R. Edward Freeman (2006), 'The Wal-Mart Effect and Business, Ethics, and Society', Academy of Management Perspectives, 20, pp. 38-40.

The rise ofWal-Mart has produced a number of effects that many commentators find surprising. I want to argue that our understanding ofWal-Mart illuminates a large gap in our understanding of business organizations. However, I want to suggest that what a recent observer calls "the Wal-Mart effect" (Fishman 2006a; 2006h) can he better described as "the stakeholder effect." If we can understand Wal-Mart with a stakeholder context, then we can see what is wrong with our current understanding of business; what went wrong at Wal-Mart; and what the company is currently doing to make things right.