Global Business, Ethics and Partnerships: Defining a New Bottom Line

Featured Speakers: Rajan Kamalanathan (Vice President for Ethical Standards, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.)

Wal-mart, the largest retailer in the world has taken the initiative to develop a socially responsible program within its supply chain. This program establishes higher environmental and ethical standards in order to provide the consumer with sustainable-zero waste products and address labor practices issues in factories producing Walmart products.

USAID partnered with Wal-mart to carry out this project through the Global Development Alliance (GDA) program. The GDA is an innovative public-private alliance model for improving social and economic conditions in developing countries (usaid.gov/gda).

Since Wal-mart is found in many of the developing countries that USAID has ongoing projects, they have partner to help better the lives of the people in these countries. USAID connects the farmers in these developing countries with Wal-mart. In helping Wal-mart meet these farmers’ quality standards, the corporation then becomes their prime supplier, paying the farmers a higher wage. The commodities produced in these farms would then be sold to Wal-mart. Currently, this program is being implemented in Guatemala and will include other companies such as Starbucks coffee.

Sponsor: Georgetown University’s Mortara Center for International Studies, USAID’s Global Development Alliance, The Society for International Development, and Development Alternatives, Inc.

Location: Copley Formal Lounge, Georgetown University

Date: Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Time: 4:00PM-5:30PM

Approximate Number of Attendees: 60+ attendees

Intern Attending: Yaheiry Galan