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In the present day, most business industries are facing ethical issues in their workplace. It has become the biggest challenge for all business industries to move forward smoothly without any consequences. In most cases, it is noticed that the business owners and the employees are highly responsible for managing the ethical issues in their business. However, it is noticed that almost 40% of business organisations suffer from this issue. Due to improper management and also for not maintaining proper rules and regulations, most employees face ethical issues in the retail sector. Due to the exploitation and abuse of the hierarchy, this issue has started to increase highly in all workplaces. This report will highlight the issue of ethical issues in the retail industry. Additionally, some rules and regulations will also be analysed in this report. The ethical controversy of the company Amazon also will be illustrated in this current report.
In a business organisation, maintaining the ethical issue is really vital for gaining long-term benefits for the business. Moreover, gaining integrity and trust is most important to increase the profit and productivity of an organisation. The organisational values need to be followed and implemented properly for avoiding unnecessary issues and hazards in business.
There are various types of ethical issues that a retail industry can face. Some of the issues are
Discrimination
It is known that the biggest issue in the present day is discrimination, which has created a huge negative impact on the business industry. Due to the multicultural environment in the business and also the diverse atmosphere in the workplace, most business organisations are facing this issue. This issue is also considered illegal as well as unethical. Most of the time, it is noticed that discrimination issue takes place based on age, gender, caste, race and religion. According to Chang and Arami (2019), due to the diverse background and cultures of the employees, most of the employees do not get proper and equal treatment from their seniors. However, the statutes need to be followed properly to protect the employees from this major issue. This issue also includes another issue of the pay gap, which has become a concern for all employees.
Harassment
Another major issue in the retail sector is the issue of ‘harassment’, which mostly takes place due to the different types of races, gender and culture. This issue can be arisen in the form of ‘verbal abuse, sexual abuse, teasing, racial slurs, bullying,’ and others. This kind of harassment can come from the organisation or from the customers. In most cases, it is noticed that almost 70% of employees leave their organisation forcefully for this kind of issue in their workplace (Ying et al. 2021). This issue also can create a huge negative impact on the career of an employee.
Health and safety
In every workplace, it is necessary to maintain workplace health and safety for securing the position of the employees. It is known that every employee has the right to work with proper safety and security. All employers should have the proper responsibility to maintain the protocols and workplace compliance with a proper standard. To minimise the issue and risks the employees, such as accidents, proper health and safety need to be maintained in the workplace.
Abusing the leadership authority
In most retail organisations, it is noticed that most managers create pressure on the employees for meeting their goals. Additionally, they also do not hesitate to punish them and create a huge risk to their career (Hänninen et al. 2017). Due to the improper use of power and position, most of the employees suffer badly in their organisation.
Nepotism and favouritism
In most organisations, it is noticed that, despite equal qualification and potentiality, some employees do not get a chance to prove themselves in their workplace. The issue of ‘nepotism and favouritism’ can create a hindrance on the path of promotion and success of the desirable employees.
Privacy
In the present days, due to the huge work pressure and also for meeting the goals and targets, employees are not able to create a distinction between personal life and professional life. Additionally, it is also known that employers can easily track their employees during their working days through laptops and cell phones. Privacy needs to be maintained properly for all employees for their own needs.
According to the ‘OSHA regulation’, all employees are required to maintain the rules, regulations and standards instructed by their employers. In the COVID situation, all the employees were instructed to use PPE and other hygiene precautions to reduce the transmission of the disease at the time dealing with the customers offline. The ‘Health and Safety Act of 1974’ also needs to be followed for securing the position of the employees (Ji et al. 2017). As per the ‘Equality Act of 2010’, all employees have the right to get equal treatment from their employers. Additionally, all the employees need to have equal benefits and facilities in their organisation. According to this act, the pay gap also needs to be reduced and eliminated to reduce the differentiation between the male and female gender. Apart from that, the ‘Data Protection Act of 1998’ also needs to be followed for maintaining the security of all the valuable data and information in a workplace. Most of the time, the mental health of the employees gets hampered by the busy and tough schedule in the retail sector (Fernandez-Carames and Fraga-Lamas, 2019). For this reason, the ‘Mental Health Act of 1983’ needs to be maintained for securing the mental health of the employees.
As the government rules, the ‘Recruitment legislation’ also can be beneficial for maintaining the needs and requirements of the employees. To mitigate and reduce the ethical issues and also to create a positive atmosphere all around, all the above-mentioned regulations are necessary. Moreover, these rules and regulations can help in protecting the position and career of the employees (Naik and Suresh, 2018). To maintain a safe and healthy working culture and also to maintain the priorities of the employees in the retail organisations, all the rules are highly important. Apart from that, all these rules and legislations can help in reducing the working pressure of the employees at a certain time. The major concern of ‘discrimination’ and the issue of ‘differentiation’ also need to be resolved quickly in all the private retail sector to promote equality and justice for all employees. The issue of data protection is also highly necessary to prevent the issue of data breaches and also spread of confidential and vital data from an organisation.
To maintain the reputation and position in the business and also to reduce the toxicity in the working atmosphere (De Klerk et al. 2018). The company policies also need to be created based on that. Also, all the employees must be aware of all the rules and regulations before entering the working zone. To enhance the working capability of women and also to give proper and equal chances to the deprived people, all these rules and regulations are necessary. As per the ‘Equal Pay Act of 1970’, all employees need to have their proper wages, salary and bonus every year (Lee and Ha?Brookshire, 2018). Along with this, all retail organisations also must be aware of the hourly and minimum pay rates of their employees. Apart from that, all the retail sectors also need to be cautious about the night workers, rest period and annual leave for their betterment and health in future. In all industries, including retail sectors, every employer needs to be highly cautious about the adequate benefits and facilities of their employees. To boost up their confidence and also to get a good productive performance from them, proper advantages and facilities are required to provide for all employees. Moreover, all the above-mentioned rules and regulations will also be beneficial for reducing the potential risks and hazards in a workplace.
