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Wal-Mart just announced Doug McMillan as its new CEO of Wal-Mart International. For the past three years, McMillan has served as CEO of Sam’s Club, and has long been considered a rising star at Wal-Mart. His big day comes on February 1st, when he takes over Mike Duke’s job - who’s moving up to replace Lee Scott as top dog at Wal-Mart, Inc.

According to his Wal-Mart bio:

In his 18 years with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., McMillon has learned the business from the bottom up, holding leadership roles in all three operating segments —Walmart US, Wal-Mart International and Sam’s Club. He began his career as an hourly associate at a Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Northwest Arkansas, while he worked his way through college. In 1990, while attending graduate school at the University of Tulsa, he became a Buyer Trainee for Wal-Mart working in Store #894 in Tulsa, OK. He has served as a Buyer for Food and Candy, Ladieswear and Crafts; a Divisional Merchandise Manager for Home Furnishings and Infants and Toddlers; Vice President and General Merchandise Manager for Sam’s Club International; and Senior Vice President and General Merchandise Manager for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. overseeing purchases for Toys, Electronics, Video Games, Photo, Sporting Goods, Stationary and Office Supplies.

Here’s a quick look at McMillan, from a 2007 interview with AOL Business:

Watch more ClipSyndicate videos on AOL Video

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Since becoming Vice-Chairman in 2005, Michael Duke has presided over Wal-Mart’s international division. Unfortunately, the company’s international track record during these three years has been less than stellar. While aggresively expanding into Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China and recently India, Wal-Mart has been accused of sourcing from sweatshops, selling dangerous foreign products on its shelves, union-busting, and attempting to monopolize employees’ business by paying them in vouchers.

Here’s a little background on the man who will shortly run the biggest company in the world.

Early Life and Education

Michael Duke, 57, was born in 1950. He has a wife, Susan, and two daughters and a son. He graduated from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 1971. He serves on the Board of Directors of the US-China Business Council as well as CIES-The Food Business Forum. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College and on the University of Arkansas Board of Advisors. He is also a Company Director on the Board of Directors of Arvest-Bank of Bentonville and the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

Professional Life

Before joining Wal-Mart, Duke spent 23 years working for Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores.

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Mike Duke, currently the Vice Chairman, International Division, will take the reins from Lee Scott on February 1st. Check out Wal-Mart Watch’s official statement here.

And check back later for more on Mike Duke…

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In the week that Wal-Mart announced a 5.8% rise in sales, was coronated largest company in the world AND inducted in to the Corporate Hall of Shame, it only seemed fitting to unveil our collectible card of the man who made it all happen made a really nice pie chart about it: Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart’s Chief Financial Officer.

Schoewe graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a bachelor’s of business administration degree in finance. In the early 90’s, Schoewe worked for Black & Decker, initially serving as VP of finance. Schoewe became Black & Decker’s CFO in 1993, the same year the tool company won Wal-Mart’s “Vendor of the Year” award. Schoewe joined Wal-Mart in 2000. According to Wal-Mart’s website, Schoewe “is responsible for treasury, tax, accounting and control, business planning and analysis, internal auditing, and several other key areas of the company. In addition, during June 2005, the lead financial executive in each of the operating segments (Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and International) began reporting directly to him.”

Thomas Schoewe is on the Board of Directors of Balfour Beatty Construction Group, Inc. and Centex Corporation.

Notable Stats:
Courtesy of BusinessWeek

2008 Salary: $740,000
Restricted Stock Awards: $4,039,849
Total Value of Options:$ 610,097
Misc. Compensation: $2,782,588
Total Compensation: $8,517,888

Be sure to collect all the Wal-Mart All-Star Trading Cards: check out the Susan Chambers card and Mike Duke card to complete your collection!

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We received quite an interesting note yesterday in our mailbox. It was from the Director of Public Relations for Wal-Mart China! He wrote in to let us know what he thinks of our website.

Mr. Dong seems upset that we are “spreading misinformation.” After all, it’s unfair to spin stories to make your organization appear in a better light - oh wait, Wal-Mart’s already done that. Like a hundred thousand times. I think they actually hire people to do that professionally. What’s that position called? Director of......Public Elations? Oh - Director of Public Relations! That’s it! So Jonathan Dong is criticizing our organization for spinning news stories, when that is, in fact, his full time job.

