'Collaborative Disruption' Explores Revolutionary Retail

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Collaborative Disruption, a new book recently published by Epic Books, an initiative of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, reveals the story behind one of the most transformational and influential partnerships in retail history.

Its author, Tom Muccio, provides fresh perspective and an insightful narrative to demonstrate how the partnership between P&G and Walmart goes beyond traditional business practices and establishes a new model for success in the industry.

Collaborative Disruption explores how strategic collaborations can reshape customer-supplier relationships within the consumer packaged-goods sector and beyond, while also covering change management and how effective managed change fosters innovation.

“Too many books make change sound easy and natural,” said Lee Scott, former CEO of Walmart. “Truth is, change is hard and messy. P&G and Walmart were successful enough that neither needed to change in the short term. To change in good times is doubly difficult.”

Through detailed analysis and personal anecdotes, Muccio gives readers a ground-level view of events as they happened and shows how the insights and lessons learned from managing this partnership have profoundly impacted many leaders across various industries.

Muccio, a renowned business leader, retired as P&G’s president of global customer teams and senior customer strategy office and currently serves as the founder and CEO of Muccio Consulting. Muccio and his team’s management of P&G’s relationship with Walmart increased annual sales at the retailer from $350 million to $8 billion.

He was not only the driving force behind the "one-company model" at P&G but was also a driver of change in the retail industry. During Muccio’s tenure as board chairman of the Strategic Account Management Association, he brought this model to many global firms in a broad range of industries. The "one-company model" is now seen as a standard operating practice in the retail industry.

Collaborative Disruption is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Epic Books, Walmart and wherever books are sold.

About Epic Books: Epic Books is an imprint of the University of Arkansas’s Sam M. Walton College of Business that focuses on emerging technologies, leadership, business narratives, and entrepreneurship titles. Explore for yourself how Epic Books captures the expertise and insights of its faculty and stakeholder network and transforms it into pragmatic, action-oriented ideas.

About the Sam M. Walton College of Business: Founded in 1926, the Sam M. Walton College of Business stands as one of the largest colleges at the University of Arkansas, serving over 9,800 students across undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs. The college holds AACSB accreditation and consistently ranks among the top business schools in the United States. Walton College is ranked 25th for its undergraduate business program among public colleges, while its management information systems program holds the 14th position among public schools in the U.S. News & World Report's 2025 national rankings. Additionally, the undergraduate supply chain management program is recognized as the top program in North America by Gartner. In 2023, The Princeton Review included Walton’s M.B.A. program in its list of Best Business Schools for On-Campus M.B.A. Programs.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.