...Case Study Analysis 1: Costco Wholesale Corp: Mission, Business Model and Strategy MGMT 670: Strategic Management Capstone June 26, 2011 Business Case Study: Costco Wholesale Corporation Introduction As a student in MGMT 670: Strategic Management, the capstone course for the Management track at the University of Maryland University College, I was asked to prepare a case study analysis of Costco Wholesale Corporation. Costco is one of the world’s leading wholesale retailers with annual sales of $76.3 Billion for fiscal year (FY) 2010, which is an increase of 9% from the previous year ($69.9 billion). In addition, its earnings per share increased to $2.92, an annual increase of 18% from the previous year. (Costco Financial Report, 2011) This increase is an all time high for the company thereby solidifying its place as a leader in the wholesale industry. Costco and its Business Strategy From inception, Costco’s business strategy has been to offer limited products (4000) at lower prices coupled with great values while keeping overhead costs low. In its main product line Costco has about 3,000 products that are present in the stores at all times and 1000 products that are ever-changing. These 1000 lines allow Costco buyers/merchandisers to hunt for items that will keep customers coming back to see what is new or fresh in the stores. These items help Costco create the “treasure hunt” environment that will keep customers coming back to the store more frequently. The motivation...
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...LAMAR UNIVERSITY - COLLEGE OF BUSINESS MGMT5380 - STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Brad Mayer: Galloway 204 (880-2383); bradley.mayer@lamar.edu Office Hrs: MWF 9:20-10:20 AM (and by appointment) The mission of the College of Business at Lamar University is to provide a quality education to a diverse student population from Southeast Texas and beyond, resulting in well-rounded business professionals who are prepared to meet the challenges of a dynamic global environment while upholding ethical values and encouraging civic and social responsibility. The faculty promotes an environment supportive of applications-oriented learning by engaging in a balance of discipline-based, business pedagogy, and practice-based intellectual contributions. I. Catalog Description: The capstone course for the MBA. The course assumes that the company success depends upon formulation of an astute “game” plan and the ability to implement and execute that game plan proficiently. The purpose of the class is to enable students to “think strategically,” consider the total enterprise, and to make long-term decisions in a global market environment. A prerequisite for the Integrative Case Study. II. Prerequisites: - Student must be in last semester of course work and have approval of advisor. - Justification: This is a capstone course that draws upon all of the MBA core courses and stresses complex and interdisciplinary applications of the combined theories and experiences of these...
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...hpu | Case Study: Costco Wholesale vs. Sam's Club vs. BJ's Wholesale | Management 4001 | | Danielle Lewis | 2/3/2012 | | Costco Wholesale vs. Sam's Club vs. BJ's Wholesale The main strategic issue that is faced by Costco (and by Sam's Club to a lesser extent) is the fact that it has trouble competing with BJ's Wholesale on some key factors of customer service. Costco is a warehouse-style retailer, just like the other two companies. Typically, these companies offer lower prices, but consumers who shop there also need to buy their items in bulk (Thompson, 2011). They get fewer perks, such as fixtures and décor, but that saves them money in the long run. It is a very "no frills" shopping experience which suits many people who prefer to buy their items in bulk and not have to shop as often as they otherwise would (Barrett, 2003; Thompson, 2011). Mostly affluent and middle-class people shop at these kinds of stores, as well as many small business owners. People who have less money typically stay away from Costco and other, similar stores because there is a membership fee and buying in bulk can result in larger outlays of money at one time - something many people with lower incomes simply do not have. While Costco is doing well, its strategy of providing that no frills experience for buying bulk goods has been recently called into question. It has been called into question because Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale are doing more now in order to provide customers...
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...COMPANY BACKGROUND Costco was founded by Jim Sinegal and Seattle entrepreneur Jeff Brotman. Operation of the first store of Costco began in 1983. There were nine Costco stores in five states by end of 1984. Costco became a public company for raising additional fund for business expansion in December 1985.Costco successful to reach one billion dollar in sales in less than six years which make the company the first ever United States (U.S) that reach that huge amount of sales. Costco merge with Price Club in year 1993 and came out with name of PriceCostco. Later, the name was changed to Costco Wholesale Corporation in August 1999.This warehouse club chain have 57 million members. It sales volumes only based on its members as it only open to their members and guests. Costco is the fourth largest retailer in the US and is the seventh largest in the world. Currently, Costco holding market share or in other words industry standing of US and Canada is about 55% . Whereas its close competitor Sam's Club market share is about 36% and 9% by BJ’s Wholesale Club. Costco offer tremendously lower price products with good quality and branded name. The price which are offer by Costco much lower compare to other conventional wholesale or retail that sell similar items and products. Profit generated by the company from its membership fees is about one billion with E- commerce sales contributing about five hundred and thirty four million. It was estimated that the renewal rate of the card...
