Sam Walton - Publications - Faculty & Research

08 May 2013
News

Next Wal-Mart CEO Faces Challenges Sam Walton Never Saw

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Sam Walton: Great From the Start

he learned all the rules. Then he broke all the rules which did not make sense to him—which meant almost all of them. Everything he did seems so obvious. It seems that way because it is. Sam Walton did not... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow; Retail

10 Sep 2014
Blog Post

A Summer Reflection

Looking back on my summer internship at Walmart, I have four main takeaways about the company: Walmart cares A LOT about maintaining the culture that Sam Walton initially put in place. It’s actively and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Consumer Products / Retail

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

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10 Jan 2022
News

Don’t Give Up on the Charismatic CEO

September 2006 (Revised July 2008)
Case

The Rise of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 1962-1987

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

It is 1988 and David Glass has just taken over as CEO from the legendary Sam Walton at Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, Joe Antonini has just taken the CEO position at Wal-Mart's arch rival, Kmart. Although Wal-Mart is still well behind Kmart, it appears to be in great shape and... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Business Growth and Maturation; Management Succession; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

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Great business leaders possess more than celebrated traits like charisma and an appetite for risk. They have "contextual intelligence"—a profound ability to understand the Zeitgeist of their times and harness it to create successful organizations. Based on a... View Details

09 Apr 2024
Book

Why Work Rituals Bring Teams Together and Create More Meaning

bonds. IDEO, for example, has asked employees to meet for a weekly tea time as a way to encourage workers to collaborate, connect, and deepen relationships. And Walmart founder Sam Walton started leading... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

09 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place

time to enter or exit that location. Reducing your costs might not provide you with a competitive advantage at all." Walmart has been a smart expander since it opened its first store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. Sam View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

27 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

Rituals Strengthen Couples. Here’s Why They’re Good for Business, Too

to companies. IDEO, for example, has asked employees to step away from their work to meet up for a weekly tea time ritual as a way to encourage workers to collaborate, connect, build trust, and deepen workplace relationships. Walmart founder View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Person Page

Read excerpts from DENIAL

By: Richard S. Tedlow

The Edifice Complex: Denial at Sears

Book Excerpt: Denial at Sears (BusinessWeek.com, February 26, 2010)

From Denial: Why Business... View Details

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How the Giants of Enterprise Seized the Future

his camera than the telephone. It was not long after he began his career that his mother never had to work again. When Sam Walton opened his first five and dime store in Newport, Arkansas, after being... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

27 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Family CEOs Spend Less Time at Work

family-owned businesses employ a family member as the CEO. Sam Walton founded and the Walton family still owns Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., for example, and the founder's son Rob... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Dec 2001
News

A Close-Up Look at the Men behind the Empire

sponsorship of The $64,000 Question to revolutionize advertising. In the latter half of the century, Sam Walton, conceivably the greatest retailer in American history as the founder of Wal-Mart, was my choice for a consumer marketer; for... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Management

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

What Great American Leaders Teach Us

Are there certain characteristics that all leaders possess? Could Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton be equally successful today running another company? Harvard Business School's Leadership Initiative is... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Rapid Response: Inside the Retailing Revolution

which facilitates the accurate and instantaneous exchange of sales figures between the manufacturer and the retailer. In the mid-1980s, these advances began to chip away at the barriers commonly found throughout the various stages of production and distribution.... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Manufacturing; Retail

12 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 12, 2006

Glass has just taken over as CEO from the legendary Sam Walton at Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, Joe Antonini has just taken the CEO position at Wal-Mart's arch rival, Kmart. Although Wal-Mart is still well behind... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Historically Speaking: A Roundtable at HBS

times, backgrounds, and places to illustrate to a general readership the enormous variety of paths to leadership in business. Andrew Carnegie, for example, was an impoverished Scottish immigrant who made a fortune in Pittsburgh, whereas View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

13 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Does Business Get Done the Same Way in Emerging and Developed Countries?

are the professional coming in but we are extending the relationship—we are hanging out with your family, we’re all going to picnics, and so on. It feels a little like you are a cousin or nephew. There are parallels in publicly traded US companies. View Details