In the modern era, the stakeholder theory proponents argue that each company has a responsibility towards the society which is referred to as the corporate social responsibility or the corporate citizenship. This involves all the legal, ethical, economic as well as philanthropic expectations of the society. The firm needs to sustain over the long run; must comply with the legal and ethical expectations while conducting its business; while ensuring that its activities are aligned with the social values and norms. Being socially responsible means that the firm engages its stakeholders to focus on mutual goals. But the most important aspect is to aim at the health and education of the employees as well as working for the welfare of the environment. A corporation becomes CSR-oriented when it integrates the social issues with the business goals (Carroll, 1999). It has been identified that the major reasons why companies are motivated to fund CSR programs is that it enhances the reputation of the corporation, reduces risk and also helps in the retention and recruitment for companies. Wal-Mart is the largest corporate employer and generates more than $11 billion profit annually. Though the company claims to offer a low price for the people and has been contributing to charity; but many social groups are pressurizing and criticizing the business practices of the company.
Bloomberg broke news before Christmas 2013 that the company has been pressurizing its employees to increase its political clout. It is using a donation-matching program and asking its employees to contribute in political action committees in exchange for a fund set by the company for serving the issues of its employees (Jway, 2013). This is an unlawful program where the company is supporting those politicians who oppose raising the minimum wage. Not only this, but 1500 protests were planned across the country near the Black Friday; Wal-Mart is making wealth equivalent to 42% of the citizens but it is still not complying with proper labor standards. The workers are striving to find better jobs as more than 825,000 employees are being paid less than $25,000 annually (Jway, 2013). The community supporters have allied with the workers and planned a civil disobedience against the company.
The company and the Wal-Mart Foundation contributed more than $1 billion cash in 2012 in US while $82.2 million in the international markets. It committed $1 million in response to the Typhoon Haiyan (Foundation.walmart.com, 2014). It has been collaborating with the government leaders as well as the NGOs to ensure the verification of its products so that dignity of its workers can be protected. Through education, inspections and work empowerments, the company is ensuring the safety of its supply chain; it is further investing in the training and education of its workers and even suppliers so that working conditions can be enhanced. The company has been focusing on the renewal of the country. The aim is to create more jobs so that manufacturing can be supported (Corporate.walmart.com, 2014). The company has been striving to buy American goods over the next decade. Through the Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative, the company is providing training and more career opportunities to around 1 million women so that they can make use of economic opportunities. It has also committed to awarding $1.5 billion contracts to businesses owned by women between 2013 and 2018 (Corporate.walmart.com, 2014).
APPLICATION
In the modern world, those companies that promote their programs and initiatives that are targeted towards social responsibility are viewed favorably as compared to those companies who might be taking part in the society but remain invisible (Carroll, 1999). The fact is that the consumers become more eager to engage with a company that has a warmer image in terms of the needs and welfare of the society. Corporate citizenship is not just about the society; actually for an employer it is the way to feel connected and to create goodwill for the company while promoting the image of the brand (Matten & Crane, 2005). Corporate citizenship is a mandatory notion because of the globalization and ease in access to information. If a company doesn’t have a strong strategy focusing on citizenship, it would earn a competitive disadvantage (Porter & Miles, 2013). The expectation of the consumers have grown as they take into consideration the impact on the environment, the economy, philanthropy and even the legal and ethical aspects.
Wal-Mart has made sure that its suppliers are even following the ethical standards and it is promoting a safe supply chain while also collaborating with the leading NGOs so that it can participate in the industry. The company has completely zero waste and it sells affordable products; all the stores shall be fully supplied with renewable energy; and a complete global responsibility report is being prepared to evaluate the already met goals. As mentioned earlier, company has been focusing on environmental sustainability, and been complying with the legal and ethical issues also. Through diversity training and promotion of inclusive environment in the company, Wal-Mart is also complying with the philanthropy aspect of the corporate citizenship. In my point of view, the company is paying attention to these aspects but it should also focus on engaging and promoting its employees so that the issues that have been raised are eliminated.
References
Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility evolution of a definitional construct. Business & society, 38 (3), pp. 268--295.
Corporate.walmart.com. (2014). Walmart corporate - environmental sustainability. [online] Retrieved from: http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/environmental-sustainability [Accessed: 10 Jan 2014].
Foundation.walmart.com. (2014). Walmart corporate - walmart community giving. [online] Retrieved from: http://foundation.walmart.com/?povid=P1171-C1093.2766-L8 [Accessed: 10 Jan 2014].
Jway ( 2013,30th Dec). Walmart pressures employees into political contributions. Walmart Watch Blog, [web log] Retrieved from: http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/2013/12/30/walmart-pressures-employees-into-political-contributions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=walmart-pressures-employees-into-political-contributions [Accessed: 10 Jan 2014].
Jway ( 2013,1st Dec). Black friday protests review. Walmart Watch Blog, [web log] Retrieved from: http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/2013/12/01/black-friday-protests-review/ [Accessed: 10 Jan 2014].
Matten, D. & Crane, A. (2005). Corporate citizenship: toward an extended theoretical conceptualization. Academy of management review, 30 (1), pp. 166--179.
Porter, T. & Miles, P. (2013). Csr longevity: evidence from long-term practices in large corporations. Corporate reputation review, 16 (4), pp. 313--340.
