case study of 'wal mart women

GROUP ASSIGNMENT OF CASE STUDY OF ‘WAL-MART WOMEN’

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Introduction

Wal-Mart Store is an multinational retail corporation which runs the chain of large

discount department stores and warehouse stores in American. This Wal-Mart Store was founded

by Sam Walton in 1962. The company was incorporated on October 31, 1969 and publicly

traded on New York Stock Exchange in 1972. This Wal-Mart Store is the second largest public

corporation around the world and it is also the biggest private employer in the world with over

two million employees. Wal-Mart remains a family-owned business, as the company is

controlled by the Walton Family, who own over 50 percent of Wal-Mart. This company also one

of the world’s most valuable companies.

Although Wal-Mart Store is the second largest public corporation around the world, it also

face the biggest employee headache which is the class action lawsuit claiming the company

discriminated against female employees. Essentially, there are two main reasons why women

will earn less than men. They may have less education or less working experience or choose to

work in an occupations that pay less than those that men choose. The other reason is that they

may face discrimination which means that the earn is not equally to the skills they do have. In

this lawsuit, it is claimed :

that Wal-Mart pays women less than men even when the women have the same amount

of experience,

that earnings differences between men and women at Wal-Mart grow wider over time,

that Wal-Mart does not offer equal training opportunies to its women employees

that Wal-Mart prevents women from working in departments typically staffed by men

and which typically pay more,

and that Wal-Mart refuses to post all management openings, thus limiting women's

opportunities to apply for management positions.


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Case Background

The six female workers who working in Wal-Mart is the largest ever in American

civil rights history. This is a case accusing Wal-Mart stores which is discriminating cases

against US female workers. Two points had allege that women employed in Wal-Mart

stores according to the 2010 court of Appeals opinion which is women was paid less

than men, besides that the other opinion is receive fewer and wait longer for promotions

to in store management positions than men. They were asking the Wal-Mart company

compensate them or any other women who worked for Wal-Mart since December 26,

1998 which suffered from the sexual discrimination cases. If Wal-Mart were loses the

case, it would cost Wal-Mart company many billions of dollar since the female workers

who worked in Wal-Mart Company had been estimated as many as 1.5 billion to 2

million.

Wal-Mart stores is the world's biggest retailer that owns more than 8400 stores and

had over 2100000 employees worldwide. The law suit was launched in June 2001 that by

six female Wal-Mart employees was the class action lawsuit that workers claiming the

Wal-Mart company about the promotions, pay, management training and also job

assignments. The six women asked for pay back and compensation for all 1.6 million

female employees against who has discriminated . A statistical expect , Richard Drogin, a

professor at California State University at Hayward was hired by the six women who

filled the discrimination lawsuit to analyze an employee records. There was two main

groups which is hourly employees at lower levels such as store cashiers, associates and

stock people and the salaried management employees. Salaried management employees

can be divided into two groups, the lower level are those manage a single store while

the higher level are those manage an entire district or region. Since Wal-Mart promotes

predominantly from within, workers typically progress from being an upper hourly

employee to management trainee, to store manager and finally to region manager.


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The six women also hired Marc Bendick, a labor economist to against Wal-Mart.

Marc Bendick noted that the company had no trouble in promoting women in their

management. 34.5 percent of in-store salaried managers were women while 56.5 percent

of 20 comparable large were female salaried managers. The Wal-Mart would have about

4000 in-store female manager, 466 more in corporate headquarters female managers, about

150 for “blue-collar” nonstore establishments, 107 more in other nonstore establishment

and about 100 in reporting establishment.

William T. Bielby, a professor at University of California, who also hired by the

women stated in his analyze and report of Wal-Mart ‘s hiring practices that the managers

at the Wal-Mart was given no written policies to select candidates who met the

minimum criteria of promotion and in setting the exact salaries. So, gender stereotypes

always influence personal decisions moreover women not considered by their actual skills

but was shaped by their manager’s stereotypical beliefs about them. Arturo Mireles who

is a store manager proving that he only rely on subjective factors such as team work

and ethics in making decision about promotion to Department Manager or Support

Manager because he has no written criteria to be a guideline in his decision. The

company policy not state the detail about when and how to adjust the payment or

monitoring the number of employee who receive increases.

