Customer Reviews

The Wal-Mart Decade: How a New Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton's Legacy Into the World's #1 C

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is a public relations dream for Wal-Mart but a big disappointment for anyone who likes good, objective, analytical business reporting. It is obvious that the author became too enamored with his access to the current Wal-Mart management. There is no balance in the book; it only presents the Wal-Mart view. It doesn't really explain how Wal-Mart has grown since Sam Walton died. It only recites "facts" - there's a lot of the "what" but there isn't a real probe of the "how" or the "why." The topic of how Wal-Mart will continue to grow (or not) is fascinating - let's hope another author will tackle it.

A very shallow analysis of Wal-Mart's growth over the past ten years, providing little insight on how the managment charted the course of the Company following Sam Walton's death.

The main thrust of the book is Wal-Mart's culture, which is certainly strong. The author uses interviews with Wal-Mart senior executives as the primary vehicle to narrate "highlights" of the past ten years, rather than providing an analysis of how key decisions made by these executives have led the Company to the top of the Fortune 500. I can't believe that there is no mention of how Wal-Mart and Procter and Gamble worked to integrate their supply chain during the period, which was a key ingredient to their success in the past ten years!

For the history of Wal-Mart and Sam Walton, stick with "Made in America", Walton's memoir with John Huey. For better insight to the engine behind Wal-Mart's growth, search out articles from Harvard Business Review (e.g., on the Wal-Mart/P&G supply chain from 1994) and other management journals. These sources will certainly be less "rah rah Wal-Mart" and will provide more details on the what was actually done and spare you the executive reflections on "what Mr. Sam would think" of today's Wal-Mart.

I was disappointed with this book. It has a reasonable overview of the history and growth of Wal-mart in the pre and post Sam Walton years. Unfortunately it takes a very high-level view (most of the figures it quotes can be gotten from the company's own annual reports or from other magazine articles), focusses more on culture (and even that is given short-shrift -- there is not a single dissenting view) than on business strategy or operational details. Perhaps this has been because the company is secretive, and perhaps by nature David Glass and Lee Scott (the Wal-mart CEO's that I assume were interviewed for the book) are low-key men -- but you get none of the retail, logistics, or IT-savvy insights that Wal-mart is "allegedly" exploiting to become the hypergrowth engine it is. Perhaps retail is all that the company purports it to be (sell product at value prices -- every day :), but I wish the author had peeked behind the covers and found a better story to tell.

When it comes to Wal-Mart there are two schools of thought: The company is the model of efficiency and capitalism at its best or Wal-Mart is a runaway train without any regard for its suppliers or the impact it has the communities where they build their stores. I ascribe to the former and not the latter opinion. I purchased this book not to learn every corporate secret of Wal-Mart but simply to gain a better understanding of the decision making process within the company after Mr. Walton passed away. Although I conducted a case study analysis of Wal-Mart for my MBA, I was very surprised at how much new information I learned about the superb leadership within the company. Wal-Mart didn't just happen, it required sound business decisions from very intelligent and visionary leaders within the company to make Wal-Mart what it is today. This book provides excellent insight into the vision and culture of Wal-Mart and how this culture contributes to the overall success of the company.

By far my favorite chapter was `Mr. Logistics Takes Over' because in order to understand why Wal-Mart is so successful the reader must understand the importance of logistics. I was involved in many discussions regarding Wal-Mart and other retailers while I was earning my MBA and I found that most people simply don't understand the competitive advantage that Wal-Mart has achieved due to their mastery of logistics and the supply chain. This book does an excellent job of giving the layman a lesson in logistics and providing evidence of why Wal-Mart succeeded with their logistics strategy while other companies failed.

Although I was very pleased with this book I think some people may be disappointed as there isn't an "aha" chapter that provides the magic formula for Wal-Mart's success. Therefore, let me take the time to summarize why Wal-Mart is so successful:

1. They don't do fads. If it doesn't contribute to the bottom line or align with the strategic vision of the company, Wal-Mart management won't waste their time on it. In essence, unlike quite a few other companies that practice Strategy Du Jour, Wal-Mart has a vision and they use hard work and common sense to turn vision into a reality.

2. Wal-Mart has a culture where they want their people to work hard but more importantly they want their associates to work together. A distinction must be made here. A lot of companies have employees that work hard but how many companies really have a culture where the employees work together to achieve a desired outcome? Culture is everything to Wal-Mart.

3. Wal-Mart's leaders NEVER rest on their laurels. At one time Kmart was much larger and more established than Wal-Mart but Kmart rested on their laurels instead of investing money into technology and into improving their supply chain. Even when Wal-Mart became the world's largest retailer they continued to find ways to reduce costs while improving the shopping experience for the customer.

All in all this was an excellent book that I feel most readers will find very interesting and educational to read.

