Filed under: Competitive strategy, Wal-Mart (WMT)
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) has been spending like mad in Washington recently, as the world’s largest retailer was reported to have spent $1.8 million on lobbying efforts in the first six months of 2007. Once the figures from the second half of 2007 show up, we’ll see if Wal-Mart surpassed 2006, annual $2.5 million figure. My guess: Wal-Mart will have more than doubled 2006’s lobbying levels in 2007 once the smoke clears.
While Wal-Mart tells customers to Save Money. Live Better, it’s spending more and living massive on Capitol Hill these days. More figures? Try this: the retailer spent more than $4 million lobbying in the past 18 months. Compare that to the $6.6 million from the prior seven years combined and Wal-Mart has been turning up the lobbying heat since 2005.
Some of the agenda items on the minds of Wal-Mart’s lobbyists recently have been pushes for superior, more efficient fighting tactics against organized retail crime in addition to finding legislation to give it a leg up when it came to electronic health records that could save the company quite a bit in health-care costs.
And, the retailer’s lobbyists pushed for legislation to not allow employees to form or join labor unions and related organizations. Add that to the standard corporate fare of international trade and income taxes and Wal-Mart’s been a very busy lobbyist in Washington.
Entries (RSS)