PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE Walmart's Values Come under Scrutiny Sam Walton founded Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, and the company grew from that single store in 1962 to more than 11,300 locations spanning 27 countries by 2019. Today, the multinational retailer is the world's largest company by revenue generating over $500 billion in 2018and the largest private employer with more than 2.2 million employees. The retailer also owns Sam's Club, a chain of warehouse clubs that sell groceries and general merchandise in bulk.\" Walmart is known for its \"everyday low prices,\" but critics say prices are not all that's low at the retailer. Individual employees, advocacy groups, and government agencies have brought numerous labor-related lawsuits against the company, scrutinizing its internal values. Let's take a closer look at what's going on at the massive retailer. A SERIES OF WORKPLACE ABUSES Waimart prides itself on its values, The retailer states that, "We dene culture as our values in action. It's now we deliver superior customer service, create a great front-line work environment and improve performance . . Moreover. Walmart's stated values are centered on being \"guided by good,\" which includes \"respect for the individual\" and \"acting with integrity\"?8 Allegations against the company suggest a different story. Consider a report by a workers' advocacy group that says Waimart \"routinely refuses to accept doctors' notes, penalizes workers who need to take care of a sick family member and otherwise punishes employees for lawful absences." The report is based on a survey of more than 1,000 Waimart employees and accuses Waimart of violating the American with Disabilities Act and Family Medical Leave Act, among other labor laws.79 Katie Orzehowski was a cashier at the Walmart in North Huntingdon. Pennsylvania, and completed the employee survey. She suffered a miscarriage in 2016 and provided doctors' notes and hospitalization records to excuse her missed shifts, but the company refused to excuse her absences. She was so worried that another absence would get her fired that she returned to work, while still in recovery. \"i still had a lot of bleeding going on, and that's embarrassing,\" Orzehowski told The New York Times,80 Waimart's focus on the bottom line over its employees' welfare didn't end with those who suffered from an illness. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against the retailer in September 2018 alleging it unlawfully discriminated against pregnant workers in Wisconsin. The complaint was filed on behalf of Alyssa Gilliam, who became pregnant in 2015. Gilliam requested light duty or transfer to a less physically demanding job in which she would avoid heavy lifting due to her pregnancy. The company declined to accommodate her in any way, including providing her with a chair, shorter work days, or additional breaks. The EEOC alleges that Waimart retaliated by cutting Gilliam's benefits, reducing her work hours, and eventually forcing her to take unpaid leave. Interestingly. Waimart had a robust light duty program that allowed workers with lifting restrictions to be accommodated, \"But Waimart deprived pregnant workers of the opportunity to participate in [this] program. This amounted to pregnancy discrimination, which violates federal law,\" said the EEOC.81 Gilliam wasn't the only employee denied a chair. Adam Catlin, who suffers from cerebral palsy, has been a Walmart greeter in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, for almost ten years. Catlin was told in 2019 that due to a change in corporate policy, he would need to stand for his entire eightshour shift and lift up to 25 pounds or be fired. Caitlin's mother urged Waimart customers on Facebook to support her son. \"i know corporate decisions are corporate decisions. if [that's] where this originated from. but does anyone ever make any decisions anymore by putting any heart or care into it?\" she wrote.'32 WALMART'S ALLEGED BAIT AND SWITCH Walmart CEO Doug McMillon's compensation for fiscal 2018 was $22.8 million, which is 1,188 times the annual compensation of its median employee. In contrast. CEO pay at 5&P firms averaged 361 times more than the average employee in 2018.5"3 Overall, the company "has been the defendant in scores of cases, including class actions, or group suits, accusing the company ofwageIaw violations,\" according to Jonathan Tasini, president of the Economic Future Group.\" Walmart decided to raise its minimum wage from $10 to $11 in 2018. With much fanfare, CEO McMillon stated, \"Today, we are building on investments we've been making in associates, in their wages and skills development. . . It's our people who make the difference and we appreciate how they work hard to make every day easier for busy families\";5 Now consider that Walmart closed dozens of its Sam's Club warehouses on the same day it announced the pay increases.35 This brings into question whether the retailer had positive intentions in raising employee pay. The United Food and Commercial Workers international Union, for example, called the wage increase a \"public relations stunt\" meant to distract from the closing of 63 stores.87 The closures resulted in approximately 10,000 workers losing theirjobs.BB The timing of the announcement wasn't the only issue as many Sam's Club employees had no idea their stores would be closed until the day of the announcement. According to The Times, some workers showed up