ETHICS ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Ethics in a ‘Flat World’: The Case of Wal-Mart
and the Chinese Connection
Prof. Teri Shaffer Yamada,
College of Liberal Arts
7 May 2007
1
Table of Contents
Introduction -- 3
Module Outline -- 6
Wal-Mart Research Project -- 9
Handouts -- 10
Select bibliography – 11
PowerPoint Presentation
2
“Ethics in a Flat World: The Case of Wal-Mart and the Chinese Connection”
I. Introduction
The importance of ethical practice in American culture in an era of globalization is an
extremely relevant issue for every student at CSU Long Beach. Globalization impacts their
future employment possibilities, the quality of our environment and society. Free market
ideology also indirectly shapes their attitude about academic performance.
“Ethics in a Flat World: The Case of Wal-Mart and the Chinese Connection” attempts to
address a number of gaps in student knowledge: 1) what is globalization? 2) What are its
strengths and weaknesses? 3) How does ‘a flat world’ construct impact you if it is based upon is
a ‘bottom-line’ profit model eschewing any social or environmental responsibility? 4) How has
this bottom-line model, growing in influence since the 1980s, affected your ethics as a student?
These issues are explored through a study of the business connections between Wal-Mart and its
suppliers in China (Charles Fishman, The Wal-Mart Effect, Penguin, 2006).
The module opens with a statement of the problem (powerpoint slides 1-5): Since the
1980s, a flat-world trend has facilitated a global tendency toward “extreme cheating.”
The
students are then introduced to basic concepts, specifically the definition of ‘flat-word’ as
proposed by Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.
Farrar, Strous and Giroux, 2005). His bias and misrepresentation of the consequences of global
interconnectivity via the worldwide web is critiqued by Ronald Aronica and Mtetwa Ramdoo
(The World is Flat?... Meghan-Kiffer, 2006). The students are introduced to Aronica and
Ramdoo’s critique, specifically their explanation of Friedman’s economic misinterpretation of
3
David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage and Joseph Stiglitz’ concept of “free market.”
Aronica and Ramdoo recommend moral philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt’s essay “On Bullshit”
(Princeton UP, 2005) as a remedy for this type of bias and misrepresentation. Students are
introduced to Frankfurt’s definition of ‘bullshit’ and how it impacts us all; in fact, how we
unknowingly may be participating in it.
Segment two (PowerPoint slides 6-10) describes the social context of cheating and the
importance of understanding how it affects everyone. Students are introduced to social trends
within the United States during the 1980s and shown Gordon Gekko’s ‘greed is good’ speech
from the movie Wall Street. They are subsequently introduced to the cultural consequences of
the ‘greed is good’ trend as elucidated in several recent publications on culture and ethics: David
Callahan’s The Cheating Culture (2004) and Robert Franks’ What Price the Moral High
Ground? Ethical Dilemmas in Competitive Environments (Princeton UP, 2004). Students will be
asked to consider the pressures of cheating to survive in a ‘cheating world” and ultimately how
this trend in extreme cheating will further impact society in another ten years if it continues
unabated. Finally for this segment, students are shown information from the Educational Testing
Service’s “Academic Cheating Fact Sheet.” It shows how the cheating trend is reflected in their
academic performance.
The third segment extends the local context of cheating to the global through the
introduction of Wal-Mart and its China connection. The handouts are used to explore this
segment. Students are asked to focus on the research project. They will be asked to compare
Wal-Mart’s own website (Walmartstores.com) with the website of Wal-Mart Watch
(walmartwatch.com). They will be asked to consider the following questions:
1) Define Wal-Mart’s business model based upon its own website?
4
2) Define its business model based upon Wal-Mart Watch and other websites?
3) Are there contradictions? If so, what are they?
The instructor introduces the students to a brief history of Wal-Mart, including its “Made
in America” campaign during the mid ‘80s.
The issue of outsourcing in the context of
‘comparative advantage’ and ‘free market ideology’ is discussed as it impacts the United States
and their own job future. Wal-Mart’s use of sweatshops in China is introduced and how this may
have fostered the very serious ‘problem’ of counterfeit goods in China (PowerPoint slides 1214).
