According to Mainwaring, corporations are increasingly becoming
more familiar with terms like climate
change and minimizing one’s carbon footprint.
Social responsibility also apears to
be a popular term in the corporate world in recent years. And of course, let’s
not forget the controvesial and widely defined sustainable business practices that many organizations claim to be implementing.
Sustainable, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, is “a method of harvesting or using a
resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.”But are
they really using resources in such a way? Are these socially responsible corporate partners abstaining from wasting
resources that should be left to future generations?
Mainwaring cites Walmart as an example of a company in transition and one that is also attempting to become a global leader regarding enviromental sustainability. He explains how Walmart has partnered with universities, suppliers, and non-govermental organizations to create a sustainability index that helps consumers evaluate the products’history as well as compliance and sustainability standards of those products. At first glance, one would think that this is very noble and socially responsible behavioror is it just a way to divert consumers’ attention from the larger issues? At a rate of 300 store openings per year, Wal-Mart is leaving one massive footprint behind. Furthermore, the inmeasurable amount of greengases generated by it’s 8747 stores only compounds to the climate change complications that already exist. And while it claims to provide millions of jobs to the Amrican people, Wal-Mart does not talk about the thousands of small business it has destroyed, crushing with them the American dream or how only 47% of it’s employees can actually afford medical insurance.
Mainwaring cites Walmart as an example of a company in transition and one that is also attempting to become a global leader regarding enviromental sustainability. He explains how Walmart has partnered with universities, suppliers, and non-govermental organizations to create a sustainability index that helps consumers evaluate the products’history as well as compliance and sustainability standards of those products. At first glance, one would think that this is very noble and socially responsible behavioror is it just a way to divert consumers’ attention from the larger issues? At a rate of 300 store openings per year, Wal-Mart is leaving one massive footprint behind. Furthermore, the inmeasurable amount of greengases generated by it’s 8747 stores only compounds to the climate change complications that already exist. And while it claims to provide millions of jobs to the Amrican people, Wal-Mart does not talk about the thousands of small business it has destroyed, crushing with them the American dream or how only 47% of it’s employees can actually afford medical insurance.
Finally, it is painfully obvious to me that some corporations,
which claim to be socially responsible,
are doing so as an extra curriculum activity. What I mean by this is that those
activities only happen after their bottom line has been ascertained. While the
result of these actions do benefit some, it reinforces the point that Mainwaring
is trying to make, which is a Me First mindset. Taking care of the shareholders
appears to be their first priority and it is only after this happens that they
are willing to help others.
We seem to be seeing alot of what you are writing about from corporations these days: companies that brag about all the causes they donate to, while their employees are in poverty from low pay, or are given lousy benefits.
ReplyDeleteIf you would like to learn about other corporations who also do this, Google Search "Starbucks and Ethiopia." This is a great example of a corporation saying one thing and doing another.
ReplyDelete