Legal & Ethical Analysis: Antitrust Issues in Walmart's Business

This essay examines antitrust issues in business decisions, using Walmart as a case study. It discusses relevant employment laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Occupational Health Act, emphasizing the importance of compliance for Walmart's 1.4 million US and 2.3 million worldwide employees. The analysis extends to legal topics such as International Law, Contracts, and Product Liability, highlighting their impact on Walmart's operations and reputation. The essay also delves into ethical considerations, applying Milton Friedman's philosophy on corporate social responsibility and evaluating the duty framework for ethical decision-making within Walmart's corporate structure, acknowledging both its benefits and limitations in addressing complex ethical dilemmas.

Running head: ANTITRUST ISSUES IN BUSINESS DECISIONS
Antitrust Issues in Business Decisions
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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ANTITRUST ISSUES IN BUSINESS DECISIONS
Introduction
Anti trust, issues in business can lead to various problems within an organisation as
well as outside of it. According to Carrier (2011), antitrust issues are a collection of the
federal and state government laws that are regulated by the US Government. The benefits of
the customers as well as the benefits of the employees are taken into consideration while
implementing the antitrust issues within an organisation. The essay focuses on the laws that
are related with a company like Walmart and the manner in which the company deals with
the laws. General topics related to the application of laws are discussed in the essay. At the
same time, discussion is made about the philosophy made by the economist Milton Friedman.
Ethical framework that applies with the situation is taken into consideration.
Walmart is a multinational retail company located in Arkansas, United States. The
company was established in 1969 and is known to manufacture and sell products related to
electronics, movies and music, home and furniture, sporting goods and many more. It is also
known to provide services through Walmart MoneyCard, Pickup Today and Walmart Pay.
The worldwide reputation of Walmart is analysed along with the legal considerations that are
undertaken by the company (Walmart.com, 2018).
Discussion
Walmart employs over 1.4 million people in the US and over 2.3 million worldwide.
Hence, it is necessary that the company abide by the employment law that exist in various
countries as well as in the US. The law related to the employability in US is taken into
account for the analysis of the anti-trust issue that exists. According to Janis et al. (2016), it is
necessary for the managers of Walmart to comply with the employment act of the US.

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This is mainly because US is a diverse country and people from various social and
cultural background reside in the country. The people can be either in the form of
professionalism or for studies. Therefore, the people are not permanent citizen and due to
this, it is essential that managers pay extra heed to the safety of the employees (Jakhu &
Malik, 2017). In this regard, it can be said that the managers of Walmart need to follow the
rules cited in the Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938.
The particular act promotes the need that a minimum of $7.25 is paid as wage to the
employees along with discouraging working for over 40 hours though time and a half
overtime pay (Talus, 2016). Therefore, the employees can be provided with the flexibility to
work in different shifts without having to take excess pressure. At the same time, the
employees can expect that their efforts be rewarded with proper payment of wages and
incentives.
Another law that need to be maintained by Walmart is the Occupational Health Act of
1970. According to Weiss (2014), the Occupational Health Act acts as the federal law for the
occupational health and safety that needs to be managed by the private sectors. In the case of
Walmart, it is important that this particular act be enacted so that the employees can be kept
safe. The products of Walmart are either manufactured or brought from the suppliers.
Therefore, it is necessary that precautions be taken by the managers in trying to create a safe
working environment while working for the company. Accidents from forklift can render a
person invalid as the person concerned may lose body parts due to his or her carelessness.
As argued by Kopp (2018) it is necessary that the employees remain aware of the
movement of dangerous equipments within an organisation. In the case of Walmart, the
employees need to be aware of the movement of the forklift or the spilling of any food in the
store so that they remain safe. This law can be attested with the safety of the customers as

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well. This is mainly because the customers may also fall victim to the dangerously left
equipments or spilled food.
Hence, it can be said that these laws can be applied for the welfare of the employees
working in Walmart. The year of the enactment of the laws may vary according to different
countries, but the principles of the law remain the same irrespective of the country.
The legal topics that can be applied for Walmart includes International Law,
Contracts and Product Liability. The topics can be explained keeping in mind its contribution
for the development of Walmart.
International Law: According to Simpson (1986), international law refers to broader
things, which include treaties, conventions, sovereign foreign countries, foreign custom,
religious laws and private contracts between parties. These concepts can be applied for a
company like Walmart, as the employees and the manner in which it functions in the local
and international market provides a proper analysis of its success. The norms and regulations
establish the agreements that need to be made so that acceptable behaviour and stability can
be maintained for the development of commercial and health of the employees.
Genevaz (2004) is of the opinion that cultures throughout the world recognise the
justice that exists in various organisations. Therefore, for a company like Walmart domestic
legislation along with the international convention are important for its success. The
sovereign states determine the law related to the territory in which it works, therefore, treaties
and conventions play a major role in the development of success at Walmart. The different
legal transactions that exist in the foreign market do not play any role in the development of
Walmart.

