Study Case 1 Bus186 Sonnier 1/3/08
Wal-Mart, an Investigation Gone Philosophical
This paper will examine the case of Wal-Mart Stores and the man who claims that the MP3 video player he bought for his ten year old daughter was preloaded with porn. It will be shown that this purchase of a previously used product violates the ethics of Utilitarianism. First, details of the case will be described. Then a precise definition of the ethical theory will be given. Next it will be shown how the details of this case relate to Utilitarianism. Finally, suggestions will be made for future guidelines such that this ethical principle may be in this case or in similar cases. Wal-Mart Stores have been a dominant business leader throughout the United States, and they are continuously improving in the retail industry. They have reached their status by providing people a vast line of products at extremely low prices. They have been well known as the discounted superstore and have endlessly searched for means of improvement. In a more recent occurrence, a Wal-Mart store located in Tennessee has been under some conflicts and tensions. Daryl Hill purchased a MP3 video player for his ten year old daughter as a Christmas present. It turned out that the MP3 video player had apparently been previously used, and it also contained pornographic videos. Furthermore, there were songs with explicit lyrics and content loaded onto the MP3 video player. Hill says that within ten minutes his daughter received her gift, she burst into years when she found the obscene footage and content. When Hill went to report the problem to the store, Wal-Mart had offered to replace his MP3 video player
with a new one; however, Hill refused to accept a replacement since he already purchased a new MP3 player for his daughter. Hill is now looking to keep the MP3 video player as evidence to show a lawyer. It seems that Hill is now looking into filing a lawsuit against Wal-Mart if seen as appropriate. There were numerous people who were involved in the ordeal before Hill could have brought the MP3 video player home. Along with their family, Daryl Hill and his daughter were simply the victims involved in the case. The Wal-Mart management and employee team was part of the dilemma; whether it was the employees in the electronics department, the salesperson, cashier, the customer service which handles all returns. Another person to consider being involved is the previous owner of Hill's MP3 video player who may be to blame for uploading the content to the player initially and later returning the player. The people on the video itself were also considered to be involved, seeing as to how such pornographic material is against the law and maybe traced. Also, the person who put the video on the Internet to share with the world could have had some involvement. To name those who were most responsible in the scandal is the Wal-Mart staff, especially its customer service for returns and management for restocking the used as new. The first owner prior to Hill's purchase also has quite a lot of responsibility, and Daryl Hill and his daughter for the secondary purchase. The results of Wal-Mart selling used products as new consists of high customer dissatisfaction, Hill's daughter traumatized, a weakening of Wal-Marts business recognition. The management must trace their steps, find the problem and maybe fire an employee or two, and find a way to please the customer. It's too bad for Wal-Mart because Hill seems irate with Wal-Mart
and is currently working with a lawyer, so there may even be a law suit to follow. It would be a shame to ruin Wal-Marts good name over an unforeseen mistake. The Hill family was surely harmed by their surprise purchase. The last thing Daryl Hill wanted for his daughter is to cry when she receives a new MP3 video player. The entire Wal-Mart store is harmed for the publicity received over selling used products as new. I will consider the act utilitarian, since each consequence should be judged for each case. It is understandable that Hill is the victim, but before he could have completed his transaction; there were several steps with consequences which Wal-Mart encounter. will The staff is debilitated through labor where they are to meet all standards/policies and they must rely on their employees to do their jobs correctly. Overall more harm than good is caused by Wal-Mart selling MP3 video players with pornographic material. The act of selling the used MP3 player causes horrendous suffering for Daryl Hill and his daughter. Hill's daughter will experience those thoughts in her head which she has never seen before. She will probably be haunted until the time she understands what they mean. Since she already saw the footage, she must be even more curious. She will probably want to learn more about the graphic content at a young age. It is obvious that Hill disapproves for his daughter to watch or know about any of the content that was on the player. Those victims feel cheated, lied to, like they were scammed, and they lose much of their emotional stability. I do not feel that there were any beneficiaries of the results of the purchase except for that the leading retailer in the nation just made another sale. If Hill wants to pursue any sort of legal case, then he is going to consider the ethics involved in the case. According to the Utilitarianism philosophy, the intentions are to promote consequences that bring the greatest good for
the greatest number of people and the least harm overall. For instance, Hill would want to use this approach in order to consider whether he or Wal-Mart is ethically correct. Hill has already determined in that Wal-Mart's job has not been well preformed. Under the Utilitarianism theory there is a process to be followed. The first step is for the pleasure versus the pain to be weighed against each other. Next, is to determine which of the greater of the two was either pleasurable or not. During this stage it is important to determine how long these emotions lasted. The third step is to measure the pleasure against the pain. It is important to note that the more the people considered to be affected, the better philosophy is practiced. It is important to note that when indicating using the Utilitarianism, that you stay focus on the original errors made by Wal-Mart and the discovery of the errors by Hill. Using the consequentialism principle which examines the ethical results of an action, not the mindset that caused the action, Hill may realize that he does have a case since there were so many occurrences where Wal-Mart is to blame. One after another, the errors can arise. Let us start at the beginning with the first owner who used and returned the player, who then needed an employee in the customer service to accept the return and perform any transactions. After the return, it took another employee to put it back in the system, but who would have it re-shelved? The management was lacking because I am sure someone has to examine all open packages before placing them back for sale. According to a company spokesman, stores are not to have any of their opened packages return to the sales floor. Without all these actions preceding each other, Hill ended up buying the wrong Christmas present for his daughter unknowingly.
I will go into further detail of some of the other affected persons and other results to consider in the case. Families, friends, and others in the community have all heard the news and they feel bad for what the Hill family had to go through on Christmas. WalMart can lose some business after word gets out about the Hill story. The specific WalMart store is undergoing investigation of how the opened player was sold again as new. At least one employee at the Wal-Mart must be fired for not performing their job up to par. Hill must determine how content on the player got there in the first place, specifically by whom, because the player uploads its files from the computer. If so, should the government take further action to eliminate obscene and pornographic material from the Internet and computer systems? Anyhow, there are many ways to consider that if we go back into to time, Wal-Mart could have avoided the sale of a previously used Mp3 video player, but the ending result is that they failed numerous times to catch their problem.