Juan Garcia

ORGL- 3322

11-30-2020

Amazon Ethical Issue on Labor

Introduction

The modern world has seen the rise of great organizations that control people's lives in

various ways and forms. Companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon,

among many other companies, directly influence how people learn, consume materials, and other

aspects of human life. Although these organizations are faced up with several ethical challenges,

Amazon has a lead on unethical practices. Amazon's major moral issue is how it treats its

workers, especially creating a safe working environment and implementing minimum wage in

their supply chain system. Using the theories of Aristotle, Sun Tzu, and Plato, it will be shown

how the ethical issue with amazon can be resolved.

Amazon Ethical Issue

Founded in 1994 in Washington, Amazon is a leading company globally. The company

specializes in e-commerce, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other technology-related

services. It is among the biggest five companies in the US, making it one of the most influential
companies in the 21st century ("The Ethical Issues With Amazon," 2019). Apart from its

influence in the US, Amazon is present in all continents, including Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Despite its success, Amazon has been accused of several ethical issues. Among them are tax

evasion, corruption, environmental degradation, climate change, military supplies, unhealthy

business practices, and controversial technologies ("The Ethical Issues With Amazon," 2019).

However, one ethical issue that stands out is how the company takes care of its employees. The

ethical consumer has called the world to boycott amazon services due to its labor laws and ethics

violations ("How ethical is Amazon.com Inc? | Ethical Consumer", 2020). In the UK, for
instance, it was reported that workers in leading clothing brands contracted by Amazon were

paid only a living wage. Whereas most companies of its size paid better wages, Amazon was

lagging behind.

The same accusation was leveled against the company in China, where it was accused of

overworking the workers and paying them below the average pay by similar corporations ("How

ethical is Amazon.com Inc? | Ethical Consumer", 2020). Besides, most of these workers were

hired on the basis of temporary contracts to avoid paying them benefits associated with tong time

contracts. Apart from paying low wages to its regular employees and those in their supply chain,

Amazon is also accused of poor working conditions for its workers. In its warehouses in the UK,

the US, and other countries, ambulances are called up to 50 times more than similar warehouses

of similar size managed by other organizations ("How ethical is Amazon.com Inc? | Ethical

Consumer", 2020). In some instances, workers are expected to work in building with extreme

temperatures, while in other cases, recommended safety measures are not put in place. In some

cases, pregnant women are not given the ethical care needed, with some being forced to do hard

labor even when they are in the final stages of their pregnancy. Some have experienced

miscarriages, others have delivered at work, while others experience various complications. In a

generalized way, it is clear from multiple sources that Amazon's major ethical issue is its

employees' care.

Resolving the Issue Using Sun Tzu, Aristotle, and Plato Theories.
 The ethical issues at amazon can be revolved around using theories of great philosophers

of ancient times. The first great philosopher who was concerned with leadership was a Chinese

military leader known as Sun Tzu. Tzu is famous for his book, the 'art of war,' which gives

leaders strategies to lead successfully (Moon, 2018). In the book, Tzu guides leaders on

management skills and the art of leadership. According to Tzu, a leader should lead by example

(Tzu, 2019). Besides, he says that an army commander must regard the junior officers as his/her

children, and that way, they can follow them even in deep battles (Moon, 2018). Using this

concept, amazon's lead Jeff Bezos can adopt a similar leadership style. He should lead by
example and regard his employees as his children. With that attitude, the leader will not allow his

workers to earn less, nor will he allow them to work in an unsafe environment. A leader

following Tzu's theory will show great concern for his subordinates and try their best to improve

their well-being.

Apart from Tzu, Aristotle was another great philosopher who came up with various

theories and views on morality. In his thesis about leadership, Aristotle said that a person could

not become a good commander if they have not learned to obey (Aristotle, 2019). He also says

that acting in the right manner counts more than just knowing what is right (Aristotle, 2019).

Therefore, Based on Aristotle, one must make it their habit to learn what is right and practice it

(Gerson, 2017). Based on this theory, amazon can resolve the ethical issue of labor by first

learning what is right and then practicing what is right persistently. The leaders concerned and

the management must stop just saying that they will resolve such issues, but instead, they must

act and live the talk.

The last theorist in this analysis is Plato. He believed in the creation of ideal situations as

a means of realizing better service delivery (Harper, 2019). According to Plato, a person should

do the good they know to realize a utopian society. In other words, whatever a leader knows is

good, they should do it even when it is against their interests. To realize the common good for

all, Plato advised leaders to focus on doing the right thing at all times, even when they do not

benefit from it (Harper, 2019). In Amazon, its founder and current CEO is the richest man
globally, yet his workers are poorly paid. Basing on Plato's theory, the organization must

prioritize doing what is right even if the company will make a loss (Gerson, 2017). Instead of

enriching the company's top managers, it must do the right thing and enrich even small workers

in their supply chain. If they do that, the ethical issue of labor in the company will be resolved.

References

Aristotle, A. (2019). The ethics of Aristotle. BoD–Books on Demand.

Gerson, L. P. (2017). Aristotle and Other Platonists. Cornell University Press.

Harper, P. T. (2019). The symbolic imagination: Plato and contemporary business ethics. Journal

of Business Ethics, 1-17.

How ethical is Amazon.com Inc? | Ethical Consumer. Ethical Consumer. (2020). Retrieved 29

November 2020, from https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/company-profile/amazoncom-

inc.

Moon, H. C. (2018). The art of strategy: Sun Tzu, Michael Porter, and beyond. Cambridge

University Press.

The Ethical Issues With Amazon. ETHICAL UNICORN. (, 2019). Retrieved 29 November 2020,

from https://ethicalunicorn.com/2019/01/12/how-ethical-is-amazon/.

Tzu, S. (2019). The Art of War. (The Oldest Military Treatise In The World). Lulu. com.