1. Why is innovative management important and how have Walmart’s leaders demonstrated innovation throughout the company’s history?

We live in turbulent times. Since the collapse of the U.S. housing market in 2008, the unemployment rate has more than doubled. Iconic American businesses have gone belly up or been bailed out with taxpayer money.
Entire nations have teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Yet, despite widespread turmoil, some organizations have actually defied the global recession—Walmart is a case in point.
During this same period of economic decline, Walmart increased profits, created thousands of new jobs annually, expanded its operations overseas, launched a sustainable-business revolution, extended health coverage to 1.2 million people, unveiled a hunger-relief program, developed 75 percent of store management from hourly associates, and saved the average American household $3,100 annually. In the words of the company motto, Walmart has helped people “Save money. Live better.”