When Alex arrived for his first day of work in his new store, he saw that Drew was in the process of terminating an employee (Rudy Johnson) who had been caught stealing. Alex immediately went to the break room of the store where the termination interview was being conducted to learn more about the situation. Drew informed Alex that Rudy had been a grocery clerk for the past six weeks and that he had apparently figured out how to tell if the alarms to the stockroom doors were off. Rudy would then open the back stockroom doors and stack cases of beer outside the store to pick up after his shift. After Drew caught Rudy doing this, Drew had a conversation with one of his friends who works as a restaurant manager down the street. Drew’s friend noted that he had hired Rudy a few months ago and that he’d been caught stealing there too.
Turning to Rudy, Drew asked, “So, Rudy, what do you have to say for yourself?” Rudy quickly replied: “Look here, [expletive], you don’t pay me enough to work here and put up with this garbage. In fact, you’re always riding everyone like they’re your personal servant or something. So I was trying to get some beer. I’ve see you let stockers take home damaged merchandise a dozen times. So just because they cut open a box of cookies, which we all know they do on purpose, they get to take stuff home for free. For that matter, we’ve all see you do the same thing! I’ve never seen you make a big deal about this stuff before. Why can’t I get a few cases of beer? What’s the big deal?”
Part 1:
a) What additional insights do you now have into how to decrease employee theft in this store? Post at least 2 more steps Alex should take to reduce employee theft.
b) Now analyze these new suggestions and discuss whether they reflect the perspective of theft at The Grocery Cart as a problem of moral awareness, moral judgment, or moral intent. Does the theft point to a problem with “bad apples,” or a “bad barrel,” or both?