Let’s first address Mr. Dong’s cries of sensationalism. The original articles he mentions are here (original version) and here. We’ll let you judge for yourselves.

Secondly, Mr. Dong expressed some concerns about our inability to read Chinese media reports. To which we respond: who says we don’t? The articles on our website didn’t translate themselves; Wal-Mart Watch does our own translations and stands by them. We even keep a Mandarin-language blog, hosted on a Chinese server. Last we checked, the Chinese media wasn’t too keen on Wal-Mart, and as the company has expanded retail operations in the country, opposition has been continually mounting. We’re willing to bet that’s why Wal-Mart China needs a Director of Public Relations in the first place.

Thirdly, Mr. Dong’s request that we “pursue high ethical and moral standards” is simply sad. For a PR director from the world’s largest corporation to ask a small non-profit working on behalf of low-wage employees to behave more ethically seems backwards and backhanded. Perhaps Mr. Dong could direct his criticisms to his own company before trying to reform others.

In conclusion, thank you for your suggestions, Mr. Dong. We’d be happy to stop sensationalizing your company’s news if Wal-Mart does the same and closes up its massive PR spin shop. But more to the point, we think that your company is hardly one to question others’ morals or ethics. 

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Wal-Mart found itself embroiled in a massive wage & hour lawsuit in Minnesota this week. Minnesota District Court found that Wal-Mart violated state labor law two million times, and could award plaintiffs in the case a maximum of $2 billion in damages. In honor of the case, we decided to release our second Wal-Mart All Stars Collectible Trading Card: the woman who started it all, Susan Chambers.

Susan Chambers first came to Wal-Mart in 1999 after 14 years at Hallmark Cards, Inc. From 2003 to 2007, Chambers served as Executive Vice President, Risk Management, Insurance and Benefits. It was in this position that she issued a now-infamous memo encouraging Wal-Mart to get rid of senior employees - who cost the company money both in salary and health benefits - and shift to a younger, cheaper workforce (PDF). Chambers made a number of specific suggestions for implementing this plan, including denying cashiers stools to sit on and forcing all employees to push carts around the parking lot for exercise.

In 2007, Chambers was promoted to Executive Vice President of the People Division where “she is responsible for managing, attracting and retaining the nation’s largest private workforce.” Well Susan, we gotta say, we’ve always thought paying people for the hours they work is a great way to retain employees. We know Wal-Mart’s always looking for ways to save money, but forcing employees to work off the clock and altering time sheets just doesn’t seem like it’s going to help those folks “live better.” And that’s what Wal-Mart’s all about these days, isn’t it?

Take a cue from international labor law: pay your employees fairly! We think you’ll find your job just that much easier if you do.

Notable stats:

• Ms. Chambers is the highest ranking female employee at Wal-Mart. And of the 10 executives who report directly to CEO Lee Scott, Susan Chambers is the lone woman. Maybe that’s why she didn’t get fired after “Chambers Memo” was leaked to the press - Wal-Mart would have had to fire its entire female senior executive staff!
• Ms. Chambers is on the Kansas State University Business Advisory Board, the Center for Women’s Business Research Advisory Council, and serves on the Leadership Council of the New America Foundation. [New America Foundation]
• “She is a firm believer that human resources issues – like training, compensation and opportunity – are issues with a real social, financial and economic impact.” [Cite] She also like puppies.

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Wal-Mart has abandoned the heartland for greener pastures. Literally.

The company has held it’s Managers Meetings in Kansas City since 1997, and had pledged to keep them there through 2012, but yesterday announced that it was moving this year’s meeting to sunny Orlando. The meeting, Kansas City’s biggest annual convention, would have drawn over 8,000 attendees and pumped over $8 Million into the local economy.

The move is a major blow to KC, who for its part isn’t doing too much complaining - in efforts to build up the city’s convention infrastructure and hopefully woo Wal-Mart back some other year.

Congrats to Orlando, though - Wal-Mart meetings are a riot.

Wal-Mart, KC’s largest annual convention, is leaving [Kansas City Star]:

Kansas City’s largest annual convention is taking a hike.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told city officials Tuesday it was canceling an informal pledge to hold its national managers meetings in Kansas City through 2012. It was the latest in a string of major convention losses for the city, and rekindled debate about public help for a new 1,000-room convention hotel downtown.