Finally, environmental and workers rights’ issues are analyzed: 1) locally, in terms of the
January 2007, $34 million settlement on overtime pay to the U.S. Department of Labor; 2)
globally, in terms of Wal-Mart’s impact on the coastal environment of Chile through the U.S.
consumer demand for cheap salmon, and the problem of smog (Chog) in China, which blows to
Los Angeles. (James Kynge, China Shakes the World; Peter Navarro, The Coming China Wars,
2006).
The last section of the module concludes the presentation with a discussion of: 1) the
importance of ethics and decision making both locally and globally; 2) the impact of profit-only
business models on both the local and global environment, including one’s personal quality of
life. Finally, students are asked to comparatively consider culture and ethics; develop several
ideas about their own cultural model of ethics; and how these ideas might be implemented.
This teaching module is designed as a PowerPoint presentation. This packet, which
supports the muddle, includes a model outline explaining the power-point slides, a research
project, handouts, a bibliography, and the PowerPoint presentation for use in any Global Issues
course.
5
II. Module Outline (three hours)
Reading: Distribute the handouts
Research Assignment: Distribute the research task and explain the process.
PowerPoint:
Slide 1: Introduction
Slide 2: Mapping the Problem
 Describe the meaning of ‘flat world” according to Thomas Friedman in his best seller
“The World is Flat”
 The problem with one-sided analysis (spin).
Is it ethical?
Frankfurt’s essay “On
Bullshit” explains the ethnical dilemma of ‘spin’.
 (The Social Context of cheating within the United States since the 1980s). Have we all
been interwoven into a web of “spin” since the 1980s?
 What does winning and loosing mean in the context of globalization?
 “Extreme cheating” has increased during globalization.
Slide 3: Thomas L. Firedman, “The World is Flat…”
Explain the term “flat world” in Friedman’s context by reading the two passages from his
book on this slide. Ask the student’s what’s wrong with this description?
Slide 4: Aronica and Ramdoo’s critique of “The World is Flat”
Explain how Friedman has misrepresented global economics. What happens when the
entire American public seems to think uncritically about global economics?
6
Slide 5: Harry G. Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit”
What is “bullshit” according to moral philosopher Harry Frankfurt and why isn’t it
ethical? What happens in a world where everyone ‘bullshits’?
Slide 6: Social Context
Students have grown up in an era of fabulation. They must use critical thinking skills of
ascertain fact from fiction. What are the social consequences of ‘greed is good’?
Slide 7: U.S. Cheating Trends
Students have bought into the greed is good ideology. Most cheat and think it is okay to
cheat to get ahead. They may have become like mini Wal-Marts in their personal
philosophy of advancement.
Slide 8: Social Conseqeunces
If everyone cheats, if becomes a culture of ‘infectious greed.” What are the ethical
consequences for American culture?
Slide 9: Who’s Winning? Who’s Loosing the Greed/Cheating Game?
One effect of globalization has been a decline in the economic status of the middle class
and an increasing wealth gap between the rich and the poor.
Wal-Mart has succeeded, in part, through deception to become the largest corporation in
world history. The ‘made in America campaign’ was always a fraud.
Slide 10: Local Losers
Statistics showing the rising gap in wealth, increasing work hours, stagnant wages and
more stress for the average American worker in this age of globalization.
Slide 11: And Their Future?
7
What happens to American society and the economy if every job that can be
manufactured or produced via the Internet is outsourced to a country with a cheaper labor
forces?
Slide 11: Extreme Cheating as a ‘flat-world’ trend.
Discuss the historical context of cheating in China. Yes, cheating has always been
around. All cultures have injunctions against cheating (bribery, fraud, etc.) because societies
don’t run as well when everyone cheats.
Slide 12, 13 And Cheating in China Now?
The types of ‘extreme cheating’ in the manufacture and sale of goods in China. How
does it impact our quality of life in America if we cannot ensure the safety of food and
other goods from China?
Conclusion:
The module ends with a discussion of the handouts in terms of the research assignment. Students
should break into small groups to share the results of their research projects with each other and
then to report these results to the rest of the class for discussion.
