REFLECTIONS ON THE CHAPTER DISCUSSION CASE
It is perhaps not surprising that, as the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart has been the target of widespread ethical criticism. Wal-Mart’s presence throughout the world makes it a wide range of consumer goods at low prices. Wal-Mart has also proven to be an exceptionally valuable investment for stockholders. In many ways, society would seem to benefit from Wal-Mart’s success. 
 A plausible case can be made that Wal-Mart is the prime example of a business that has followed the classical model of corporate social responsibility. Wal-Mart has aggressively sought profit within the law. The many legal challenges to Wal-Mart suggest that where the law has been ambiguous, Wal-Mart has not shied away from pushing the limits of legal compliance. Wal-Mart has seldom gone beyond legal minimums in dealing with employees, local communities, and suppliers. The strategy has proven itself in the marketplace.
 It would be worth considering how things might change if Wal-Mart look the advice of some of its critics. How would the world change if Wal-Mart offered employees higher salaries and better health care benefits? What might change if suppliers were not subjected to such aggressive price pressures and if Wal-Mart relied on more domestic suppliers? The economic assumption would be that such decisions engender costs and that these costs would have to be allocated somewhere: lower profits, higher price, less growth.
 The classical model of corporate social responsibility would argue that the market itself is an adequate mechanism for distributing these costs. Market forces eventually will determine the correct balance of wages, prices, and profits. Of course, the market requires certain preconditions to function efficiently: competition, available alternatives, freedom, and information. Yet one can question if suppliers are truly free when Wal-Mart accounts for 20 to 30 percent of their business. One wonder how free low-skilled employees are to bargain when there is no union to bargain collectively on their behalf.
 Finally, it is worth reflecting on Wal-Mart’s managerial philosophy from various perspectives. How do you evaluate Wal-Mart as a consumer? Do you, would you, shop at Wal-Mart? Why or why not? As a potential employee, would Wal-Mart be a place that you would work? Would you seek a Wal-Mart managerial position? Why or why not? If you lived in a neighborhood in which Wal-Mart planned to build a superstore, would you support or oppose the construction? If you were on the local city council, would you encourage and help Wal-Mart locate in your community? If you had a product to sell, would you try to get Wal-Mart to carry your product?