Questions for End of Text Case 1: Walmart

1.   What are the major issues in the case? Assess Walmart’s corporate social responsibility using the four-part CSR model.

2.   Sam Walton has been called a motivational genius.  After reading this case, and with what you have observed at your local Walmart store, explain how this motivational genius empowered the employee? What has happened now that Sam is no longer the motivational leader?

3.   Walmart was an early leader in the area of corporate social responsibility.  How do the “Buy American” program and the “Environmental Awareness” campaign illustrate this? Were these programs really early examples of corporate social responsibility or were they gimmicks to entice customers into the stores?  Are the benefits of its more recent corporate citizenship programs offset by the company’s detrimental impact on merchants?

4.   Walmart has closed five stores in its short history.  What responsibility, if any, does Walmart have to the employees who are let go (based on CSR)? 

5.   What is your assessment of competitors secretly hiring consulting firms to block Walmart’s entry into new communities? Is this an ethical practice? Is this a fair trade practice with respect to competitor stakeholders?