Wal-Mart Reputation Drops in New Study

Research group Harris Interactive published this week the findings of their most recent “Reputation Quotient,” a ranking of major U.S. companies based on reputation. In this year’s report Wal-Mart had one of the largest drops in reputation value, ranking third worst overall - just behind corporate-misbehavior poster child Haliburton. The study also notes that despite being extremely well-known among consumers, Wal-Mart ranked poorly on a “sincerity” scale.

This news comes after Wal-Mart has spent more than two years trying to improve its reputation, during which time the company has hired numerous P.R. firms to convince consumers it is not only more sustainable, but a more friendly employer, too. So why hasn’t it been more successful? Harris perhaps provides the answer, noting “The most essential item in evaluating a company’s social responsibility is treatment of employees, including labor practices and human rights. Personal health and safety is a close second.”

For all its environmental platitudes, Wal-Mart has done little to address concerns of human rights violations in its supply chain, raise wages for U.S. employees or improve the quality of health care available to store associates. The company’s ongoing reputation for wage-and-hour violations and lack of care for injured employees only damage its reputation further. It’s time the retailer took some responsibility for these actions and realized cutting corners on human rights just isn’t worth it.

Harris Interactive, “The 9th Annual RQ: Reputations of the 60 Most Visible Companies: A Survey of the U.S. General Public” (PDF)

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, June 23, 2008