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...many competitors, partly originated by the globalisation, all competing for same objective of making highest profit. So, increasingly companies are not merely asking themselves the management question of ‘Are we doing the right?’ but are having to regularly ask ‘Are we still doing it right?’ They have been seeking a more holistic means of doing this than traditional means of delivering products and services to the customers. In a volatile world, decision makers need options on the future and the ability to change direction as strategic opportunities. Although, business as usual (BAU) performance change is providing a short term success but they are typically faced with a less than perfect processes to make investments. In this case analysis, we are trying to summarise the current situation facing the firm by analysing the general environment, industry, competitor, swot analysis with the recommendation and conclusion. 2.0 External Environmental Analysis Wal-Mart is a household name in the retailing industry. It is one of the few companies that have managed to...
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...Business & Entrepreneurship Assignment for Course: MGT 5090 Entrepreneurial and Strategic Thinking Submitted to: Ron Steffel Submitted by: Georgette McIntosh N01 Xie Luxuan Dorquidia Alemany Date of Submission: May 3, 2015 Title of Assignment: Costco Case Study CERTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledge and disclosed in the paper. I have also cited any sources from which I used data, ideas of words, whether quoted directly or paraphrased. I also certify that this paper was prepared by me specifically for this course. Student Signature: Georgette McIntosh ******************************************* Instructor’s Grade on Assignment: Instructor’s Comments: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY he purpose of this report was to examine the implications on employees motivations used at Costco Wholesale Corporation. Research for this report included a review of he purpose of this report was to examine the implications on employees motivations A. Problem Statement: State the main problem facing the firm (or industry) in one, succinct sentence. B. Analysis: Summarize the main findings of your analysis. You may use bullet points, bold, italics – any means to convey and highlight the key factors you have determined based on your analysis. C. Alternatives: State briefly (one sentence or a bullet point each) 2 or 3 alternative...
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...Company Overview6 3.1 Targeted Company Overview…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7 4.0 Market Situation8 4.1 Local Market Situation……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8 4.2 International Market Situation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 4.3Overview of Canada9 5.0 Market Assumptions………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10 6.0 SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11 7.0 Target Market Needs……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 7.1 Selected Products…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 7.2 Product feature……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13 7.3 Product Packaging…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13 7.4 Product Launch……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13 7.5 Legal Considerations…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….…15 8.0Market Entry Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….16 8.1 Types of Risks…………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………...18 8.2 Competitive Advantage……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…20 9.0 Honey Bun’s Value Chain analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………..21 9.1Market Research Consultants………………………………………………………………………………………………………..22 9.2 Operations……………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………..….22 9.3 Production…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....23 9.4 Marketing and Sales…………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………….23 9.5 Product...
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... | |Costco Supply Chain Management System | | | | | |Supply Chain Management | |MGT/MKT 316F1LV | Costco is considered as one of the biggest global retailers that provide customers with a variety of merchandise, ranging from well known brands to private label items. Costco was established in 1976 under the name “Price Club” which was a store located in a converted airplane hanger in San Diego. Costco has been operating as a low cost leader, through it’s no frills warehouse business model, which enabled it to become the first company to grow from 0 to $3 billion sales in less than 6 years (Costco 2013). Costco competes intensely for customers and profits with Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club warehouse model, and Target Corporation’s department store model. Costco started by targeting only small businesses, but then changed to serving also non-business...
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...Case Study Costco: the Culture fit in Japan CONTENT 1 Introduction 1 2 Costco’s Human Resources Policies and Practices in United States 1 2.1 Recruitment 1 2.2 Compensation and Benefits 2 2.3 Career development 3 3 Culture differences between US and Japan 3 4 Costco’s human resource policies and practices in Japan 6 4.1 Costco in Japan 6 4.2 Costco’s human resource policies and practices in Japan 7 4.2.1 Recruitment 7 4.2.1.1 Student Program 7 4.2.1.2 Job Posting System 8 4.2.2 Compensation and Benefits 9 4.2.3 Career development 9 5 Conclusion 10 1 Introduction Costco Wholesale Corporation operates an international chain of membership warehouses, which carries quality, brand name merchandise at substantially low prices. As of 2014, it is the second largest retailer in the United States and the third largest in the world and the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. Costco currently operates 671 warehouses, with 189,000 full and part-time employees all around the world. As of 8/31/2014, there were 160.3 Million membership owners and the annual revenue of fiscal year 2014 was $112.6 billion. 2 Costco’s Human Resources Policies and Practices in United States In the United States, Costco is famous for its generous to employees. Despite the sagging economy and challenges to the industry, Costco pays its hourly workers an average of $20.89 an hour, not including overtime (vs. the minimum wage of $7...
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...Examination instructions to Students Subject: Bus 317 Strategic Management Please read these notes carefully: 1. The examination will be based on the following case Cochlear via the LMS site for BUS317. 2. You are expected to read the case in detail AND update the information i.e. you are required to know the competitive situation and the internal functioning of Starbucks to October 2013. 3. You are allowed to prepare a single A4 sheet, double-sided, TYPED. Attach this sheet to your answer script. Please DO NOT attempt to reproduce everything you have written down on the A4 sheet in your answer. The A4 sheet is a SUPPORT not a CRUTCH!! 4. To help you answer the exam questions, I suggest you include data on: a. the external environment, cochlear implant industry and closely-related concentric industries and competitive environments.e.g. market share, value of market, major players, rates of change, growth rates; b. Internal analysis to determine organisational capabilities, core competencies 5. The 2-hour exam will comprise 1 section, with a choice of 2 questions. You will answer one of these 2 questions, not both. If both are answered, the answer that appears first will be marked. 6. Q1 looks at the competitive environment and asks you how to resolve a critical competitive issue where you need to devise real world solutions grounded in theory. What is your solution, and more importantly, show how your solution is viable given...
