If you seek a five forces analysis of Wal-Mart, please try this page.

Wal-Mart has garnered an astounding amount of attention in the last few years. Several books have been written about the company- both pro and con. Hardly a week passes without some major media outlet publishing an in-depth profile of the Bentonville-based corporation and its leadership, an expose about its struggle with labor unions, or an analysis of its human resource and outsourcing practices.

Political consultants now routinely offer advice on how to court (or to avoid offending) regular Wal-Mart customers. Economists, management scholars, and law professors hold academic conferences to debate Wal-Mart’s impacts on society. Even film-makers and documentarians have entered the fray using their art form to raise controversial and compelling questions about the firm, questions deserving careful consideration.

While bloggers have not exactly been silent about Wal-Mart, until now there has been no place in the blogosphere for gathering and summarizing the best of what bloggers think about the world’s largest retailer. Until now, that is.

With this in mind, Starling Hunter of The Business of America is Business blog announces the creation of “The Carnival of Wal-Mart”. In the tradition of other blog carnivals like the highly successful “Carnival of the Capitalists” and “Carnival of the Vanities”, this carnival invites bloggers to submit posts pertaining to anything related to Wal-Mart- it’s leadership, its businesses practices, its products, and its plans.

The Carnival of Wal-Mart will be published once weekly. Submissions should be sent through the carnival’s web page on the Blog Carnival site. (The first edition is here. )

While posts that criticize Wal-Mart are welcomed as much as those that support or defend it, the key consideration for inclusion in the weekly carnival is the degree of thoughtful and original commentary. The Carnival of Wal-Mart is not a place for (re)posting press releases or content generated by major media organizations, activists, pundits, or PR firms.

Please direct any questions and comments to the carnival moderator, Starling Hunter, at starlingdavidhunter at gmail dot com.