Analyzing Ethical Issues: A Case Study of Woolworths and Wesfarmers

This report identifies and analyzes ethical issues within Woolworths and Wesfarmers, two prominent Australian organizations. For Woolworths, the report focuses on the impact of boycotts and protests related to political activism and brand image. The suggested ethical framework emphasizes transparency and proactive communication to mitigate reputational damage. For Wesfarmers, the report addresses the issue of employee underpayment, highlighting the negative impact on employee morale and legal compliance. The proposed ethical framework stresses fair compensation, adherence to minimum wage laws, and performance-based incentives to improve employee satisfaction and avoid legal consequences. The report concludes that ethical conduct is crucial for maintaining a positive brand image, fostering employee satisfaction, and ensuring long-term business sustainability, urging organizations to proactively address and eliminate unethical practices.

Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Identification of ethical issue in Woolworths..........................................................................................3
Ethical framework to overcome the issues...............................................................................................3
Identification of ethical issue in Wesfarmers...........................................................................................3
Ethical framework to overcome this issue...............................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................4
Reference.....................................................................................................................................................4

Introduction
In organization, the ethical issues are occur when an activity, scenario and decision
conflicts with organizations or society’s ethical standards. Lack of integrity, misleading
advertising, organizational relationship is major factors of the ethical issues (Bennett,
2018). This report will be based on the ethical issues of two organizations. These organizations
are Woolworths and other is Wesfarmers. This report will cover the ethical issues within both of
the organization and ethical framework to overcome these issues.
Identification of ethical issue in Woolworths
Woolworths is a retail organization, founded during 1924. Its headquarter is situated in
Bella Vista, New South Wales, Australia. This topic is politically fuelled due to context of
protest and boycott by BDS on Woolworth’s brand. As BDS are considered as an anti-Zionist
group and there are various connotations which come along with it, such as presumed anti-
Semitism. Supermarket giant, and more largely Woolworths Groups is target of the
#boycottWoolworths social media campaign. Swathes of the Australians have take part in hash
tag to express their disappointment in the Woolworths for selecting to side with the media
parasite Murdoch. This protest and boycott by BDS has impacted the brand image of
Woolworths. BDS are not so powerful or strong enough that can destroy a solid reputation which
Woolworths have earned for themselves over the times. This boycott and protest are simply a
threat that the respective brand need to overcome smartly and swiftly (Ogunyemi, 2022).
Ethical framework to overcome the issues
To overcome from this issue, Woolworths has filed the court application so that they can
protect their customers and employees from this increasing unlawful protest or boycott inside
their stores. As boycott and protest cam causes the customers to shun a firm’s offering and bring
about a lasting reputational damage elsewhere (Powell and et. al., 2020). Therefore, to overcome
from such issues, respective organization should calm and do not overreact so as it will not harm
the business vastly. For this, company should establish a transparency in its organization and tell

the truth through social media and other medium. If they had made a mistake then they should be
emphasize on good practices to reduce impact of their actions.
Identification of ethical issue in Wesfarmers
It is an Australian conglomerate organization. Its headquarter is situated in Perth,
Western Australia. It was founded during 1914 and serve to various nations. Wesfarmers is
facing a major issue as it is not paying enough salaries to its employees. Due to which many of
its employees has left the job. The company has admitted underpayment of the target staff by
around $9 million. Thus, it is going against the law of minimum wages. This practice of
respective company undermines the customer’s trust and disenfranchises and demoralize the
employees. Due to this, company’s employees are feeling underappreciated and undervalued.
This, of course, leads to job dissatisfaction and to seeking the opportunities (Temple, 2019).
Ethical framework to overcome this issue
In order to overcome this issues, company’s employees have to be paid with their
minimum pay rates. As is employees have been underpaid, Wesfarmers need to be fixes it very
soon. Respective company should pay its employees with their performance and talents (Yeoman
and et. al., 2019). If the respective will pay fairly then, its employees will get motivated and do
their best. Along with this, it will also improve their happiness and job satisfaction. If the
respective company will go against government’s laws regarding employee’s rights or
compensation, then it have face various legal consequence. Therefore Wesfarmers should adopt
such practice so that it can become able to pay its employees fairly. Thus, by all these ethical
framework respective company can overcome this issue and make enable to run its business
functions smoothly.

Conclusion
From the above report t is concluded that some times, business organization practice the
unethical behavior or practice that can destroy their image and brand. It dissatisfies their
employees as well as customers. Therefore, it is essential for the organizations that they follow
the guidelines formulated by the government and fulfill their ethical responsibilities by
protecting their employees and society from any unfair practice. Otherwise they may suffer form
a heavy loss or reputational damage. So it is suggested that every business organization should
determine their operational practice and take action to eliminate the unethical behavior in order to
run their business efficiently.
Reference
Bennett, R., 2018. Nonprofit marketing and fundraising: A research overview. Routledge.
Ogunyemi, K., 2022. Learning as We Go: Responsibility, Sustainability and the Marketing
Function. In Products for Conscious Consumers (pp. 223-233). Emerald Publishing
Limited.
Powell, M.A. and et. al., 2020. Children’s participation in research on sensitive topics:
Addressing concerns of decision-makers. Children's geographies, 18(3), pp.325-338.
Temple, A., 2019. The Postgraduate's Guide to Research Ethics. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Yeoman, R. and et. al.,2019. The Oxford handbook of meaningful work. Oxford University Press.