Wal-Mart: The Face of Twenty-First-Century CapitalismNelson Lichtenstein A collection of essays that "do an incredible job of balancing the wonders and horrors of the force that is Wal-Mart " ( Booklist , starred review). Edited by one of the nation's preeminent labor historians, this book marks an ambitious effort to dissect the full extent of Wal-Mart's business operations, its social effects, and its role in the United States and world economy. Wal-Mart is based on a spring 2004 conference of leading historians, business analysts, sociologists, and labor leaders that immediately attracted the attention of the national media, drawing profiles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the New York Review of Books. Their contributions are adapted here for a general audience. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad declared itself "the standard of the world." In more recent years, IBM and then Microsoft seemed the template for a new, global information economy. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Wal-Mart had overtaken all rivals as the world-transforming economic institution of our time. Presented in an accessible format and extensively illustrated with charts and graphs, Wal-Mart examines such topics as the giant retailer's managerial culture, revolutionary use of technological innovation, and controversial pay and promotional practices to provide the most complete guide yet available to one of America's largest companies. "Like archaeologists who pick over artifacts to understand an ancient society, the scholars here [are] examining Wal-Mart for insights into the very nature of American capitalist culture." — The New York Times "Stimulating perspectives on the world's largest corporation." — Publishers Weekly |
Contents
A Global Corporation | 105 |
Working at WalMart | 211 |
WalMart Labor Control and the History of the Postwar Discount Retail Industry in America | 213 |
The Dukes v WalMart Stores Inc ClassAction Suit | 231 |
11 How to Squeeze More out of a Penny | 243 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
American antichain Arkansas bargaining Bentonville big-box big-box stores brands buying California capital century chain stores China Comercial Mexicana company's competition competitors consumer corporate Costco culture customers department stores discount store distribution centers early economic efficiency employment factory firms Fordist grocery growth hourly impact important increase International JCPenney Kmart largest Liza Featherstone LOGISTICS REVOLUTION major managerial manufacturers Mart merchandise million MISHA PETROVIC Nelson Lichtenstein NOTES TO PAGES operations organizing Ozarks percent PETROVIC AND GARY policies political ports profit regional Report retail retail industry Sam Walton Sam's Club Sears sector sell social squeeze store manager strategy sumers supercenters supermarket suppliers supply chain SUSAN STRASSER thousand tion trade turnover U.S. Steel union United University Press urban WADE RATHKE wages WAL-MART EFFECT Wal-Mart employees Wal-Mart Stores WAL-MART WORKERS ASSOCIATION Walton wholesalers women Woolco Woolworth workforce York