However, William T. Bielby also note that the Wal-Mart managers believe that in

management position, women have same qualified as men so the discrimination on the

women must be based on individual decision of the manager-self not attributed to the

Wal-Mart and the company was trying hard to make sure their employees get equal

opportunity in their work.

There are about more than a hundred of female employees who were came

forward providing their received critism about their work in the Wal-Mart. A store

manager in Utah for example was told to his female assistant that retail is “tough” and

“not appropriate” for women while in Texas, a women were told by their manager to be

“bitches” in the Wal-Mart management and a supervisor in the same state said to his

female management trainee that he don’t like college graduates and female manager. The


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same woman also told by her next manager to find a husband and have children. In

Florida, the manager explain they paid more than women because they are here to build

career and housewives just need to earn extra money in retail.

In contrary, the company’s lawyer claim that there a large group of injured

women to handle and every of them may had different or varied experience of injury in

Wal-Mart not like the cases that were had by the six women. Wal-Mart moreover used

the different system for compensating and promoting their employees while the wages

payment based on their individual manager not by the uniform company policy. The

company also claim they have held so many programs to make sure everyone get same

regardless of race and gender.

The company has started programs for achieving diversity in early year of 1990s

with the everywhere posted of written antidiscrimination policy while the managers were

told about the gender sa laried composition and support women as “reflect the

community”. They must set an annual goals which are “realistic”, “achievable”, “made

sense”, and “weren’t worse than the year before” to increase the women representation

in their area working place. Late Sam Walton begun the program which allowing the

women entering the management job without relocate their home however the program

was be a stranger today after the death of him.

In April 2010, the women case was finally got a class action and December 6,

2010, the Supreme Court decide to hear the case and make decision for the final

determination which effect the fate of 1.5 million of Wal-Mart female workers and

impact on the company significant material finance but some analysts the company will

settle the case before or after the Supreme Court decided.


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Ethical Issue

Ethical issue that was raised by the case of Wal-Mart Women was discrimination women

in the workplace. Job discrimination is an unethical behavior. Discrimination means to

distinguish someone on the basic of prejudice or morally attitude. There are six women who had

worked in Wal-Mart sued Wal-Mart about their paid and opportunity of promotion is less than

the men work in Wal-Mart although their experience, qualification and performance is better

than men.

Firstly, we can found that women employee in Wal-Mart earn money less than the men.

Based on the research of Richard Drogin. He is a statistical expert and professor come from

California State University. He found that Wal-Mart employees are divided into two group.

There are salaried management in high level and hourly employees in low level. Salaried

managers can earn $50,000 in but hourly employees just can earn $18,000 in a year in 2001. For

example, the annual salary of district manager, men can made $239,519 but women just made

$177,149. Among full-time employees, women get less than $5000 compare to men.

Secondly, the opportunity of promotion of women is less than the men. According to

Richard Drogin, chance of women will be promoted from an assistant manager to store manager

is 10.12 years while men just need 8.64. In addition, he found that women per formance is better

than men. For a performance rating of job sales association, on scale of 1-7, 1 is low and 7 is

high. Men get 3.68 and women get 3.75. This figure showed that women has high performance

than women. Factors of women get less promotion because of relocate and policy of company in

staffing. Another sociology expert William T. Bielby, professor University of California. His

report noted that however a company have guidelines for the criteria of promotion, but didn’t

have written policies for manager’s guidance. Form the research, we can found that glass ceiling

will affect in making decisions about promotion. In a case, a store manager told to his female

assistant about retail is not suitable to women.

Then, compensation received by the men and women worker in Wal-Mart also different.

A research from Drogin in 1996, women were paid less $0.35 per hour than a men. The pay gap


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between men and women continuous increase to $1.16 per hour in 2001. Another statistic in

1996 showed that, male sales associations get more $0.20 per hour than female sales associations.

Employee in the company have equity, they are fair to have benefit such as retirement benefits,

medical benefits, bonus and so on. Compensation become a motivation for worker.

Next, we noted that less women participated in management of Wal-Mart. A labor

economist, marc Bendick noted another retailer company has 56.5% of female included in

management but Wal-Mart just has 34.5%. So Wal-Mart need to have more than 4000 female

participated in high level of management position. Nowadays, international company promote

diversity in the company. Opinion from men and women is different. So that, company can

receive a lot of vary business ideas.

