Sam Walton - Entrepreneur of the Century
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Case Details:
Case Code : LDEN022
Case Length : 14 Pages
Period : 2003 Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : Wal Mart
Retail
Countries : USA
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This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.
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Introduction Contd...
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Appreciating Walton, who expired in 1992, David Glass (Glass), former President,
CEO & CFO of Wal-Mart said, "You can't replace a Sam Walton, but he has prepared
the company to run well whether he's there or not."5
Wal-Mart was ranked #1 in the global retailing industry in terms of revenues for
six consecutive years from 1997 to 2002 (Refer Exhibit II). The company also
ranked #1 in the 2003 Global Fortune 500 list. For the fiscal 2002-03,
Wal-Mart's sales stood at $244.524 billion and net income aggregated $8.039
billion, which was 20.5% higher than 2001-02. By the end of July 2003, Wal-Mart
had over 1,300 units spread across 10 major countries, with a total of 1,300,000
employees. More than 100 million customers shopped at Wal-Mart stores every
week.
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Walton - The Entrepreneur
Sam Walton was born in March 1918 at Kingfisher, Oklahoma, US. After graduating
in Economics from the University of Missouri in 1940, Walton joined the
famous retailer, J C Penney,6 as a
management trainee for $75 per month.
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In his first job, Walton displayed all the qualities of a good salesman. He
realized the importance of building loyalty among customers as well as
employees. Walton left his job in 1942 and served the US army during World
War II. When the war ended, he decided to establish his own retail outlet.
Walton purchased a store franchise from 'Ben Franklin' in Newport, Arkansas,
in 1945.
Out of the $25,000 required to purchase the store, he invested
$5000 from his savings and borrowed the remaining $20,000 from his
father-in-law. It was at this store that he learnt his first lesson in
retailing - offering significant discounts on product prices to expand sales
volumes and thereby increase overall profits. |
Excerpts>>
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