for work only to be informed that their stores were closed.39 POOR JOB SATISFACTION IMPACTS CUSTOMER SERVICE Walmart's minimum wage hikes may raise the pay of some of its workers, but they may not be enough to solve the retailer's continued customer service problem. according to Forbes.90 Walmart's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSIJ score dropped between 2016 and 2017. The ASCI measures the quality of products and services American consumers receive by major department and discount retailers. The drop placed Walmart at the bottom ofa list of department and discount retailers (even below a bankrupt Sears). Making Change at Walmart (MCAW), an organization dedicated to transforming the lives of Walmart employees, believes the company's poor customer service ratings are related to the way it treats its workers. \"Walmart lacks the ability to improve its customer experience when it refuses to focus on what we all know to be truequalityiobs create quality experiences for both shoppers and workers,\" says MCAW director Randy Parra2.91Walmart needs to do more for its employees if itwants to improve their attitudes with customers. For example. wages and benefits are so poor at Walmart that thousands ofits employees qualify for food stamps, Medicaid and other government assistance programs, according to MCAW.92 Walmart says it has a \"common purpose of saving people money so they can live better.\"93 It seems its employees will need to live better as well if the company wants to continue its success. OWIT WOLL 15. FIGURE 2.4 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES Person Factors Individual Level Individual Level . Values Group/Team Level . Task performance . Personal Attitudes Organizational Level . Workplace attitudes . Intentions . Well-being/flourishing Situation Factors . Citizenship behavior/counter- productive behavior . Turnover Group/Team Level Organizational Level . Accounting/financial performance . Customer service/satisfaction2.1 PERSONAL VALUES - Values are abstract ideals that guide your thinking and behavior across all situations. - Schwartz proposed that it) core values guide behavior across contexts and time (see. Figure 2.2). - The 10 core values each relate to one of four themes: selfrtranscendence, conservation, selfsenhancement, and openness to change {see Figure 2.2). Managers can use the Schwartz model to motivate employees and to reduce the chances of employees' experiencing conflict between their values and their work assignments. 2.2 PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND THEIR IMPACT ON BEHAVIOR AND OUTCOMES Attitudes represent your feelings or opinions about people, places, and objects and range from positive to negative. Workplace attitudes are outcomes in the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying 08. The three components of attitudes are affective, cognitive, and behavioral. Cognitive dissonance represents the psychological discomfort an individual experiences when his or her attitudes or beliefs are incompatible with his or her behavior. Intentions are the key link between attitudes and behavior in Ajzen's model. Three determinants of the strength ofan intention are attitude toward the behavior. subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control Figure 2.3). 2.3 KEY WORKPLACE A'ITITUDES - Organizational commitment reflects how strongly a person identifies with an organization and is committed to its goals. It is inuenced by a host of factors in the Organizing Framework, including personality, leader behavior, organizational culture, meaningfulness, organizational climate, and psychological contracts. - Employee engagement occurs when employees give it their all at work. It includes feelings of urgency, focus, intensity, and enthusiasm. - Employee engagement is influenced by personal factors and environmental characteristics contained in the Organizing Framework. - Perceived organizational support reflects how much employees believe their organization values their contributions and cares about their wellbeing. Employees are happier and work harder when they feel supported. 2.4 THE CAUSES OF JOB SATISFACTION - Job satisfaction is an affective or emotional response toward various facets ofthejob. It is a key 08 outcome. - The five major causes ofjob satisfaction are need fulfillment, met expectations, value attainment, equity, and dispositionalfgenetic components. - Telecommuting allows people to balance their work and family lives. It uses telecommunication technology and Internet tools to send and Page 72 receive work between home and office. 2.5 MAJOR CORRELATES AND CONSEQUENCES OF JOB SATISFACTION . Job satisfaction is significantly associated with the following attitudinal variables: motivation, job involvement, withdrawal cognitions, and perceived stress. . Job satisfaction is significantly related to five key behavioral outcomes: job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, counterproductive work behavior, turnover, and customer satisfaction. 2.6 HOW DO VALUES AND ATTITUDES AFFECT WORK-RELATED OUTCOMES? . Identifying your core values will help you make smart decisions about career moves and relationships in both your personal and professional life. . Recognizing the power of your beliefs and how they influence behavior will help you zero in on the type of work you find meaningful. . Hiring people whose values and attitudes align with an organization's culture encourages employee motivation, productivity, and retention