Essay on Management and Leadership; the Wal-Mart Way

Sam Walton’s extraordinary business strategies drove Walmart to its success and their key focus was customer satisfaction. As part of their customer centric initiatives Walmart had set up a unique pricing strategy with their “Every Day Low Prices” EDLP (Karen Robson, 2013). They would offer customers their daily needs at the lowest possible price to drive Walmart’s growth in the United States (Karen Robson, 2013) . Their pricing strategy was different than other major retailers in the U.S at the time; this provided an advantage towards rapid success and expansion (Karen Robson, 2013).

Wal-Mart founded in 1962 by Sam Walton is now the largest American retail corporation. With thousands of chains of stores and warehouses Wal-Mart monopolized the American retail industry. In addition, Wal-Mart is the second largest retail corporation in the world employing of two million employees world-wide. As one of the most valuable corporations in the world Wal-Mart continues to improve their sales annually while offering some of the lowest prices available. Wal-Mart’s famous low price guarantee, come at a high expense of the environment, the small businesses, education, the rights and safety of the consumer, but most importantly their employees. Although Wal-Mart has plays a dominate role in American economy, this “American”

Wal-Mart evolved from Sam Walton’s purpose for great price and great consumer service. “Mr. Sam,” as he was known, believed in management through service. The principle that true leadership depends on willing service was the standard on which Wal-Mart was built, and drove the choices the business has made for the past 50 years. So much of Wal-Mart’s past is attached to the story of Sam Walton himself, and so much of our future will be deep-rooted in Mr. Sam’s principles. Sam's rivals thought his plan for a thriving business couldn’t be built around low prices and great service. As it happened, the company's achievement went beyond even Sam's hopes. The company went public in 1970, and the profits funded a steady growth of the business. Sam recognized the rapid increase of Wal-Mart not just to the low prices that fascinated consumers, but also to his staff of workers. He depended on them to give customers the great buying experience that would

Walmart is known throughout the entire world as one of the most popular chain department stores. Actually, most have probably visited a Walmart store in the past week. Though Walmart stores seem to be a normal part of life the average person more than likely has little knowledge that pertains to Walmart’s success and business culture. This paper will guide one through the history of the organization, why Walmart is successful, what could threaten or open new opportunities, and how might they hold a competitive advantage.

Wal-Mart is an American company that was founded in the year 1962 by Sam Walton. The company operates in the retail industry. Notably, the company operates various chains of stores in the entire world which has made the venture a big success in the retail industry. The efficiency and the effectiveness of the company’s operations have seen it ranked the second largest public company in the world (Copeland & Labuski, 2013). The company has over two million workers which makes the leading private corporation employer in the world. Notably, despite the fact that the company is traded publicly, Wal-Mart is more of a family company since Walton’s family still controls over fifty percent of the company’s shares. The company has expanded its business through venturing into external markets such as China, the United Kingdom, North Korea, South Korea, North America, and so forth. However, these markets have produced mixed results in terms of the level of success and profitability. For instance, the German market and the South Korean markets have turned out to be less favorable for the company.

Approach any random stranger in America and ask them where they can get their groceries, clothes, appliances, and electronics from at a cheap price and they will most likely say Wal-Mart. A pioneer of the “one-stop-shop”, Wal-Mart has evolved from a small, wholesome shopping mart into a world renown corporation. America has not seen a complete domination of the market in this manner, since the mid 1900’s with General Motors. Wal-Mart has revolutionized the American culture of saving money. With all of the successes, there are also many consequences and controversies that flood the corporation’s name, making it also one of the most infamous and negatively viewed businesses in the world. The unethical working conditions, wages, and lack of benefits combine with the undeniable truth of Wal-Mart’s monopoly of the variety store genre has deemed the company “evil” among many Americans. However, there is a reason as to why Wal-Mart is still exponentially growing in net worth every single day. It is the success story that gives millions hope and strive to achieve. People may look down upon Wal-Mart, but it is a great asset to America as it provides jobs for millions of Americans, offers necessities at the lowest price possible, and is the physical embodiment of the American dream.

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, which is the biggest retailer in the world, had coined the famous saying ‘individuals don’t win, teams do’. There are several characteristics of Sam Walton that enabled him to be successful in his life and business dealings. Sam Walton could do anything he put his mind to. This can be witnessed in his ability to transform a small town store into a 25 billion-dollar industry at the time of his death. Also, Walton difficult childhood gave him something to strive towards later on in his life.