According to the statistic above, Wal-Mart suspected in job discrimination. Early in the

1990, Wal-Mart implement a written antidiscrimination rule to overall company but not widely

used. From the lawsuit, Wal-Mart may face a problem of reparation about $10 billion and have

to increase 60% the pay to employee. As a result, Wal-Mart’s shares already fell 3.9%.

Government and agencies especially Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) need

to enforce the law, Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prevent from discrimination and protect them

based on hiring, compensation, religion, race and sex.


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Question 1

What financial impact do you think the lawsuit could potentially have on Wal-Mart? Do

you think the women deserve to win their lawsuit? What if the outcome of the case cost

Wal-Mart so much it had to lay off thousand of its workers and close stores?

Financial impact is an expense or fall in revenue arising out of a disaster, change in market

conditions, failure of a product, or other events under or beyond a management's control. Wal-

Mart is such an effective competitor that it is gradually forcing down the wages and living

standards of retail workers who aren't even employed by Wal-Mart. The company could face

billions of dollars in demands for back pay and punitive damages. The real Wal-Mart conflict

isn't between capital and labor. It is a battle involving consumers and cost-efficient producers

against traditional retailers, organized labor, and community activists.

Women deserve to win this lawsuit because they also has a rights as a worker or employee.

Every working female enjoys the same employee rights that are bestowed on a male colleague. It

is illegal to discriminate against a female employee at any stage of employment. A qualified

female applicant cannot be denied employment because of being a women. S he has equal right to

promotion, vacation leave and other benefits provided by the employer. The Equal Pay Act

requires that both women and men be given equal pay for equal work in the same organization.

The Wal Mart company will face of problem from their shareholders because they doesn’t

trust them anymore and maybe they will go away to find other company and wanted their money

back. From this matter,Wal Mart also decrease their profit because they cannot run a bussiness

properly due to lack of worker and so on. So it seems that during the recession when

management cost saving strategy appeared to be foremost, with layoffs being the first action

usually taken, the impact on surviving employees, their productivity, the reputation of the

company and real costs savings has been underemphasized.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/expense.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/revenue.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/disaster.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/change.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/market-condition.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/market-condition.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/failure.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/product.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/events.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/management.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/control.html


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Question 2

What are the major moral complaints of the females suing Wal-Mart? Do you believe those

complaints are justified? Why? Wal-Mart has said that the case should not be heard as a

class-action, but that each woman should be considered individually and an individual

determination should be made regarding whether she specifically was discriminated

against by Wal-Mart, because each woman’s situation is different. Do you agree?

The major moral complaints of the females suing Wal-Mart is the discrimination against

female employees in promotions, pay, management training and job assignments, such as:

1. Female employees also receive fewer and wait longer for promotions to in-store

management position than men.

2. Female employees are paid less than men in comparable positions, despite having higher

performance ratings and greater seniority.

3. There is unequal distribution of management training among the male and female

employees.

4. Male employees are allotted a better job assignment compare to women employees even

though they are equally qualified, ranked and experienced.

Yes, I strongly believe that these complaints are justified because it is clearly stated

above that the female employees in Wal-Mart were not treated fairly and equally.

Richard Drogin, a statistical expert found out that employees in Wal-Mart are divided

into two main groups: hourly employees who occupied the lower levels and sand salaried

manager who occupied the higher levels. Since Wal-Mart promotes predominantly from within,

workers typically progress from being an upper hourly employee, to management trainee, to

store manager or assistant manager, and finally to district, regional or cooperate manager.

Compensation increases from one level to another. In 2001, salaried managers made about

$50,000 a year while hourly employees made $18,000. Drogin found that 65% of hourly

employees were women, but only 33% of salaried managers were. At both levels, women earned

less than men. Drogin found that, on average women earned less than men at each in-store

salaried management job, as well as in hourly pay rate.


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Drogin also found that female employees are stayed in the workforce longer than male

employees at Wal-Mart and so had more on-the-job experience on average than men did. Drogin

discovered that while it took female employees 4.38 years from their date of hire to be promoted

to assistant manager, male employees were promoted after only 2.86 years. And while it took

female employees 10.12 years to become store managers, it took men only 8.64 years. Drogin

also found that, on average, female employees had higher performance ratings than male

employees. Drogin noted two factors that might affect women’s promotion into management.

