Social Innovation, Inc.: 5 Strategies for Driving Business Growth through Social Change

Introduction

There are three ways to change the world: change China, change California, or change Walmart.

——William McDonough, architect, designer, and sustainability expert

Walmart has figured out how to turn a profit by selling just about anything. From horse shampoo to sliced cactus to yarn ball winders, Walmart can make dimes out of dust: 2008 net profits were more than $12 billion. But there is one thing Walmart has yet to make profitable: doing good. Which is not to say it doesn't do a lot of good: In 2009, Walmart Stores Inc. and its affiliates gave $423 million in cash and in-kind gifts to charity around the world, provided more than 100 million pounds of food to U.S. food banks, and volunteered more than one million volunteer hours.^{[1] ...}