Sam Walton
http://www.usdreams.com/WaltonW35.html
Sam Walton, king of department stores, American businessman and founder of Wal-Mart, was one of the great entrepreneurs of the twentieth century. Wal-Mart isnow the largest retailer in the world with over 2200 stores.
Samuel Moore Walton was born in Kingfish, Oklahoma, USA in 1918. He was raised in Missouri where he worked in his father's store while attending school. This was his first retailing experience and he really enjoyed it. After graduating from the University of Missouri, with a bachelor's degree in 1940, he served time in the military. In 1945, he opened his first store with the help of a loan from his father-in-law. This store was a Ben Franklin franchise in Newport, Arkansas.
When Walton opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962, he did not think it would be such ahuge success. Walton's idea was to lower the cost of living for everyone, to make a better lifestyle for all. The premier store was located in the small city of Rogers, Arkansas. This, aswe know, started the national chain of Wal-Mart discount stores. From then on, into the 1970s, Walton's concepts thrived. He could easily deal with "down-home" people as well aswealthy profit-minded people . Wal-Mart went public and began its "Profit Sharing Plan". The profit sharing plan was a plan for Wal-Mart employees to improve their income dependent on the profitability of the store. Sam Walton believed that "individuals don't win, teams do". Employees were also offered stock options and store discounts. Mr. Walton also believed that if he took care of the employees, they would take care of the customers in thesame manner. Wal-Mart was and has been know for its welcoming hometown identity.
By the 1980s, Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three hundred stores across North America. Mr. Walton died in 1992, being the world's second richest man, behind Bill Gates. He graciously passed his company down to his three sons, daughterand wife Helen Robson Walton. The family has an estimated wealth of 32 billion dollars. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated, of Bentonville, Arkansas, USA, also owns "Supercenter"Wholesale Markets and "Sam's Club" discount stores. Employing a workforce of 720 000people, the company's chief executive, David Glass, seems to be following in Sam's footsteps and helping Wal-Mart continue to grow and expand. Wal-Mart stores now operate in Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, China and Puerto Rico. Sam Walton always believed in sharing his profits to assist others, which in the long run helped as well. Wal-Mart has many fans as well as well as many people who truly dislike the store. It must be very intimidating for a large discount store like Wal-Mart to move into a small city. What happens to all the personally owned businesses? There are other arguments that Wal-Mart has moved into towns and the contractors and builders have left surrounding sites a mess. In society today many communities are said to be threatened by "megastores" such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, K-Mart, Target etc.. There are always drawbacks to large companies, along with the enormous profits and success.
While in the retailing business, Sam Walton composed his "Ten Commandments of Leadership."
1. Commit to your goals
2. Share your rewards
3. Energize your colleagues
4. Communicate all you know
5. Value your associates
6. Celebrate your success
7. Listen to everyone
8. Deliver more than you promise
9. Work smarter than others
10. Blaze your own path
There are many versions of these guidelines. This is just a brief summary.
I believe that Sam Walton and his invention of Wal-Mart has greatly helped the retailing business of North America, if not the world. By setting standards, Sam Walton achieved many goals, which other companies will struggle to attain. By researching Sam Walton,I have learned many leadership skills, which will help me achieve my goals and dreams.
Samuel Walton was not only "King of Department Stores", he wanted to create a better lifestyle for all.
"We're all working together; that's the secret. And we'll lower the cost of living foreveryone, not just in America, but we'll give the world an opportunity to see what it's like to save and have a better lifestyle, a better life for all. We're proud of what we've accomplished; we've just begun"
- Samuel
Walton
(1918- 1992)
Bibliography
Biography.com
On this site you will find biography information on famous people and
entrprepeurs.
http://biography.com/cgi-bin/biomain.cgi
Sam Walton's Success
On this site you will find information about Sam Walton and his success with
Wal-Mart and the retailing business.
http://www.drgerlich.com/sam.html
Historical Quotations: The Wisdom of Sam Walton.
On this site you will find quotations of Sam Walton while he was in the
retailing business.
http://www.usdreams.com/WaltonW35.html
Sam Walton- King of Department Stores.
On this site you will find information about Sam Walton and how he became
the "King of Departmant
Stores".
http://www.berliner-morgenpost.de/bm/international/inhalt/2498/sam.html
The Ten Commandments of Leadership by Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart
On this site you will find Sam Walton's "Ten Commandments of Leadership"
that he wrote while in the retailing business.
http://www.smartleadership.com/walton.htm
About Wal-Mart: The Wal-Mart Story
On this site you will find information about Mr. Walton's history,
success of Wal-Mart and other information about Wal-Mart.
