As a young man just out of the Army, Sam Walton wanted to into retailing and operate his own business. With $5,000 of his own money and a loan of $20,000 form his father-in-law, he opened his first store in Newport, Arkansas, on September 1, 1945. This first store was a Bend Franklin variety store. Within five years, this store was the No. 1 Ben Franklin Store - for sales and profit - not only in Arkansas, but in six-state region. Unfortunately, Sam forgot to include a renewal clause in the lease for his store building. his landlord decided not to renew Sam’s lease, but instead offered to buy the business, including fixture and inventory. The landlord wanted to purchase the profitable store for his to own and operate. Without any other suitable location in town, Sam had to sell.

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For this interview, our personage is Darien Griffin. Just like the other personage, He works at big company too, at S.C. Johnson & Son in Racine, Wisconsin. S.C. Johnson is a leading maker of chemical specialty products for home, persoanl care, and insect control. Mr. Griffin is a 1991 graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and is in the executive MBA program at Marquette University.

How did you decide on accounting as a career?
Well, I liked numbers and I liked business. Originally, I was majoring in Actuarial sciance, but found it to be too focused on math theory.

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The speed at which on-line commerce has gripped the United States has been nothing short of spectacular. The force of e-commerce can be felt in two major arenas: business to consumer, termed B2C e-commerce, and business to business, termed B2B e-commerce. B2C e-commerce uses the Internet to connect manufacturers or retailers with ultimate consumers. One of the best examples of the B2C business is Amazon.com, which connects book publisher with book buyers. The B2C business adds value by saving the consumers time in physically going to a store for an item.

On the other hand, the B2B e-commerce companies use the Internet to connect businesses with other businesses. The B2B business can be designed around either a vertical or horizontal hub. A vertical hub connects business buyers with business sellers within a particular industry. Examples include SciQuest, which provides an electronic market for biomedical and pharmaceutical products for the health care industry and Chemdex, which provides a similar Internet marketplace for the chemical industry.

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