Becoming a giant doesn't just happen. It's earned through innovation and discipline, the traits experts point to when explaining the meteoric rise of Wal-Mart from country store to controversial retailing behemoth.
And even though the company's size now dwarfs some entire industries and national economies, business experts say its success over the years is well deserved. That's because Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) itself is partly responsible for the productivity engine that's helped shape the country's finances over the past two decades.
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