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Paperback
Publisher: Wiley
Praise for WHAT I LEARNED FROM SAM WALTON
"Michael Bergdahl's book presents unique insights into the staggering international success of Wal-Mart. Throughout the pages of this book, you can almost hear Sam Walton himself coaching and inspiring his legion of employees to greatness."
-Tracy Mullin, President and CEO, National Retail Federation
"Retailers, non-retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers will enjoy Bergdahl's insights into Wal-Mart's service culture and its leadership icon, Sam Walton."
-Roger J. Dow, Senior Vice President Global and Field SalesMarriott International, Inc.
Bergdahl outlines his competitive strategy with the acronym P.O.C.K.E.T.S.
P-Price: Don't try to compete on price; differentiate your product selection.
O-Operations: Break the retail "ready, shoot, aim" tactical orientation bydeveloping an actual strategy to compete.
C-Culture: Build a can-do culture with a strong sense of urgency. Communicate your values and beliefs over and over again to your employees.
K-Key Item Promotion/Product: Determine who you are and uniformly communicate your brand message to your entire team.
E-Expenses: Become obsessed about controlling costs.
T-Talent: Recruit constantly and hire people who have both experience and high potential.
S-Service: Never take your customer for granted. Empower your employees to make decisions involving customer concerns.
| Customer Reviews: |
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| What I learned from Michael Bergdahl |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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I have recently only been exposed to the WalMart phenomenon - I know, what rock have I been under - so I've been looking them up all over. This is one of the 4 books I have read and it gave me a good understanding of the strategies involved in running the behemoth.
I have been in awe of every single strategy implemented and of course this is no surprise. They have executed every aspect of their business flawlessly.
Michael goes through Walmart's POCKETS:
Pricing Strategy
Operational Strategy
Cultural Strategy
Key Item/ Product Strategy
Expense Control Strategy
Talent Strategy
Service Strategy
He discusses each strategy with relative depth and explains Walmart's competivite advantage in its execution. Overall a very informative book, I definitely recommend it for people going against Walmart or anyone trying to understand Walmart's success.
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| The lazy deserve to go out of business. That's capitalism. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I've lived in small towns in fear of a new Walmart with business owners trying to bully the city council to block Walmart. I've never been sympathetic. The small-town stores were often places you visited because there was no choice but they were unfriendly, unhelpful, untidy, and the stock was stagnant.
This is a riveting book about Walmart's management strategies but also a comprehensive to do list of how to compete with Walmart... what they cannot do and how you can carve out a niche and complement the store.
The chapters are well organized and end with a 2-page checklist summary. Very helpful.
I prefer my nearby smaller grocery store (quiet, plays classical music), but next time I visit a Walmart, I'll have a fresh appreciation for what they do differently.
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| Very helpful |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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It's an inside about the largest retailer in the world. In my opinion it's a very accurate picture not only of the operations, but also of the company's spirit. The description is far more accurate because M. Bergdahl is an outsider that knows other companies as well.
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| Not a MUST Read , but a GOOD Read |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Yup, I realize people would say , oh yeezz npt another Walmart book. !!! But the catchy part of this books overall emphasis is the subtitle : `How to compete and thrive in a Walmart world'.
It's a really easy read book, all of just around 225 pages and has neatly divided the book as follws : POCKETS
· Introduction
· Chapter 1 : Pricing strategies and Tactics
· Chapter 2 : Operational Strategies and Tactics
· Chapter 3 : Cultural Strategies and Tactics
· Chapter 4 : Key Item/Product Strategies and Tactics
· Chapter 5 : Expense Control Strategies and Tactics
· Chapter 6 : Talent Strategies and Tactics
· Chapter 7 : Service Strategies and Tactic
· Conclusion
Though the book is an easy read, the author does tend to go round and round once in a while and could have really saved 50-75 odd pages. But manages to keep the reader alive by using his personal experiences and those of others with Walmart .
http://www.bloglines.com/blog/PrashantP
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| Stuart Trier's Review Of What I learned from Sam Walton |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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ANYONE in retail can benefit from reading this book. These days, any business other than Wal-Mart, is viewed as a "small business". This book provides detailed strategies and tactics for gaining the edge on the competition--no matter who that competition is. Heck, the forms in the Appendix are worth the price of the book! Bergdahl's style is well researched and is filled with first-hand experiences from the retail giant from Bentonville, Arkansas.
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