Wal-Mart: The Future is Sustainability
Summary
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is one of the top companies in the retail industry. According to Forbes (2010), in 1962 brothers Sam and Bud Walton ran handful of small 5-and-10 stores in Arkansas and Missouri and they built their first Wal-Mart discount store in 1962. Then on Halloween day 1969 Wal-Mart Corporate (n.d.) states that the company incorporated. Since those early days when the founder Sam Walton was running the company many things have changed. For instance Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell (2011) stated that due to the staunch work ethic and dedication to customer care that Sam Walton instilled in the company, the company did feel that there was a need formal ethics program (p. 315). However, as time has passed the thinking of the Wal-Mart Executives has had to change. I do not know if Wal-Mart has changed because of the lawsuits they have encountered over ethical issues, if it was driven by the desire to keep profits high, or if Wal-Mart changed the way they do business because the company really does want to right thing for all the stakeholders. From what I can see, ethics has become a very important part of Wal-Mart’s business strategy. They seem to have a formal ethics program in company these days and they even want the entire world to know about because they provide a digital copy of their 36 page Statement of Ethics document on their web site.
Text Questions
1. Do you think Wal-Mart is doing enough to become more sustainable?
According to Ferrell et al. (2011) Wal-Mart’s green initiatives are securing the goodwill of many of the environmentally conscious consumers along with saving the company millions of dollars annually (p.322). Wal-Mart even received a Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development in May 2010. According to a December 2009 article posted by World Environment Center on the Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire Wal-Mart is, “A leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity, Walmart ranked first among retailers in Fortune Magazine's 2009 Most Admired Companies survey.” Since the question is only asking if they are doing enough to become “more” sustainable, I would absolutely have to yes they are.
2. What are the problems that Wal-Mart has faced, and what has the company done to address them?
Some of the problems that Wal-Mart has faced are employee wages and benefits, their nonunion position, illegal immigrant and sweatshop allegations, and even problems within their leadership like the Thomas Coughlin scandal. The list can probably go on for days, however they can all be tied to the one thing we are here to learn, business ethics. Wal-Mart has made some significant changes in order to address many of their problems. For instance according to Ferrell et al. (2011), in 2003 Wal-Mart hired an anti-sweatshop expert to help them in fight against international sweatshop labor (p. 319). Wal-Mart also signed a memorandum with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions which allowed unions in their stores (p. 318). They have even taken measures to reduce waste and carbon emission which has not only help the company save money but it has shown the public that Wal-Mart is on board with green initiatives.
3. Why has Wal-Mart tended to improve performance when other retail outlets have been suffering financially?
I think that one of the biggest factors in Wal-Mart’s improved performance while other retailers are suffering financially is Wal-Mart’s everyday low prices strategy along with the position they take about their customers. I thought Ferrell et al. (2011) gave us a good example of what Wal-Mart thinks about their customers with the quote, “Wal-Mart claims a commitment to improving the standard of living for customers worldwide” (p. 323). They even proved that they can back that statement up with programs like free filing and tax service for low-income consumers where they partnered up with the Unite Way and One Economy Corporation to make that happen. I also think they reaped some of the benefits from the green initiatives. Not only have they earned some good press and some favoritism from the green minded public but they have also racked up over $30 million a year in savings from their green initiatives with their trucks and in store ceiling fans with compact fluorescent bulbs.
Updates
According to Wal-Mart (2010) the Company’s Global Sustainability Report, 2010 Progress Update, states that Wal-Mart is continuing their work to create meaningful and positive change throughout the global supply chain. The report goes on to say the since 2005 Wal-Mart has achieve a 60% increase in their United States fleet efficiency and in 2009 they were able to reduce their plastic bag waste by about 66.5 million pounds globally, or approximately 4.8 billion bags which calculated out to be a 16.1% reduction from their 2007 numbers (p.2). Wal-Mart is also continuing the efforts to reduce the carbon footprint produced from their operating locations. The Sustainability Report also claimed that in 2009 Wal-Mart opened four additional high-efficiency buildings. They suggest that these new high-efficiency buildings are expected to perform between 25 and 30 percent more efficiently than their 2005 baseline stores (p. 7). With the information that I was able to locate this week, it seems that Wal-Mart is continuing the sustainability efforts that were discussed in this case study.
Concept
The most important concept I have learned from this case would have to the concept of social responsibility which the Ferrell et al. (2011) explained to be “an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and minimize its negative impact” (p. 13). I think that many of the social responsibility concepts fall directly in line with ethical responsibilities. I cannot say that I actually learned social responsibility from this case study; it did however stand out to me as read through the case. In my 22 years of working for the Air Force, and especially in the past 10 years, I have always tried to maximize a positive impact on the stakeholders associated with whatever task we were completing. I cannot say that I executed my plans perfectly, but I can say the times that I was able to maximize the positive and minimize the negative I saw a more efficient process and higher morale from everyone involved.
Application
Once again, since I am in the Air Force I have been taught and I have been practicing good ethical behaviors for many years now. I think that the steps of Social Responsibility shown figure 2-3 of the text are nearly spot on to what I have been taught over the years. I do not believe that an individual or a company could be socially responsible without adhering to each of the four steps. However, I do believe that out of the four, philanthropy can make the biggest difference in the overall ethical impression of any company. Following laws and regulations, maximizing profits and stakeholder value, and conducting business with acceptable ethical behavior seem to me like the “must haves” of any successful business. But the company that goes that extra mile to give back to the community by helping earthquake victims or enables a Special Olympics event for under privileged children or even just spends a few hours helping to clean the public areas in town in my opinion will be the company with the highest ethical reputation and that would be the type of company that I want work for and do business with.

References
Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business Ethics (8th ed.).
Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Forbes. (2010, March 10). The World’s Billionaires #363 Nancy Walton Laurie. Retrieved
September 30, 2010, from http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_
Nancy-Walton-Laurie_0O2U.html
Wal-Mart. (2010). Walmart Global Sustainability Report 2010 Progress Update. Retrieved
September 29, 2010, from http://cdn.walmartstores.com/sites/sustainabilityreport/
2010/WMT2010GlobalSustainabilityReport.pdf
Walmart Corporate. (n.d.) About Us. Retrieved September 28, 2010, from http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/ World Environment Center. (2009, December 07). Walmart Stores to Receive 2010 World
Environment Center Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from http://www.csrwire.com/press_
releases/28312-Walmart-Stores-to-Receive-2010-World-Environment-Center-Gold-Medal-for-International-Corporate-Achievement-in-Sustainable-Development