Isn't this another example of Walmart saying it wants to change and not really wanting to. They need to rethink some of these traditions and policies towards people to stop the weekly outpouring of mistakes.

Think about it...why would they state she leaves and then can the ad agency? ETHICS! Obviously she was accepting gratuities from the ad agency. Thus both were canned. Clearly they stand by their ethics policy regarding gratuities. She's not the first to go for it, nor will be the last.

It is time for Walmart to clean house. Who hired her that person should take responsibility and leave, also the stock is down 30% the street has spoken lets go back to what made Walmart great.

All problems going on at Wal-Mart now have to land with Lee Scott and the board.Lee says exactly what anyone wants to hear and wants to project the "father" image. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way. But what do I know since I'm just an East Texas country boy.
Billy Martin Henderson,Tex.

"Culture clash?" Well, let's recall Walmart is a corporation. There shouldn't be any "real" culture besides numbers. I do not believe Julie Roehm did what she claimed she did, which is to "push the envelope." Coming from a car company to a discount superstore, and still can't think outside of things she wears...

(Sex) doesn't sell. (Sex + Product) sells. Someone forgot the "+" and "Product."

Know little about Julie or Wal-Mart but I worked at Draft (now DraftFCB). I have been in advertising since 1981, and have worked at several major Chicago agencies, so it's not like I'm a neophyte. Howard Draft is ethically challenged, even by our low standards. I'm only surprised it has taken this long for him to get his comeuppance. I feel sorry for the folks at Interpublic who now have to figure out what to do with him.

Roehm was a disaster for Wal-Mart from the moment they hired her. But both parties bare responsibility. She should have known that she wouldn't fit into the Wal-Mart culture, and shouldn't have accepted the job.

The one who hired her also bears responsibility. There was never a chance that she could have fit into their core values and culture.

Wal-Mart has been in an identity crises ever since she tried to portray them as something they never represented or would become. Thankfully her time is over there.

I'm sorry. I have to say I just don't get the whole thing. Agencies and clients have to get to know each other in the pitch process. Having dinner together is not a crime. Riding in someone's car is even less so. There is a missing piece to this puzzle.

Michelle Edelman is Director of Strategic Planning at NYCA, a full-service marketing agency that grows businesses with inspired ideas. To find out how NYCA can grow your business, log on to www.nyca.com.

I had interactions with Julie and she was nice enough to exchange emails with me when I proposed my company's media buying exchange as she started working with eBay. At least she paid attention to a solution coming from a lesser known company than a big company like eBay. Having said that the days of big agenices relying on shock and awe to lure customers are over. I have seen hundreds of ad agencies and their pomp & show. Just acting big and successful will not cut the muster. Agency business afterall is a service business and they lose their core assets (talented people) when they lose their clients. They have no real big infrastrcuture. Most they have is a good looking lobby. It is only the receptionist that enjoys the abience. The rest are crammed into small cubicles stuffed with paper all over the place.

Julie Roehm's incidence is a lesson to service businesses that they better learn to improve quality of service through good service infrastructure and better quality people. It is time to end the pomp and show. No sane business should believe that their money is well spent when handed over to an extravagent sales person who is full of hypocracy and showmanship.

I think Walmart's spiral of problems stems from something more fundamental than image and core-value deviance.

I wonder whether someone may sense, intuitively, that the actual business model has reached the point of diminishing returns.

There have always been discount price leaders since the '5 and dime' days. But from one generation to the next-- it's not the same one.

Walmart's attempt to transition its original USP in search of a new customer is understandable. The price shopper that took them to the promised land isn't the one who can keep them there.

Problem is-- the writing may already be on the wall. The 'Re-branding and Repositioning' process is too slow to stave off the ravages of everpresent factors like 'Wages As A Percentage of Sales'.

Why Scott thought Roehm would ever be a good "bird dawg" shows just how long Mr. Sam's been gone.

Kamau Jackson is Business Growth Analyst at InternetKnowledgeSolutions.com. Visit us at http://www.internetknowledgesolutions.com to find out how to achieve explosive growth by leveraging the assets you already have.