For those who enjoyed made in America this is the book that will take your through Wal-Marts current years. There is a brief synopsis of their past but it mostly focuses on the 1990's and the tremendous backlash against Wal-Mart that resulted from that decade. The book is well written but could have had more information. If you are looking for more on Wal-Mart though this is the best place to get it and Robert Slater has put out several books on the company and he does first rate analysis. If you are looking for a book that blames Wal-Mart for the sins of the country you won't find it here. This is simply business analysis.

this book says nothing about a company that has become a monster by developing an outstanding distribution system. That is really what Wal-Mart is all about.
The book says Wal-Mart adapted by beefing up its PR department. Anyone who has ever talked with the PR department at Wal-Mart knows that even at the top they are a bunch of underpaid, underqualified fools.
This lacks the meat it needs and does not deal with reality of good or bad with the company.

I had the privilege of meeting the author personally at his home in East Jerusalem -- he gave me a copy of this book as a parting gift, and I read it on a 11 hour flght to North America from Tel Aviv. Of course, one views a book differently after a five hour in depth conversation with the writer, but understanding the writer's values and approach helps explain things. Mr. Slater openly trades 'critical journalism' for access -- he is not out to do a hatchet job on his subjects; they know this, and thus allow him a closer peek at the inner workings of the business. With this understanding in mind, if you are looking to validate the 'problems' of Wal Mart (of which there are many) you are likely to be disappointed; if you wish to see the world from the perspective of the Wal Mart executive team -- and then supplement it with more critical books -- you will significantly increase your understanding of this massive business, and its successful transfer to the professional executive management (with continuing family ownership interest).

This book is good as a quick look at Wal-Mart for those that are interested in Wal-Mart from the standpoint of business success. And given the company's business success, this is a worthy topic.

This book is written from a BUSINESS not a SOCIAL perspective, and succeeds on that level.

Not overly critical or insightful, but very good as an introduction to the Wal-Mart business perspective.

Sam Walton's autobiography is a much more interesting book and story of Wal-Mart albeit dated. This book gives you an update on the last ten years. The David LeFabor (sp?) CNBC piece run on the cable network over the holidays for the past year or so is more interesting and time better spent. The book gives you little insight into Lee Scott.

What? Another book about Sam Walton? Actually, as the subtitle of Slater's book correctly indicates, he focuses most of his (and the reader's) attention on "How the Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton's Legacy into the World's #1 Company.?" To the best of my knowledge, that is a story that hasn't been told until now. Slater begins by examining Wal-Mart today and allocates only three of 14 chapters to "The Founder and His legacy," devoting the remainder of his book to explaining how the new management team devised and then implemented strategies for rapid but prudent growth. After a decade, those strategies have enabled Wal-Mart to become (in 2003) the first company ever to head both the Fortune 500 list of American companies and that magazine's list of Most Admired Companies.

There really have been three quite different periods of Wal-Mart's development from a Ben Franklin franchise (opened in Bentonville as the Walton 5 and 10 in March of 1951) to the global retailing giant it is today. First, the Sam Walton Years until his death in 1992, the David Glass Years (1992-2000), and the Lee Scott Years 2000-Present). However, as Slater carefully explains, it would be a disservice to Glass and Scott as well as to their associates to exaggerate the importance of CEO during "The Wal-Mart Decade."

Devised and constantly nourished by Sam Walton, the company has always had a culture based on Three Basic Beliefs: 1) respect for the individual; 2) service to the customers; and 3) striving for excellence. Walton was also totally committed to what he characterized as his Ten Rules of Business. He had serious reservations about rapid and substantial growth (especially internationally) and was reluctant to make the capital investments which modern technology required. He wanted everyone within the company culture to follow the Ten Rules, managing and growing the company "one store at a time."

During Walton's lingering illness and following his death, Glass and then Scott reaffirmed their quite sincere commitment to preserving the Wal-Mart culture and its values, and, to following the founder's Ten Rules of Business. However, neither that culture and its values nor those rules precluded the growth achieved under Glass's leadership and technological/logistical superiority achieved under Scott's leadership. To me, one of the the most interesting developments throughout the past decade has been the gradual but increasing resentment of Wal-Mart among competitors, suppliers, customers, business media, and even some employees. (That resentment is also obvious in some of the other Customer Reviews of this book.) Slater carefully examines several of the reasons (several of them justified) and how Wal-Mart responded, at least up to the completion of this book's manuscript. "In case anyone had had any doubts," Slater observes, "it was now [on February 18, 2003] clear to all Wal-Mart managers that the company had become fully engaged in a broader mission. In addition to being the best retailer in the world, Wal-Mart now felt it must be equally dedicated to becoming the best possible employer and best possible local citizen."

For years, many people asked about Wal-Mart the same question that others asked about Southwest Airlines: "What?s going to happen after HE leaves?? With all due respect to both Sam Walton and Herb Kelleher, two men whom it has been my great pleasure to meet, their respective organizations have done just fine. Perhaps that is the ultimate test of leadership: a heritage which endures after the leader is either gone or much less involved. In this exceptionally informative book, Slater explains how and why such a heritage guides and inspires the entire Wal-Mart organization.

There are still moments when, if you listen very carefully, you can almost hear Sam Walton's voice issuing his call-to-arms, "Give me a squiggly!" No matter how global and technologically advanced Wal-Mart may become, that voice will always be heard...and the "troops" will always respond. The spirit of Sam Walton is indeed alive and well.