by kevin, on May 5th, 2009Last week I was in Bentonville AK for two days attending Walmart’s third annual Sustainable Buildings Network Meeting hosted by Don Mosley. To provide some context, in 2005, then Walmart President and CEO Lee Scott delivered a speech at their annual store kick off meeting that presented his vision of what the company needed for 21st century leadership. If you read or watch the speech, it’s easy to be moved by Mr. Scott’s presentation of his own personal epiphany and environmental awakening. He asked important questions of himself and the company such as, “What if we used our size and resources to make this country and this earth an even better place for all of us: customers, Associates, our children, and generations unborn?” He set three large goals – to be supplied 100% by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain our resources and environment.
It’s easy to be cynical and say that this is wonderful talk but unattainable by a company such as Walmart. I have to admit that when I first heard about this speech three years ago, I was skeptical that the world’s largest retailer could get anywhere close to these goals in a reasonable time frame. And it would be easy for critics to claim this is greenwash and flowery language meant to mask a pure profit motivation rather than sincere interest in the environment. But those critics and cynics would be wrong.
Following that speech, Walmart set up twelve Sustainable Value Networks to address key issues. They are: Greenhouse Gas; Sustainable Buildings; Alternative Fuels; Logistics; Waste; Packaging; China; Forest and Paper; Food, Agriculture, and Seafood; Textiles; Jewelry; Electronics; and Chemical Intensive Products. What you can see by this list is that they are not organized by operational units or sales groups, but by impact on the environment. Many of them overlap and some networks are interconnected, but the scope of the challenge and effort are enormous. You can read all about each at their Walmartstores web site.
The event I attended was focused on just the Sustainable Buildings Network. It would have been difficult for this group to present their progress over the past year and show targets for next year without also engaging a few of the other value networks such as Waste, Greenhouse Gas, and Alternative Fuels. The full session ran five continuous, non-stop hours with more than a dozen presenters in a rapid fire format. At the end I was equal parts exhausted and excited. Walmart still has a long way to go, but I was blown away by what they have accomplished. In the area of waste, they are ahead of schedule. They’ve adopted thinking that suggests that every single component that goes into a building has to have an exit strategy. In other words, it doesn’t go in if they don’t know what to do with it at the end of its useful life. In my opinion, that’s a big idea.
When Mike Duke recently took over as CEO and replaced Lee Scott, he upped the ante and is pressing these value networks to speed up and broaden their scope. Walmart is reaching out to their suppliers, partners, consultants, and more to join them in this effort. As one of their consultants, I’m encouraged by everything I heard at the meeting. Is this a sign that Walmart is changing the fundamental structure of its brand and becoming more altruistic? Does this mean that Walmart is looking to engage in activity without keeping an eye on impact to profitability? No, and no. It would be fiscally irresponsible for the largest corporation in the world to make choices that negatively impact their bottom line. Of course they will be constantly evaluating every move on a cost/benefit basis. It would be foolish not to at their size. So financial implications are never out of mind in any of the environmental moves they make. I for one applaud that thinking. If Walmart keeps up the pace, they might just prove to the world that you can be green and incredibly profitable at the same time. That’s worth watching.