I found this article on the Wall Street Journal website regarding Wal-Mart and their "green efforts".
As you will read, although Wal-Mart has been touting that it is "going green" it still isn't there yet. They mention that their main motivation to drive out waste or better said "to make more money".Do you find this suprising from the World's Largest Retailer who has been known to "squeeze" vendors to get more profit out of them? In your opinion, does it matter what the company's motivation is- profitability or making the world a better place- when it comes to corporate responsibility? Does it take something away from a company's corporate responsibility efforts when they mention that they are looking to increase profitability?
Here is the link to the article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120546648773336113.html
Here is a summary from the March 14th Wall Street Journal
Lee Scott Jr. announced at WSJ "ECO-nomics" conference that despite Wal-Mart's focus on going green that they are not there yet.
Mr Scott was questioned as to why if the company is going green that Wal-Mart's carbon emission footprint is growing. He said that the reason for this is because that in order for Wal-Mart to grow they must continue to use energy.
He then stated that "The impetus for the company in doing all this isn't just to please environmentalists, he said, but to save money."
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8 comments:
I am pretty close minded to the whole green phase we are going through. I feel the same way about it in every situation we have blogged about. Maybe it's ignorance but I just don't buy into this propeganda. Although, I don't mind that Wal-Mart mentioned that their goal is to increase profits because they are just telling us how it is. Every company who goes green has profit as their main goal, so why not just tell the truth. The people making the biggest profit could care less about the environment.
I do not find it surprising that Walmart shows little interest in reducing their carbon footprint. If there are no laws requiring them to reduce their pollution or invest in alternative energy then why would they? Profit is obviously the reason they are in business, so it should be of no surprise that the are trying to increase it.
I think it’s important for companies to be profitable and grow because it helps the economy. Companies aren’t going to put their business in jeopardy just so they can say that they are helping the environment. I feel that cutting profits to go green is just as irresponsible (to the stakeholders of the company) as not doing anything to help the environment.
I am not to surprised that Wal-Mart would like to go green. Wal-Mart is known for there cheap prices which I feel why they have so many locations ans consumers. People want to go green and if they can get it at a low price, then that is the way to go. Atleast that is what I would do. Wal-Mart stated that they want the profit therefore they are going green, and to be honest what company doesn't want to make profit.
To tell the truth, I don’t trust Wal-Mart at all and try to avoid buying products from there. I’m sure that they are trying to “go green” just because it is just advantageous for them. When it comes to CSR, the company motivation should be aimed toward environment, not profits. In this case, Wal-Mart shouldn’t start going green” company because they can’t kill two hares in one shot – please the environment and save the money.
I have to agree with my classmates whenit comes to the whole "go green" agenda. Wal mart will not adhere or change the way it does business just because they want to look cool. They're in it for the profit by any means neccessary. If there is no formal agency that enforces rules and regulation about going green, then companies and(or) stores won't adhere to them. So basically it's a "catch 22" where everybody talks about it but nobody does anything.
Heres the deal with wal-mart. they are a huge leader in the busniess and since going green seems to be a trend right now they are hoping on the band wagon. Comsumers would like to go green and with the amount of customers they have they will profit heavily off this new move. they said there goal was to make more money and they will in a good way.
Profit is the only reason anybody is in business. if they werent they werent in business to make a profit they would have gone bankrupt already. by saying they are going green they are making their image look better and thus creating more profit.
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