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Life at Wal-Mart

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Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#11

Post by icey »

ph0rque wrote: post #2

Some of the things described in this article shows that wal-mart is implementing lean mfg ideas (or lean retail, rather).

You point out something that is incredibly interesting. Walmart is a juggernaut of capitalism, but all we generally hear about is how evil they are.

I bet they have some business practices that are worth learning about, other than the oft-heard about exploitation of their workers.

As an aside, I've known a few people who have worked at Walmart and they preferred it to a lot of jobs they'd held previously.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#12

Post by Mistone »

Its so annoying to me that many people (esp in Bay Area) loath Wal-Mart, and then turn around and gush over how cheap they got this or that crappy chinese made product for at Target.

Both are massive big box retailers, both threaten smaller businesses by discounts and volume. Both pay their employees entry level low wages.

Target def has better marketing and gives money to school. But that hardly accounts for the difference in opinions people hold for the two companies. Its nice to see some other opinions about these companies.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#13

Post by aaronblohowiak »

TimothyFitz wrote: post #10

I was really surprised to read that every employee had access to profit margin data. Kudos to Wal-Mart for a level of decentralization and transparency many startups and high tech companies don't even achieve!

Please elaborate on what you mean by decentralization.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#15

Post by kaens »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #8
wallflower wrote: post #3

Adam Shepard is mentioned casually at the end. Adam voluntarily placed himself in a homeless shelter and 'made' it out. Old and good thread about Adam Shepard: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=116079

Of course. If you're not a felon, you're not a drug addict, and you're in good health, escaping a homeless shelter is pretty easy. [1] There are people (some of whom are my friends) who have full-time jobs trying to help people get out! [2] And there are a lot of incentives to leave. Nobody enjoys the homeless-shelter experience. Almost all of the people who are chronic residents of homeless shelters have health prob…

Another point about homeless shelters is that it is only a small percentage of the homeless that stayed in them.

I know that when I was homeless, I stayed away from homeless shelters for the vast majority of my time in any city, except for when I was entirely new to the city. I opted for staying in abandoned places and couch-surfing, as staying in the shelters is really hit-and-miss. Your few (and important) possessions are not safe,they often try to shove religion down your throat, and a lot of the people staying at the shelter are the mentally-unstable type of homeless.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#16

Post by thesethings »

Mistone wrote: post #12

Its so annoying to me that many people (esp in Bay Area) loath Wal-Mart, and then turn around and gush over how cheap they got this or that crappy chinese made product for at Target. Both are massive big box retailers, both threaten smaller businesses by discounts and volume. Both pay their employees entry level low wages. Target def has better marketing and gives money to school. But that hardly accounts for the dif…

Agreed. And I'd say this thing about WalMart is better: I think there is more of a path at WalMart for people moving from the floor, to management, to corporate. Target doesn't seem to intend any floor jobs to lead to anything. They seem to court part-time people, be it part-time students, senior citizens, etc.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#17

Post by ConradHex »

Mistone wrote: post #12

Its so annoying to me that many people (esp in Bay Area) loath Wal-Mart, and then turn around and gush over how cheap they got this or that crappy chinese made product for at Target. Both are massive big box retailers, both threaten smaller businesses by discounts and volume. Both pay their employees entry level low wages. Target def has better marketing and gives money to school. But that hardly accounts for the dif…

I prefer products from Target over Walmart because they tend to be better designed and higher quality. Walmart is great when you want something really cheap, though, and quality isn't really a concern.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#18

Post by uberc »

While this is just one data point, it is refreshing to see a business journalist actually reporting based on first-hand experience.

I can speak from personal experience in a newsroom that surprisingly few business journalists have ever actually worked in business in any form.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#19

Post by kqr2 »

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #13
TimothyFitz wrote: post #10

I was really surprised to read that every employee had access to profit margin data. Kudos to Wal-Mart for a level of decentralization and transparency many startups and high tech companies don't even achieve!

Please elaborate on what you mean by decentralization.

I guess he means that Walmart floor employees can place products to maximize their local profit margin since they know what sells well at their store.

Re: Life at Wal-Mart

#20

Post by smokey_the_bear »

ConradHex wrote: post #17
Mistone wrote: post #12

Its so annoying to me that many people (esp in Bay Area) loath Wal-Mart, and then turn around and gush over how cheap they got this or that crappy chinese made product for at Target. Both are massive big box retailers, both threaten smaller businesses by discounts and volume. Both pay their employees entry level low wages. Target def has better marketing and gives money to school. But that hardly accounts for the dif…

I prefer products from Target over Walmart because they tend to be better designed and higher quality. Walmart is great when you want something really cheap, though, and quality isn't really a concern.

Seems more like Target has better looking products, especially home decor stuff, but it breaks just as much. Walmart has stuff of fine quality if you don't buy the absolute cheapest coffeemaker they sell.
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