Wal-Mart Touts Ethics As Supermodel Squiggles

Wal-Mart is no Enron.

That was the message Rob Walton, chairman of the board of Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., delivered to about 20,000 people in Fayetteville at the annual shareholders meeting on June 7.

Integrity was a theme throughout the company’s five-hour meeting, which was held at Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus.

“You won’t see any special loans to Walton family members,” Walton said. “You won’t see any special withdrawals.”

Walton, the son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, mentioned the scandals that have shaken corporate American, including the problems at Enron Corp.

After the Enron scandal, Walton said, Wal-Mart executives took a hard look at their own company. A little “tightening up” was done here and there, he said, but no serious problems were found.

“The point is that Enron is not the standard we should be held up to,” he said. “Enron is the lowest possible standard. I believe it’s criminal behavior.

“If something goes wrong — and with a million point three associates, something’s going to happen … please blow the whistle if there’s an issue.”

The shareholders re-elected Wal-Mart’s board of directors and voted down two proposals.

One of the proposals would have required Wal-Mart to prepare a report concerning affirmative action. It was defeated by a margin of 86 percent to 11 percent, with some shareholders abstaining.

The second shareholder proposal would have required Wal-Mart to implement a “code of corporate conduct” for its overseas vendor factories to help prevent “sweatshop” conditions and human rights violations. That proposal was defeated 93 percent to 3.7 percent.