Capstone
Wal-Mart

Introduction Wal-Mart Corporation is one of the largest retail stores in the world. They serve customers in meeting their needs with low cost saving items. On October 31, 1962, Wal-Mart was founded and incorporated by Sam Walton in Bentonville, Arkansas. Mr. Walton went into business because he felt that items sold were too high for the average customer to afford. His focus was to sell products at low prices to get higher volume sales at a lower profit margin. He bought bulk products from different suppliers so he could incorporate savings into his pricing to lower cost for customers. Under the savings cost concept, Wal-Mart grew rapidly and surpassed its competitors in sales and generating profits. By 1987 there were 1,198 stores in the United States with sales of $15.9 billion dollars and 200,000 associates (Wal-Mart Corporations, n.d.). In 1988, under the direction of David Glass, (the CEO who proceeded Sam Walton) the first Wal-Mart Supercenter was created. It combined general merchandise with a full-scale supermarket to provide a one-stop shopping convenience for customers. By 1991, Wal-Mart Corps had outperformed its competitors in the market. Surpassing both K-Mart and Sears; Wal-Mart was labeled as the leading retailer in the United States. Currently, Wal-Mart has 10,700 stores in 27 different countries and they are operating globally around the world (Wal-Mart Corporations, n.d.).
Vision, Mission and Stakeholder Influences Overall Success Sam Walton, the founder, envisioned a changed that would provide an opportunity for people to live better. He vision building a line of discount stores that would provide even more value to customers than their competitors. He started with an idea that a successful business could be built around offering lower prices and great service. He believed that true leadership