Wal-Mart Opens First Store in Beijing

Yes, Henry Ford paid $5 a day, which was $2 a day more than the prevailing wage of $3 a day. He required that employees own no vehicle other than a Ford. An employee would be dismissed on the spot were he caught driving his, say, brother-in-law's Chevrolet. He was anti-Semitic and once said that he, unlike J.P. Morgan, would not give a "nickel for all the art in the world." Eccentric, he was, and, yes, he was a Democrat too.

Wal-Mart is so odd of a company: it caters to the "little guy" and employes the "little guy" for "little guy" wages. That's what I was trying to say. I know that retail is a low-paying industry.

Wal-Mart is so odd of a company: it caters to the "little guy" and employes the "little guy" for "little guy" wages. That's what I was trying to say. I know that retail is a low-paying industry.

Again, you criticize Wal-Mart for paying competitive wages. I do not understand. Why are you not likewise criticizing Target, K-Mart and all the other retailers in the industry? After all, they pay about the same wages. Why is Wal-Mart being held to a different standard? Why should they be expected to pay more than the going rate for their labor?

I would also like to mention that when people criticize Wal-Marts wages, they are always referring to unskilled entry-level help and they always leave out of the equation the more highly compensated skilled positions that many of the rank-and-file workers eventually work their way up to. Did you know that the typical manager of a Wal-Mart makes well into six figures? And did you also know that virtually every Wal-Mart manager was a rank-and-file worker at one time? Wal-Mart is a big believer in promoting from within. They don't hire kids out of college to run their stores for them. They develop their managers from their own ranks and they pay them very well.

No, I did not know that. How long do you suppose a typical manager at W-M works there before being promoted to the high-paying positions?

Well, I imagine that would vary upon the individual. Some are probably ready sooner than others. Another thing you might not be aware of, Wal-Mart checked their growth during the 1980s because they were running short of managers to run their stores. This was described in the book "The Wal-Mart Decade" (can't think of the author but he's the same guy who wrote a book on GM). Wal-Mart actually decided to slow their growth until they could develop enough quality managers. Sam Walton did not believe in opening a store unless he could staff it right off the bat with good quality managers.

As one who worked my way up to management from the rank-and-file myself (not in retail but in service), I can tell you that corporations are starved for employees who are "management" material. Those who are suited for it rise through the ranks pretty quickly.

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