Walmart expands CSR benchmarking to include Canada

Corporate Social Responsibility is most decidedly on the agenda for more and more businesses within our rapidly evolving market. That can only be a good thing as it represents a change in corporate culture that was little more than a idealistic hope a few decades ago. When you are essentially the largest company in North America having an effective CSR mandate is not only encouraged but extremely beneficial. Remarkably the single biggest employer in North America didn’t even exist 50 years ago and only became incorporated in 1969, however in 2002 Walmart surpassed General Motors as the largest corporation in North America.  Walmart has been more than acutely aware of its growing reputation in terms of stature but also perception and has invested time, resources and investment in creating a CSR strategy that reflects a conscious commitment to partnering with suppliers who meet numerous criteria.

Last summer the retailing giant unveiled their ‘sustainable product index’ for the US and are rolling out the same program for Canada later this year, currently anticipated for June/July 2010. The index has the fundamental objective of determining a score for all suppliers to evaluate the sustainability of products. It is both a progressive and responsible piece of acumen and one that inherently displays a level of corporate commitment to acting in good faith on behalf of their millions of daily customers. The survey will be sent to all Canadian suppliers and will be a 15 question survey to enhance the decision making of Walmart when renewing purchase orders or renegotiating.

“Customers want products that are more efficient, that last longer and perform better, and increasingly they want information about the entire lifecycle of a product so they can feel good about buying it. They want to know that the materials in the product are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way”   Mike Duke, Walmart’s president and CEO

The questionnaire which will be forwarded later this Spring will focus on four major areas for each provider to respond to. Topics include energy use and climate impact, material efficiency, natural resources, plus relationship to people and community. Matching the already existing blueprint for US operations the survey will generate a  “Sustainability Index Consortium” which will work in

tandem with the database that provides information on all products and their lifecycles. and the database that will house information on the life cycle of products. Research is at the heart of the development and equal consideration is to be accorded to the manufacturing process of goods, the anticipated lifespan as well as the eventual options for recycling of discarding of safely.

Walmart Canada is still in the process of developing the scoring process that will not be a carbon copy of the US process and aimed more specifically at that specific market. The goal of course is the same; to impart to consumers the company’s commitment to purchasing from vendors that best serve the interests of the community at large. When a company holds the type of clout in the market that Walmart does I can put to one some of my other concerns about them when ethical purchasing is something they do want to bring to the public forum. Walmart also occupy a rare position in that their purchasing power can be used to positively influence their base of suppliers. Until the retail market brings a new competitor to wrestle market share from this titanic business I would rather see that CSR is part of their expansion proposal rather than it being disregarded. The Canadian arm of Walmart was formed 16 years ago with the acquisition of over 120 Woolco stores, subsequent expansion has seem them now operate some 315+ locations in the country.

More specifically the company is planning to opent a new (and first) sustainable center for refrigerated good this autumn just outside of Calgary, Alberta. The immense centre will house 450,000 square feet of warehousing at a cost of $115 million. Employing  600 people the location promises to be:

“one of the most energy-efficient distribution facilities of its kind in North America,  60 per cent more so than the company’s traditional refrigerated distribution centres”

We’ll be looking to Walmart to continue these initiatives in the months ahead.

Portion of articles research information provided by Walmart  Canada.