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Just in time for summer, we present to you the first in our series of Wal-Mart Executives collectible trading cards. An easy way to keep track of all of Wal-Mart’s top brass and their stats, including their salaries, stock holdings, political contributions and more! First in the series: your favorite international executive and mine, Mike Duke! Click the image at right to download a full sized version of the card - collect them all!

Michael T. Duke, vice chairman, International Division

Duke graduated from Georgia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, and came to Wal-Mart in 1995 after 23 years at Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores. His previous experience at Wal-Mart includes president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Division (USA), executive vice president of administration, executive vice president of logistics, senior vice president of logistics, and senior vice president of distribution.

In his current position as vice chairman of the International Division, Duke has full operating responsibilities for all of the company’s international operations, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. He also has responsibility for Wal-Mart’s global procurement organization.

STATS:
(Courtesy of Forbes)

Salary: $975,000
Other FY Long Term Compensation:  $12,314,748
Cash compensation, FY 2008: $13,289,748
Stock options: $5,811,703
Total compensation, FY 2008: $19,101,451

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Eduardo Castro-Wright has been invited to speak at a gathering of mayors in Florida next week. Castro-Wright will undoubtedly extol the benefits of bringing Wal-Mart to your town, signing on high the praises of a retailer known to lower median wages, eradicate local businesses and scrimp on paying taxes. To the City of Miami and the Mayors’ Hemispheric Forum: why don’t you all skip the Wal-Mart speech and spend some time talking about sustainable business practices instead?

Historic Gathering of Mayors Converge in Miami for Third Hemispheric Forum [South Florida Caribbean News]

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz will convene the third Mayors’ Hemispheric Forum on June 19 and 20, 2008, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown Miami.

For the first time ever, this unparalleled gathering of urban mayors of the Americas will be held in conjunction with the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) annual meeting, bringing together almost 300 municipal government leaders. Mayor Diaz will assume the Presidency of the USCM at the organization’s annual meeting.

At the Forum, a diverse and notable group of mayors from Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States will share successful models to reduce poverty and exchange innovative ideas on energy reform, infrastructure, and digital literacy in a Microsoft sponsored session. A key part of the discussion will center on how cities can invest in sustainable development to elevate their global competitiveness.

Forum participants include the mayors of Bogota, Medellin, Mexico City, Monterrey, Chacao (Caracas), Port-au-Prince, Santo Domingo, Lima, and Toronto, among others.

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Today’s Wall Street Journal speculates today that Rob Walton might be getting ready to hand off the Wal-Mart Board Chairman position to his son-in-law Greg Penner, and that “changes” could start as soon as tomorrow’s shareholder’s meeting. Penner has managed Walton Family investments for years, and among other things was intimately involved in Wal-Mart’s wildy unsuccessful takeover of Japan’s SEIYU.

Penner, a Stanford Grad who married into the Walton family, was recently nominated to become the third family member on the Wal-Mart board.

New Wal-Mart Director May Herald Changing of Guard [Wall Street Journal]:

Friday’s annual meeting of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. promises to be more than the usual extravaganza.

True, pop singer Miley Cyrus will entertain the expected 15,000 attendees at an arena in Fayetteville, Ark. But the biggest doings may be offstage: A member of the extended Walton clan is expected to join the board in what some Wal-Mart watchers see as the start of a leadership change at the world’s largest retailer.

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More people have written in letting us know what they want discussed at Wal-Mart’s shareholder meeting. To submit your suggestions, go to our speakout page.

