The 10 Rules of Sam Walton E-Book

Michael Bergdahl

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 368

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Praise for The 10 Rules Of Sam Walton "The 10 Rules of Sam Walton is one of those books that should be read and regularly reread by . . . everyone-business-people, students, teachers, parents, and children. It transcends the limits of a traditional book about lessons in business and makes it a book about life and about successful living!" --J. K. Knapp III, former Wal-Mart store manager,current manufacturer and supplier to Wal-Mart As founder of Wal-Mart and its many successful divisions, Sam Walton reinvented the retailing industry through his singularity of focus, high expectations, and never-say-die attitude. During his successful career, Sam Walton developed a list of what he considered the most important rules for entrepreneurial success. As far as he was concerned, there were ten key result areas that he considered pivotal to his own success. Now, in The 10 Rules of Sam Walton, author and former Wal-Mart employee Michael Bergdahl reveals these rules-and the stories behind them-to help you achieve success in both your professional and personal lives. Straightforward and to the point, this book offers valuable lessons that Walton himself followed, and taught, throughout his lifetime-from Rule #1: "Be passionately committed to achieving success" to Rule # 10: "Be different and challenge the status quo." Whether you're an entrepreneur or an hourly paid employee, The 10 Rules of Sam Walton will provide you with a blueprint for success that has proven itself time and again.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

SAM WALTON’S RULE #1 - COMMIT to Achieving Success and Always Be Passionate

SAM WALTON’S RULE #2 - SHARE SUCCESS with Those Who Have Helped You

SAM WALTON’S RULE #3 - MOTIVATE Yourself and Others to Achieve Your Dreams

SAM WALTON’S RULE #4 - COMMUNICATE with People and Show You Care

PEOPLE SKILLS

WORK PROCESSES

SAM WALTON’S RULE #5 - APPRECIATE and Recognize People for Their Efforts and Results

SAM WALTON’S RULE #6 - CELEBRATE Your Own and Other’s Accomplishments

SAM WALTON’S RULE #7 - LISTEN to Others and Learn from Their Ideas

SAM WALTON’S RULE #8 - EXCEED EXPECTATIONS of Customers and Others

SAM WALTON’S RULE #9 - CONTROL EXPENSES and Save Your Way to Prosperity

SAM WALTON’S RULE #10 - SWIM UPSTREAM, Be Different, and Challenge the Status Quo

Simplify Everything

Technology

Associate Partnership

Meet with Associates

Open-Door Policy

Vendor Partnerships

RFID

Pricing

Advertising

Merchandising

Product Inventory

New Store Concepts

CONCLUSION - Our People Make the Difference

Communicate a Clear Business Strategy and Tactics

Take Care of Your Employees

Control Your Costs

Exceed Your Customer’s Expectations

Challenge the Status Quo by Taking Calculated Risks

About the Author

Index

Copyright © 2006 by Michael Bergdahl. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

In this book, the Wal-Mart Trademarks include but are not limited to Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated and its affiliates: Wal-Mart Stores, Wal-Mart, SAM’S CLUB, SAM’s, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, Neighborhood Market, Wal-Mart Supercenter, and Supercenter. This book is in no way authorized by or endorsed by Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated or its Affiliates. All references to these trademarks and brands are used in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine and are not meant to imply that this book is a Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated Product for advertising or other commercial purposes.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bergdahl, Michael.

The ten rules of Sam Walton : success secrets for remarkable results / Michael “Bird Dawg” Bergdahl.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-0-471-74812-0 (cloth) ISBN-10: 0-471-74812-9 (cloth)

1. Wal-Mart (Firm)—Management. 2. Retail trade—Management. 3. Industrial management. I. Title: Ten rules of Sam Walton. II. Title.

HF5429.215.U6B467 2006

658.4'09—dc22

2005034025

To my wife, Sheryl, my daughter, Heather, and my son, Paul, who provide the love, support, and motivation I need to succeed!

Foreword

Many authors have written books, positive and negative, about the American phenomenon that is Wal-Mart. Michael Bergdahl has an advantage, in that he worked for my father and came to learn many of Dad’s lessons about success in business, and in life, from Dad himself.

My father never set out to run the world’s largest company. He said many times that he wanted to provide value for customers, create a great workplace for his associates, and be a positive force in the communities we call home. He did so with the values of respect, hard work, continuous improvement, and service, which are as relevant today as they were when he laid them down in the 1960s.

Dad believed strongly in the power of people, so it’s fitting that most of his rules for business are really about people, and what can be achieved when you believe in yourself and believe in others. Dad has been gone for more than a dozen years now, but his values live on at the 6,700 stores that serve hundreds of millions of customers every week, all around the world.

As large as Wal-Mart has become, we still find ourselves referring to Dad’s “Rules for a Successful Business,” embodied in this book.

S. Robson “Rob” Walton Chairman of the Board, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the following individuals who helped make this book possible:

Sam Fleischman, Literatry Artist Representatives David Pugh, Senior Editor, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Wal-Mart Managers:

J. Knapp III Perry Cheatham Frank Baugh Randy Smith Robert Sauvage Andrea Rader

INTRODUCTION

Set High Expectations for Everything You Do

Sam Walton’s ability to maintain the highest standards, while at the same time getting things done with lockstep execution, was his secret for achieving operational excellence.

I’ll never forget the first time I met Wal-Mart’s founding father, Sam Walton, or Mr. Sam as everyone at Wal-Mart respectfully chose to refer to him. I had arrived in Bentonville, Arkansas, the previous evening and had stayed the night at a Quality Inn, just down the street from Wal-Mart’s home office. Bright and early at 7:00 A.M. that Saturday morning I arrived for my interviews with the executive staff of the company. The Wal-Mart executives and headquarters staff all work on Saturday mornings starting at 7:00 A.M. and attend their famous Saturday morning meetings so my arrival for an interview on Saturday fit right into their aggressive work routine. I had three scheduled interviews that day: the first interview with the chief human resources officer, the second with the chief merchandising officer (CMO), and the last with the chief operating officer (COO). As I walked over to my interview with the COO, I remember thinking about a question the CMO had asked me about “what kind of vehicle I drove.” Little did I know that when I answered that I drove a pickup truck, I had passed an important Wal-Mart cultural test and that, strangely enough, that answer would be a critical component to my successful interview on that Saturday. You see, Sam Walton, the world’s richest man, was known around northwest Arkansas as the billionaire who drove an old red and white 1979 Ford pickup truck. I had passed interview test number one.

At the end of my interview with the COO, I noticed he was looking over my shoulder into the doorway, so naturally I followed his glance and standing in the doorway behind me was an old man wearing coveralls. For just a moment I was under the mistaken impression that this was the janitor who had arrived to pick up the trash that Saturday morning, and then it hit me that this was Sam Walton! I’ll never forget the introduction I got to Sam Walton from the COO in his eloquent southern accent. He said, “Mr. Sam, this is Michael Bergdahl.” Sam Walton looked at me kind of funny and responded quizzically, “Bird Dawg”? For just a moment, I didn’t know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing to be referred to as “Bird Dawg” by Sam Walton. As it turned out, this was good news for me because Sam Walton was a prolific bird hunter who owned several “bird dogs.” By the way, the nickname “Bird Dawg” has stuck with me ever since! In that moment when Mr. Sam referred to me as “Bird Dawg,” I had become instantaneously endeared to the most successful merchant in the history of the world. I had passed interview test number two.