Sam Walton : Made in America My Story

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Sam Walton’s story is the true ‘American Dream’. A hard-working individual, who gets along with anyone, thrives in competition and serves his customer. He doesn’t start Walmart until he’s 45 years old and builds it into an empire. The summary gives a rough idea of Sam Walton’s business practices, but you can learn so much more from the book. His 10 rules at the very end of the book are worth twice the price of the copy alone. Plus, since it’s an autobiography, it puts all lessons in the context of his own life’s story, which lets you get a lot better grasp on everything.

Efficiency is further explored in Chapter 15, in which Walton describes the business philosophy he used to guide Walmart’s growth. By controlling his expenses better than his competitors, thus creating a more efficient operation, he was able to establish and maintain an edge on his competition. Lee, Sally (2007). Sam Walton: Business Genius of Wal-Mart. Enslow Publishers, Inc. p.13. ISBN 978-0766026926 . Retrieved December 30, 2012. Trimble, Vance H. (1991). Sam Walton: the Inside Story of America's Richest Man. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-451-17161-6. ISBN 978-0-451-17161-0

If you’re more of a skeptic about Sam Walton and his business philosophy, the summary will rather confirm your hunch – I think it’s fairly critic of the man (although not neglecting to highlight his good sides). Sam Walton: Made In America sheds a much more positive light on him.

Distinguished Eagle Scouts" (PDF). Scouting.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 12, 2016 . Retrieved November 4, 2010.In 1998, Walton was included in Time 's list of 100 most influential people of the 20th Century. [35] Walton was honored for his work in retail in March 1992, just one month before his death, when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President George H. W. Bush. [33] Great book! It was great to learn from the man himself on how he built one of the world's largest and most powerful corporations, from scratch!

In the book by Brazilian businessman Flávio Augusto, "Value Generation", he clarifies how, instead of just working for capital, it is also important to generate value for customers. By generating value in other people's lives, they will generate value for you. His father was a hard-working man, but he never managed to start his business because, out of pride, he refused to take out a loan.

Contrary to common sense at the time, Walmart became the largest independent offal company in the United States. After succeeding with two stores at such a distance (and with the postwar baby boom in full effect), Walton became enthusiastic about scouting more locations and opening more Ben Franklin franchises. (Also, having spent countless hours behind the wheel, and with his close brother James "Bud" Walton having been a pilot in the war, he decided to buy a small second-hand airplane. Both he and his son John would later become accomplished pilots and log thousands of hours scouting locations and expanding the family business.) [18] The different tactics he used to motivate Wal-Mart team members, to entice customers was simply wonderful to hear... especially since my son seemed to appreciate them too. He actually looked forward to hearing more of the book as we drove to and from his school each day for a few weeks. Niklas Göke is an author and writer whose work has attracted tens of millions of readers to date. He is also the founder and CEO of Four Minute Books, a collection of over 1,000 free book summaries teaching readers 3 valuable lessons in just 4 minutes each. Obviously, Sam Walton could not build Walmart alone. He did it with the cooperation of dozens of important executives, thousands of managers and millions of employees. The question is: How could he encourage them care about Walmart’s success as much as he did? Here are a few ways: