Sam Walton
Contrary to popular belief, Sam Walton (the founder of Wal-Mart) was not from Arkansas. He was actually born in Kingfish, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. He was raised in Missouri where he worked in his father's store while attending school. This was his first retailing experience and he really enjoyed it. After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1940, he began his own career as a retail merchant when he opened the first of several franchises of the Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchises in Arkansas.
This would lead to bigger and better things and he soon opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart specialized in name-brands at low prices and Sam Walton was surprised at the success. Soon a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America. Walton's management style was popular with employees and he founded some of the basic concepts of management that are still in use today. After taking the company public in 1970, Walton introduced his "profit sharing plan". The profit sharing plan was a plan for Wal-Mart employees to improve their income dependent on the profitability of the store. Sam Walton believed that "individuals don't win, teams do". Employees at Wal-Mart stores were offered stock options and store discounts. These benefits are commonplace today, but Walton was among the first to implement them. Walton believed that a happy employee meant happy customers and more sales.
Walton believed that by giving employees a part of the company and making their success dependent on the company's success, they would care about the company.
By the 1980s, Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three hundred stores across North America. Wal-Mart's unique decentralized distribution system, also Walton's idea, created the edge needed to further spur growth in the 1980s amidst growing complaints that the "superstore" was squelching smaller, traditional Mom and Pop stores. By 1991, Wal-Mart was the largest U.S. retailer with 1,700 stores. Walton remained active in managing the company, as president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom shortly before his death.
Walton died in 1992, being the world's second richest man, behind Bill Gates. He passed his company down to his three sons, daughter and wife. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated (located in Bentonville, Arkansas) is also in charge of "Sams Club". Wal-Mart stores now operate in Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, China and Puerto Rico. Sam Walton's visions were indeed successful.
In Walton's biography, Made in America : My Story he outlines what he feels are the ten commandments of business:
1.Commit to your goals
2. Share your rewards
3. Energize your colleagues
4. Communicate all you know
5. Value your associates
6. Celebrate your success
7. Listen to everyone
8. Deliver more than you promise
9. Work smarter than others
10. Blaze your own path
Key words: businessman founder of Walmart

山姆-沃頓
當今都市生活中的白領們都早已習慣了每天用廢棄的紙張背面打印資料，可是你知道這是誰最先“發明”了這個方法嗎?沒錯，他一定是個摳門到極點的人。他會毫不猶豫地撿起地上的一分硬幣;戴著棒球帽駕著幾十年高齡的破舊老爺車翻山越嶺;在小鎮街角的理發店按最低標準理發，理發師別想從他這得到一分錢小費;購買最便宜的日常用品;出差盡可能與人合住中檔客房;在外就餐只光顧家庭式的小飯店。
他說：“我要給世界一個機會，叫人們看看什么叫節約。” 可是與此相反，他曾經向美國5所大學捐出了數億美元，并在全國范圍內設立了很多獎學金時。他的基金會先后資助過數以千計的各類公益組織。
這就是山姆-沃頓，舉世聞名的“沃爾瑪”公司的老板，一個永遠友善微笑著的簡樸老人，他經營了幾十年的沃爾瑪公司在全球各地擁有4500多家連鎖店。美國《家族企業》2002年第一期推出的全球家族企業10強排名中，沃爾瑪搶到了冠軍的獎牌;同年2月的《財富》雜志出爐的“美國2002年最受尊敬的10大公司排行榜”上，沃爾瑪名列榜首。
山姆-沃頓多年的經營生涯中一直都圍繞著“顧客就是上帝”這個早已被各服務行業用濫了的理念(但是沒有人能比它的創造者用得更完美)做文章。他常常在例會上對員工說：“你們也許會想你是在為你的經理或者上司工作，可事實上他和你們一樣，我們公司最大的老板是誰?顧客!”
“八顆牙”理論。早在山姆只有一家小店的時候，他就每天親自打開店門，以微笑迎接顧客。
他說：“對顧客微笑的時候，盡量把你的牙齒露出八顆，因為實踐證明，這樣做能發出最友善的微笑。”在公司舉行的儀式上，他要求員工舉手宣誓：“我保證今后對每個來到我面前的顧客微笑，用眼睛致意并且予以問候。”
以上就是關于沃爾瑪創始人山姆·沃頓先生的相關信息，包括了英語和漢語兩個版本。大家可以在描述相關的SAT寫作題目的時候進行適當的應用。