Sam Walton was a leader full of moral purpose. His purpose was to give America a retail outlet that would provide products at the lowest price possible. Sam was a proponent of American made products, but never deceived the public by claiming all of Wal-Mart’s products were American made. He had a strong global awareness and tried to help industries in both China and Central America. He was awarded the Golden Star Foreigner’s Award for his efforts in China. Sam started a program in Central America to encourage capitalism and the privatization of business in an effort to combat communism. Sam wanted to help empower people from different cultures so they could also prosper.
Sam was able to accomplish his goal and reward his employees with excellent working conditions along with fair wages and benefits. Sam, at the urging of his wife, offered profit sharing and stock purchase programs to his employees. Sam had many attributes of a successful leader and as stated by Fullan was able to “engage others with their energy and are, in turn, energized by the activities and accomplishments of the group.” (Fullan, 2003) Sam realized the importance of having good relationships with his employees and the benefits to both his company and customers. Today’s Wal-Marts still have people greeters at the door to meet you with a smile and give children a smiley face sticker. Sam made each and every employee feel like a valued member of the Wal-Mart team whether they were a cashier or vice president. The Wal-mart team “is a real team rather than a team in name only.” (Fullan, 2003)
Wal-Mart itself has a very distinct culture that was created by Sam Walton, but they continue to change and expand their offerings. Sam went on to create Sam’s Club that offers even lower prices for bulk purchases. Wal-Mart is now a superstore with an array of offerings from car repair to eye care. Wal-Mart is not afraid to change in order to meet the demands of today’s society, but they continue to remain morally forthright in their efforts. Sam Walton definitely left a legacy for his family, employees and today’s consumers. Sam Walton was a visionary who embraced change and developed relationships that made him rich not only monetarily, but also spiritually. Sam was unpretentious and he realized his success would not be possible without the support of his family and employees. Sam’s leadership capacity made Wal-Mart a household name that is synonymous with his concept of “low prices.”
Fullan. M. (2003). Leadership and sustainability. Retrieved January 27, 2009 http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/ldr_sustainability.php
McHenry, S. (1998, December 7). Sam Walton. Time. Retrieved January 30, 2009 from http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/walton.html
Thompson, M. (Writer), & Cascio, M. (Director/Producer). (1997). A & E Biography-Sam Walton Bargain Billionaire [Television Series Episode]. New York: A&E Television Networks.
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I was always amazed at the number of folks in our community that wanted to work at Wal-Mart. They spoke of the meetings and liked the idea of being called and "Associate" rather than a clerk. It seems as though he was right on target when he wanted to create good relationships with the employees. I find the same type of atmosphere at Sam's Club warehouses. Having raised four, I jumped at the opportunity to buy wholesale and actually enjoyed shopping at several of their locations. His philosophy is evident whether I'm in the Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, York stores or in Greensboro, NC where my son now lives.
ReplyDeleteI believe Walton had the leadership quality to hired diverse employees to his Walmart stuff. His staff makes you comfortable at Walmart and wanting to come back. Its important for a business to develop trust with the public in order to continue to get their business. Walton does an excellent job at that and continues to lead his company into the future.
ReplyDeleteWalton realized the importance of hard work, passionate “pep talks”, and employee bonding. Fullan refers to this as “connecting peers with purpose” (Fullan, 2008). He is famous for his moral building “Walmart Cheer” as well as for putting on a grass skirt and “Doing the Hula on Wall Street”. (available on youtube.com) Jobs is famous for his maniacal work habits, often working 90 plus hours each week. As CEO, Jobs introduces all of the Apple products himself; his presentations could serve as the models for marketing and promotion.
ReplyDeleteIn positioning their companies, both Walton and Jobs used creative business strategies. At a time when it was assumed that a computer manufacturer would use the MicroSoft operating system, Apple thought differently. At a time when most large retailers were locating around large metropolitan areas, Walton used the “if you build it they will come strategy”. (Locating stores away from larger cities not only allowed Walton to save money on the purchase of real estate, it also allowed Walton to grow Walmart, virtually un-noticed by competitors.)
The public faces of both Walton and Jobs are that of charm and charisma. In spite of Walmart’s friendly “greeters” and Smiley Face logo, there continue to be numerous class-action lawsuits involving company employees (overtime is one issue). Jobs is reported to have personally fired so many people that at Apple they call it getting “Steved”. However, both pushed their employees to excellence, have forced their competitors to become better, and have altered the customer experience.
References:
Fullan, M. (2008). The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.