A sharply divided federal appeals court on Monday exposed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to billions of dollars in legal damages when it ruled a massive class-action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination over pay for female workers can go to trial. In its…
A few years ago, a book entitled Change or Die made the case that despite the exhortations of management hipsters and hyperbolic CEOs, companies seldom change the way they operate and people rarely modify their behavior. That in fact, even…
There's more trouble in toyland. Now that lead has been banned from children’s products, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the even more dangerous heavy metal cadmium, especially in costume jewelry, an Associated Press investigation reveals. Cadmium is a known…
Representatives of retail stores and the packaging industry told state environmental officials last week they shouldn't ban disposable bags because voluntary efforts are increasing recycling and reducing the number of bags used. Their remarks at a Florida Department of Environmental…
Three major jewelry retailers today announced their decision to shun irresponsible gold mining and seek cleaner sources of gold and precious metals. Sears Holdings (parent company of Sears and Kmart), Ultra Stores, and Blue Nile all signed the No Dirty…
Une ONG norvégienne accuse Ikea, Carrefour et Wal-Mart d'utiliser les services d'un fournisseur turc, Menderes Tekstil, o๠les conditions de travail sont, selon elle, "inacceptables". Selon l'ONG Framtiden I Vaare Hender (FIVH, "L'avenir dans nos mains"), spécialisée dans les questions…
U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart has selected Henkel to receive the “Wal-Mart Sustainability Award." Henkel was recognized as the one company demonstrating the most comprehensive approach to sustainability and making a substantial contribution to Wal-Mart’s sustainability strategy. The Wal-Mart Sustainability Award…
Laggards of the past often turn into leaders of the present. The case of Wal-Mart perfectly illustrates this paradoxical tendency, states a report published today by Geneva-based ethical reputation research firm Covalence — Covalence Retail Industry Report 2008. A year…
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests” (Article 23, Section 4). As human rights advocates around the world celebrate International Human…
The issue of child labor strikes an emotional chord with a vast majority of consumers. When the BBC released a segment detailing the ongoing horrors of child labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry in October 2007, massive public attention was drawn…