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Contracts: According to Nelson and Pond (2011), making deal is the lifeblood of
commercial success. Therefore, merchant contracts laws can be considered as the oldest law
that was established in the legal system. In the case of Walmart the need for stability and trust
is important for the development of the organisation. This is mainly because the company has
a vast array of suppliers from both international and domestic market. One of the reasons for
the success of Walmart is the fact that the company provides fresh quality ingredients to the
customers.
Hence, it is important that contracts be made with suppliers that can honour the
objectives and aims of the company. However, as observed by Peritz (2008) contracts may
have issues that mainly fall into three broad categories. These categories highlight the
formation of a contract and its enforceability in the law. Apart from this the interpretation of
the contracts and any type of breach or remedy need to be analysed by Walmart so that the
bargaining power that the suppliers possess can be suppressed.
Product liability: Simpson (1987) stated that the liability of the products is
obligations that can be traced back to the manufacturers. The manufactures of the grocery or
other items that are sold by Walmart are responsible for the success of the company and the
satisfaction of the customers. However, selling of poor quality products can hamper the
progress and reputation of Walmart as the customers are the direct purchasers from the store.
Therefore, in order to ensure that the manufactures are liable Walmart need follow the
liability law as stated by the US Government. The importance for the implication of this
particular law against the manufacturers as the company may be put to court because of
negligence. Therefore, this can be considered as a huge loss Walmart in terms of customer
service as well as in terms of reputation.

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Ethics and morality can be applied to the experience of human being in a vexed
manner. According to Takigawa (2003), philosophers have managed to discuss ethical
dilemmas for history and there appears to be no proper answer to resolving the ethical
problems. Every work of philosophers has led to the development of various ethical
frameworks that can be applied. Therefore, the philosophy of the economist Milton Friedman
can be applied to the corporate structure and culture in the modern business world. Therefore,
it can be said that the ethical questions related to the moral framework can be applied
depending upon the manner in which decision-making progress can be taken into account.
Undertaking complex decisions can lead to the application of ethical theories in
business. Therefore, it can be said that every business needs to identify the manner in which
unrecoverable arguments can be prevented in boardrooms. The idea pitched by Milton
Friedman is related to the proper application of ethical framework and the manner in which
every business organisation can apply the ethical framework for the success of business (Garz
et al., 2017). In this regard, Friedman proposed that a guiding principle could be applied for
business ethics. The principle appeared in New York Times article under the title “the social
responsibility of business is to increase its profits”.
According to Glied and Altman (2017), the statement made by Friedman raises
questions about the act that directors need to undertake in order to gain profit. It is important
to consider the role of the directors so that they can maintain an ethical behaviour in business.
The act of directors can be related to any way so that they can earn profit in business.
However, Friedman argued the fact that for a direct form of capitalism any activity can distort
the economic freedom in business.
The social responsibilities that are undertaken by corporations distort the economic
freedom, as it becomes a problem for the shareholders to invest their money on a particular

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activity of a business. Therefore, as stated by Khan (2016) corporations need to focus on
activities that may relate to the increase of profit in an organisation by following ethical rules.
In order to apply the ethical framework in business it is necessary that every company
adopt the implication of a particular type of framework for the betterment of the organisation.
According to Sykes (2014), a company like Walmart can adopt the application of the duty
framework so that it can encourage its employees to work hard and ensure that a safe working
environment is prevalent. The duty framework helps in focusing on the duties and obligations
that are normally considered as ethical obligations in business. Ethical obligation is defined
by undertaking the duties done by one person by doing the right thing so that the goal for
performing a correct action can be undertaken.
As stated by Blanke (2015) the advantage of creating a system of rules can be made
consistent with all expectations from the people. Therefore, it is needed that actions are taken
in an ethical manner so that every employee working in Walmart can ensure that ethical
treatment is received. Hence, this situation works best in situations, which provide a sense of
obligation in the business. In the case of Walmart, the company need to deal with people of
various ethnic groups and because of this, the moral obligation of the business can be used in
this particular set up. Walmart need to ensure that the ethnic groups along with the corporate
social responsibility of the business mandates as well as forbids courses of actions to be
taken.
However, as stated by Jakhu and Malik (2017) the framework has its limitations,
which may provide difficulty in situations dealing with ethical issues. The application of the
framework can appear cold and impersonal. Therefore, it may be harmful for the people to
apply the duty framework particularly in organisations in which employees and employers
share a mutual respect for one another. At the same time Karpoff and Wittry (2018) is of the

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opinion that the framework does not provide a proper indication which duty needs to be
followed particularly in situations where two or more duties need to be followed. Therefore,
it can be difficult for a company like Walmart need to be rigid while applying the notion put
forth by the application of the duty framework.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that antitrust issues in business rise from the ethical
obligations that exist in organisations. Without proper ethical issues, it can be difficult for a
company like Walmart to incorporate success in business and ensure that legality in the
organisations be maintained. The applicaton of duty framework can help in making choices
between various duties and consequently be obliged to undertaking ethical means to continue
with the business. At the same time, following the principles of Friedman can help Walmart
to maintain its dominance in the domestic and international market.

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