Samuel Moore Walton

塞缪尔·摩尔·沃尔顿

塞缪尔·摩尔·沃尔顿

相信上帝，信任员工，热衷于零售业

他对顾客服务的热情、对上帝的信仰以及与员工分享成功的愿望，驱使山姆·沃尔顿 (Sam Walton) 成为他那一代最成功的零售商。

山姆·沃尔顿 (Sam Walton) 于1918年3月29日出生在俄克拉荷马州的Kingfisher。他先在零售业管理工作多年后于1962年开设了第一家沃尔玛。在接下来的30年里，这家折扣连锁店迅速扩张到国际市场，直到2010年成为全球最大的公司。

沃尔顿从担任密苏里大学Burall圣经班的主席以及斯蒂芬斯学院的日子起，就形成了一套价值观和信仰体系，这影响了他余下的一生。有一位作家将山姆·沃尔顿形容为既有菲尼亚斯·泰勒·巴纳姆的一面，又有布道家葛培理牧师的一面，作为一个公众人物，他把自己的信仰融入到了建立这个巨型折扣零售商中。

山姆·沃尔顿凭借一个简单而又开创性的计划，削减所有多余成本并降价销售，将沃尔玛帝国打造成了排名第一的零售商。每当他认为某件事情很重要时，他会将自己的智慧凝练成一句话。

"只有一个老板 - 顾客。他可以通过在其他地方花钱，来解雇公司从董事长到下属所有人。" - 山姆·沃尔顿

约翰·休伊 (John Huey) 于 1998 年为《时代》杂志 (Time Magazine) 撰写了一篇文章，阐述了沃尔顿真正取得的成就。 以下是一些摘录：

“虽然今天让人很难相信，但折扣零售在刚开始时是一个备受争议的概念。传统零售商和制造商都憎恨它，因为它碰了他们的蛋糕，威胁到了他们对市场的控制。大多数州对这种做法都有限制。

沃尔顿是一个积极学习零售业的学生 - 所有家庭度假都会去参观商店 - 因此沃尔顿看到了未来的发展趋势。1962年7月2日，他在44岁时，在阿肯色州的罗杰斯开了第一家沃尔玛。一旦致力于折扣销售，沃尔顿便开始了一场持续了他余生的斗争：无论什么成本例如 - 在门店、制造商或中间商的利润率 - 他都要将成本从商品销售系统中削减出去，以推动价格持续走低，且一降再降。

使用这种方式，将利润降至最低，对于沃尔玛来说，增加销售额是至关重要的。当然，沃尔顿也做到了这一点，并走遍各地开设商店，只要看到机会就会上路。他会乘坐低空飞行的飞机飞越城镇，研究地形。当他在几个小城镇之间找到了合适的交叉路口时，他会着陆，在那个交叉路口购买一块农田，并建立另一家沃尔玛商店，他的士兵们就能像铺地毯一样铺开。

随着连锁店的快速发展，沃尔顿进行了重大调整来管理增长 - 他总是看起来好像能够预见未来。早在1966年，当他拥有20家商店时，他就就读了纽约州北部的一个IBM学校。他的目标是聘请班上最聪明的人来到阿肯色州本顿维尔，是他可以对运营进行计算机化。他意识到，如果不通过计算机化商品控制，他将无法以他期望的速度增长。尽管人们很少这样记得他，但沃尔顿可能是第一个真正的信息时代的CEO。”

1992年3月17日，美国总统乔治·布什为沃尔顿颁发了“自由勋章”，以表彰他在创业精神和他对沃尔玛员工和社区的支持。这将也是他最后一个成就。因为不久沃尔顿入住阿肯色大学医院，在他74岁生日后第六天与世长辞。

沃尔顿是一位热衷于狩猎和户外活动的人，直到去世一直都是保持着谦卑的形象。他的首选车辆是一辆红色的1985年款的福特皮卡车。从1959年开始，他与妻子海伦一起住在同一个房子里一直在阿肯色州的本顿维尔。

“当我被回忆起的时候希望是一个好朋友的样子……这很重要。我对我们公司的人有着如此浓厚的感情，他们对我意义非凡。” - 山姆·沃尔顿。

来源：http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.com/2018/01/sabbath-belief-in-god-faith-in.html


讨论问题：

Belief in God, Faith in Associates, A Passion for Retail, Samuel Moore Walton

His Passion for Serving Customers, His Faith in God and His Desire to Share Success with Associates Drove Sam Walton to Become the Most Successful Retailer of His Generation.

Sam Walton was born March 29, 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He opened the first Wal-Mart in 1962, after several years in the retail management business. The discount chain expanded internationally over the next 30 years, growing into the world's largest company by 2010. 

From his days as president of the Burall Bible Class at the University of Missouri and Stephens College Walton developed values and a system of beliefs that would influence the rest of his life. One writer characterized Sam Walton as part P. T. Barnum and part Billy Graham as applied showman and his beliefs to building the giant discount retailer.

Sam Walton built the Wal-Mart empire into the number one retailer on a simple, but groundbreaking plan, cut all excess costs and sell low. Walton reduced his wisdom to words whenever something struck him as important.

"There is only one boss - the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." -Sam Walton

John Huey wrote an article for Time Magazine in 1998 that grasped what Walton had really accomplished. Here are some excerpts: 

"Though it's hard to believe today, discount retailing was a controversial concept when it began. Traditional retailers hated it, and so did manufacturers; it threatened their control of the marketplace. Most states had restrictions on the practice. 

Walton was an active student of retailing--all family vacations included store visits--so Walton saw what was coming. On July 2, 1962, at the age of 44, he opened his first Wal-Mart store, in Rogers, Ark. Once committed to discounting, Walton began a crusade that lasted the rest of his life: to drive costs out of the merchandising system wherever they lay--in the stores, in the manufacturers' profit margins and with the middleman--all in the service of driving prices down, down, down.

Using that formula, which cut his margins to the bone, it was imperative that Wal-Mart grow sales at a relentless pace. It did, of course, and Walton hit the road to open stores wherever he saw opportunity. He would buzz towns in his low-flying airplane studying the lay of the land. When he had triangulated the proper intersection between a few small towns, he would touch down, buy a piece of farmland at that intersection and order up another Wal-Mart store, which his troops could roll out like a rug.

As the chain began to take off, Walton made major adjustments to manage the growth--again always seeming to see ahead. As early as 1966, when he had 20 stores, he attended an IBM school in upstate New York. His goal: to hire the smartest guy in the class to come down to Bentonville, Ark., and computerize his operations. He realized that he could not grow at the pace he desired without computerizing merchandise controls. Though he is rarely remembered that way, Walton may have been the first true information-age CEO."

On March 17, 1992, President George Bush presented Walton with the Medal of Freedom for his entrepreneurial spirit and his support of employees and the communities of Walmart. It would be his last achievement. Walton checked into the University of Arkansas Hospital and passed away six days after his 74th birthday.

Walton was an avid hunter and outdoorsman who maintained his humble image right up until his death. His vehicle of choice was a red 1985 Ford pickup. From 1959 on, he lived in the same house with his wife Helen in Bentonville, Arkansas.

“I would like to be remembered as a good friend ... That’s important. I have such a strong feeling for the folks in our company. They have meant so much to me.” Sam Walton

Source: http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.com/2018/01/sabbath-belief-in-god-faith-in.html

Discussion Questions: