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In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and Wal-Mart, the World's Most Powerful Retailer
Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world, the biggest private-sector employer in North America, and one of the most dominant and influential corporations anywhere. But until now, no journalist has thoroughly investigated all of the company's controversial practices and told the true, unvarnished story of founder Sam Walton's life and his particular genius. In Sam We Trust is Bob Ortega's illuminating and authoritative account of the world's biggest and most powerful store, and of how Walton's way of thinking is transforming America's business practices, workplaces, and communities.
Sam Walton built the greatest retail empire in history by steadfastly holding true to his vision of making profits by bringing low prices to the masses. A flinty workaholic obsessed with his stores at the expense of his personal life, Walton developed a ruthlessly efficient strategy that enabled Wal-Mart to surpass Sears, outsmart Kmart, and crush small-town mom-and-pop stores. He revolutionized retailing by creating innovative information and distribution systems that were years ahead of the competition.
By encouraging employees to become shareholders in his company, and through the sheer force of his charismatic personality, Walton created a corporate culture unlike any other. So complete was Walton's power over employees that even when he threatened to shut down stores or fire workers to keep unions out, he could win people's trust with promises to treat them better. Wal-Mart workers still pledge to work harder and better by uttering the phrase "So help me Sam."
Meanwhile, back on Main Street, Wal-Mart's unmatched success has raised troubling questions about the company's impact on communities and its treatment of workers. Activists have been waging increasingly impassioned campaigns to keep the colossus from invading towns and suburbs and threatening local businesses. Thousands of miles away, some of Wal-Mart's suppliers have been caught using child labor, and pitchwoman Kathie Lee Gifford has become embroiled in a national controversy over her line of clothing.
Bob Ortega, a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter who has covered Wal-Mart more extensively than perhaps any other writer, has investigated Wal-Mart and the way it does business. He shows how the company's relentless bottom-line mentality has been both a boon and a bane to workers and their communities. In this balanced and thorough work of business history, Bob Ortega tells a remarkable success story that illustrates the glory as well as the underbelly of American capitalism. Ultimately, In Sam We Trust raises important questions about the social responsibility of America's most powerful corporations.
Sam Walton built the greatest retail empire in history by steadfastly holding true to his vision of making profits by bringing low prices to the masses. A flinty workaholic obsessed with his stores at the expense of his personal life, Walton developed a ruthlessly efficient strategy that enabled Wal-Mart to surpass Sears, outsmart Kmart, and crush small-town mom-and-pop stores. He revolutionized retailing by creating innovative information and distribution systems that were years ahead of the competition.
By encouraging employees to become shareholders in his company, and through the sheer force of his charismatic personality, Walton created a corporate culture unlike any other. So complete was Walton's power over employees that even when he threatened to shut down stores or fire workers to keep unions out, he could win people's trust with promises to treat them better. Wal-Mart workers still pledge to work harder and better by uttering the phrase "So help me Sam."
Meanwhile, back on Main Street, Wal-Mart's unmatched success has raised troubling questions about the company's impact on communities and its treatment of workers. Activists have been waging increasingly impassioned campaigns to keep the colossus from invading towns and suburbs and threatening local businesses. Thousands of miles away, some of Wal-Mart's suppliers have been caught using child labor, and pitchwoman Kathie Lee Gifford has become embroiled in a national controversy over her line of clothing.
Bob Ortega, a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter who has covered Wal-Mart more extensively than perhaps any other writer, has investigated Wal-Mart and the way it does business. He shows how the company's relentless bottom-line mentality has been both a boon and a bane to workers and their communities. In this balanced and thorough work of business history, Bob Ortega tells a remarkable success story that illustrates the glory as well as the underbelly of American capitalism. Ultimately, In Sam We Trust raises important questions about the social responsibility of America's most powerful corporations.
413 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 22, 2008
A truly informative novel coming across with facts and truths that can marvel the mind. An enlightening book, which shows the truth without pushing you to believe one thing or another, and lets you decide for yourself what you think instead of pushing the author's thoughts on you as if it were the only way to think. I really loved this book.
September 16, 2008
I just finished reading Nickel and Dimed, and it reminded me about this book. Ortega's narrative, especially his explanation of how Walmart pretty much forced U.S. manufacturers to go oversees by pressuring them to lower their costs, has left an imprint on me. He also explores the Sam Walton deity-ifcation and the myth Walmart once created about only selling American made goods.
November 18, 2013
If you can't live without Wal-Mart, this is a must read!! If you despise, abhor and loathe Wal-Mart, this is a must read!! Regardless on how you now feel about the store, you will be appalled at how they treat their employees and vendors. Sam Walton was not a good man.
August 25, 2023
Well, this was depressing.
June 17, 2018
An in depth and detailed look at the worlds biggest retail company. Ortega does into amazing detail about the history of many people's lives as well as other related companies and organizations, giving more of a complete understanding of the retail industry in general.
October 1, 2011
A biography of WalMart, but in many ways also of corporate America. It shows some truly despicalbe practices that WalMart employs in order to bring us the cheapest product, but we're still buying, aren't we?
August 1, 2007
A book that makes you angry as you read it and will change your shopping habits... but at the same time, you'll leave In Sam We Trust feeling a small amount of admiration for Sam Walton.
February 8, 2011
Cautionary tale exposing Wallmart's evils and the compartmentalized christianity of Sam Walton
February 7, 2013
This is the BEST book I have ever read...Simply Inspirational....
Read
November 2, 2013Excellent.
May 4, 2017
A serious, thorough, warts-and-all look at Wal-Mart and its founder Sam Walton. The early part of the book feels like a crash course in retail. I really enjoyed reading about early pioneers like James Cash Penney and Montgomery Ward. It was also amusing to learn how the seeds of failure were planted decades ago by K-Mart and Sears.
Wal-Mart is a leviathan today because Sam Walton made the right choices back in the 1950s and 1960s when his company was very small. It wasn't that he was a genius necessarily, but his need to constantly drive down costs and embrace innovations wherever possible paid off in the long run.
Today Wal-Mart is the biggest employer in the US and the world leader in revenue - sitting at number one on the Fortune 500 list. This book makes an interesting case study: Is Wal-Mart good for America? Even with all their success, does society benefit? Their employees are often paid poverty level wages. Overseas suppliers have frequently employed sweatshop and child labor. Communities can see as much as 75 percent of existing retail business wither and die once Wal-Mart rolls into town. At the same time Wal-Mart often hoodwinks those same communities into giving them tax abatements and TIF deals that erode the tax base. Is the price of a cheap package of socks really worth the cost that Wal-Mart imposes on our society? I would encourage you to read this book and develop an informed opinion yourself.
Wal-Mart is a leviathan today because Sam Walton made the right choices back in the 1950s and 1960s when his company was very small. It wasn't that he was a genius necessarily, but his need to constantly drive down costs and embrace innovations wherever possible paid off in the long run.
Today Wal-Mart is the biggest employer in the US and the world leader in revenue - sitting at number one on the Fortune 500 list. This book makes an interesting case study: Is Wal-Mart good for America? Even with all their success, does society benefit? Their employees are often paid poverty level wages. Overseas suppliers have frequently employed sweatshop and child labor. Communities can see as much as 75 percent of existing retail business wither and die once Wal-Mart rolls into town. At the same time Wal-Mart often hoodwinks those same communities into giving them tax abatements and TIF deals that erode the tax base. Is the price of a cheap package of socks really worth the cost that Wal-Mart imposes on our society? I would encourage you to read this book and develop an informed opinion yourself.
January 30, 2019
Very well researched and written. Great history of US retail
June 15, 2024
Bob Ortega does not like Sam Walton as much as I do. He ascribes the changes in America's food distribution system and all its negative repercussions as being the result of Sam's business model. This is a heavy burden to put on poor Sam's shoulders.
I do not mean to confuse anybody Using poor as an adjective to describe Sam Walton is certainly a misuse of the English language. He was the richest man in the world some of the time he was alive. (Maybe Bob Ortega felt that he was too greedy and acquisitive.)
I do not mean to confuse anybody Using poor as an adjective to describe Sam Walton is certainly a misuse of the English language. He was the richest man in the world some of the time he was alive. (Maybe Bob Ortega felt that he was too greedy and acquisitive.)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews