Wal-Mart is working on social responsibility across the entire world of its operations, says former executive Lawrence Jackson in this University podcast. He asks his Stanford audience to consider whether the movement pushing for social and environmental responsibility in businesses is a racially and economically segregated one. Speaking to more than 200 supply chain management experts gathered at the Stanford Graduate School of Business to exchange ideas and best practices aimed at making the global supply chain more sustainable, Jackson discusses how Wal-Mart is capitalizing on its efficiencies to make “green” cost less and become accessible to more people, regardless of income.
Lawrence Jackson was responsible for the Global Procurement Division, which includes purchasing offices in 28 countries around the world, and for an ethical standards team responsible for ensuring that factories producing goods for Wal-Mart operate according to local labor laws or Wal-Mart standards, whichever are more stringent. Jackson’s previous position was executive vice president, People Division, of the world’s largest private workforce with more than 1.8 million associates globally. He also served as president and chief operating officer at Dollar General Corp. and senior vice president of supply operations for Safeway Inc. Jackson spent 17 years with PepsiCo, Inc., where he held various positions such as plant manager, director of planning, vice president of operations, vice president of on-premises sales, and vice president/general manager, and he was chief operating officer and senior vice president of Worldwide Operations for PepsiCo Food Systems. Jackson began his career at Bank of Boston in 1975 as a corporate banker and then joined McKinsey & Company as a consultant in 1979. He holds his bachelor's degree in economics and master's of business administration from Harvard University. In 2002, he was named one of Fortune magazine's 50 Most Powerful Black Executives.
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This free podcast is from our Responsible Supply Chains series.
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