Walmart Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Walmart - Research Paper Example Thus, the legacy of Wal-Mart began with this legendary entrepreneur and former military veteran Sam Moore Walton. He opened his first store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart grew significantly in the 1970s (Murphy, 2008). The first Wal-Mart distribution and official Wal-Mart Home Office opened in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1971. Forbes magazine ranked Wal-Mart number one among competitors for the eighth year straight in 1983. Walton had invested 345% of the capital just to open the first Wal-Mart store. On April 5, 1992, Sam Walton passed away. Just before his passing President George H.W. Bush presented him with the Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at Wal-Mart headquarters, this award is the nation’s highest civilian honor (Soderquist, 2005). International success Ever since then, Wal-Mart grew to twenty four stores in Arkansas, and had already reached up to $12.6 in sales. By 1968, Wal-Mart had opened its stores outside Arkansas in Missouri, Oklahoma, Claremore and Sikes ton. To this date Wal-Mart International Operations expand a cross twenty six markets. However, it was soon known as the top most retailing outlet in the world. Wal-Mart had seen immense growth ever since it was opened. The strategies and the milestone were right on the track of perfection. The history of Wal-Mart is the perfect example to learn how to manage growth without losing sight of your values. Wal-Mart stock was offered for the first time in New York Stock Exchange in 1972 (Frank, 2006). With this infusion of capital, Wal-Mart grew to about 276 stores in 11 states within a decade. By the 1980’s, the Sam’s Club members-warehouse store was opened. Then the first Supercenter was opened in 1988, which features a complete grocery and 36 departments of general merchandise. The sales had grown immensely from $1 billion to $26 billion only in 1980. In the 21st century, there are 10, 185 Wal-Mart stores throughout the globe in 27 countries, 2.2 million associates emplo yed and more than 176 million customers a year. Internal and External analysis Walton knew that the major factor that has to be controlled is the payroll. If he wanted to continue keeping the costs down, he had to clearly look into the payrolls and the recruitment. Walton wrote in his autobiography, "No matter how you slice it in the retail business, payroll is one of the most important parts of overhead, and overhead is one of the most crucial things you have to fight to maintain your profit margin." The way Walton controlled the payrolls was to hire as less people as he could, and pay them more than he had to for that job (Robert, 2005). Because of this unique approach, Walton was always opposed by the unions and he had to fight them. He wanted to give the best life to all the Americans whether benefiting them with low priced goods or whether by employing them on a pay above average. His employees nevertheless accepted this and loves working with Walton. Even when Wal-Mart reached other countries, Walton used to travel country to country to keep in touch with his employees. He also gave his employees a stake at the company. He introduced a profit sharing plan that allowed the employees to put in a certain percentage of their wage in the stock purchase. As a truck driver stated that Walton told him 'If you'll just stay with me for twenty years, I guarantee you'll have $100,000 in profit sharing' †¦

Slavery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Slavery - Essay Example In many bygone civilizations, slavery was the mainstay that enabled them to achieve the glory and reputation that they still enjoy to this day. Ancient civilizations such as those of Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire were all built on the backs of thousands of slaves. The modern world’s main superpower would also base its economy, during the early years of its existence, on the institution of slavery. SLAVERY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD Egypt According to Redford, the civilization of Ancient Egypt existed between 5500 B.C. and 332 B.C (Redford 31). During this 4,200-year time line, slaves created numerous structures in the different dynasties; the most famous of which were the pyramids that still remain today. In the course of its colorful existence, the civilization of Ancient Egypt developed an advanced socio-political establishment and even developed schools for its scholars. According to Redford, it is slaves who worked in extremely dangerous conditions, with thousands of them dying in the process, to create structures such as the famous pyramids of Giza (Redford 32). Egyptian records from this bygone era have also shown that slaves were not just presumed to be the property of their masters in the physical earthy life but also their chattels in the afterlife. It was not unusual for the slaves of a rich man, along with his favorite wives, to be murdered upon his death so that they could continue to serve their master in the next life. The most famous account of the existence of slaves in Egypt is found in the Old Testament where the record of the Israelite slaves living in Egypt between 1400 and 1200 BC is documented. It is unlikely that only Jewish slaves were kept in Egypt (Redford 34). There were probably slaves of different ethnicities working in Egypt. From recorded documents, it is evident that there were even instances where poor families sold their children to be slaves in wealthy families. This would ensure that their children were fed constantly while allowing them also to be able to feed the remaining family members. People who ran into debt could also sell themselves into slavery or become the indentured servants of the people whom they owed money. Even though slaves occupied the lowest rung of Egyptian society, the ones who worked for rich masters such as temple priests, wealthy businessmen, or the royal family fared better than the peasants who owned land. This is because peasants had to give a part of their crops as taxes whether they experienced good harvests or not while slaves were dependent on their masters’ largesse. Ancient Greece In ancient Greece, which existed between the Bronze Age and remained until around 1000BC, slavery was also a recognized institution in society. According to Reilly, for every free citizen in Athens there was a slave (Reilly 62). Any male citizen in Greece who had a modest salary could procure the services of a slave to perform duties in his business, as a servant in his home, or even for personal services. In ancient Greece, slaves were often prisoners of war, or people who had been born of slaves. Moreover, there were many slaves who had actually been kidnapped from their home nations and brought to Athens to be sold as slaves or male and female concubines. In city states such as Athens, slaves could aspire to become physicians. They were given more freedom; and, depending on their masters, were treated with respect for the