Runners up in the Corporate Sustainability Track of the oikos Case Writing Competition 2015

From Sweatshops to Sustainability: Wal-Mart's Journey in Bangladesh

From Sweatshops to Sustainability: Wal-Mart's Journey in Bangladesh
Case Code: SUST021
Case Length: 21 pages
Period: 2011 - 2014
Pub Date: 2015
Teaching Note: Available
Price: Rs.600
Organization: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Industry: Garment Manufacturing
Countries: Bangladesh
Themes: Corporate Responsibility, Environmental Sustainability
From Sweatshops to Sustainability: Wal-Mart's Journey in Bangladesh
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts

Introduction

US-based retail corporation, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Walmart), faced strident criticism from various quarters when it denied having a presence in the Tazreen factory and the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, sites of disasters which killed thousands of garment workers in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Walmart, the largest company in the world by revenue, continued to deny that it had anything to do with the Rana Plaza building even after evidence to the contrary was found at the site. A company spokesperson said, "Our investigation of the Rana Plaza building site after the collapse revealed no evidence of authorized or unauthorized production at the time of the tragedy." The company officials claimed that Walmart had ceased operating its businesses in Rana Plaza even before the accident due to inadequate safety conditions. Human rights activists, however, said that the incident had once again brought to the fore Walmart's inability to track sustainability in its supply chain...

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