I can only hope that this corporate 'social consciousness' is a marketing ploy

In an article in today's Wall Street Journal titled Wal-Mart Urges
Congress to Raise Minimum Wage (subscription required), Ann Zimmerman reports that Wal-Mart Chief Executive Lee Scott, in addition to pushing for a higher minimum wage (forget for a moment that less than 3% of all hourly workers in the U.S. get minimum wage or less), told executives and directors that

...he has spent the better part of last year exploring ways to use the company's heft and resources to have a more positive impact on society.

One supposes that someone who has reached such an eminent position in one of the world's most prominent companies is smart, intelligent, and capable on many levels. But I wouldn't expect such a person to say something so preposterous. Unless. Unless it were just for marketing purposes, a feint to increase shareholder value. The rate of return might just justify it, and someone that smart ought to have done that analysis.

Wal-Mart makes the most positive impact possible by providing consumers with quality low-priced goods. That leaves cash in consumers' pockets for them to dispose of however they want - whether that be consuming additional goods, contributing to any "socially conscious" effort they feel like supporting, working a little less to increase their quality of life by spending more time with family or in other pursuits, or even, heaven forbid, saving.

Bottom line: Wal-Mart's impact on society will be substantially less positive if it takes on the role of central planner, deciding what pursuits are best for the masses and consequently being forced to proportionally increase prices (or cease to decrease them further - same difference) rather that sticking to what it's really good at - giving people good stuff for low dough.

Marketing ploy? We can only hope.