To better understand our critics and Wal-Mart’s impact on the world and society, we spent a year meeting with and listening to customers, Associates, citizen groups, government leaders, non-profit and non-government organizations, and other concerned individuals...In the group meetings...we talked about jobs, healthcare, community involvement, product sourcing, diversity, environmental impact: all the issues that we’ve been dealing with historically from a defensive posture. What became clear is that in order to build a 21st century company, we need to view these same issues in a different light.