Books : The Wal-Mart Effect : How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy

by: Charles Fishman  Average Rating:

Rating: - A Fascinating Tale
The author tells the story of Sam Walton's growth in the retailing industry. It reads like a volume of HBS case studies. It was fascinating to read. The endings of some chapters are a little inconclusive. Overall it was very informative. I recomend it to anyone interested in learning how sucessful businesses turn failures into victories.

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Rating: - beware the other Wal-Mart effect
must reading. the only miss was the negative effect of all the other firms copying the Wal-Mart business model. the fact that there can only be one lowest price hasn't deterred them from joining the race to the bottom. not a very pretty view. which is why the Walmartians are trying to be Target now. luckily, the smile face is no bullseye.

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Rating: - The Pendulum Swings: Too Much of a Good Thing
Rarely can a subject be cast as either good or evil. Its place is usually on the continuum of more or less. Fishman's portrait of Wal-Mart shows its beauty and its warts. He helps us see it as the complex yet single-minded entity it has been to date. Founded in the South, Wal-Mart has what Hillary Clinton might call a "plantation" style of management. It requires rigid conformity of both the house slaves (management) and the field hands (employees) to the company doctrine of slashing costs regardless ... Read More