As the world's largest consumer electronics retailer, with more than 160,000 employees worldwide, Best Buy has the opportunity and obligation to make a positive impact on the communities we serve. That is why corporate responsibility (CR) has become an increasingly important priority for our company. We've learned a lot since we began measuring our social and environmental performance. Our complete report reflects our commitment to continue to measure, learn and, most importantly, improve our performance across the CR landscape.

In our Fiscal 2008 CR Report, we introduced our corporate responsibility aspirations as part of our goal to be:

  1. A global champion for human ingenuity and opportunity – our employees providing leadership for our industry, our customers and communities worldwide;
  2. An advocate for consumers in a world of technology – delivering consumer electronics products and services to more people than any other company in the world;
  3. A company that is financially, environmentally and socially accountable for our brands and business operations worldwide.

Much has changed since then. The global economic crisis, the worst downturn since the Great Depression, has had serious financial consequences for most industries, including retail. Despite these challenges, we have taken many steps to live up to our aspirations as we believe these actions aren't just the right thing to do, they're also the right thing to do for our business.