Some regard Wal-Mart as a leader in the area of corporate social responsibility. How do the “Buy American” program and the “Environmental Awareness” campaign illustrate this? Were these programs really early examples of corporate social responsibility or were they gimmicks to entice customers into the stores? Are the benefits of its more recent corporate citizenship programs offset by the company’s detrimental impact on merchants?

The small town was in need of a hired gun. The people were tired of dealing with the local price-fixing merchant scum who ran the town like a company store. This low-life bunch held the people of the town in a death grip; the townspeople believed they overcharged on every purchase. In spite of what appeared to be a case of collusion, the law was powerless to do anything. What competition there was had been effectively eliminated.