Walmart is the worlds largest retailer and largest private sector employer in the USA. The company has, on numerous occasions, been forced to pay millions of dollars to the American government for violating air and water pollution legislation. This obviously harmed the image of the global retailer, with the media alleging that 8 percent of customers had stopped shopping at Walmart as a result of its neglect of the environment.

other pressure groups, such as labor unions and religious organizations, have criticized Walmart’s unethical business practices which have led to annual staff turnover rates of around 70 percent in some stores. Walmart has also been taken to court for not paying employees for overtime, forcing them to work without proper rest breaks and discriminating against female workers in matters regarding pay and promotion.

All these happened about 3 years back and the main reason for Walmart not having a social responsible business behavior was due to Stakeholder conflict. The shareholders never cared about the CSR of the business and just wanted to maximize its dividends. However, from that point on wards, Walmart is trying to achieve their long term CSR goal. This can be seen from their newly Global Responsible report that are currently posted in the media.

It is seen that Walmart is improving their brand image by becoming more ethical environmentally. This may be very expensive in the short term, but in the long term it will make the business more profitable.

For the complete report, click here: http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/environment-sustainability/global-responsibility-report