Wal-Mart's Sustainability Initiatives
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Case Details:
Case Code : BECG074
Case Length : 17 Pages
Period : 2005-2007
Organization : Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Pub Date : 2007
Teaching Note :Not Available Countries : USA
Industry : Retailing
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“As one of the largest companies in the world, with an
expanding global presence, environmental problems are our problems.”1
- H. Lee Scott, President & CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in
2005.
“The message from Wal-Mart today to the rest of the
business community is, there need not be any conflict between the environment
and the economy.”2
- Al Gore, former US Vice-President, in 2006.
“We don't know whether Wal-Mart's environmental changes
are real or a Machiavellian attempt to green-wash a declining public image. But
its long record of irresponsible behavior forces one to be skeptical.”3
- Chris Kofinis, Communications Director, wakeupwalmart.com,
in 2006.
The Bentonville Giant Goes Green
On April 30 2007, Rollin Ford (Ford), the Executive Vice-President and CIO of
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart), reiterated his company's seriousness in
expanding its Radio Frequency Identification4
(RFID) capability as part of its sustainability initiatives.5
By expanding the use of RFID technology, Wal-Mart primarily intended to reduce
the out-of-stock and excess inventory in its supply chain, thereby providing
more value to its customers. This would enable the company to not only save on
operational costs but also reduce the impact of its operations on the
environment. Ford said, “Our focus on using RFID to improve in-stocks for our
customers means eliminating extra trips they may make to our store, or to
others.
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On a daily basis, more than 24 million people shop at our stores. If 100,000
extra trips are avoided by having items in stock, we will save customers
$22.8 million a year in gas savings and reduce greenhouse gases by 80,209
metric tons.”6
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Wal-Mart,
the world's largest retailer, headquartered at Bentonville, Arkansas,
USA, had begun to focus on environmental sustainability issues in 2005.7
Its ultimate aim was to evolve into a fully environmentally sustainable
business entity. Accordingly, the company had outlined plans to realign
its business activities and had started several sustainability
initiatives.
The company planned to conserve energy, use more renewable sources of
energy, recycle waste, and sell more organic products at its stores.
Wal-Mart had set up two experimental stores at McKinney, Texas, and
Aurora, Colorado, in the US, to study its environmentally sustainable
technologies. |
Wal-Mart's Sustainability Initiatives
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