Chapter 9: Building the Partnership Summary and Analysis

Sam credits the success of the business with the relationship that the managers have with their associates. No matter how efficient or advanced their distribution center is or how great their technology might be, the associates are the real key to Wal-Mart's success. It is due to the associates that the company has been able to outperform the competition.

However despite this success, Wal-Mart didn't always treat their employees as well as they should have. In the beginning, Sam was too cheap to pay the associates well, only the managers. It wasn't intentional cruelty, but Sam was too focused on being competitive. He now realizes that the more you give the associates, the more your company will profit from it. The way the management treats its associates is exactly how they will treat their customers...