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am Walton was the founder of Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, one of the world's largest general retail chain stores. By 200 , Wal-Mart had o!er "#00 stores worldwide. Born on March 2$, $ % in &ingfisher, '(lahoma to )homas *ibson Walton, a farmer, and +ancy ,ee Walton Sam Walton had a humble beginning. -rom mil(ing the family cow, bottling the sur.lus, and dri!ing it to customers to deli!ering news.a.ers to selling maga/ine subscri.tions Sam Walton did it all to hel. ma(e financial ends meet for his family. Sam Walton was hardwor(ing, highly moti!ated and inno!ati!e he always thought of no!el ways to do things and stri!ed for continuous im.ro!ement. 0t the same time Sam wasn1t afraid to ta(e ris(s when the situation necessary. 2a!id 2ayne *lass, former 3resident and Chief 45ecuti!e 'fficer of Wal-Mart Stores, 6nc. said, 7)wo things about Sam Walton distinguish him from almost e!eryone else 6 (now. -irst, he gets u. e!ery day bound and determined to im.ro!e something. Second, he is less afraid of being wrong than anyone 6'!e e!er (nown8. Sam was an e5cellent team .layer for he belie!ed that 9indi!iduals don1t win, teams do1. Sam understood the dynamics of em.loyee satisfaction better than anyone and fostered commitment in his em.loyees by introducing stoc( o.tions and store discounts. :e also belie!ed in community s.irit and felt that each store should reflect his customer1s !alues and su..ort the !ision they held for their community. Walton's Management Style :is dri!e towards achie!ing goals and his natural ability to lead .eo.le was already a..arent in the early years of his life, for e5am.le in school or later at uni!ersity, where Sam Walton led se!eral student committees. Walton o.ened u. his first store as a franchisee of Ben -ran(lin Stores in $"#. But being a franchisee and therefore ha!ing low entre.reneurial freedom, Walton was not satisfied for long and went to o.en u. his own store, the first ;real8 Wal-Mart, in <ogers, 0r(ansas, =S0 in $>2. :is business conce.t, combining low .rices and great ser!ice, created immediate, but enduring success. Walton always belie!ed in the im.ortance of staying in!ol!ed and controlling the daily business, and therefore initiated se!eral traditions, as it was for e5am.le the introduction of the so-called ;Saturday-morning-meetings8, a meeting where all e5ecuti!es come together once a wee( to discuss all .roblems arising in their de.artments. )his allowed Walton, e!en in a fast-growing com.any, to control the e!ery-day-business on a regular basis, to identify the core .roblems and to ma(e .lans of how to sol!e them. 6t has to be clear that he did not intend to sol!e all .roblems on his own, but rather to delegate the solution to his associates, as all em.loyees are referred to at Wal-Mart, in order to show his confidence and to

encourage them. Walton therefore also .ut em.hasis on the fact that he ne!er wanted his word to be sacred, as he was conscious of ha!ing some wea(nesses, and therefore relied on others where he thought they would do better than him. 0nother way of controlling and directing within the organisation were Sam1s regular !isits in the stores where he intended to both moti!ate and chec( on his associates at the same time. :e lo!ed the o..ortunity to learn about the .roblems ;on the frontline8, and to discuss .otential solutions with the .ersonnel. Many industry obser!ers regard Walton's management style as uni?ue, entre.reneurial, .artici.ati!e and goal-oriented. 0nalysts described him as a hardwor(ing, highly moti!ated and determined .ersonality always willing to ta(e ris(s.

The Current Status Walton had contributed significantly to the growth of the global retailing industry. :e was awarded the '3residential Medal of -reedom,' in March $$2, the highest ci!ilian honor in the =S, by the then 3resident *eorge Bush Sr., for his great community ser!ice initiati!es. Walton remained the 3resident and C4' of WalMart till $%%, and Chairman till his death. :e .assed away in 0.ril $$2, after a .rolonged illness caused by bone cancer. The Criticism )hough Walton was one of the to. businessmen in the =S and worldwide and won many en!iable awards for bringing in the retailing re!olution, he was not s.ared his share of criticism from industry analysts and the media. Walton was critici/ed for ma(ing Wal-Mart a real mono.olist in the retailing industry and ha!ing forced small retailers to close their businesses down. Some of the critics said that WalMart's aggressi!e e5.ansion had brought down em.loyee wages and wor(ing standards in the retailing industry, di!erting millions of dollars from other retailing stores to the com.any, and that it hard-u. small inde.endent retailers and destroyed historical downtowns in small communities. Conclusion 4!en though Sam Walton was a good manager, his real strength was to lead .eo.le effecti!ely. Sam Walton1s .ower and influence on his associates can mainly be identified with ;referent .ower8, resulting from the identification of Wal-Mart em.loyees with their leader. Walton was so committed to his business and so hard-wor(ing that he affected most of his staff with his enthusiasm. 2es.ite the strong identification of his associates with him, Sam Walton em.hasised the im.ortance of team-wor(. :e encouraged .eo.le to hel. each other where they can, as often as .ossible, as long it is for the benefit of their .ersonality or of the com.any. Sam Walton definitely was such a leader, ha!ing those outstanding s(ills which allowed him to ;transform8 his associates. :e always ga!e his .artners high

goals, but moti!ated them and ga!e them the feeling that they really count for him, and therefore his staff were much more willing to wor( hard. <egarding all of Sam Walton1s management and leadershi. one really has to say that he was a successful leader and moti!ator. Questions @ A <ecall the big fi!e .ersonality model and discuss S0M1s 3ersonality )raitsB @2A What is the most significant .ersonality trait of S0M WaltonB @CA 2o you thin( that the criticism that was made on S0M was DustifiedB