On June 6, 2014, Walmart conducted its annual stockholder
meeting under “scrutiny on all fronts.”[1]
Revenue at the company’s stores in the U.S. had declined for five consecutive
quarters. Walmart was also facing ethical questions over how the company’s
executives handled bribery allegations at the Mexican division, as well as on the
low wages going to non-supervisory workers (esp. part-timers). In short, the
question facing the management was whether the company was being managed by
cutting corners, as manifest both in terms on incompetence and unethical
conduct. That the shareholder proposal to split off the chair of the board from
the CEO did not meet even a preliminary tally of votes suggests that the
company would sooner go under than that its management would be held to
account.
[1]
Anne D’Innocenzio, “Walmart
Faces Shareholder Scrutiny at Annual Meeting,” The Associated Press, June
6, 2014.