First, many store managers believed that employees going into salaried management positions

had to be willing to relocate geographically, and they communicated this belief to women.

Second, while the company had a policy of posting available management positions, and to

communicate the availability of these positions by word of mouth to potential candidates they

picked.

Another expert hired by the six female employees who brought the discrimination lawsuit

against Wal-Mart, Marc Bendick, a labor economist, noted that Wal-Mart’s top retail

competitors had no trouble promoting women into management. While Wal-Mart’s in-store

salaried managers were 34.5% women, salaried managers at 20 comparable large retail chains

were 56.5% female. If Wal-Mart had achieved the same female manager-to-nonmanager ratios as

comparable chains in 1999, it would have had at least 4,004 more in-store female managers, 466

more female managers at corporate headquarters, 144 more at “blue-collar” nonstore

establishments, 107 more in other nonstore establishments, 97 more in separately reporting

establishments.

The six women suing Wal-Mart also hired an expert in sociology, William T. Bielby, a

professor at the Universitiy of California, Santa Barbara, to analyze and report on Wal-Mart’s

hiring practices. He noted that “a large body of social science research demonstrates that gender

stereotypes are especially likely to influence personnel decisions when they are based on

subjective factors, because substantial decision-maker discretion tends to allow people to seek

out and retain stereotype-confirming information and ignore or minimize information that defies

stereotypes”. Moreover, he added, “in such settings stereotypes can bias assessments of women’s

qualifications, contributions, and advancement potential, because perceptions are shaped by


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stereotypical beliefs about women generally, not by the actual skills and accomplishments of the

person as an individual.”

I do not agree that each woman in Wal-Mart is being considered individually and an

individual determination should be made regarding whether she specifically was discriminated

against by Wal-Mart, because each woman’s situation is different.

Important statistical evidence being used by the female employees is a report conducted

by Richard Drogin, a professor at California State University at Hayward, to analyze Wal-Mart’s

computerized employee records of 3,945,151 employees who had worked any time during 1996-

2002. Among the results, Drogin found that it took longer for women to rise to a management

position, at an average of 10.12 years since date of first hire, as opposed to 8.64 years for men. In

general, women make up 92% of Wal-Mart’s cashiers, but only 14% of store management. The

average proportion of female managers in the nation’s 20 largest retail stores is 20% higher than

at Wal-Mart. Female employees are being compensated unfairly compared to male employees.

According to Drogin, female employees earned about $ 5,000 less than male employees

overall in 2001 at Wal-Mart. Dorgin also examined that women hired as sales associates in 1996

received $0.20 per hour less than men hired as sales associates that year. These evidence

conducted by Richard Drogin are clearly pointed out Wal-Mart has discriminated the female

employees and do not treat them fairly and equally.


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QUESTION 3

What factor do you think might account for the discrepancies the Drogin report uncovered?

The factor that I think might account for the discrepancies the Drogin report uncovered are

wrong perception of higher level between men and women employee, subjective analysis of

performance (job experience), and wage and promotion discrepancies. Firstly, the factor of

wrong perception of higher level between men and women employee. Drogin found that 65

percent of hourly employees were women, but only 33 percent of salaried managers were. The

hourly employees such as store cashiers, associates, stock people, department heads, and support

managers while salaried manager like store manager and assistant manager, above them are

district manager, regional vice presidents, and senior vice president. Apart from that, based on

the Drogin report said women employee perhaps to raise children or for some other reason and it

causes women left their jobs more than men. Means that, most of the women employees were

hired at the lower level compare to men employee.

Secondly, the factors that I think might account for the discrepancies the Drogin report

uncovered is based on the subjective analysis of performance or job experience. Based on the

assumption Drogin report that women left their jobs mare than men, perhaps to raise children of

for some other reason. This would give women higher turnover rates and men greater experience

and seniority. However, Drogin found that women stayed in the work force longer than men at

Wal-Mart and so had more on-the-job experience on average than men did. Besides that, based

on the Drogin report said the women employee is not suitable going to Salaried managers

because most of the salaried manager must be ready with more challenging in their work such as

had to be willing to relocate geographically, and they communicated this belief to women. This

causes many women are not willing to go out of their accommodation. Then, while company had

a policy of posting available management positions, manager had the discretion to not post some

positions and to communicate the availability of these position by word of mouth to potential

candidates they picked.

