The charitable donations that they made also contribute to tax write-offs, so Wal-Mart is not donating at a level where they no longer have incentive -- they benefit from their donations. The donations of employee time amount to little. Wal-Mart has 2 million employees, so the average donation is 1/2-hour per year per employee. The SPI may influence the company's suppliers to strengthen their own CSR, but the program is too young to be judged as of yet. Such changes, particularly in the developing world where most of Wal-Mart's suppliers are located, can take a long time to implement. Furthermore, the SPI does not constitute direct pressure from Wal-Mart, and could be seen more as the company covering its backside in the event of a scandal relating to treatment of employees at one of its suppliers.

Wal-Mart's level of corporate social responsibility may be improving, but most of its efforts are oriented towards sustainability in its various forms. While the company does include social responsibility in its platform, CSR is not a core component and does not receive much energy or investment from Wal-Mart management. The degree of...

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