Two clocks in the spacious atrium where Lee Scott is addressing employees-or associates, as Wal-Mart prefers to call them-give the local times in Bentonville and Leeds. Mr Scott, the chief executive of the world's biggest retailer, has popped over from the company's home town in Arkansas to the Yorkshire city which serves as the headquarters of Asda, a British supermarket chain which Wal-Mart bought five years ago. Despite stumbling with its expansion into some overseas markets, such as Germany, the $10 billion purchase of Asda in 1999 has exceeded Wal-Mart's expectations. Asda has overtaken Sainsbury's to become second only to Tesco among British supermarket chains. But there have been "broader implications", says Mr Scott. These range from the adoption of Asda's George range of clothing as a global Wal-Mart brand, to a number of Asda executives rising through Wal-Mart's own corporate ranks. Bentonville also took a shine to Asda's stand-up meeting rooms: with no chairs to lounge in, meetings tend not to last very long.
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