Analysis of a business leader: Sam Walton - Research Paper Example

Sam Walton was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma to farmer Thomas Gibson Walton and wife Nancy Lee Walton. When the farm stopped providing enough income for his family to live, his father had to move to Missouri to earn a living as a mortgage banker, his previous profession. Sam Walton was a son of the depression era, so life was not particularly easy for him during his childhood and adolescence. Since his family was looking always looking to save money in order to survive, along with his academic studies, Walton had to milk cows, deliver milk and newspapers to the people in the neighborhood.

Walton went to the University of Missouri to pursuit higher education in order to help better provide himself and his family. Throughout, Sam had to work odd jobs in order to help feed himself and during that time also became an officer of the ROTC. In 1942, Walton joined the armed forces with the Intelligence Corps, during World War II, and eventually earning his rank as a captain (Woopidoo). Sam Walton was the founder of Wal-Mart; one of the true leaders and revolutionary pioneers of the global retailing industry.

Sam Walton’s business ingenuity, vision and evolutionary trendsetting philosophy drove Wal-Mart Inc. to become the global leader in the retailing industry. With over 7,800 retail establishments, with more than 2 million associates, and serving more than 100 million customers per year Wal-Mart has become the de facto standard to which other retailer’s measure up to (Walmartstores). Between Wal-Mart’s and Sam’s Club membership warehouses, Wal-Mart Inc. has stores in 16 international marketplaces where they continually strive for continuous growth while striving to uphold their operational philosophy.

The company has soared above and beyond the competition in terms of innovation, strategic planning and evolutionary growth, which has placed Wal-Mart at the forefront of the global retailing market. When Sam left