• What is Walmart doing to assure that its “organic” products are actually organic?
• The overseeing of human rights and executive compensation, as well as, carrying more made in America products.
  My husband and I were sitting in our lawn chairs this Memorial day weekend and he asked me if I remembered where we bought them.  I did not, but he said it was Sam’s Club when they were a good place to shop.  Wal-mart used to boast about carrying so many American made products, this is not the case anymore.  We no longer shop at either store.  The last time I was in a Wal-mart was 2005, when I bought some cookies and later found out they were cheaper at the grocery store.
• Dear Sir or Madame, I would deeply appreciate it if you would listen to your shareholders on issues like human rights, sexual harassment, sexism and racism in your stores (especially when it comes to promotions). Thanks!
• I think Wal-Mart should discuss how they are going to better the treatment of their employees by providing better benefits to them.
• Fair treatment of all employees, including equal pay regardless of gender and race and equal health opportunities. Review of how the Shank issue was handled and how Wal-Mart can better its tactics to prevent future public outrage. Wal-Marts impact on small business owners and its abuse of monetary power to gain more land for its stores. Wal-Marts treatment of factory workers who are undoubtedly working in sweat-shops and the like. And finally, I want Rob Walton to think about how he can best apologise to the millions of people he directly or indirectly affects with the poor choices he makes on a daily basis.

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This clip, from the Canadian documentary Wal-Mart Nation, shows just how little consideration Wal-Mart gives its shareholder resolutions. The proponents of the resolutions all have a vested interest in raising the company’s stock price AND profits, yet Chairman of the Board Rob Walton seems uninterested in the proposals.

It’s in Wal-Mart’s own best interest to listen to these resolutions, yet the company fails to do so. What would YOU say to Wal-Mart’s executives? Click here to speak out. 

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Two days ago, we asked our readers what Wal-Mart should discuss at its annual shareholders meeting. We’ve already gotten hundreds of responses, with issues ranging from health care to expansion practices to the company’s green campaign. Go to our speakout page to add your own thoughts. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve already received:

• The high cost of Wal-Mart’s health insurance for employee & child and/or family coverage.  I currently work at Wal-Mart in Mt. Airy MD and will no be able to get insurance for myself or my son because if I do I will not be able afford to take him to daycare and pay for gas to come to work.
• Better health care and wages for your employees. Shame on you for paying all these celebrities money to be at your board meeting when that money could be spent on your employees.
• Expand the “Green” program by building all new Wal-Mart buildings to be LEEDs energy efficient certified! 
• I am a shareholder and concerned with two issues.  I’m unimpressed with the scheming that management devises to evade treating its employees fairly, equitably and humanely.  I am also unimpressed with the inordinate dependence on Chinese-made goods, some of which have been shown to be very harmful. What is management doing to address these two issues?
• Is is possible for Wal-Mart to return to it’s previous vote of confidence in America by stocking, selling and promoting products made in America (I mean the 50 states), They have the power to re-ignite the American economy by selling US products. A move like this would provide jobs for US workers and would make Wal-Mart look like a hero. Can Wal-Mart stop supporting China and their poorly made and often times dangerous products? Be a hero Wal-Mart. -buy and sell American made products!
• An honest discussion of Wal-marts goals for growth and whether these are sustainable. For instance, does Wal-Mart really need to get into New York City? Do they really need a market in Japan? I personally liken Wal-Mart to a cancer because cancer is a system which has broken off from the whole and is only interested in its own growth. This describes Wal-Mart perfectly.
• Have a Heart, leave Schnecksville , PA alone. You took our factories and our small stores, and are ruining our small towns. Get lost in PA.
• Walmart is planning on opening a store in Blacksburg, Virginia right next to a school in a residential neighborhood.  Town council was tricked by Fairmont developers and is bringing the case to Virginia Supreme Court.  Why start off on the wrong foot?  There is pleanty of room in rural Southwest Virginia to find another site.  Sincerely, Karin Gregory.

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Wal-Mart spent $2.2 million lobbying in the first quarter this year - more than double what the company spent in the same time last year. For fiscal year 2007, Wal-Mart spent $4 million lobbying Congress, state legislatures and local officials. The company has spent in three months of 2008 what it spent in six months of 2007.

Wal-Mart has responded to criticism of its business practices by investing in public relations and lobbying efforts, and the company has increased these investments as criticism mounted over the past three years. This year’s number is a new record for the company, which has lobbied for laxer product safety oversight and looser development regulations.

The investments represent a significant shift in the company’s fundamental philosophy. Sam Walton once said, “Share your profits with all your associates, and threat them as partners.” Wal-Mart’s investment in high-priced lobbyists and public relations agents has meant less money for store employee wages or company health benefits. Rather than fix problems at the surface, Wal-Mart should be addressing its reputation issues from the roots up and treating its lowest-paid employees better.

