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Sam Walton didn't create anything. He used sound economic sense.
You buy a lot of something, you can negotiate prices better, sell them to consumers at a cheaper price, and they'll buy from you.
People have been doing that for centuries.
And he took the negotiation of prices to a whole new level. He innovated. Not just on that end. His emphasis on efficient distribution, the way he embraced and adapted new technology to his needs. Innovative. And he also saw an opportunity in rural areas, because that's where he initially built his stores. Innovation.
And he took the negotiation of prices to a whole new level. He innovated. Not just on that end. His emphasis on efficient distribution, the way he embraced and adapted new technology to his needs. Innovative. And he also saw an opportunity in rural areas, because that's where he initially built his stores. Innovation.
Innovate, isn't invention.
Henry Ford invented the mass production process, but innovated the automobile.
Henry Ford invented the mass production process, but innovated the automobile.
There is a difference.
So what? That makes a difference to this thread, how?????
Does the author of the article distinguish between innovation and invention? He's talking about new ideas, and taking those new ideas to a global market. He's pointing out that globally, other countries are coming up with new ideas, new technologies, and that the cyclical process where new replaces old is not favoring us in the current economic climate. He's pointing out that the age of consumerism left us behind in terms of invention and innovation, and that the structure of our economy, the consumer economy, needs to be fundamentally altered.
So what? That makes a difference to this thread, how?????
Does the author of the article distinguish between innovation and invention? He's talking about new ideas, and taking those new ideas to a global market. He's pointing out that globally, other countries are coming up with new ideas, new technologies, and that the cyclical process where new replaces old is not favoring us in the current economic climate. He's pointing out that the age of consumerism left us behind in terms of invention and innovation, and that the structure of our economy, the consumer economy, needs to be fundamentally altered.
I was answering the point that Sam Walton. I don't really see him innovating or inventing anything, just took a good business practice that everyone knew about, and used it in a place no one ever had.
Department stores weren't big in Arkansas.
And to that point, his store really didn't do anything. Just a different way of selling, and thats not creation.
We need to create something we can sell to others, not figure out different ways to sell things to ourselves
Hm, but hadn't the South always been very rural and a bit backward (compared to the Northeast at that time, no offense ) even before the civil war? Now the South is doing better, probably because it tried to catch up with the North and adopted many Northern ideas and ways. Where that didn't happen, the Deep South is still kind of poor, for instance in the Mississippi delta if I am not mistaken.
Keep in mind that the South made a concerted effort to economically, socially and educationally disenfranchise about 25% to 35% (Depending on a particular state) of its population for about 100 years after the Civil War. It's no small wonder that the states with the lowest per capita income per person are the most socially regressive and most of them are in the South.
I was answering the point that Sam Walton. I don't really see him innovating or inventing anything, just took a good business practice that everyone knew about, and used it in a place no one ever had.
Department stores weren't big in Arkansas.
And to that point, his store really didn't do anything. Just a different way of selling, and thats not creation.
We need to create something we can sell to others, not figure out different ways to sell things to ourselves
I give them a little more credit than that. They were not just another department store; Wal-Mart was an innovator in inventory management.
They were among the first, if not the first, to have a just-in-time inventory system. i.e., if you bought a tube of toothpaste in Florida, then Bentonville knew immediately to ship a new one to that store the next day.
They were also innovators in mining their transaction data.
Innovation, even on a small scale, is just in wal-mart's DNA. They switched to all-white roofs in the 1980's, for example, to save on energy costs, back when nobody seemed to care.
What is also hindering innovation and invention is the modern abuse of copyright and patents laws.
I read a book presentation a couple of days ago. The author analyzed why Germany was so successful for the past couple of centuries. His conclusion is that it was largely due to the fact that for a long time copyright laws hardly existed and if they did, nobody cared about them. After the invention of the printing press Germans published books like crazy, all kinds of books, about technology, science etc. Even poor people gradually built up libraries of dirt cheap books.
Britain on the other hand had much stricter rules earlier on, books were more like an elite thing. Although Britain of course had famous inventors, too, inventing was not a mass movement as in Germany.
Another problem is patent law. Big corporations abuse it in order to keep independent innovators down. They split up one invention into lots of tiny inventions so that whoever invents in the same field is automatically likely to infringe on some of those mini patents, in which case they have their armies of lawyers sue the small inventor out of business.
I give them a little more credit than that. They were not just another department store; Wal-Mart was an innovator in inventory management.
They were among the first, if not the first, to have a just-in-time inventory system. i.e., if you bought a tube of toothpaste in Florida, then Bentonville knew immediately to ship a new one to that store the next day.
They were also innovators in mining their transaction data.
Inventory management is just a way to sell things quicker to Americans, which does nothing but move money around.
What the article is talking about with innovation, is taking something like the car, and making it so much better that other countries buy them from us.
I was answering the point that Sam Walton. I don't really see him innovating or inventing anything, just took a good business practice that everyone knew about, and used it in a place no one ever had.
Department stores weren't big in Arkansas.
And to that point, his store really didn't do anything. Just a different way of selling, and thats not creation.
We need to create something we can sell to others, not figure out different ways to sell things to ourselves
We can just disagree, because I'm not going to hi-jack this thread.
Inventory management is just a way to sell things quicker to Americans, which does nothing but move money around.
What the article is talking about with innovation, is taking something like the car, and making it so much better that other countries buy them from us.
We used to do that, we aren't anymore.
innovation takes many forms.
you're talking about inventing.
we still do that, we just rarely manufacture domestically the things we invent.
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) even before the civil war? Now the South is doing better, probably because it tried to catch up with the North and adopted many Northern ideas and ways. Where that didn't happen, the Deep South is still kind of poor, for instance in the Mississippi delta if I am not mistaken.
