The Wal-Mart Effect

By: Charles Fishman

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Drawing on unprecedented interviews with former Wal-Mart executives and a wealth of staggering data - such as that Americans spend $36 million an hour at Wal-Mart stores - this is an intimate look at a business that is dramatically reshaping the American economy.

Wal-Mart is not only the world's largest company; it is also the largest company in the history of the world. Though 70 percent of Americans now live within a 15-minute drive of a Wal-Mart store, we have not even begun to understand the true power of the company and the many ways it is shaping American life. We know about the lawsuits and the labor protests, but what we don't know is how profoundly the "Wal-Mart effect" is shaping our lives.

Fast Company senior editor Fishman, whose revelatory cover story on Wal-Mart generated the strongest reader response in the history of the magazine, takes us on an unprecedented behind-the-scenes investigative expedition deep inside the many worlds of Wal-Mart. Fishman penetrated the secrecy of Wal-Mart headquarters, interviewing 25 high-level ex-executives. He journeyed into the world of a host of Wal-Mart's suppliers to uncover how the company strong-arms even the most established brands. And he journeyed to the ports and factories, the fields and forests where Wal-Mart's power is warping the very structure of the world's market for goods.

Wal-Mart is not just a retailer anymore, Fishman argues. It has become a kind of economic ecosystem, and anyone who wants to understand the forces shaping our world today must understand the company's hidden reach.

©2006 Charles Fishman (P)2006 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"In the end, Fishman sees Wal-Mart as neither good nor evil, but simply a fact of modern life that can barely be comprehended, let alone controlled." (Publishers Weekly)
"He brings to light the serious repercussions that are occurring as consumers and suppliers have become locked in an addiction to massive sales of cheaper and cheaper goods." (Booklist)

Great book

Enlightening and balanced, was able to gain a great understanding of this operation.

Exactly what I wanted.

Bravo

Good Reporting

It was interesting to have my suspicions confirmed, that quality and variety in many many consumer goods have gone out the window in order to yield to low cost. I don't even shop at Walmart but see the result of its fingerprints on consumer goods everywhere. Its a shame. The book could have been a little more concise. I got the point over and over.

Make you an offer a vendor can't refuse

Paints the picture of the behemoth Walmart bossing its partners around to constantly cut prices while it kills the job market in new locations it enters. The stat of a new Walmart creating a net of 30 new jobs after 5 years was astounding. Vendors being strong armed t cut prices or get cut off sounded like a mob boss mentality.

Bass heavy voice

Interesting book. Sort of outdated now, but you can probably fill in the post 2008 blanks. Narrator's voice is too deep for my headphones.

Must Read for all Serious Students of Business

In the last quarter of the 20th century there were 2 larger than life business stories. One was Microsoft and the other was WallMart. The fact that they used almost opposite strategies for almost everything is fascinating. In the end the similarities seem no deeper then that they both developed some degree of monopoly power and both were unsure how to use that power. Also both are polarizing companies.

As a business practitioner, the book also contains some very useful examples of the death sentence that the market place will imposed on you if you chase every possible sales with no clear strategy.

Interesting but dated

I am glad that I listened to the book but had I known that it was written 10 years ago I would never have selected it. Many of the same issues are present today and it did provide a framework to look at the Walmart of today. I would not recommend it.

An actual fair and balanced, fact-based view

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I downloaded this book - another bashing of the largest corporation in the world, or a love fest. What I got from this read was a real world look at what Wal-Mart has done that's good, bad, and really scary from the standpoint of how many people are afraid to speak about their Wal-Mart experience from a supplier point of view. I definitely recommend this book to people who are interested in finding out how consumerism is changing the American landscape and things you might want to change about how you purchase goods and services.

Intriguing

As the summary of the book states, it's a rare look into the secretive workings of the world's largest retailer. If you've ever shopped at Wal-Mart, as you undoubtedly have, this book is a must. It tells the story of the store's humble beginnings to it's present day effect over global economy, for better or worse.

Not what you expect

This was an amazingly even handed view of the effect of Walmart on the world. Dispells many myths and misconceptions. Provides a very fair over view of the effect of Walmart on neighborhoods, people, prices and international business. I would have given it 5 stars, but the last chapter was surprisingly stilted as it recounts the personal tales of ex-employees who lost their jobs because Walmart came into town. Surprising as it builds the case that jobs, overall, are NOT lost when Walmart comes to town. Otherwise a very interesting read if you are at all interested in business.

Excellent, Balanced View

I'd read the article Fishman wrote in Wired a couple years back, so I was interested to learn more. The book was a nice, balanced look into what makes Wal-Mart tick, and some of the repercussions of their single minded drive to lower prices. While I was interested in the subject, I'm more of a fiction book reader, so I wasn't sure if I'd stick with a long non fiction book on business. Surprisingly, it went by fairly quickly, kept my interest the whole time.
If you're a Wal-Mart hater, you'll find ammunition in there, especially with regards to cheap salmon and gallon jars of Vlasic pickles. If you're a hard core capitalist, you'll appreaciate the fact that shopping at Wal-Mart saves many, many families a good deal of money due to their focus on lowered prices.

By chance, I listened to this soon after after re-reading "Atlas Shrugged". It made for some interesting mental comparisons.