8
Wal-Mart Research Assignment
“Wal-Mart is a global industry leader and arguably a new model for twenty-first century
business. Like General Motors in the United Stares in the 1950s, Wal-Mart’s decisions
reverberate trough the U.S. economy and beyond. The company’s choices on a wide range of
operating policies matter, and its approach to worker’s rights is no exception.” (“Discounting
Rights”. Human Rights Watch, May 2007, 203)
Pick one of the following issues:
1. The impact of Wal-Mart’s policies on unions in both the U.S. and China;
2. The impact of Wal-Mart’s outsourcing on workers in both the U.S. and China;
3. The impact of Wal-Mart’s outsourcing on the physical or social environment
In both the U.S. and China.
Use the following two websites to develop an argument both for and against the ethics of WalMart’s business practices for one of the issues mentioned above.
Websites
http://www.walmartstores.com
This is Wal-Mart’s official website. It discusses social issues involving Wal-Mart from a
pro-company perspective.
http://walmartwatch.com/
This website is critical of Wal-Mart and contains information about current issues from
an anti-Wal-Mart perspective.
You may use other Internet resources; be sure to use them critically.
9
Handouts
1. “Survey: Many Students Say Cheating’s OK” (CNN.com; 2002)
www.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/ 04/05/highschool.cheating/
2. “Is Wal-Mart Good for America” (Frontline, PBS, Nov. 23, 2004)
(Wal-Mart and China: A Joint Venture)
http://www.pbs.org/wabh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/wmchina.html
3. “The Great Wal-Mart of China” (MSNBC.Com, Oct. 30, 2006)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15364026/print/1/displaymode/1098/
4. “China: Repression Spikes as People’s Congress Closes” (“Human Rights Watch, March
14, 2007)
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/03/14/china15481_txt.htm
5. “US: Wal-Mart Denies Workers Basic Rights: Weak Labor Laws Perpetuate Abuses”
(May 1, 2007)
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/01/usdom15797_txt.htm
10
Select Bibliography
Media
Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (PBS Frontline, 2004)
A 60-minute documentary that covers both the strengths and weaknesses of Wal-Marts’
economic power and policies in both the United States and China.
Books
Aronica, Ronald and Mtetwa Ramdoo. 2006. The World is Flat? A Critical Analysis of Thomas
L. Friedman’s New York Times Bestseller. Tampa, Florida: Meghan-Kiffer Press.
This is an economic analysis of Fiedman’s bestsellf “The World is Flat,” debunking its
uncritical advocacy of a free-market system. influence that it is transforming the global
economy.
Fishman, Charles. 2006. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company
Really Works—and How It’s Transforming the American Economy. New York: Penguin
Press.
This is a history of Wal-Mart, which economically deconstructs some of Wal-Mart’s
claims about new job creation in the United States. Fishman advocates that Wal-Mart is
no longer just a mega- corporation but an “economic ecosystem” which such enormous.
Frank, Robert H. 2004. What Price the Moral High Ground? Ethical Dilemmas in Competitive
Environments. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Frank discusses the ability of socially responsible firms to survive in a competitive
environment.
Human Rights Watch. Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart’s Violation of US Workers’ Right to
Freedom of Association. New York (2007) 19:2.
The focus of this Human Rights Watch report is on Wal-Marts violations of workers’
rights laws: the right to organize a union, the right for equal treatment irrespective of
gender, and the right for fair wages. A short history of Wal-Mart is provided.
Kynge, James. 2006. China Shakes the World: A Titan’s Rise and Troubled Future — and the
Challenge for America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.
An economic and social critique of China’s economic rise, including the impact of
outsourcing on the United States.
Navarro, Peter. 2007. The Coming China Wars: Where They Will Be Fought: How they Can Be
Won. New Jersey: Financial Times Press.
A social critique of the economic rise of China and the negative political and
environmental consequences resulting from this rapid growth.
Websites
http://www.walmartstores.com
This is Wal-Mart’s official website. It does discuss social issues involving Wal-Mart from
its perspective.
http://walmartwatch.com/
11
This website is critical of Wal-Mart and contains information about current issues.
12