Sam Walton, a businessman and entrepreneur with an innovative vision, started his own company, which became the leading in discount retailing today. His brilliance and unusual business practices lead him and his associates to acquire a successful company for over thirty years. Even after his death, the company is still growing steadily today. Walmart executives still continue to rely on Walton’s traditions, concepts, goals, and philosophies. He exerted a tremendous influence and left a legacy behind.

In 1963, Sam Walton had a vision. A vision, that he could bring what the consumers needed, to them, at the lowest price possible. Mr. Walton believed that a company could not be run by just one person, it had to take team work. With Mr. Walton relying on his associates at the lowest level possible, he created the retail empire known today as Walmart. Mr. Sam, as he was referred to, would visit each and every store to learn about its culture. He would sit down with each and every associate and get ideas, comments, concerns, and anything that the associates wanted to talk to him about. This practice allowed for Walmart to create a culture of its own. A culture where each person makes a difference, no matter what your background or life style. The cultural synergy remains the same today. This philosophy is the basis for Walmart’s slogan, “Every person makes a difference.” Sam Walton knew that in order to be successful he needed to hear from everyone, to make everyone a spokesperson for the company. Many of the ideas that have been put into play have come from the lower level associates who never thought they could make a difference. Each associate comes from a different walk of life and background. This leads to the diverse workforce that Walmart has today. Sam’s practices have been instilled in today’s current CEO, Doug McMillion.

Successful organizations have strong leaders and managers that develop, support and encourage employee longevity within a company. There is a significant difference between leadership and management however both skills have to be used collectively and both are important to a profitable organization. Leadership is a notion of communicating an organization’s vision, whereas management is more of the implementation of the organization’s vision. The manager typically carries out the responsibilities written by the organization and has a good team underneath them to carry out the duties and meet the goals. Most companies have a mission statement that mirrors and supports a company’s vision. When referring leadership and management, the two

Wal-Mart is arguably the most dynamic corporation in the last 50 years in the United States, if not the world. Arising from its beginnings in Bentonville, Arkansas, it has grown to over 4,400 discount stores, super centers and corner markets worldwide. Wal-Mart continues to expand despite public criticism of its labor practices as well as complaints about their treatment of competitors. The many strengths of Wal-Mart, like their low cost production and marketing practices, will aid Wal-Mart as it continues to grow in the retail

In this paper, I have researched to find out how this grant empire has become and remain so successful. I found out that one of the reasons is because it has been able to maintain the goals and standards that its owner, Mr. Sam Walton has built it upon. Even after his death, Wal-Mart continues to expand and grow in other countries. Wal-Mart is considered one of the top ten global companies today. Mr. Walton’s main goal was to sell products at a low price so that people could live a better life. Another reason is because Wal-Mart uses certain market mix strategies such as the four P”. These strategies, price, promotion, product and place.

The company I am reviewing for this research paper is Walmart. Walmart is a global company that originated in the 1960’s by its founder Sam Walton. Mr. Walton opened his “first retail store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962” (Walmart Corporate). The current “home office is located in Bentonville, Arkansas” (Walmart Corporate). In 1991 Walmart became a “global company when it opened a Sam’s Club in Mexico City, Mexico” (Walmart Corporate). As of this year “Walmart employs 2.2 million associates worldwide and serves more than 200 million customers each week at more than 11,000 stores in 27 countries” (Walmart Corporate).

As I sat down several weeks ago to begin writing this case study, I struggled with how I wanted to lay the paper out, however, when I opened Lee Scott’s 21st century leadership speech that was part of the required reading, the following quote struck me as the essence of the whole case study, so I would like to share it with you. You know, we are in uncharted territory as a business. You won’t find any case studies at the Harvard Business School highlighting answers for companies of our size and scope. If we were a country, we would be the 20th largest in the world. If

Sam Walton 's first venture as a milk boy is when he understood the value of a dollar and the knowledge of how far a dollar could take one in life. From Sam 's first five and dime stores in the 1950 's to his opening of the first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962, no one could have predicted the enormous success of this small-town merchant. Today, fourteen years after his death, Wal-Mart continues to grow and leadership of this company continues to rely on many of the traditional goals and philosophies that Mr. Walton left behind. In keeping one step