Sam Walton

Sam Walton 2006

There is no disputing the landmark changes Sam Walton has made in the business climate . He formed Wal-Mart in 1961 . The company today is a global company with more than 1 .8 million associates worldwide and nearly 6 ,500 stores and wholesale clubs across 15 countries (Wal-Mart website . Sam Walton was the proponent of the use of technology in the inventory process , which ensured just-in-time inventory control and sophisticated logistics , thereby making Wal-Mart 's computer database in 1998 second only to the Pentagon 's in capacity (Huey , 1998 . His

br business strategy of Everyday Low Prices ' is an approach that passes on savings to customers and earns Wal-Mart its profits through volume He also maintained low overhead by way of reducing payroll to the barest minimum but was able to justify this to employees through his charisma and by selling the idea that this was a crusade on behalf of the lowly consumer and as a quest for a better life for all Americans (Frank 2006 . In 1971 , he made sure his staff had a stake in the company by introducing a profit-sharing plan that allowed employees buy subsidized Wal-Mart stock from a percentage of their wages . This is Rule Number 2 in the book The 10 Rules of Sam Walton (Bergdahl , 2006

However some of these tenets are not in evidence in the Wal-Mart of today . An example is the ongoing furor over Wal-Mart 's infringement on labor laws . It received so much attention that in November 2005 filmmaker Robert Greenwald released a documentary titled Wal-Mart : The High Cost of Low Price . The documentary berated Wal-Mart for its approach to unions , independent retailers , outsourcing , and wages and benefits . It has gotten to the extent that Washington is also involved In 2004 a report "Everyday Low Wages : The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart , was released by Pep . George Miller of California making an issue of the company 's wages and benefits . This is in contrast with Wal-Mart in the days of Sam Walton , which made sure that employees felt they had a stake in the business and sold employees on the notion that working at Wal-Mart meant limitless opportunity

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REFERENCES

Bergdahl , M (2006 , The 10 Rules of Sam Walton : Success Secrets for Remarkable Results

Hoboken , New Jersey : John Wiley Sons Inc

Wal-Mart Facts .Retrieved October 18 , 2006 from HYPERLINK "http /www .walmartfacts .com /content /default .aspx ?id 1 http /www .walmartfacts .com /content /default .aspx ?id 1

Huey , J (1998 , Time 100 : Sam Walton . Time Magazine Online . Retrieved October 18 , 2006 from HYPERLINK "http /www .va .gov www .time .com /time /time100 /builder /pro /walton .html

Frank , T .A . Everyday low vices : how much should we hate Wal-Mart Washington Monthly , 38 (4 , pp . 24-31

Sam Walton

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