Does growth result in more profit?

This article in the WSJ describes Wal-Mart's struggles to increase sales and what is happening to its profit. Here are some questions.

1. How would you evaluate the costs and benefits of "investment in wages, better stores, and e-commerce"?
   
2. How would you evaluate the costs and benefits of increasing the number of work-hours employed?
   
3. What are margins? " "In the near-term, [Simeon Gutman, retail analyst at Morgan Stanley] said, 'it's not a question of if margins are going to fall, it's a question of how far.'

Labels: Pricing decisions, all-or-nothing decisions, employment decisions