Wal-Mart rang up $2.2M in 1Q government lobbying [Associated Press via Forbes]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, spent $2.2 million in the first quarter to lobby on consumer product safety legislation and a host of other issues, according to a disclosure report.

In the last five months, the House and Senate have passed their versions of legislation that would toughen inspections of toys and other products made outside the United States, in response to millions of recalled products that have sickened children. Both bills increase penalties for companies that violate safety rules and increase funding for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

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We were casually browsing through our back issues of Washingtonian magazine when we stumbled upon a notable note from July’s issue. Wal-Mart’s head of corporate affairs and government relations Leslie Dach bought himself a fine looking home in the tony D.C. neighborhood of Cleveland Park - it was so nice it made it to the “luxury homes” section of Washington’s most elite magazine - and it only cost him $2.7 million. It would take the average Wal-Mart worker, making $10/hour and working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no other expenses approximately 270,000 hours or 30 years to make that much money. The article duly notes that this house is an upgrade for the Dach family, who previously resided in an embarrassingly unfashionable six-bedroom home in Chevy Chase that was worth a mere $1.8 million.

Wal-Mart is growing more and more dependent on its public relations department, and Leslie Dach’s extravagant home is only one example. Were the company to take these funds and put it towards employee health care, raising wages or supporting local economies, more American families might be able to afford a fraction of the luxury the Dachs’ obviously enjoy.

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Eduardo Castro-Wright, Executive Vice President of Wal-Mart Stores USA, went on the record today bemoaning the current state of the economy. “As money gets tighter for [low-income Americans] toward the end of the month, sales drop,” he said. The sad irony? Wal-Mart’s labor practices have greatly contributed to problems Castro-Wright complains about. Wal-Mart refuses to pay a living wage to over a million U.S. store employees, yet complains when the working poor’s paycheck cycles result in lowered sales. If Wal-Mart wants to see end-of-month sales rise, maybe it should consider paying its employees enough to get through all four weeks.

Wal-Mart: More shoppers are living paycheck to paycheck [Fortune Daily Briefing]

Wal-Mart (WMT) said sales in established stores rose 2.6% from a year ago in April, as shoppers scooped up the chain’s grocery, health and wellness and entertainment offerings. Wal-Mart cited strong sales of flat-panel TVs, video games and gaming systems, even as it warned that consumers are showing signs of being tapped out.

“The economy continues to get tougher and the ‘paycheck cycle’ is more pronounced for customers than in past months,” U.S. stores chief Eduardo Castro-Wright said. “As money gets tighter for them toward the end of the month, sales drop more than we have seen in the past.”

The company said it expects to report sales for the first quarter ended last month of $94 billion, which is above the $92.5 billion analyst estimate. But Wal-Mart said May sales growth will depend on how consumers respond to the government’s fiscal stimulus plan, which has many Americans getting checks this spring. The company said it expects same-store sales to be flat to up 2% for the month. Shares of Wal-Mart, which have risen this year as signs of economic distress have mounted, rose 1% in premarket trading.

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This is the second in a series of posts on Wal-Mart’s 2008 shareholder resolutions. The full list of resolutions - and Wal-Mart’s statements regarding them - can be found in the company’s 2008 proxy here (PDF).

No less than three separate resolutions on this year’s proxy deal with Wal-Mart executives’ compensation. Growing popular demand to reign in excessive spending on executive compensation and a movement to ensure top executives’ pay reflects performance has no doubt contributed to these resolutions. But mounting dissatisfaction among rank-and-file employees over hourly wages has also helped bring these resolutions about.

Sam Walton once said, “Share your profits with all your associates, and treat them as partners.” Despite this advice, the average Wal-Mart wage has gone from $9.35 to $10.83 an hour over the last seven years, a 15.8% increase. Lee Scott’s total compensation, meanwhile, has increased from $21,740,052 to $31,597,424 a year – a 45% rise. To put this in context, it would take a store employee, making $8 an hour, approximately 450 years working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to earn what Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott earns in one year. With statistics like these, it’s no small wonder many shareholders want to see executive compensation reigned in.

