I know it's popular to say that Wal-Mart is killing U.S. manufacturing because of its insistence in driving manufacturers to China.
Here is some interesting data from today's Wall St. Journal though.
The People's Republic exported $593.4 billion in merchandise last year. China makes 80% of the world's toys, half its DVD players and nearly half its socks. That's a lot to lay on the Bentonville colossus, which sips up just 3.5% of China's manufactured exports, or $20 billion worth a year.
It's easier to look at data than it is to assign blame or root cause. It's much more complicated than “it's Wal-Mart's fault”. Has Wal-Mart impacted your manufacturing company? Click “comments” to participate in the discussion.
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Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.
He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean.
Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.
Yes Wally World has cost my previous company and the 2400 people like myself their jobs after laying in bed with the retail giant. However, I do see that Wal-Mart is not the root cause. The world itself is changing, other countries are entering their industrial revolutions just like we did a century ago. We can cry about it or do something. The US holds a vast amount of natural resources, so we have an advantage. They key may lie in the way we use this advantage. Let the games begin!