Wal-Mart: The Face of Twenty-First-Century Capitalism

An indispensable introduction to the company that will define the twenty-first century economy.

Edited by one of the nation's preeminent labor historians, this book marks an ambitious effort to dissect the full extent of Wal-Mart's business operations, its social effects, and its role in the U.S. and world economy. Wal-Mart is based on a spring 2004 conference of leading historians, business analysts, sociologists, and labor leaders that immediately attracted the attention of the national media, drawing profiles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the New York Review of Books, Their contributions are adapted here for a general audience.

At the end of the nineteenth century the Pennsylvania Railroad declared itself the standard of the world. In more recent years, IBM and then Microsoft seemed the template for a new, global information economy. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Wal-Mart has overtaken all rivals as the world-transforming economic institution of our time.

Presented in an accessible format and extensively illustrated with charts and graphs, Wal-Mart examines such topics as the giant retailer's managerial culture, revolutionary use of technological innovation, and controversial pay and promotional practices to provide the most complete guide yet available to America's largest company.

"Culled from an April 2004 conference on Wal-Mart at the University of California, Santa Barbara, these essays can be redundant, but they offer stimulating perspectives on the world's largest corporation. The rise of Wal-Mart, declares editor Lichtenstein (Walter Reuther), has been abetted by a 'southernized, deunionized, post — New Deal America,' a business culture in which labor costs can be squeezed, even as a company promotes loyalty via 'faux classlessness.' Several chapters place these phenomena in context: describing how Wal-Mart represents both an extension of and a quantum leap from previous retail giants and how it places unprecedented price pressure on its suppliers. Wal-Mart saves consumers money, the contributors argue, but only by externalizing many social and economic costs, including benefits for its workers. One provocative chapter, based on anonymous worker sources, describes a workplace atmosphere of relentless stress and understaffing. Some interesting tidbits: Wal-Mart hit a wall trying to expand in Mexico and never gained traction in Germany, in both cases because of the countries' different socioeconomic structures. A final chapter, by a union organizer, proposes a 'Wal-Mart Workers Association' for this infamously antiunion company. The association would gain 13,000 members if only 1% of the Wal-Mart workforce joined." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Edited by one of the nation's preeminent labor historians, this book marks an ambitious effort to dissent the full extent of War-Mart's business operations, its social effects, and its role in the U.S. and world economy.

- In March 2003, Fortune ranked Wal-Mart as America's most admired and largest company

- In 2003, Wal-Mart made $256 billion in sales

- Wal-Mart is visited by over 20 million people each day nation wide

- Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in Mexico

- If Wal-Mart were a country, it would be China's eight-largest trading partner