Executive Compensation Resolutions

The first of the three compensation resolutions calls for the company to adopt a pay for superior performance principle, whereby executives would be compensated based on their achievement of performance goals. The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), who submitted this proposal, argue that Wal-Mart’s current system is not in the best interest of shareholders and the long-term profitability of the company, and that a stronger link between pay and performance would be established if the company selected performance metrics “in comparison to peer company performance” and rewarded incentive payments “only when median peer performance is exceeded.”

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Eduardo Castro-Wright addressed a group of investors in New York this morning, giving the keynote address for a conference hosted by the Lehman Brothers group. Castro-Wright discussed several of Wal-Mart’s recent business initiatives, including appealing to upscale shoppers and cashing tax rebate checks. He insisted that Wal-Mart will do well no matter how the economy fares.

Click here to listen to Castro-Wright’s speech, or download the PowerPoint slides here. This article from the Associated Press gives some of the highlights.

Wal-Mart says company winning more affluent shoppers [Associated Press via USA Today]

More affluent customers are shopping at Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) during the economic slump and a company executive said Tuesday that the retailer is in position to keep those shoppers when the economy improves.

Eduardo Castro-Wright, CEO of Wal-Mart’s U.S. division, told a New York gathering of analysts at a Lehman Bros. retail conference that the company’s emphasis on low prices is keeping lower-income customers loyal and attracting more affluent shoppers who usually spend elsewhere.

“It’s up to us with our store experience to capture their (more affluent customers’) imagination and make sure they shop with us when things turn around,” Castro-Wright said.

Shoppers with a household income of more than $55,000 to $70,000 are categorized by Wal-Mart as more affluent than its core customers. Castro-Wright cited company research that showed that the number of more affluent shoppers increased 0.7% in February and was up 2.2% in March.

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Life is tough for CEOs like Richard Edelman. Edelman is the head of the biggest PR firm in the country - Edelman Public Relations - which represents the biggest company in the world - Wal-Mart - and life just ain’t what it used to be. In this interview with the Dallas Morning News, Edelman reminisces about the good ol’ days when CEOs could lie and get away with it. Life was so sweet! Too bad they have to deal with all this accountability nonsense nowadays.

According to a new study from his company, Edelman explains, trust for corporate CEOs is at an all time low. We can’t imagine that a string of broken promises, unfulfilled initiatives or an inhuman lack of care for employees has been helping Lee Scott in that department.

Business gains trust but CEOs are losing it [Dallas Morning News (Texas)]

Richard Edelman makes it his practice to gauge how trusting we are.

And when it comes to our faith in the business world and its leaders, the 53-year-old public relations executive has discovered a curious disconnect.

“Trust in business as a sector is rising,” says the president and chief executive of Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm. “But trust in chief executives is at an all-time low – as low as it was in 2002 with all the Enron and WorldCom scandals.”

Companies are getting credit for social initiatives such as efforts to stem global warming or pay Third World workers a living wage, but the credit isn’t extending to the top executives, he says. There are still too many times when CEOs let us down with half-truths, missteps or bald-faced lies.

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News of Wal-Mart managers’ behavior has spread across the ocean to the U.K., where the BBC, the Guardian and the Independent are all reporting on it. The Telegraph calls the last few days a “PR disaster,” and this story from the Independent compares Wal-Mart’s video archives to the Nixon Watergate tapes. More embarrassing than the fact that these tapes were released is the fact that this is only one example of a corporate culture rife with sexist overtones. From the Dukes v. Wal-Mart case to inadequate women’s health coverage on the company medical plan, Wal-Mart needs to shape up and respect women in the company. Click here to learn more about Women’s Rights at Wal-Mart.

For sale: the video archive Wal-Mart should have erased [Independent (U.K.)]

The tape recordings that Richard Nixon made, almost obsessively, of everything that went on in the Oval Office helped bring down his presidency. And now a similarly thorough archive of video footage threatens to create a world of embarrassment – and legal liability – for Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer.

About 15,000 videotapes of Wal-Mart executives at work and at play over the past 30 years have suddenly become available to the public thanks to a series of blunders by the retail giant – which paid too little attention to the company it hired to make the tapes before abruptly terminating their relationship two years ago.

The company, Flagler Productions Inc, depended on Wal-Mart for 90 per cent of its revenue at the time the plug was pulled in 2006, and had just moved into a new 20,000 sq ft building in its home base of Lenexa, Kansas.

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