Wal-Mart in China

Recently some more concerns were raised about how Wal-Mart is handling its ethical responsibilities towards workers in developing economies. I think there are a few things to keep in mind when surveying this issue. First, is that Wal-Mart is everyone's whipping boy and the corporate name carries its own emotional charge when it is brought up in discussions and there are people who will seek to capitalize on that for the sake of supporting their argument. In this report for instance, it could not yet be confirmed that all of the companies in the study that were operating outside of regulatory standards were in fact in Wal-Mart's chain of suppliers. It should also be noted who conducted this study (a labor group) and that there was a relatively small sample size (169 employees). For perspective, Wal-Mart itself is noted in the article as having 36,000 employees in China itself. Obviously even one incident with one person is important and needs to be handled responsibly; it's just important to keep a balanced perspective as one could quickly garner a false impression.

I have a couple responses to this. One is that I am glad that people are keeping a close eye on Wal-Mart and its operations. It can be too easy for a multinational behemoth to steamroll people locally and that should be guarded against. The second is that I would again take the challenge back to us as consumers. The Quakers have long been a leading example as they have a tradition of their members asking themselves, "Do I prayerfully discern how to use my financial resources for the common good? Do I look at my investments, clothing, furniture and other possessions to see if they sow the seeds of war and oppression?" Do you think about that when you are shopping? I think it's important. We tend to grossly underestimate the cumulative effect of small changes in our collective behavior. I'll try to give a practical example of how we can respond. Recently I did some major shopping to furnish my apartment as I am now living by myself. I was looking at a couple different cooking pots that appeared to be of a competitive quality and price, so I let the determining factor in the purchase be its country of origin, namely that one was made in the USA and other was made in China. I do not intend it as some sort of nationalism, but an understanding of the economic issues at hand. (To my discredit, I was not as concerned about the humanitarian effects of my decision at the time but was thinking more of our unsustainable trade imbalance with China.) Let me try to summarize my point, do you know why suppliers in China are under such pressure to pay less than the regulatory wages to their employees? Because consumers in America are willing to buy their products if they are even marginally cheaper than their rivals. Be informed. Be wise. Consider the unintended consequences of your actions.