Introduction Wal-Mart, world’s largest retailer, has been the critics’ favourite for many reasons. The company has constantly been under scrutiny due to its operational and marketing practices. However, the company continued to grow, and with growth increased the clash with its various stakeholders such as the shareholders, employees, trade unions, NGOs, governments, etc. (Camillus, 2008). All these stakeholders have the capacity in varying degrees, to influence the choices and results of the company (Camillus, 2008). There has been long standing debate regarding the operational strategy employed by Wal-Mart and its pay-off to the society as a whole. Questions like ethical sourcing and human rights have always rung with the name Wal-Mart. However, with the dawn of the new century, Wal-Mart has tried to re-create its image of a ruthless retailer engulfing all that comes in its way to growth to a more socially responsible organization. And many believe that the company has done a commendable job in revamping its public image and CSR policy: “when American firms get serious about CSR—Wal-Mart on sustainability, for example—the execution is generally impressive” (The Economist, 2008). This report presents an analysis of the effect of adopting a socially responsive stand towards the company’s core activities and operations. In this relation, the report seeks to answer the following questions:   * How and what has CSR contributed to change the company’s core activities?   * How is CSR offering new ways of engaging with people/employees/consumers?   * How does the company include stakeholder input?   * Where and how does the company position itself with regards to their future business?   * Do company disclosures contribute to their beneficial perception in society at large? CSR and Wal-Mart’s core activities According to many analysts, the CSR pursued by Wal-Mart is integral to its business strategy (India Infoline, 2010). CSR in any company must be integrated with the business strategy and core activities in order to make them sustainable (India Infoline, 2010; The Economist, 2007). The company adopted CSR practices and moved towards a 100 percent renewable energy basis, and zero waste policy. This huge shift from non-tolerance of social responsibilities, and innumerable unethical accusations, this is a huge shift. A company that succeeded in its core strategy of price leadership and achieving this through connections of its global supply chain, has actually made it mandatory for all the suppliers to follow CSR norms, and those that are non-compliant of the norms are “dumped” (Clark, 2008). Therefore the main target of the company is to achieve compliance with local laws and regulations, energy efficiency of the suppliers, transparent supply chain, and greater environmentally and socially sustainable products from 95% of its suppliers. The core activity of Wal-Mart has been sourcing and marketing. The company prided in its strategy of sourcing the branded products and others at lowest possible prices, and selling them at lowest possible prices, thus, adopting a low price strategy. Therefore, CSR has been imbibed in the core activity of Wal-Mart. How Wal-Mart uses CSR CSR is used as a method to increase accountability of the company. Therefore this is used as a PR strategy to improve the previously tarnished image of the company. In this effort, the c