BUSI 446 Week 7 IFL Essay Example

Just Weights and Fair Wages: Operating a Retail Store in an Ethical and Biblical Manner

Introduction

Retailers face a constant pull between doing what is right and doing what pays this quarter. This essay argues that a store run by biblical standards of honesty and fairness is not choosing between the two. In pricing, in the treatment of employees and in service to customers, the practices Scripture requires are also the practices that build lasting business. Retailing makes the connection easy to see, because a store's customers return every week and quickly learn whether its prices, people and promises can be trusted.

Honest Pricing and Promotion

Leviticus 19:35-36 forbade Israel to cheat with any ruler, scale or measuring vessel and required honest balances and weights (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016). Proverbs 11:1 goes further, calling a rigged scale something the Lord detests and an honest one something he delights in. In a modern store, the false balance takes new forms: shrinking package sizes at the same price without saying so, comparison prices that no one ever paid, and advertised specials that are out of stock by Monday. Levy et al. (2019) note that deceptive reference prices and bait-and-switch advertising are both unethical and, in many cases, illegal.

A store following these verses would post unit prices on every shelf tag, advertise a "was" price only when the item sold at that price for a meaningful period, and stock enough of each advertised item or offer a rain check. These practices cost little and protect the trust that brings customers back. They also apply to the scale at the deli counter and the weight printed on a package of ground beef, where the ancient command applies almost word for word: a store that checks its scales regularly and trains clerks to tare containers correctly is keeping just weights in the most literal sense.

Fair Wages and Fair Schedules

In Colossians 4:1, Paul reminded those who directed servants that they answered to a Master of their own and so owed their workers justice and fairness, and James 5:4 condemned employers who held back laborers' pay. In retail, fairness reaches beyond the paycheck to schedules. Store workers often receive shifts on short notice, which makes it hard to plan child care, school or a second job.

A store following these passages would pay at or above local market wages, post schedules well in advance and train employees thoroughly. Ton (2014) studied retailers such as Costco, QuikTrip and Trader Joe's that invest in their workers while keeping prices low, and found that well-trained, stable staff ran stores with fewer errors, better service and higher productivity. What looks like a cost on the payroll returns as lower turnover and better execution on the floor.

Serving Customers as You Would Be Served

Jesus taught, "As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them" (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Luke 6:31). For a store, the golden rule means honoring returns generously, answering questions honestly even when the answer loses a sale, and treating every customer with the same courtesy. Levy et al. (2019) describe customer service as the set of activities that increase the value customers receive.

Service has a measurable payoff. Gómez et al. (2004) studied the stores of a supermarket chain and found that improvements in customer satisfaction were followed by higher sales, while declines in satisfaction lowered sales by more than gains raised them. That asymmetry matters for a store manager: a lapse in service costs more than an improvement earns, so consistency is worth protecting. A store that treats each customer as the manager would want to be treated, every day rather than during a campaign, avoids the drops that do the most damage.

Conclusion

Honest prices, fair treatment of workers and generous service are commands before they are strategies. Yet each produces a favorable outcome: customers who trust the store, employees who stay and sales that grow. A retailer who operates this way serves God, staff and customers at once, and builds a business that lasts.

References

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Gómez, M. I., McLaughlin, E. W., & Wittink, D. R. (2004). Customer satisfaction and retail sales performance: An empirical investigation. Journal of Retailing, 80(4), 265-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2004.10.003

Levy, M., Weitz, B. A., & Grewal, D. (2019). Retailing management (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Ton, Z. (2014). The good jobs strategy: How the smartest companies invest in employees to lower costs and boost profits. New Harvest.