Company Profiles, Economic History, Retailing, Strategy & Competition, Popular Culture 

Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest company--it is the largest company in the history of the world. It is estimated that the company's low prices save American consumers $10 billion a year--but the #1 employer in 37 states has never let a union in the door. Though 70% of Americans now live within a 15-minute drive of a Wal-Mart, we have not even begun to understand the true power of the company. We know about the lawsuits and the labour protests, but what we don't know is how profoundly the "Wal-Mart effect" is changing our America's economy, our workforce, our communities, and our environment. Journalist Fishman takes us on a behind-the-scenes investigative expedition, interviewing 25 high-level ex-executives and a host of Wal-Mart's suppliers, and journeying to the ports and factories where Wal-Mart's power is warping the very structure of the world's market.--From publisher description. Includes information on Chile, China, economic effects, factory workers, food production, global factories, global outsourcing, lawn mowers, price/pricing, quality of products, salmon farming, shopping, Snapper, supplier/Wal-Mart relationship, Target, Sam Walton, etc. 

Synopsis
Wal-Mart isn’t just the world’s biggest company, it is probably the world’s most written-about. But no book until this one has managed to penetrate its wall of silence or go beyond the usual polemics to analyze its actual effects on its customers, workers, and suppliers. Drawing on unprecedented interviews with former Wal-Mart executives and a wealth of staggering data (e.g., Americans spend $36 million an hour at Wal-Mart stores, and in 2004 its growth alone was bigger than the total revenue of 469 of the Fortune 500), The Wal-Mart Effect is an intimate look at a business that is dramatically reshaping our lives.

About the Author
Charles Fishman is a senior editor at Fast Company. In 2005 he was awarded the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award, the highest award in business journalism, and he had been a finalist for the Loeb in three of the last four years. In 2004 his story about Wal-Mart was given the New York Press Club's award for the best magazine story about business. He has appeared regularly on NPR, CNN, and Fox News

Table of Contents
The Wal-Mart Effect One. Who Knew Shopping Was So Important?
Two. Sam Walton's Ten-Pound Bass

Three. Makin Bacon, A Wal-Mart Fairy Tale

Four. The Squeeze

Five. The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart

Six. What Do We Actually Know About Wal-Mart?

Seven. Salmon, Shirts, and the Meaning of Low Prices

Eight. The Power of Pennies

Nine. Wal-Mart and the Decent Society

Epilogue. Peoria, September 2005

Afterword

Acknowledgments

Source Notes

Index 

Genre/Form: Book
Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: Charles Fishman
ISBN: 1594200769 9781594200762 0143038788 9780143038788
OCLC Number: 62282449
Description: 294 pages ; 25 cm
Contents: Who knew shopping was so important? --
Sam Walton's ten-pound bass --
Makin bacon, a Wal-Mart fairy tale --
The squeeze --
The man who said no to Wal-Mart --
What do we actually know about Wal-Mart? --
Salmon, shirts, and the meaning of low prices --
The power of pennies --
Wal-Mart and the decent society --
Epilogue: Peoria, September 2005.
Other Titles: Walmart effect
Responsibility: Charles Fishman.