Assessment of Wal-Mart's Csr Issues

Unit 6 Final Project

Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Class

GB 590: Corporate Social Responsibility

Kaplan University On line

23 November 2010

Wal-Mart Corporate Social Responsibility Report Assessment

Introduction

In 1962, Sam Walton created Wal-Mart, a “superstore” geared toward giving the customer a superior experience mixed with the best prices around. Walton used his years in the logistics management in the United States military to find the best prices, standardize and streamlined supply chain management and pioneer his one-stop-shop. Soon his superstore that is headquartered in Arkansas was also located in countries such as China, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Chile. Wal-Mart’s mission is to provide customers with quality products at affordable prices. The company strives to provide satisfactory customer service and excellence in all it takes part in.

Corporate Social Responsibility Issues for the Retail Industry

The retail industry in United States is considered to be most evolved and headed by companies such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Kroger, Costco and Target all who are headquartered in the United States. All of these companies and others have social, environmental, and economic issues to attend to; they are not all the same but they share some similarities in each organization. The primary role played by corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the retail industry is to ensure sustainable development through a balance of all three areas.

Industry Social Concerns

The relationship between society and business is one where each benefits from the other. “Social responsibility requires companies to balance the benefits to be gain against the costs of achieving those benefits” (Lawrence & Weber, 2008). There are many who think that both society and businesses gain when businesses engage in socially responsible acts; there are also those who think it weakens a business’s ability to compete in the...