...Costco Inc. 2012: A Wholesale Membership Industry Analysis Using the Porter’s Five Forces Model Costco’s Company Background Costco is the third largest retailer in the U.S. as well as the seventh largest retailer in the world. It is leading the discount warehouse and wholesale club segment of the North American retailing industry. As of 2012, Costco had a total of 598 warehouses internationally. Costco’s fiscal 2011 total revenue was $88.9 billion and net income was $1.46 billion. Additionally Costco had $1.9 billion of membership fees revenue acquired from 25 million households and 6.4 million businesses making it the leader in the wholesale, membership industry. The annual sales for one of Costco’s competitors, Sam’s Club, averaged $146 million with a $78 million average per store. Costco’s business model aims to generate high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover by offering fee-paying members attractively low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and selected private-label products in a wide range of merchandise category. Rapid inventory turnover, low operating costs through purchasing high volumes, efficient distribution, and reduced merchandise handling costs are the major factors that make Costco profitable with relatively lower gross margins than other wholesale competitors. Also, the membership fee required from customers is a major revenue source thataccounts for approximately 70 percent of its total revenue annually. Additionally, Costco...
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...Costco Companies Inc. – Case Analysis * Karthik Sundar (668943916) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Costco is a membership only club warehouse giant that operates globally. Most of its business is concentrated in the United States with its presence in a majority of the states. It is currently having good business figures of 115 Billion dollars in revenue and a net income of 15.3 Billion dollars. The following is a case study of the hurdles faced by the management at Costco during the period of 1998 when they had come up with a new venture of offering services to its customers. Costco’s sales driver is the fact that it sell a bulk of its products at very low margin to its customers. It is able to do so as it has a large inventory at each warehouse and operational costs aren’t very high. Despite having a large inventory, it has a high number of inventory turns at each of its inventories. Such operational efficiency helps them offer products at great prices to its customers. This value offered attracts a lot of small business and general public. Costco’s customers are a good mix of such business and general customers from the public. It operates on an exclusive membership with a member enrollment fee of 40$ during the period of this case (55$ currently). Major revenue generators are food and sundries amounting to about 60% of the sales at Costco. It has a good business model of operating at good efficiency, competitive pricing, commitment to the quality and great employee focus. A combination...
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...Strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis serves to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats present within any company or organization. By conducting a SWOT analysis one can get a comprehensive picture of what they have, what they lack, what they can use more effectively, and areas that need an immediate attention. Costco’s strengths lies in its ability to remain focused on its strategy and mission. The company has identified that it strives to be a low cost provider for quality products, no frill but adequate service. Costco consciously caps their profit margin at 14 % compared to their competition which markup at 20 to 50%. They have also created a private-label brand that is 20% below comparable name-brands. The company offer high priced items at a large discount that reaches out to a wealthier clientele. Their business practice also includes treating their employees well. They pay higher wages than minimum wage and also pay close to 90% of employee benefits which include medical, dental life and disability insurance. In addition employees may opt into a 401K plan and stock purchase options with the company. Their philosophy is to treat employees well and they will have employees who are loyal and work hard to better the company. Jim Sinegal believes that employees are “ambassadors out there who are constantly saying good things about Costco. (Thompson, pg 43). Costco’s weaknesses are difficult to pinpoint. They could make...
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...Case Analysis on Costco Companies Inc. Group- 5 Mastahat Ahmed Arif Md. Salehin Md. Nur Rahman Abdullah Md. Salim Sarker Md. Jahidur Rahim Tabrez Nazir 11164011 11164012 11164020 11164021 11164035 11164022 1 Case Introduction • On July 21, 1998, Pat Turpin, Vice president of Executive member services for Costco Companies Inc had to recommend how to market a new service program • Costco developed a portfolio of services • Services would be available with a annual membership fee of $ 100 • Testing was also conducted 2 Case Introduction •Never really had to market before •Through services they wanted to offer good value to customers •Turpin felt, marketing a new service related program is a big challenge •Selling insurance is very different from selling products 3 Background of the company • Costco Companies Inc.-founded in the north west of United States in 1983 • Costco followed the business format of price club • Costco also expanded internationally and in other parts of US • In July 1998, Costco operated in 24 states – UK, Canada, Mexico and Asia with 278 outlets • Warehouses- designed to operate efficiently • Costco had two types of members 4 Background of the company • They had 25 million card holders • In 1997 through membership fees they earned $400 million • In FY 1997- earned $312 million on sales of $21.5 billion • Costco provides- good brands, large size at good value • Through high volume purchase...
