In response to Stacey's question about Wal-Mart, I am skeptical about the company's intention and how to evaluate their relatively recent efforts to be green. During Monday’s class, I realized that, as is the case with gauging social impacts, it is difficult to evaluate Wal-Mart role in mitigating the effects of the health care crisis solely through “Minute Clinics.” Despite the challenge of examining these potential contributions, I have trouble separating Wal-Mart’s notorious reputation for mistreating its employees. Whether Wal-Mart intended to help the health care issue or not, the company is far from responsible. My feelings, in part, are a result of a book and documentary that I mentioned during our discussion in class entitled, Wal-Mart, The High Price of Low Cost. The 2005 film, by Robert Greenwald, challenged the way I thought…and shopped.
I am one of the few students who raised their hand in class, admitting that they had never visited a Wal-Mart. Experiencing a Wal-Mart is on my to do list, but, after becoming aware of the company’s behavior, I vowed not to make any purchases that support these business practices. I understand that I am fortunate to have the luxury of choice; I can buy similar products from competitors that may charge more for the same goods. There are many that cannot boycott based on principle.
To Wal-Mart’s defense, they have made several attempts to become “greener.” The company hired Blue Sky Consulting to help with the process. Some stores have tried solar panels and skylights to reduce the use of power. Additionally, some stores have attempted to use organic cotton. However, one clear flaw with this as a social policy is that consultants can only advise clients; they cannot force them to adopt a specific level of behavior.
Even with these efforts, I feel that both the film and book reveal a side of Wal-Mart that makes it virtually impossible to categorize the company and many of its business decisions, like the minute clinics, as socially responsible.
For more information about the film, check out the link below:
http://www.walmartmovie.com/
I own the documentary and I am happy to loan it out if anyone is interested in a light-hearted flick.
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One of the factors specific to Wal-Mart is the microscope under which the company operates due to its significant size, brand, and influence. As mentioned in the previous week's readings, no company, not even the most "ethical brands" are perfect in terms of how they interact with employees, customers, the environment, and other stakeholders. The question becomes how to both assess the company/brand as a whole entity, as well as individual initiatives that are designed to drive social responsibility.
I think more than even the prescription drug program or other positive initiatives from the article posted by Haley, is the transparency Wal-Mart is providing (again some of this transparency is not voluntary given its status as the second biggest company) with its sustainability report. I'm sure there are many other organizations that are equally poor in how they handle employee relations that all of us still frequent because of our ignorance. As an economist, it makes sense to look not only at its absolute social impact, but its marginal social impact and how the company has made possible improvements over the past few years because not every company started at the same baseline before social responsibility was even part of the corporate language.
Further, given its size and dependence to its shareholders, Wal-Mart will move slower than smaller companies that are more nimble and can quickly implement new strategies. While Wal-Mart has a large scale to make massive improvements, it will take time to change its operations even after such changes have been decided as the correct path moving forward.
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