out compete its rivals was through its ability to provide retail goods to consumers at prices lower than competitors (Ferrell 407). Walmart ability to keep prices low is based on its ability to secure cheaply made goods from foreign manufacturers while also keeping the wages for its workforce low. The combination of cheaply made goods and a low paid retail staff means that Walmart can pass the savings to consumers which made it a popular retail shopping spot for lower to middle income Americans
Introduction: Corporations and businesses have a responsibility to more than just owners and shareholders. They have a responsibility to their consumers, the environment, employees, the communities in which they work, and society as a whole. For some, responsibility is a part of their corporate culture. Others find it a bit more difficult to put anything ahead of profits and the bottom line. No one is under the impression that most businesses exist for any other reason than to make to money; however, many are beginning to claim profits are important enough to shirk their corporate social responsibility.
The individuals that make up a corporation may be good or bad however the role a corporation plays in society is bad; thus if changed corporations can harbor a more beneficial relationship with the world. The results of the majorly negative impact corporations have on societies is greatly evident in The Corporation (2003), a documentary produced by Mark Achbar who delved into what kind of person a corporation is, since it's considered an individual by the constitution. By the end of the documentary, it was concluded that a corporation is a psychopath, and like all relationships with a psychopath, nobody fares well in the end. If corporations acted more socially and environmentally conscious then some of the problems in regards to class as mentioned in “Class
He mentioned that just individuals have responsibility and a corporation is an artificial person and so it has artificial responsibilities, however the similar situation cannot be obtained for whole business. He says that, firstly, we should ask what it refers for whom to examine the doctrine of social responsibility of business. He believes that a corporate executive is an employee of the business in a private property sys¬tem and his employers are his re¬sponsibility and says “That responsi¬bility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while con¬forming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.” The primary responsibility of corporate executive is as an agent for owners of corporation or individuals who constitute charity
