关注社会:拜访沃尔玛总部

【英文原文】
A visit to Wal-Mart’s home

“Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage.”

That was said, simply enough, by Wal-Mart (WMT) founder Sam Walton. And though today it’s widely known that Wal-Mart is the world’s most efficient retailer, a little-known fact is that for 25 years–long before Wal-Mart became America’s largest retailer–it ranked No. 1 in its industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales.

Efficiency runs in the water here in Bentonville, Arkansas, where I’ve spent the past 36 hours. I hadn’t been to the center of the retail universe since 1996, when Wal-Mart crossed the line of $100 billion in annual sales. This past year, the company, which started in 1962, crossed the $400 billion line.

And while it’s now 17 years since Sam has died, the rules he established when he opened his first five-and-dime, on Bentonville’s town square, still apply. On Monday night, when I had dinner with Wal-Mart financial services president Jane Thompson and seven other corporate officers, everybody chipped in $20 a piece for the wine. That’s because Wal-Mart’s founder refused to pay for alcohol of any kind.

【中文译文】

“比对手更好地控制成本，因为节约了成本就意味着拥有了竞争优势。”

这句话非常简单，出自沃尔玛(Wal-Mart)创始人山姆•沃尔顿（Sam Walton）之口。现在众所周知沃尔玛是世界上效率最高的零售企业，但鲜为人知的是，在沃尔玛成为美国最大的零售企业之前的25年里，它的销售费用率在零售业中是最低的。

沃尔玛在阿肯色州本顿维尔总部的效率极高。我在这里已经呆了36个小时。1996年以来我就没有到过沃尔玛的总部了，而就在那一年沃尔玛的年销售额突破了1000亿美元。今年这个创办于1962年的企业年销售额突破了4000亿美元。

虽然山姆已经逝世17年了，但是他当年在本顿维尔的城镇广场开第一家廉价商品店时所制定的规则仍然得以应用。周一晚上我与沃尔玛金融服务部总裁简•汤普森（Jane Thompson）和其他7位公司领导一起用餐。每个人出20美元用来付酒钱，因为沃尔玛的创始人当年就拒绝为任何酒类付钱。

【英文原文】

Over at the home office (which Sam Walton preferred to “headquarters” because he thought the latter term sounded highfalutin), I ran into Mike Duke, Wal-Mart’s CEO who took charge in February. I asked Duke if I could take a peek of his office–which are Sam’s old digs–and as he escorted me into the tiny room, he noted with pride, “Same wood paneling from 30 years ago.” Duke’s fanciest decoration is an aquarium in the corner. “That’s from David Glass,” he said, referring to Wal-Mart’s chief after Sam, “and I’m just trying to keep the fish alive.” What did Duke add to the space? “Just the pictures on the wall,” he replied. Two framed photos above his desk show Sam’s first store and below that, a picture of the world. “Because that’s where we’re focused now,” the CEO said.

Before moving into Wal-Mart’s top job, Duke headed international operations and worked in a low gray shed next door. At 40,360 square feet total, this may be the world’s smallest office responsible for $100 billion in sales. (Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKB) headquarters in Omaha comes close, in terms of efficiency. See Monday’s Postcard on “How Warren Buffett manages his managers“). Now Doug McMillon, who succeeded Duke as international chief, works out of the unsightly barracks, where a few fortunate execs get a jailhouse-type window through which, as Duke says, you have to crank your neck to see the sun.

I was invited to Bentonville by Wal-Mart’s women officers, a group that just passed 100 in number and self-finance their events by chipping in $100 each every year–another mark of management’s extreme self-denial. (Anyone who sells to Wal-Mart knows that its managers aren’t allowed to accept even a bottle of water without paying for it.) Yesterday, at their special ”Fortune Most Powerful Women” event, I interviewed Susan Chambers, EVP of Wal-Mart’s Global People Division, and Ursula Burns, the new CEO of Xerox (XRX)–which you’ll read more about on Postcards later. Before the day ended, Thompson, the financial services chief, drove me past the spot where Sam Walton is buried, alongside his wife, Helen. It’s a barely noticeable grave in a crowded cemetery tucked behind Wal-Mart’s home office. Even in the afterlife, Sam Walton is saving money.

【中文译文】

在沃尔玛的家乡办公室（相对于总部来说，山姆•沃尔顿更喜欢这个称谓，因为“总部”听起来太做作），我遇到了迈克•杜克（Mike Duke），他在二月份成为沃尔玛的首席执行官。我问他是否可以瞄一眼他的办公室-还是山姆的老办公室-在他陪我进入那个小房间的时候，他骄傲的说“现在的木镶板与30年前的一样。”杜克最豪华的装饰就是角落里的一个鱼缸。他说：“这是大卫•格拉斯（David Glass）留下来的，我只是努力让那些鱼活着。”大卫•格拉斯是山姆之后的第二任首席执行官。“那么杜克在这个房子里加了什么呢？”他回答道：“只有墙上的画。”他办公桌上方有两张山姆第一家店的镶框照片。在这两张照片的下面是张世界地图。这位首席执行官说：“ 因为我们现在的重点工作就是全世界。”

在成为首席执行官之前，杜克主管国际运营，在隔壁一个低矮简陋的灰色房子里办公。这里的总面积是40360平方英尺，在世界上年销售额超过1000亿美元的企业中，沃尔玛的办公室面积有可能是最小的（伯克希尔-哈萨韦（Berkshire Hathaway）位于奥马哈的总部在效率方面与沃尔玛相近）。现在道格•麦克米伦（Doug McMillon）接替了杜克的职位成为国际部主管。他在难看的军营房一样的办公室里工作。有一些幸运的高管们的办公室有着像监狱里一样的窗户，但是就像杜克所说的那样，大家得伸长脖子才能看到太阳。

我是应沃尔玛女性高管的邀请到访本顿维尔的。现在女性高管的数量已经超过了100个，每年她们都会各自出100美元来搞活动-这是沃尔玛管理层极端自我克制的另外一个标志（任何一个受雇于沃尔玛的人都知道，沃尔玛的经理们在未付钱的情况下不允许接受任何东西，甚至是一瓶水）。在她们特殊的“《财富》杂志商界女强人峰会 ”上，我采访了沃尔玛全球人事部（Global People Division）执行副总裁苏珊•钱伯斯（Suan Chambers），还采访了施乐（Xerox）新任首席执行官乌苏拉•伯恩斯（Ursula Burns）。当日结束前，金融服务部主管汤普森开车载着我路过山姆•沃尔顿的墓地。他与妻子海伦（Helen）葬在一起。在沃尔玛家乡办公室后面拥挤的墓地里，山姆的坟墓毫不起眼。即使是在死后，山姆•沃尔顿还在省钱。