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...✓ Materials Needed Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy: Text and Cases, by Simons, Robert. Prentice Hall, ISBN #0-13-234006-2 Cases in Management Accounting & Control Systems 4th Edition, by Allen, Brownlee, Haskins and Lynch, Pearson-Prentice Hall, ISBN #0-13-570425-1 Freakonomics: A Rouge Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Harper Collins, ISBN#0-06-073132-X ✓ University Communication with Students All email communication from the University is sent to the student’s wsu.edu address. Please be sure that you have set up the link to forward your personal email address (aol, hotmail, etc.) or you will miss announcements and information that is very important to you. This is the email I use to contact you regarding class matters. If you change your email address, be sure to update again. ✓ Catalog Course Description with Prerequisitites 3credits: Managerial evaluation of budgeting, cost accounting, and financial analysis techniques; their utilization in control of operations. (pre-requisite acctg 550 or equivalent). Please note that pre-requisites are strictly enforced and that students will be disenrolled if they do not have course pre-requisites). ✓ Instructor Course Objectives Knowledge and Skill Expectations: Students should have the knowledge and skill level to record economic events, read and analyze financial information through the topic areas covered...
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...Costco case study and strategic analysis Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco), one among the few largest wholesaler giant differentiates itself applying unique strategies relating to production and operations, and marketing which make it stand out from the rest of the retailers who are also said to be competitive in the retailing and wholesaling business globally. Costco is one of the innovative wholesalers teamed by very dynamic management team and dedicated, motivated and satisfied workforce with the mission “to continually provide its members the best quality products at the lowest possible prices” (Costco Annual Report 2006). Some of the fundamental principle of the Costco is that they obey the law, they take care of their members, they take care of their employees, they respect their suppliers, and finally they reward their shareholders. Some of the reasons how Costco can serve those highest quality goods of national brands for the lowest possible prices is that they eliminate different cost associated with delivery expenditures, account receivable, inventory, sales people, and fancy buildings. And they successfully operate themselves in the competitive environment serving not only an individual customers but also a legal customers (a company), and small business customers. Costco believe that society and the community is one of the key factors of their success. Therefore, they are willing to give back to their community and the society in terms of quality goods in...
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...Case C – Competition among the North American Wholesale Clubs: Costco Wholesale versus Sam's CLub versus BJ Wholesale 1. List the five (5) most significant strengths and weaknesses of Costco and the primary or support activities in which these strengths and weaknesses are found. Strengths * Good revenue (yearly sales over $300 million generated by warehouse with $131 million actually per store worldwide * Customer Loyalty through its loyal membership (Example of Gold Star membership) * Low cost of product and services: low pricing was one of the best strategies of Costco with top quality (lower than the offer of the competitors)-Ultra low price Policy. * Good treatment of employees as well as good wages which is a factor resulting in high the performance * A unique and exceptional Employment policy which allow people to give themselves the chance and value themselves by giving them hope about realization and any position they may acquire now or later through promotions; How they can go from just pushing card to be vice president + World’s largest seller of Wine with $597 million in only one year, 2009 Weaknesses * Weak advertisement, (just by mail) hen others are using Media, people pay more attention to media than, mails, they generally don’t have time to read commercial in the mails * Unimportance of Profit margin * No self-checkout, just thinking about being at the end of a long time, does not encourage people to...
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...Introduction Costco offers divers item for their customers. Their products vary from food to household furniture to clothing. Even though they offer diverse products, Costco doesn’t have the best sell in each department or some items in some department. The reasons why Costco is profiting in one department and losing in another department differs for each item. Items Costco is known for offering products in larger amounts. This can be beneficial or harmful. Listed below have the highest lift or lowest lift. Solution The reason why these have a lower lift is because the items come in larger quantities than needed, they have a higher price than a local store or customers aren’t familiar with the items. To solve this problem, Costco can start selling some items that in smaller size. Because some of the items will spoil before the customer uses it completely. This will be a...
