THE WAL-MART DECADE Inside one of America's most remarkable success stories, from the bestselling author of Jack Welch and the G.E. Way.  Two of the toughest challenges for any company are leadership transitions and rapid growth. How do you replace an enormously popular and beloved CEO-especially one who started from scratch to create a national icon? And how do you maintain a rapid growth rate without losing the culture and focus of a small company?  Over the past ten years, since the death of the legendary Sam Walton, Wal-Mart has passed both challenges with flying colors. In 1992, it had revenues of $43.9 billion; now it's number one on the Fortune 500 list of America's largest companies, with revenues of $218 billion. Sam Walton's successors have taken the company into far-flung new markets and new directions yet without losing the down-to-earth retailing culture that made Wal-Mart thrive in its early years, when its business model was truly revolutionary.    Robert Slater, a highly respected business journalist and author, was granted unprecedented access to the company while writing The Wal-Mart Decade. He takes readers deep into the inner circle, where the big decisions are made about strategy and operations. And he weaves a fascinating, accessible story about the many challenges of the past decade and how Wal-Mart built on its founder's legacy to overcome them.