Supply Chain Management Review

Sean Murphy

Wal-Mart to Sell Green to China, but Not Everyone's Buying
April 14, 2008

It seems China is feeling the heat from greener pastures, so to speak, according to the Vietnam Supply Chain Council.

American companies are under growing pressure, both from environmentalists and from their own interest to find innovative ways to boost profits, to seek out "greener" ways to do business.

Since another trend has pushed American companies, and companies everywhere else, for that matter, to outsource to China, it only follows that the pressure to "go green" would migrate to the Far East.

One sign that it has is this article from the council. Citing Reuters reports, the council says Wal-Mart is once again taking a "tough love" approach, this time with its Chinese suppliers, and this time to enforce Lee Scott's mandate to green up the company. 

Just how this is received overseas has yet to be seen, but even if Wal-Mart's efforts are supported, this article, also from the council, indicates not everyone in China is interested. An environmental group in China, according to the article, is alleging that some of the dirtiest operators over there will not want to clean up their act.

Instead, the article claims, they are moving inland, which points to a bigger problem. While it's been said, and rightfully so, that the infrastructure, including highways and rail lines, rivals that of the US in heavily populated cities like Beijing, corporate leaders I've spoken to confirm that if you go just a couple hundred miles inland (maybe not even that far, in some places), it's like going back in time a couple centuries, at least from a logistics perspective. 

If what the environmental group is saying is true, this may provide a convenient place for these not-so-green companies to hide.

Posted by Sean Murphy on April 14, 2008 | Comments (0)