This New York Post article by Charles Platt has one serving of pro-capitalism platitude, and a few servings of fascinating anecdotes about working at Wal-Mart, including a little bit about the application screening quiz and a little bit about the Telxon:

. . . aspect of Wal-Mart employment that impressed me most: The Telxon, pronounced "Telzon," a hand-held bar-code scanner with a wireless connection to the store's computer. When pointed at any product, the Telxon would reveal astonishing amounts of information: the quantity that should be on the shelf, the availability from the nearest warehouse, the retail price, and (most amazing of all) the markup.

All of us were given access to this information, because - in theory, at least - anyone in the store could order a couple extra pallets of anything, and could discount it heavily as a Volume Producing Item (known as a VPI), competing with other departments to rack up the most profitable sales each month. Floor clerks even had portable equipment to print their own price stickers . . .

I also enjoyed the EconTalk interview with Platt where he expands a bit on the VPI policy and the application quiz. As a warning, in case this kind of thing doesn't appeal to you, they do spend quite a bit of time in the interview cheerleading capitalism.

I do wonder what the consequences actually are in practice if you decide to order a few extra pallets of something and it doesn't sell.