WALMART

High value, Low price ,warm Welcome

 One of the most successful company in the world and biggest retailer.  Biggest customer for Disney, Procter &Gamble, Revlon , Campbell Soup , Gillette etc.  Seller of Dvd s, Cd s, Groceries, guns, diamonds and many other products- super Retailer.  More importance to volumes than margins.

 Success attributed to its strong cultural base.  Cult like culture in company made employees referred to as walmartians by outsiders.  Entreprenuerial spirit, Admirable growth rates poised to make it first trillion dollar company in the world.  Criticisism of work culture - gender based discrimination, overtime policies, using sweatshop products, killing off small local business.

BACKGROUND
Dream of Sam Walton 1945- Started store 1950- 2nd store called Walton s 5 &10. 1960 s - 24 walmart stores 1969 - incorporated as WAL-Mart Stores Inc 1972 Listed in New York Stock Exchange 1977- First Acquisition of 16 Mohr Value Stores 1978- purchased Hutcheson Shoe Company & set up pharmacy, service center, and jewelry division in its store  1984 640 stores        

Contd

 1990 Acquired Mc Lane Company(Grocer &Retail Distributor)  1991 First overseas store in Mexico.  1992 Suffered a Set back due to death of Walton on April 5,1992.  1999- largest private employer in US.  2003 World s Largest Retailer.

CULTURE

 Essentially Customer Centric And Service Oriented.  Built on three basic beliefs  Respect for the individual.  Service to Customers.  Strive for Excellence.

POLICIES

 Importance to store location.  Purchase in Bulk &maintaining longer store working hours.  Atmosphere of the stores  Insisted on cleanliness and Convenience  Pricing philosophy - Every Day Low Prices(EDLP)

CUSTOMER ORIENTED APPROACH

 Delight customers by exceeding their expectations.  All needs under one roof.  Customer Service  Sundown Rule Don t Put off until tomorrow what you can do today.  10 foot Attitude Smile, Greet, Offer Help

HUMAN RESOURCE

 Belief in Individuals don t win, teams do .  Motivation With Concept of Profit Sharing.  Believed Employees as Biggest asset and called them Associates to create sense of equality.  Unique Feature Did not Authorize overtime work.  Commitment to improve career prospects of employees.  Diversity of employees- African, American, Hispanic.  Leading Employer of disabled people.

DARKER SIDE

 Over Time Woes  Anti Union Stand  Sweatshop Support  Discrimination issues led to hold title Merchant of Shame by National Organization for Women.

STEPS TOWARD BETTERMENT

 Posting System for all management jobs.  Advertisement of training programs.  Pay Increase based on Evaluation ratings , experience and other factors.  Frequent Reviews.

TEN RULES FOR BUILDING A BUSINESS

 Commit to Business  Share your profits with all your associates  Motivate your partners.  Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners  Appreciate everything your associates do for the business.

Contd

 Celebrate your success and find humor in your failures.  Listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking.  Exceed your customer expectations.  Control your expenses better than your competitor.  Swim upstream.