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...ARCTIC MINING CONSULTANTS Case Synopsis Arctic Mining Consultants is a mining company that deals with mineral exploration. In this case study, the project given is staking 15 claims in Eagle Lake, Alaska. The project Manager was Tom Parker, who has a wide experience and specialized knowledge in all nontechnical aspects of mineral exploration. He is a geological field technician and field coordinator for Arctic Mining Consultants. He assigned his previous field assistants John Talbot, Greg Boyce and Brian Millar to help him complete the project. The job required them to stake at least 7 lengths each day in order to be completed on time. However, the whole team has became very tense and agitated, especially Tom Parker, as the deadline was just around the corner and there’s still many to be finished within the limited time. The problem became worse with the way Tom managed and treated his team. The only motivation to the team was the $300 bonuses promised by the company when the job is done on time, otherwise, they might wished to give up already. This happened because working as a field assistant and in long-working hours only giving them low wages, which is considered unreasonable compared to what they have to do. During the eight hard days, everything had actually proved the strengths and weaknesses of each of the team members, including Tom. Case analysis symptoms 1) What symptom(s) exist in this case to suggest that something has gone wrong? The symptom(s) to suggest...
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...1. Would a TNA be needed in this situation? Why or why not? If yes, who would you want to talk to? Training Needs Analysis is a formal process required for the purpose of identifying the training gap that is in existence and its related training need. Considering the IMP case analysis, training needs analysis is required since there are different sectors within the organization which require an individual to possess the necessary skills to perform the expected work within that department. In addition, training is also offered to people working within the ‘different sectors’ in that organization despite the fact that equality is not displayed while offering that form of training. Talking to the HR manager at North America International Airport’s about training needs analysis is a good idea since the HR manager is the one with the authority over the individual’s directly concerned with training such as Mr. Pettipas. 2. Based on the case as presented above, what KSAs need to be trained? From the case analysis at IMP, it is evident that there are several knowledge, skills and abilities that have to be addressed during training to all the employees within those departments. Leadership skills need to be addressed since the HR was not able to assist Ms. Dillman in her case which portrayed that he lacked the leadership skills. Technician skills required for the metal sheet shop needs to be trained since Ms. Dillman lacked knowledge on the requirement of a metal sheet shop technician...
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...Title Page Course – MKTG 6300 Fall 2007 Service Marketing Student Name: Maria E. Kobayashi Individual Case Analysis Individual Case Summary: Ritz – Carlton Hotels 1. Key issues Ritz – Carlton (RC) wants to be perceived as the premier luxury hotel, with differentiated and personalized service, high levels of guest retention and guest recovery rates, and low levels of service defect incidence. The group wants to achieve this goal by optimizing the balance between human relationships and the systems. Nevertheless, the systems and databases RC had in place at the time of the case do not deliver the level of information needed to reach their objective. Moreover, they do not allow for smooth interaction with the RC team, who are able to gather highly valuable information regarding customers’ preferences, dislikes, or potential problems experimented by the guests. 2. Recommendations First of all, the Encore system should be modified to include real-time updating of customers’ preferences and of potential problems the guests might have experimented during their stay. This should be standardized across all RC properties. Guest categorization should also be standardized and input into the system. This system should be available in a user-friendly way to any member of the RC staff in convenient locations. It should also include a common defect reporting module with the functionality to cross data between different locations. After all these processes...
