Peer Review

Walmart and CSR

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Mar 30, 2021 by Business

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This case study details the shift made by Walmart in conjunction with their corporate social responsibility policy from a traditional marketing concept to a societal marketing concept. The shift was executed through the corporate actions of the company and through the communications of those actions to the customers and the broader community. Students will explore this shift and discuss their findings in small groups.

Type of Material:

Case Study

Recommended Uses:

This would work well as a small in-class group exercise.
It could also be assigned as homework.
It could serve as an introductory activity in a marketing ethics course.

Technical Requirements:

Chrome, Edge

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Students will be able to:

Explain the concept of societal marketing
Discuss the marketing shift made by Walmart
Analyze the impact of the shift on customers and the broader community
Apply the societal marketing concept.

Target Student Population:

Undergraduate Marketing students
Marketing Principles class
Marketing strategy class

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Students should have a basic understanding of marketing principles.
Marketing ethics.
It could also be used in a topic/chapter discussion of the societal marketing concept, or marketing ethics.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

The learning materials demonstrate the core concept of corporate social responsibility.
The learning materials are self-contained and require minimal preparation for either the instructor or student.
The learning materials are very flexible. An instructor could revise the group discussion for almost any large or small business.
The site provides several resources and support for the application to CSR and Walmart.
The discussion questions presented to guide students through the exercise.

Concerns:

The learning materials have minimal material available for students to explore. Additional articles and/or websites could be useful.
Some of the materials provided are dated and may not be indicative of the most current data available.
The learning materials do not provide instructions or guidance for the classroom discussion after group discussions have concluded.
The Adweek article requires a subscription, so while students can preview the abstract/introduction, only the material from the article included in the quotes in the exercise are available to students.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The learning materials can easily be integrated into curriculum assignments.
The learning materials are very efficient and students can explore and learn about societal marketing fairly quickly.
The learning materials demonstrate for students the relationship between social responsibility and the desire to make a profit.
This is a self-contained exercise. It is designed to serve as an introduction to societal marketing, ad corporate social responsibility/sustainability.

Concerns:

There are no learning objectives provided in the learning materials.
Without adding an additional piece to the discussion, it may be difficult to measure learning outcomes by the students.
There is no information about prerequisite knowledge shared in the learning materials except to say that students studying marketing ethics may be the target student population.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Students will interact within their group as they discuss the case study and answer the assigned questions.
The learning materials are engaging for students to discuss the concept and how the concept is applied in a real-world corporation.
The learning materials are easy to use and can be incorporated into a face-to-face or online classroom.
The material is relevant, presented in a clear and concise activity. Students can easily complete the activity in 30 minutes or less.

Concerns:

The learning materials are not very visually appealing. There are only words and links to articles.
The design quality is ok. The attached links worked; however, one link requires a subscription which may not be available to everyone.
I was unable to assess if the learning materials meet accessibility requirements.

Other Issues and Comments:

Individual instructors may want to set some foundational information and develop learning goals/objectives specific to their individual class.

Preferred format: This teaching activity is designed to be completed in small groups of students.
Student audience: This exercise is more suitable for students studying marketing ethics.
Exercise time: The group discussion time should run around 15 minutes, plus any additional class discussion time.
Student Task In recent years, the concept of societal marketing has become more important, particularly to larger brands that are subject to greater mainstream and social media attention. The goal of being seen as a good corporate citizen and contributing to society overall – the key shift from the marketing concept to the societal marketing concept – is executed both through corporate actions and through the communication of those actions to the customers of the firm and to the broader community.

Creative Commons: