Tesco
Force of Nature
Book

Force of Nature

The Unlikely Story of Wal-Mart's Green Revolution

Edward Humes
HarperBusiness, 2011

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Engaging

Recommendation

In 2004, while news stories portrayed Walmart as an unthinking despoiler of the natural world, CEO Lee Scott teamed up with Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting to make the retailing giant greener. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes describes Walmart’s voyage to environmental enlightenment. He recounts Walmart’s well-known dark side – for instance, its often-criticized employment policies – and wonders if any business so large can be sustainable. But Humes illuminates Walmart’s worldwide leadership and innovation regarding sustainability and proves that green business can be a fiscal plus. Initially, Walmart became notably more green not necessarily because it was the right thing to do, but because it was profitable. And like the Grinch that stole Christmas, Walmart’s actions appear to have made its heart grow a few sizes. Sustainability has become a foundation of how the retail giant does business; it earns profits and good press, and the planet benefits. getAbstract recommends this quick, uplifting read about an international giant getting green to face the future.

Take-Aways

  • Sustainability can offer businesses vast opportunities for profit.
  • Walmart examined every product on its shelves for environmental and monetary waste.
  • The company used “appreciative inquiry” to solve problems by building on methods that already worked.

About the Author

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes is the author of the bestseller Mississippi Mud.

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