4 ms·

walmart is doomed by their management. the cultural difference between bezos and bentonville arkansas... how many of the people on wal mart's leadership team ha

walmart is doomed by their management. the cultural difference between bezos and bentonville arkansas... how many of the people on wal mart's leadership team have a good understanding of what sql is? possibly 1. Amazon? possibly 50% or more. it makes a real difference in the long run. not sql in particular but knowing exactly what's running your business...

thomasthomas 10y ago
more of an innovators dilemma problem imo. even if execs knew everything there is to know about CS its near impossible to change the ethos of a ~500billion revenue company
- zzzzzzzza 10y ago
  exactly
logfromblammo 10y ago
Realistically, in the C-level suite, only the CTO of a company actually needs to know what SQL is. Wal-Mart employs a huge number of software professionals. Wal-Mart already has a system in place to ship tens of thousands of different SKUs to within 10 miles of a huge number of consumers, at a low retail price. Amazon's system can handle millions of SKUs, but only to (maybe) somewhere within the same country as a consumer, relying on shipping businesses to move the product the remaining 0-2000 miles to the consumer. And in many cases, the cost of shipping (and warehousing) is already baked into the sale price, so that "free shipping" is actually "don't pay more for shipping than you're already implicitly paying." When Wal-Mart says "free shipping", they are likely eating the cost for that last 10-50 miles, just to undermine Amazon, and may later invest in a delivery truck or two at select store locations to eventually cut out UPS, FedEx, and USPS. Or they might just be saving money already, because you no longer need to be served by cashiers and store security as you shop in-store.
jldugger 10y ago
I don't know the executive team or anything, but it would seem their ecommerce President seems to meet your criteria. But Walmart was actually renowned for their early adoption of technology and prediction. Long before HN or the deep learning trend pieces walmart was pitching their analytics team's findings: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/business/yourmoney/what-walmart-knows-about-customers-habits.html http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/business/yourmoney/what-wa...
Murdodc089 10y ago
Do you honestly think (and buy the stereotype) that people from Arkansas are a bunch of inbred, shoeless, hillbillies? If so, how do you explain the size and success of Wal Mart so far? Do you really think that Wal Mart is delivering products to over 10,000 of stores worldwide without an understanding of SQL? Wal Mart is doing some pretty cool stuff with technology. Maybe not on the level of Amazon, which might end up biting them in the long run, but Wal Mart definitely knows their way around a database. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart#Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart#Technology
- zzzzzzzza 10y ago
  To answer your first question, I'm from Fort Worth and yes; not exactly that stereotype though. The difference runs really, really deep. I interviewed with them once as well. Some people at wal mart know their way around a database (database being euphemism for a broader "tech culture"), they are not well represented in management and wal mart is trying to change that (with jet acquisition). but too little too late.
  - zzzzzzzza 10y ago
    though obviously they will fare better than sears, imo
- JBReefer 10y ago
  The above comment is actually why Trump won
  - zzzzzzzza 10y ago
    Conservatives are not aware of techie condescension (0 effect in most of these peoples daily lives, really sort of an arrogance to even think that) nearly as much as the liberal tendency to try to skirt around hard truths, to censor. Imagine a wife/girlfriend who is PISSED because you won't get into a heated argument, you just stay all cool and level headed, hedging statements and whatnot.

thomasthomas 10y ago

more of an innovators dilemma problem imo. even if execs knew everything there is to know about CS its near impossible to change the ethos of a ~500billion revenue company

zzzzzzzza 10y ago
exactly

logfromblammo 10y ago

Realistically, in the C-level suite, only the CTO of a company actually needs to know what SQL is. Wal-Mart employs a huge number of software professionals. Wal-Mart already has a system in place to ship tens of thousands of different SKUs to within 10 miles of a huge number of consumers, at a low retail price. Amazon's system can handle millions of SKUs, but only to (maybe) somewhere within the same country as a consumer, relying on shipping businesses to move the product the remaining 0-2000 miles to the consumer. And in many cases, the cost of shipping (and warehousing) is already baked into the sale price, so that "free shipping" is actually "don't pay more for shipping than you're already implicitly paying." When Wal-Mart says "free shipping", they are likely eating the cost for that last 10-50 miles, just to undermine Amazon, and may later invest in a delivery truck or two at select store locations to eventually cut out UPS, FedEx, and USPS. Or they might just be saving money already, because you no longer need to be served by cashiers and store security as you shop in-store.

jldugger 10y ago

I don't know the executive team or anything, but it would seem their ecommerce President seems to meet your criteria. But Walmart was actually renowned for their early adoption of technology and prediction. Long before HN or the deep learning trend pieces walmart was pitching their analytics team's findings: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/business/yourmoney/what-walmart-knows-about-customers-habits.html http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/business/yourmoney/what-wa...

Murdodc089 10y ago

Do you honestly think (and buy the stereotype) that people from Arkansas are a bunch of inbred, shoeless, hillbillies? If so, how do you explain the size and success of Wal Mart so far? Do you really think that Wal Mart is delivering products to over 10,000 of stores worldwide without an understanding of SQL? Wal Mart is doing some pretty cool stuff with technology. Maybe not on the level of Amazon, which might end up biting them in the long run, but Wal Mart definitely knows their way around a database. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart#Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart#Technology

zzzzzzzza 10y ago
To answer your first question, I'm from Fort Worth and yes; not exactly that stereotype though. The difference runs really, really deep. I interviewed with them once as well. Some people at wal mart know their way around a database (database being euphemism for a broader "tech culture"), they are not well represented in management and wal mart is trying to change that (with jet acquisition). but too little too late.
- zzzzzzzza 10y ago
  though obviously they will fare better than sears, imo
JBReefer 10y ago
The above comment is actually why Trump won
- zzzzzzzza 10y ago
  Conservatives are not aware of techie condescension (0 effect in most of these peoples daily lives, really sort of an arrogance to even think that) nearly as much as the liberal tendency to try to skirt around hard truths, to censor. Imagine a wife/girlfriend who is PISSED because you won't get into a heated argument, you just stay all cool and level headed, hedging statements and whatnot.