ability to offer customers what they want to buy at a price they want to pay. Wal-Mart defines one-stop shopping-customers can buy everything from steak to tires under one roof, and know theyre getting quality products at great prices. In fact, Doug Degn, executive vice president of food merchandising at Wal-Mart, says, as others have said before him, "At Wal-Mart, we dont consider our- selves as selling products to customers; we consider ourselves buying agents for our customers." Ask most vendors, and they would have to agree. Today, the power of Wal-Mart plays a big role in what manufacturers make. For exam- ple, Procter & Gamble sold its Crisco shortening and Jif peanut but- ter brands because it wanted to focus more on Tide and other brands that were more favored by Wal-Mart. Similarly, video-game maker Planet Moon Studios made changes to its game Giants in order to receive a teen rating, which is a requirement for products to be sold in Wal-Mart. Lack of distribution by Wal-Mart was too much of a financial risk. Because Wal-Mart has delivered on its low-price promise so well over the years, it has contributed to the elevation of customers expec- tations in regard to product assortment, quality, availability, and price. This in turn means working even closer with vendors to cut expenses out of their product and delivery costs. Wal-Marts guiding strategies remain simple, but the execution has become complex, requiring the most advanced logistics, technol- ogy, and supply-chain systems the company could develop. Retail Link (Wal-Marts electronic data interchange [EDI] technology) and Wal-Marts satellite communications network (the largest private one in the United States) have revolutionized retail logistics systems and supply-chain strategies. Not only are stores connected to Ben- tonville via voice, data, or video, but over 30,000 suppliers are linked to dozens of warehouses and can monitor daily sales figures. Wal- Marts systems help vendors improve inventory positions and reduce costs, thereby making competitors systems seem hopelessly out of date. The companys investment in technology to analyze inventory, assortment, costs, transportation, and delivery continues to fuel its gains in productivity, profits, and customer satisfaction.     We Can All Be Fired   Perhaps even more important than the logistics and operations sys- tems Wal-Mart developed to provide value to its customers are the corporate culture and values system that Sam Walton instilled. From the founding of the company, Walton held Saturday morning meet-