I need the following:
M2D2: But at What Price?
Module 2
Many view Wal-Mart as a “downtown killer.” This view has developed because of the difficulty in maintaining a viable downtown with a thriving retail business sector once Wal-Mart has entered a community. The corporation brings more jobs into communities than do smaller retail establishments in the downtown district. However, there are also many downsides to having Wal-Mart enter a community. Communities have to be willing to make accommodations through decreased utility cost, shared construction cost, and possibly alternative arrangements associated with tax issues. These accommodations are not offered to small local businesses trying to stay afloat. Therefore, many could argue that Wal-Mart receives favored treatment by city officials. In addition, Wal-Mart is known to drive down profit margins of the vendors they accept in order to offer low prices to the consumer. This has a long-term effect on those vendors and the employees that work for them. With this in mind, consider the following.
Imagine that you are the president of a privately held U.S. publisher of children’s books and have been approached by Wal-Mart to supply it with 2 million books per year. You currently produce a tenth of that amount at your plant located just outside Huntsville, Alabama. What are the issues you should consider in terms of whether or not to pursue this opportunity? How might your answer be different if you were a small operating unit of a major public international corporation?
- Make sure that you take a theory from Chapter Two and use that as the lens through which you analyze the complexity of the situation while answering the questions.
- You need to respond to two other learners. In each response, take an opposing theory from Chapter Two to use as a point of reference to question the choices made by your peer. This allows for deeper exploration of the theories in relation to a specific business situation.
One of the considerations when participating in course discussions is to keep an open mind and be appreciative of the fact that we don’t all share the same perspective. Ethical issues can many times bring emotion to the surface. Work to take a step back and use this as a learning experience about both yourself and others that you might work with on a daily basis.
Your responses to the discussion questions should relate the assigned readings and viewings to the discussion topic and should not consist only of personal opinion. Your opinion is important to the discussion, but it is also important that you add connections to the material to support your views. Without a foundation in the literature, your opinion has little professional value. For example, “Based on Trevino and Nelson’s stance that cultural relativism creates an environment where unethical behavior is justified through the cultural discourse (year, P#), the discussion should center around……” This type of statement allows you to connect your views to the literature. This is possible even when you are providing personal examples.
Post your primary response on the discussion board. These responses should address the points listed above and connect directly to the theories as a foundation for your views. Read any postings already provided by your instructor or fellow students. In your responses to other students, ask questions to further develop connections to theory, consider possible alternative choices that could have been made to increase the ethical outcomes, and question the choices made based on what you have learned in this module. You are also expected to read the responses to your original posts, and if a classmate raises a question or an issue that warrants a response, you are expected to respond.
Compose your work using a word processor and save it, as a Plain Text or an .rtf, to your computer. When you’re ready to make your initial posting, please click on the “Create Thread” button and copy/paste the text from your document into the message field. Be sure to check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors before you post it.
Review the SBT Discussion Rubric located in the “Start Here” section of the course for more information on grading criteria. Discussion Participation accounts for 20% of your overall course grade and is evaluated according to the SBT Discussion Rubric. Be sure to review the SBT Discussion Rubric to understand the expectations of this activity.
