Wal-Mart corporate social responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility refers to the company’s activities that are geared towards gaining a social license from the society. Every business affects the environment at large and the consumers of their products and or services. Carrying out Corporate Social Responsibility activities is a way for the company to give back to the community in which it exists. There are a variety of ways by which a company can achieve this.

Walmart is the largest corporation in the United States. The company has revenue of over $469.2 billion. Walmart is a multinational corporation having over 10,800 outlets all over the United States. A company of such magnitude obviously has some significant effect on the environment, employees and the natural resources located in its area of jurisdiction. The bigger the company the bigger their Corporate Social Responsibility activities will be expected to be.

Walmart has given back to the global community through a number of Corporate Social Responsibility activities. These activities have demonstrated that the company is concerned for more than simply making profits from its consumers. Some of its initiatives have had tangible positive change on the lives they have reached.

Proponents of the Corporate Social Responsibility have suggested that it must be carried out with clear objectives and in a systematic manner. It is necessary to strategise and come up with an elaborate plan before going out to administer Corporate Social Responsibility activities. The company has to carry out research in order to understand the needs and behaviour of their consumers. This will be the basis upon which they will come up with viable Corporate Social Responsibility activities.

Walmart has come up with a systematic approach to their Corporate Social Responsibility. The Corporate Social Responsibility is divided into 4 distinct areas including:

1. Social responsibility

This area entails promoting women empowerment and providing access to healthy food and hunger relief

2. Local responsibility

This entails starting microloans, providing disaster relief, carrying out school nutrition programs, providing different kinds of support for local farming.

3. Environmental responsibility

Reducing the use of plastic bags, promoting proper energy usage practices, acting against landfill waste and coming up with more stringent guidelines regarding product sustainability.

4. Company responsibility

Engaging the stakeholders and promoting basic values, safe working environments, governance and corporate compliance.

To achieve these goals, Walmart is already carrying out a number of activities in the society. The Walmart Foundation has given charitable contributions worth over $1 billion. The fruits of these donations have benefited a wide percentage of the society. The Walmart Foundation has also worked to empower the women in eth society. They have achieved this by providing career opportunities by offering training. This initiative has reached over 1 million women around the world. Walmart gets 21% of its energy from renewable sources. This is their contribution towards environmental sustainability.