Lastly, the factor that I think might account for the discrepancies the Drogin report

uncovered are about wage and promotion discrepancies. Drogin found that, on average, women


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had higher performance ratings than men. Drogin found that women hired with the same position

as the men paid less than men. For example, he found that women who were hired into hourly

jobs in 1996 were paid $0.35 less per hour than men hired into hourly jobs that same year. By

2001, the gap between the wagea of these same employees had increased to $1.16 per hour

also,women hired as sales associates in 1996 received $0.20 per hour less than men hired as sales

associates that year. By 2001, the difference had grown to $1.17 per hour. Finally, Drogin

performed several statistical tests to determine whether the discrepancies in promotions and pay

could be the result or women not being available when promotion came out.


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QUESTION 4

What if anything, do you think, Wal-Mart should do to correct these discrepancies? Should

the company institute an “affirmative action” promotion program for female employees? If

so, what should this program be like?

If discrimination is happening within the company. In order for Wal-Mart to correct these

discrepancies they should make opportunity for women employees to advance in the

organization. The women employee are also able to manage and develop an organization to

successfully based on the skills, knowledge, and talent found within them. Women are also able

to hold an office as an integrity and the best manager.These shouldn’t be a pay difference

between males and females, and it shouldn’t take women longer to get promoted then men

employees. The women employees are also entitled to get paid better than male employees based

out of their work and the right to get promotion earlier than men if women employees are more

capable and performance compared to male employee.

Everyone needs to be trained on their legal rights. The employers and competent manager

should abide by the laws set forth in the Employee Act and Trade Union Act to give proper

rights to workers without looking down on women workers. I don’t think that the company

should institute an “affirmative action” promotion program for female employees. Managers just

need to promote fairy based on potential and knowledge. To institute an affirmative action

program would be to show favoritism to women. Men should start to get discriminated against,

and if the company starts to show favoritism towards women, then the men will complain.


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Conclusion

Refer back to the case background, Wal-Mart stores are the world’s biggest retailer and

had over 2100000 employees worldwide but there are six female of Wal-Mart employees had

launched a law suit which claiming that the Wal-Mart company had discrimination against

female about the promotions, pay, management training and also job assignment in June, 2001.

By this, Wal-Mart could face billions of dollars in demand for back pay and punitive damages.

This matter will let the shareholders of Wal-Mart doesn’t trust them anymore and maybe they

will go away to find other company and wanted their money back.

Besides that, according to our opinions, the six female workers should win the lawsuit and

gain benefits to all 1.5 billion to 2 million of female employees in Wal-Mart. This is because

every female should enjoy the same employees’ rights that are bestowed on a male colleague. It

is illegal to discriminate against a female employee at any stage of employment. A qualified

female applicant cannot be denied employment because of being women. She has equal right to

promotion, vacation leave and other benefits provided by the employer. The Equal Pay Act

requires that both women and men be given equal pay for equal work in the same organization.

To prevent this lawsuit in future, Wal-Mart had a written antidiscrimination policy posted

everywhere. In 1990s, Wal-Mart had started a number of programs to achieve diversity.

Managers were told that women’s representation should “reflect the community”. By many

efforts had been done by Wal-Mart to antidiscrimination, Wal-Mart was named in the “Top 40

Greatest Organizations for Women of Color to Work” in year 2008 by Women of Color

magazine as well as one of the “ Top 10 Best Companies for Women” by PINK magazine. On

May 2007, Wal-Mart announced it was named one of the “ Top 50 Companies for Diversity” by

Diversity-Inc magazine.


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Reference

Frank, T. (2006, April ). A Brief History of Walmart. Retrieved November 2013, 16, from

reclaimdemocracy.org: http://reclaimdemocracy.org/brief-history-of-walmart/

Musgrave, J. (2012, 0ctober 04). Female ex-Walmart employees file federal discrimination suit

over promotions. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from palmbeachpost:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/employment/ex-female-walmart-

employees-file-federal-discrimin/nSTP4/

Velasquez, M. G. (2012). Business Ethics. United States: pearson.

Young, C. (2011, July 8). Wal-Mart and Gender Discrimination. Retrieved November 2013, 10,

from reason: http://reason.com/archives/2011/07/08/wal-mart-and-gender-discrimina

case study of 'wal mart women

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