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)

Should we shop at Walmart?

I found this book very interesting. It was able to strike a good balance of communicating information but using stories and examples to do it. It doesn't just bash Walmart but is thoughtfully researched and presented. I think many wonder about the impact of a company like Walmart and this helps answer that question. I found I had to answer the question for myself, "Should I shop at Walmart?". The book lets you be the judge. The one negative is that is about a decade old now.

Interesting insight

I never realized before why several family members refuse to shop at Walmart. I also never realized that there really is a "Walmart effect" and it isn't simply a made up tale.

That said, this book is slow in some places. It seems to drone on and on about a few things, but it picks back up again. If it slows, hang in there or skip to the next chapter. Be warned, you will miss valuable insight.

I loved the narrator after I got used to his cadence, it was off putting at first, but after the first five minutes, the story grabbed me and I did not care.

I won't give you spoilers but I will say that I am saddened for the places shut down because of Walmart. My heart breaks for the people who work there and who are forced to work there because there are not that many other options. I am sad that the economy driven world we live in would prefer to save a nickel, knowing that we leave our fellow humans in poverty.

I am not judging, I realize that times are rough, those of us struggling to survive can purchase items more cheaply at Walmart. Just remember, those products are less because the quality is often less. Pay attention to the items that falls apart soon after purchase. Pay attention to the quality, and realize that your item purchased here is likely to be less sturdy than one purchased for a dollar more elsewhere.

The money you save is money leaving someone else's pocket. If you can live with it after reading this book, you have weaker morals than I.

Very balanced

Unlike most books and documentaries on WalMart I found this one very balanced. I especially liked hearing how some items. Most interesting was how much influence Wal Mart has on the production of salmon and other seafood. There was a lot of information that I had never though of before, like the fact that airlines before the 80's would not allow any fish on the planes (due to the worry of melting sea water corroding the equipment).

The narrator was very good and did an excellent job of capturing the mood and theme of each chapter. The only complaint was the afterward tacked on to the epilogue, read horribly by the writer of the book. This second narrator missed the mark with his part. The editing is sketchy which many sentences obviously chopped with awkward pauses and repeating sentences. Even with this flaw it doesnt take away from the book, which I found to be not too long and not too short. It was a pleasant surprise for me.

Very interesting but dated

Insightful, thought provoking, and eye opening to the far reach one company can have in today's world. This is 10 years old now...would be nice to see an update, which is why I only gave this a 3 start rating.

Very good book

I learned a lot .. I would recommend this book

It's not to long nor to short . I have told everyone about the book

Wal-Mart fans rejoice

Interesting overview within the first hour (9 CDs... yipes (9 hours)). I had to do a lot of ffwd after that, as it was very repetitive information. If you are a fan of Wal-Mart or Sam Walton then this book is for you. If you want some interesting insight on what effect the largest company in the world has and could have then "read" the first hour or so. Beyond that it is wayyyy too detailed on store numbers, managers and a dogmatic work ethic.

What did Walmart do to his family?

Very biased view of Walmart and large corporations in general. The author appears to have very little understanding of basic economics. He claims Walmart is a monopoly when it only controls 20 - 30% of the market. The book eventually devolves into a rant against the free market and need for government regulation.

I learned a little and there are a few valid criticisms, but overall this is a very biased rant against Walmart.

Don't waste your credits, I'm headed to Walmart to pick a few things up now!

Meh

it was hard to get through. Seemed to only want to attack Walmart and blame it for the shortcomings of others

Chum for the mindless

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The author does exactly what he started out to do: Ignore the facts and slander WalMart with distortion and sleight of hand. This book will give more fuel to the Wal Mart haters because to them, like the author, facts are irrelevant. To be sure, Wal Mart has made mistakes in how it has treated its employees, sometimes violating labor laws. For that, they should be, and have been, fined and made to work within the confines of the law.But to be hated simply because of their size and perceived influence is just one more bit of evidence how progressives hate the rich and powerful. Unless of course your a rich and powerful liberal (see George Soros).To make this a 4 or 5 star book, the author could have simply reported on the facts without consistently adding negative commentary that really only revealed his pettiness. The author starts the book by revealing a story of a Wal Mart success. Wal Mart was the impetus for deodorant manufacturers ceasing to package their plastic and metal deodorant products inside cardboard boxes. By all accounts, it was a wonderful idea. Less weight when shipping, less waste in landfills, fewer forests cut down to make the boxes. But none of these positives can detract from the fact that the guy who sold the cardboard lost business. This is the theme throuought the book. No matter what positives Wal Mart contributes, the author is not even a glass half empty guy. No, the glass is dry!

Thinly veiled disdain for Wal-Mart

The so called "even-handed" view of Wal-Mart given by the author is nothing more than a thinly veiled call for government regulation of America's largest companies, where Wal-Mart is, in this instance, painted as the leader of this power hungry, out-of-control pack. The early concessions about the good that Wal-Mart does are deliberately and repeatedly "refuted" by the constant reminders about the immense "costs" that Wal-Mart imposes on the world. It is quite clear that the author intended these concessions to make the book only ostensibly "even-handed". By the final chapter, however, this thin veil gives way to a diatribe, which at least honestly expresses the author's feelings, against the growing power of corporations in America and the need for regulation of these corporations. The author supports this rant with his personal, revisionist recount of business in America at the turn of the century when apparently America was nearly overrun by big business until government regulation saved us all.

The "analysis" in this book is a joke, and it wouldn't surpise me if the author had never sat through even one class of micro or macro economics. For anyone who has, it will be quickly apparent that this author has no idea how free markets work. He thinks he does, but doesn't. It's particularly amusing when he starts describing Wal-Mart as a dominant force that cannot be controlled, which is immune to makret forces, acting like some economic blackhole the gravity of which cannot be resisted, but then claims that Wal-Mart is in a state of decline, unable to relate to consumers like Target and Whole Foods does.

Save your money. Buy Economics in One Lesson. Hopefully, the author will.