Officers From the Boston Consulting Group Available to Discuss Wal-Mart Decision to Establish Separate Company to Run Wal-Mart.com

Business Wire, Jan 7, 2000

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2000

Attention: Editors and writers covering Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s

decision to create separate company for the online store and to

potentially take that company public.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) experts on how established players must adapt for the next generation of e-commerce are available to discuss the rationale for and challenges presented by the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. decision to establish a separate company for its online retail operations.

The available experts are:

- Grant Freeland, vice president and author of an upcoming BCG

report entitled "Organizing for E-Commerce." The report, to be

released this quarter, lays out and analyzes the tough cultural,

organizational and "mindset" changes that established

organizations need to effect to maintain and grow their value in

the new economy.

- Philip Evans and Thomas S. Wurster, senior vice presidents and

co-authors of the new business strategy book, Blown to Bits: How

the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy (Harvard

Business School Press). The book digs deep into the challenges

and opportunities of the digital economy's new competitive

landscape and argues that incumbent players must think and act

like insurgents to survive.

"Wal-Mart clearly recognizes that the challenge of moving its brand and power to the Web is such that the online business must be liberated from the core organization. The real test is how successful the new business will be at leveraging Wal-Mart's existing strengths," said Mr. Freeland of BCG, the global management consulting firm.

To arrange an interview with Messrs. Freeland, Evans and/or Wurster, please call Linda Butler at BCG at 312-715-2216 (butler.linda@bcg.com).