The Wal-Mart Way: The Inside Story of the Success of the World's Largest Company | 
| Author: Don Soderquist
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 109385
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1
ISBN: 0785261192
Dewey Decimal Number: 381.14906573
UPC: 020049025666
EAN: 9780785261193
Publication Date: April 19, 2005
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Since Sam Walton's death in 1992, Wal-Mart has gone from being the largest retailer in the world to holding the top spot on the Fortune 500 list as the largest company in the world. Don Soderquist, who was senior vice chairman during that time, played a crucial role in that success. Sam Walton said, "I tried for almost twenty years to hire Don Soderquist . . . But when we really needed him later on, he finally joined up and made a great chief operating officer." Responsible for overseeing many of Wal-Mart's key support divisions, including real estate, human resources, information systems, logistics, legal, corporate affairs, and loss prevention, Soderquist stayed true to his Christian values as well as Wal-Mart's distinct management style. "Probably no other Wal-Mart executive since the legendary Sam Walton has come to embody the principles of the company's cultureor to represent them within the industryas has Don Soderquist," Discount Store News once reported. In The Wal-Mart Way, Soderquist shares his story of helping lead a global company from being a $43 billion company to one that would eventually exceed $200 billion. Several books have been written about Wal-Mart's success, but none by the ones who were the actual players. It was more than "Everyday Low Prices" and distribution that catapulted the company to the top. The core values based on Judeo-Christian principlesand maintained by leaders such as Soderquistare the real reason for Wal-Mart's success.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Do you want to be like Wal-Mart? May 15, 2008
Whether you think of Wal-Mart as an abomination or your second home, you will find excellent principles with illustrating stories about how to build and run a successful business.
 Good book, but be warned... December 7, 2007
This book is very good and can teach powerful lessons. But you should bare in mind that you can buy this book at wall-mart for nearly 15 dollars less...Just to let you know.
Insider's account of how Wal-Mart does business September 18, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Author Don Soderquist, Wal-Mart's retired Vice Chairman and COO, writes passionately about the company its founder, the late Sam Walton and its corporate culture. Once dubbed 'keeper of the culture,' he is not here to write a balanced, objective corporate biography. Instead, his admiration and respect for Walton and Wal-Mart shine from every line. He examines the company's workings from its humble beginnings to its rapid, phenomenal expansion. Soderquist describes Wal-Mart's commitment to its customers and employees, and describes its cost-cutting zeal. He details its use of new technology to revolutionize internal systems. These insights from the inside are very interesting, but - perhaps because the author was in the highest ranks of the company's leadership - the tone is so pro-Wal-Mart that it has the taste of public relations. However, if you seek immersion in this distinctive corporate culture and want to emulate the principles that worked for it, we stand beside the big glass doors and welcome you to Wal-Mart. Do you need a shopping cart?
 Don Soderquist is a great American July 18, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Reading this book you get to know a humble, God-fearing man who pursues excellence in everything he does. Don Soderquist would never say so, but he is a great American and a role model for any young businessman.
And Wal*Mart is proof that the strong American work ethic is really what makes our corporations so successful. Not the 'exploitation' schtick that the demented newscasters constantly try to peddle.
Principle Driven Business April 30, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For me, this book wasn't primarily about Wal-Mart. It was about a man who took his principles to work with him and became incredibly significant. In a world severly lacking in principle driven living, it shines as a beacon. Here's an example:
The closest competitor prices a product at $19.95. Wal-Mart prices it at $14.86. Why doesn't Wal-Mart raise their price to $17.95, beating the competition but earning $3 more on every unit? Answer: Because Wal-Mart believes it holds a fair profit margin at $14.86 and wants the customer to have the lowest possible price. (Page 94) That's principle driven marketing.
I learned about the ten foot rule: When a Wal-Mart associate comes within ten feet of a customer, he or she is to look up, look the customer in the eye, and speak to the customer. If the customer asks where something is, the associate does not tell the customer, but takes the customer to the product. (page 91) That's principle driven customer service.
The development of corporate culture as a combination of shared vision, shared values, shared purposes, and shared expectations was helpful to me (Page 25). It was interesting to see how the corporate culture was promoted in Wal-Mart.
I believe I can apply these principles in my life, so this book really speaks to me. Forget about your pre-judgments of Wal-Mart, good or bad, and harvest a gold mine of life principles from these pages. I would use this as required reading in a college leadership class.
George A. Goolde
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