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Sam Walton, Made in America, My Story Essay

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Sam Walton was known to be industrious, always trying to get the most out of money, and had a burning ambition to succeed. This was evident in his book Sam Walton, Made in America, My Story. He was a hard working individual who helped his family through the depression, started his own business from almost nothing and changed the field of management for ever. Sam Walton was born in 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma during the Great Depression. Sam obtained his work ethic from his father Thomas Gibson Walton who was a hard worker and had all sorts of jobs. He was a banker, farmer, farm-loan appraiser and an agent for insurance and real estate. He put in long hours, was honest and was known for his integrity. Sam also saw what a great …show more content…

The overall profit was much greater. By cutting the price, it boosted the sales to a point where it earned far more at the cheaper retail price than it would had by selling the item at the higher price. Sam eventually lost the lease on the building and had to end up selling his first very successful business. It led him to bigger and better things. Sam moved with his family to Bentonville, Arkansas to open self-service Five & Dime store which at that time was a new concept. In 1953 Sam started his own small family business. The philosophy and strategy of the Walton family remained. They made decisions on a consensus basis. They controlled the amount of money paid out; each member getting an equal share. Sam Walton's book attributes different things to the success of the Wal-Mart stores, one of these being his approach to management. To keep management on their toes and involved, Sam offered them the opportunity to become limited partners if they would invest in the store they were to oversee. Since most of the managers of Wal-Mart own a piece of their store, they are naturally more concerned with profit and losses. Sam stated several times that the single most important ingredient of Wal-Mart's success was taking care of the people in the store, then they will in turn take care of the customer. .Another big item of concern was

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