McCandless author recounts Wal-Mart lessons in new book
Lessons from Sam

By Teresa F. Lindeman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The first book on lessons from the landfill -- employee relations skills learned in working with garbage crews -- was never sold.

Instead, Michael Bergdahl said his agent liked the idea of a book on lessons learned by working with one of the world's more renowned retailers, Sam Walton. "He told me the Wal-Mart book had better legs from the standpoint of marketability."

Must have been something to that. Publishing company John Wiley & Sons officially plans to release the McCandless resident's 288-page manuscript in early September. The publisher didn't know how many copies it would print.

Glossy hardback in hand, Bergdahl then hopes to stay busy on the speaking circuit, picking up a couple of engagements a week for anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 per speech.

If it all works out, that would be a lengthy Wal-Mart career for someone who worked for the retail giant for only a few years, between 1990 and 1992. Bergdahl's resume includes longer stints at places such as Frito-Lay and American Eagle Outfitters.

The new author said he didn't go to Bentonville, Ark., with plans to infiltrate and then write about Wal-Mart. He just was flattered to be asked to interview. After meeting Walton during the visit -- a man he describes as charismatic -- he told his wife he wanted the job.

It did not turn out to be an easy place to work, Bergdahl said. When he showed up at 7 a.m., the best parking spaces were taken because other people came in at 4 a.m., 5 a.m. and so on. When he left at 7 p.m., he passed those same cars, still there. Several hours every Saturday were devoted to strategy meetings.

Bentonville was so intensely Wal-Mart-centric, he and his family attended church a few miles away in Fayetteville to get away from the job at least one day a week.

He left the year Walton died to come back to his hometown for a job with American Eagle Outfitters, in Marshall. Later he would work for Waste Management. Now he's trying to make a career of speaking, writing and consulting.

At his other jobs, Bergdahl said he found himself constantly referring to things he learned at Wal-Mart. He started giving speeches on the subject while he was still at American Eagle.
Others have trod this path before. A recent search at Amazon.com turns up almost a dozen books about the company -- Sam Walton's own seems to have sold the best -- but Bergdahl said questions from his audiences showed that people still didn't understand what they're up against.
He figured he could tell some new stories and offer lessons for competitors, especially those in international markets not yet infiltrated. The back of the book includes a self-assessment checklist for those who want to compete with Wal-Mart.

That lesson orientation appealed to William Cody, managing director of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School's Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative. Cody, who wrote an endorsement blurb, has read a number of Wal-Mart books. "My initial impression is it's much more of a practitioner's handbook," he said.

Bergdahl uses stories to show how Walton created a culture that glorified cost-cutting and frugality in everything. He recounts coming in one morning to find a janitor had placed a "Grim Reaper paper waster card" on his desk because he'd thrown away paper that hadn't been used on both sides.

A zero tolerance for overtime expenses was another cost-cutting tool. Bergdahl describes a system in which each store manager tracks sales daily. If numbers are down on Tuesday, people's hours are cut on Thursday to keep profits in line that week.

Despite the pressure, he said, "If you talk to most of the people, they like the company." There are plenty of examples of workers being promoted from within. The lore of truck drivers who've become millionaires through company stock is alive and well.

The manuscript touches on the controversies over Wal-Mart's handling of union issues, promotion of women and charges that employees were made to work off the clock. In June, the retailer announced changes to some employment practices to address diversity, pay and scheduling issues.

Bergdahl doesn't see himself as either defending or critiquing the big retailer. He said he wanted to help the small store operators and the regional companies that don't quite grasp what they're up against.

"They continue to go toe-to-toe on price," he said. "They don't differentiate their product selection. They buy the same things Wal-Mart does."

Attempts to avoid competing with the big retailer through blocking construction of its big stores -- as has been done recently in certain California and Indiana communities -- won't be enough, Bergdahl said. The company will just adapt, perhaps by bringing in its new, smaller Neighborhood Market model.

(Teresa F. Lindeman can be reached at tlindeman@post-gazette.com or at 412-263-2018.)