As a strategy for getting into the Japanese retail market, Wal-Mart bought a 38% stake in Japan's fourth largest retailer, Seiyu. It believes that by working through a local partner, Wal-Mart can better navigate Japan's network of suppliers, which has frustrated other foreign investors. Seiyu is a chain with falling sales and a debt-to-capital ratio that is more than twice the industry average in Japan. Wal-Mart believes it can cut costs and bolster profitability, and its "everyday low prices" may be a hit with Japan's increasingly bargain-conscious consumers.

Wal-Mart has a five-year plan that includes:

• Reducing the hours worked by full-time staff members and increasing the percentage of part-time workers
• Computerizing operations
• Remodeling aging stores
• Persuading manufacturers and wholesalers to cut prices so Seiyu can pass the savings to consumers
• Centralizing the retailer's operations, including giving product scanners to aisle clerks and creating inventory databases
• Teaching the employees to sell the Wal-Mart way by putting managers through intense training sessions