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...In the case, a man who goes by the name Moto is sent to Chicago to do business. Here his “responsibility was to hire a contracting company and check on the pricing details.” He works for an auto parts supplier, KKD, who had been researching American contracting companies for the past year and a half. They decided to use Allmack due to it having the best track record. Moto went to meet with a man who worked for the company and was shocked by his rudeness and unprofessional manner. He wasn’t prepared for this and had no idea what to think of it. Also, he was not so used to moving so quickly and rushing around. In America, people are very fast passed and try to get things done as quickly as possible. He presented Mr. Crowell with a gift and he just stated that his daughter would love it. When Crowell said this, Moto should have gone in to a discussion explaining what the dolls meant and the importance of them. This way he could have shown Crowell the value in the gift he was giving him and he would have taken back the comment about his daughter loving them. Throughout the case there are many differences that Moto is shocked by. One of these is the fact that he is used to being called by his last name. He was surprised when Crowell asked for his first name and began calling him by that instead. Also, he wanted proof that the Allmack group was actually as good as they say they are. He asked for records and one of the workers got offended and was wondering why he did not trust them...
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...to time to write a good CAR. So, once you “get” the Big Picture of the Case, and recognize the major analysis elements (focal system(s), main problem/Alternatives, etc.): o focus on analyzing those Alternatives and coming up with some significant Findings, and especially Recommendations. o As your analysis results “solidify,” focus more and more on Writing a Good CAR and submitting by the Due Date! • Cases can contain more than 1 major “track” for their analysis, allowing for alternative versions of a CAR. So, do NOT simply imitate this Example CAR blindly for its “specific content.” Worse, DO NOT simply copy any of its parts. • Instead, use this Example CAR by way of “Reverse Engineering:” See how its contents arise logically if our Case Analysis Method (Guide) is applied to the Case. This will help you understand how our analysis method works! Then, use the same general analysis method (actually, the Approach) on the Case assigned for your CAR. • Don’t just imitate the pattern of alternative found here! Analyse and find out what alternatives make most sense in the particular Case you are working on. • No Case contains ALL the facts you want to know for its analysis. So, when analyzing Cases, be pragmatic! Do not worry about any facts beyond the Case (unless specifically instructed). Instead, conduct the “best possible” analysis using available Case-facts. • Leave Enough Time to Write a GOOD REPORT based on your...
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...discussing “case” materials in light of theoretical arguments advanced in “readings.” Case materials include standard Harvard Business School cases, book chapters about individuals (Robert Moses and Henry Kissinger), corporations (e.g., Lehman Brothers and Time Warner), and industries (e.g., the auto industry), and in-class videos (e.g., a “Bill Moyer’s Journal” segment on David Rockefeller). COURSE REQUIREMENTS Final course grades will be based on student performance on three written assignments and on student participation in class discussions. Written Assignments. Each student will be expected to submit two individual case analyses that indicate what the student learned from reading and discussing the case in question. The case analyses should be one single spaced typewritten page long and should be submitted the week after the case that they address is discussed in class. Individual case analyses will be graded on a scale from 1-3 and together will comprise 10% of a student’s final grade. Each student should also form a group with three to four other students to complete a case study of a real organization. The research for this case study can be carried out using primary sources (e.g., participation observation and/or interviews) or secondary sources (e.g., books, articles, or prepared cases about a target organization). Thus, group members need not have worked in an organization to use it as the subject of their final case analysis. Other case analysis topics...
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...ZhiQing | Student ID No.: | 22012511 | Unit Code & Name: | MNG91002 | Campus: | MDIS | Tutor’s Name: | Frankie-Lim | Assignment No: | 1 | Assignment Title: | Case Analysis Research – Striving for Best Academic Practice | Word Count: | 1193 | Due Date: | 21 Apr 2014 | Date submitted: | 20 Apr 2014 | Declaration: I declare that this assignment is my own original work and has not been submitted for assessment elsewhere. I acknowledge and irrevocably agree that the assessor of this assignment may, for the purpose of assessing this assignment: * Reproduce this assignment and provide a copy to another member of faculty for review and comment, including whether the work is an original work; and/or * Provide a copy of this assignment to a plagiarism checking service for review so that it may determine whether the assignment is an original work. The checking service may retain a copy of the assignment on its database for the purpose of future plagiarism checking. I have read and understand the Rules relating to Awards (Rule 3.17) as contained in the University Handbook. I understand the penalties that apply for plagiarism and agree to be bound by these rules. CHEN ZHIQING 20 Apr 2014 Signature (please type) Date Tutor's comments: Paper Title: Case Analysis Research –...
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