Highlights of the April 18, 2005 Asia Issue of FORTUNE

Wal-Mart's $288 Billion Meeting, by Brent Schlender, page 38
The Saturday morning meeting is— perhaps more than anything else in founder Sam Walton's copious bag of tricks— the management tool that has enabled Wal-Mart to metamorphose from a small-town variety store into the world's largest company. Wal-Mart executives agreed to let FORTUNE editor-at-large Brent Schlender do something no business journalist had ever done: spend several months studying the company's unconventional approach to the business meeting. "Think of these meetings as the human and managerial counterparts of the company's vaunted logistics systems. They are designed to react almost instantly to the up-to-the-second workings of the entire enterprise. And lately they have become a means for [CEO Lee] Scott and his management team to improve the morale of a company facing severe public criticism."

Wal-Mart: Bruised and Battling, by Andy Serwer, page 54
Wal-Mart, the No. 1 company in the FORTUNE 500 had a pretty good year in 2004. Sales climbed 10% to an astonishing $288 billion, while profits rose 13% to more than $10 billion. And yet the company is embattled as it has never been before. Sex-discrimination litigation, wage and pay disputes, fights with unions, and other workplace problems— have left Wal-Mart at loggerheads with plaintiffs lawyers, federal investigators, and the public. Andy Serwer looks at how the retail giant is combating its problems many of which stem from Sam Walton's successors following the letter of his rules, not the spirit— by employing a variety of tactics, including carrots, sticks, money, lawyers, and jawboning. "That's appropriate, given that it faces all manner of difficulties," says Serwer, "but its actions can appear muddled and uncoordinated too."

Mickey Mao, by Clay Chandler, page 60
Robert Iger, recently chosen to succeed Disney CEO Michael Eisner, visited China four times last year, inspecting progress on the theme park Disney is building in Hong Kong, catching an NBA game in Shanghai, and chatting with China's vice president in Beijing, and overseeing his company's marketing efforts there. "The way Iger sees it," says Clay Chandler,"China, with 290 million people under the age of 14— more potential Mouseketeers than the entire U.S. population— isn't just a growth opportunity, 'it's a needle mover.' But as Chandler reports, if you're a foreign multinational selling autos, mobile phones, or fried chicken, China waits with open arms. But if you happen to be a giant media and entertainment company such as Disney, be prepared for red tape. "China has raised regulation of the industry to a fine and excruciating art," says Chandler.

Intel: New Man, New Plan, by Adam Lashinsky, page 66
As the world's top chipmaker, Intel has a near monopoly on microprocessor chips and is an amazing money machine. But lately it has gotten nowhere in its hoped-for growth markets, notably chips for cellphones. It has suffered a series of embarrassing cancellations, and multibillion acquisitions have generated negligible returns. Which is why the company chose Paul Otellini as its next CEO. "Intel doesn't need another great technologist, says Adam Lashinsky. "Instead, it needs a dispassionate numbers guy, someone who understands both how to listen to customers and how to package products for new markets; who isn't driven purely by engineering passion; and who knows that Moore's law is not only something to exploit but also something to fear. For better or for worse, Intel needs Paul Otellini."

Get Me a CEO from GE!, by Ellen Florian Kratz, page 75
When a company needs a loan, it goes to a bank. When a company needs a CEO, it goes to General Electric, which mints business leaders the way West Point mints generals. Anywhere else such an outflow of talent would be cause for alarm; at GE it's just a strong graduating class. But what happens to these executives when they try to bring the "GE way" to their new companies? In some cases it's a fit, in others a culture clash. How do the numbers stack up? "When FORTUNE compared the performance of 34 current and former GE transplants against the S&P 500, the results were perfectly split: 17 beat the S&P 500, and 17 did not.

Is AmEx Playing Its Cards Right?, by Julie Creswell, page 80
Though American Express is posting huge profits and has one of the richest price/earnings ratios on Wall Street, CEO Kenneth Chenault is about to spin off a huge unit— American Express Financial Advisors— that has long been a headache. Meanwhile the courts have recently allowed banks to issue AmEx cards for the first time, essentially handing the company the keys to a brand-new market and giving AmEx the opportunity to become a serious competitor to Visa and MasterCard in the consumer segment for the first time. Julie Creswell looks at how Chenault plans to create a "new AmEx"— a supercharged version of the 155-year-old company.

The Truth About Halliburton, by Peter Elkind, page 86
While Halliburton's Middle East operation is the subject of scathing audits and investigations, the company's troubles go far beyond its misadventure in Iraq, which is just the most visible example in a string of self-inflicted fiascos. Federal prosecutors are now investigating how the company sidestepped U.S. sanctions against doing business in Iran. In addition to Iraq, a $2.5 billion construction project off the coast of Brazil and Halliburton's asbestos-liability problem, which ended up costing $5.1 billion, have contributed to a distinctly underwhelming bottom line. "Halliburton is awash in problems," reports senior writer Peter Elkind." They're just not what you think. The politician who ran the company from 1995 to 2000 will not be remembered as a great, or even good, CEO. But the real story is the businessman who replaced him. Halliburton isn't a company consumed by systemic fraud and corruption. It's simpler than that. The problem is just poor leadership."