Despite being a well-known and reputed organisation, Amazon has faced major issues regarding their ethics in their workplace. In the present day, it is noticed that due to the enhancement of various new services such as Prime and Kindle, the popularity and demand of the services for this company have increased. It is also known that due to the improper management system and also for the misuse of the power of the hierarchy, most of the employees have become the worst sufferers in their workplace. There are various issues that have been raised in their working environment; some of the issues are
Tax avoidance
It is necessary to pay the tax every time, as per the requirement of the government. According to the reports, it is known that Amazon has paid a total of $20.4 billion in tax till the year 2015. It is also known that Amazon does not pay any federal tax in the last five years. Despite a huge profit and productivity in their business, Amazon has an intention to not pay the taxes at the proper time. It is also known that in the year 2017, Amazon has paid only $4.6 million despite $6.88 bn in sales (Amazon.com, 2022). However, this issue needs to be resolved quickly for maintaining the position and reputation of the company.
Abuse in the warehouse
According to the business report of Amazon, it is known that Amazon is not responsible for securing the health and safety of its workers in the warehouse. Most of the time, the workers become forced to leave their organisation due to the huge workload. Moreover, proper hygiene is also not maintained in their warehouse. There is no chance of getting refreshments and free time in the warehouse.
The exploitation of the workers
Due to the huge work pressure in the warehouse and also to get more profit and to increase the revenue in business, Amazon employers create a huge pressure on their employees. Moreover, the treatment is also improper in their work towards the employees. In most cases, it is noticed that to increase manufacturing and productivity; Amazon does not follow any of their protocol in their workplace (Amazon.com, 2022). Similarly, some of the employees are also not permanent in their organisation.
Toxic environment
It is known that most of the time, no organisational values and ethics are followed at Amazon. Most of the time, it is noticed that most of the employees smoke inside the workplace in the working zone. It is also known that sometimes, the behaviour of the seniors is also not good towards their juniors. Additionally, there is also a huge lack of cooperative and collaborative work in their workplace (Amazon.com, 2022). A major issue of communication gap also can be noticed in their workplace
Sustainability issue
It was known that, in the shipping and manufacturing process, a huge amount of carbon had been produced through their operations. Moreover, the exploitation of natural resources has also increased.
After analysing and evaluating all the above-mentioned issues, it can be stated that the retail sector, especially Amazon, needs a huge transformation in its business. It is also understood that to retain more employees in the workplace and also to maintain a healthy and happy atmosphere in the organisation, a huge change is needed in the management. These changes can help in providing all the required benefits to the employees. Moreover, the issue of ‘health and safety’ and also the issue of ‘discrimination and differentiation’ also can be removed by this. All the employers and employees need to be concerned about this. Also, their support and contribution are needed to maintain all the rules and regulations. This retail industry also requires a huge change in its business.
In order to reduce the physical contact with the customers, they need to promote digitalisation. Additionally, they also need to be cautious about the cleanliness, health and hygiene of their workplace (Lee and Ha?Brookshire, 2018). To eliminate the major issues of Amazon, proper and strict steps are necessary, by which the unnecessary issues and risks can be mitigated. The stricter regulation is also highly important for the retail sector to reduce the issue of employees who have been deprived and suffered from the improper rules and management system in their organisation. Moreover, to reduce the pay gap and differentiation among workers and also to show respect to all cultural people, proper restrictions are necessary.
A collaborative working atmosphere is always preferred for better productivity and also for reducing the external issues in the business. The ethical concerns need to be promoted properly, and everyone needs to be cautious about this issue for the future of the organisation. Some rules and regulations are also necessary to implement to protect the capability and skills of the workers (De Klerk et al., 2018). To get good productive work from the employees and also to motivate them in all situations, proper and required leave and rest need to be provided to all employees. Moreover, the rules and restrictions are also important for reducing abusive behaviour towards the employees.
To mitigate the issue of exploitation of the temporary workforce and also to secure their equal rights of them, proper and strict rules and regulations need to be implemented. As per the view of Nygaard et al. (2017), a proper example always needs to be set in all retail organisations for following all the required ethical rules. Moreover, to reduce the toxicity in the working environment and also to increase communication among all employees, this step is highly necessary. It can be beneficial to control irregular situations in the workplace. Similarly, it can help the retail industry to move forward with positive outcomes, which can be helpful for their future growth.
It can be concluded that in order to mitigate the ethical issues and also to promote a healthy workplace environment, all the retail sectors must be aware of all their issues. They also need to take help from AI, by which the workload can be reduced from the employees. Moreover, the company Amazon also needs to maintain a proper schedule to avoid the issues and hazards in their business. To retain more employees and also to create a good impression in the business industry, Amazon needs to be highly concerned about its employees. Similarly, they also need to start the use of biodegradable products and natural resources, by which the issue of carbon footprint can be reduced.
Moreover, proper help and support also need to be taken from the hierarchy of all retail organisations. To create some innovations and also to transform the management system, digitalisation is one of the convenient methods. Apart from that, proper and adequate skills and knowledge are also necessary to provide training about all the ethical issues to the employees. Proper communication is also necessary to increase collaborativeness in the workplace. To mitigate the risks of externals such as from competitors, a b internal bond is highly required.
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