原文"When Jim talks to us about setting wages and benefits, he doesn't want us to be better than everyone else, he wants us to be demonstrably better," said John Matthews, Costco's senior vice president for human resources.
原文"I've been very well rewarded," said Mr. Sinegal, who is worth more than $150 million thanks to his Costco stock holdings. "I just think that if you're going to try to run an organization that's very cost-conscious, then you can't have those disparities. Having an individual who is making 100 or 200 or 300 times more than the average person working on the floor is wrong."
七,那一件两件小事
沃顿老爹在世的时候,一再强调,零售企业要取得成功,需要每一个员工都有动力,每天从“那一件两件小事情"入手,(that one or two little things) 不断改进提高。长此以往,积少成多,企业就会有长足进步。这种理念实际上同日本企业管理的做法,包括Continuous Improvement, Kaizen(改善)异曲同工,不谋而合。我们把它的精髓翻译到中文,就是“琢磨”。或者说,管好企业并不难,发动所有员工一起认真做事,一起琢磨,日积月累,这家企业就会兴旺。而这种学习,积累和提高,是企业长远提高质量,降低成本,推陈出新,取之不尽用之不竭的动力。
原文“As Sam Walton once said, ‘Wal-Mart associates are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things.’ I remember times when we would work overnight to complete a seasonal conversion 100 percent by the next morning. Now one week goes by, the counters are still empty (and) cardboard and garbage still sitting…Even when done, it's half right, with both signing and prices wrong. The whole scene does not look good at all. Executive management would say they go in the stores all the time…but they advertise where they are going, who is with them to have lunch, etc. Since Sam Walton died, the Wal-Mart culture we used to know died with him.”