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...Unit 3 Internal Analysis and Long-Term Objectives Case Study Analysis Kaplan University School of Business MT460 Management Policy and Strategy Author: Gerald Short Professor: Dr. Andryce Zurich Date: 12/31/2015 Internal Analysis and Long-Term Objectives Company Name: Whole Foods Market Topic of the Week: Internal Analysis and Long-Term Objectives Synopsis of the Situation Whole Foods Market is the world’s leading company in natural and organic food sales. Their growth and success is due to being highly selective about what they sell, they are also dedicated to high quality standards and their core values. They are also the first American grocer to be a nationally certified organic and ranked 284th in Fortune 500 (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Whole Foods is struggling to maintain its edge over today’s competition, many of their competitors can purchase more product and sell it for less. Due to the rising awareness of healthier eating and farmers producing more organic and natural products Whole Foods finds itself in a precarious position. The position would be the fierce competition from big box retailers such as Wal*Mart, target, Costco, and the standard grocery stores. These competitors have the ability to order larger quantities at a lower cost giving them the ability to offer the natural or organic products at a lower price (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Alternative Solutions 1. Increase brand awareness, image, and loyalty through advertising...
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...didn’t shop; instead she took mental notes about store traffic, first at the Reed store and then at an indirect but increasingly worrisome kind of competitor—a dollar store. The Reed was predictably well lit and inviting, and Collins could see three registers open and two or three customers in line at each. “Not too bad” she thought, “but not what I would hope for at this time of day, this close to the holidays.” She’d felt the same way at two other Reeds she’d visited that day . Collins walked on to the Dollar General (DG). A fairly steady stream of shoppers entered DG’s doors, their progress slowed by families exiting with plastic bags jammed full. When Collins looked inside, she noticed workers filling what was obviously a new freezer case—the first freezer she had seen in a dollar store that day. This DG was doing just as well, to judge from this glimpse, as the Family Dollar she’d walked past half an hour earlier at North Valley—but no better than the Aldi store she had visited in the morning. That Aldi trip was interesting: a bright and spotless mini- supermarket, run by a giant firm from Germany that carried one-tenth the food items that a Reed did and sold virtually no brand names, only private-label—but still posed a threat to Reed due to its remarkably low prices. As she drove out of the parking lot, thinking back to last week’s discussions with the management team about the newest threats to Reed’s position as a leader among the region’s supermarkets, Collins wondered...
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...This strategy was overwhelmingly successful, and continued to be the central tenet of M&S strategy for many years. M&S sailed through the depression and several recessions, but at the end of the 1990's something went severely wrong. Profits were falling year on year and the footfall in the stores was lower than it had been for several years. From the year of 1991 to 1998 it started to regain its profit again. But from 1999 the situation started to worsen again. This report sets out many of the reasons for that failure then concludes by suggesting and evaluating the strategic options open to the organization going forward. The report concludes that drawing on the substantial capital resources of M&S, brand and product development are the appropriate measures to take in order to put M&S back on the retail map. 1|Page Part 02 Strategic Profile and Case Analysis Purpose Strategic Profile The case study provided several descriptions on the basic elements of the company. It has been described as a company that adheres to top-down management approach compounded by the close supervision provided by its former CEO. This has worked well with the company for several decades, however in the latter part of the 1998s a noticeable decline in the sales as well as in the overall performance of the company was observed. Various revolutionary and evolutionary changes have...
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...Case Study – Procter & Gamble ® / Case # 24 Student Name BUS 4333.50 Dr. Derek Crews July 26, 2009 Table of Contents Topic Page 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Introduction 3 3. Problem Statement 3 - 5 4. Environmental Scanning 5 5.1. SWOT Analysis 5 - 10 5.2. Financial Ratios 11 - 14 5.3. Porter Five Forces Analysis 14 - 16 5. Strategic Formulation 16 - 17 6.4. Recommendation for Alternative Strategies 17 - 19 6.5. Selection of Alternative Strategy 19 6. Strategic Implementation 19 - 20 7. Evaluation and Control 20 - 22 8. Reference / Work Cited 23 - 26 1. Executive Summary The objective of this case study is to assess the Procter & Gamble (P&G) corporation within its current environment by evaluation of its present performance with in its industry (Hunter, 2009). The assessment is based on information provided in the 2007 case study by Professor Shamsie and Eisner as well as various other secondary research materials. The objectives of the case analysis are to point out potential problems with P&G, conducting a SWOT analysis, strategic Porter Five Forces analysis, reviews various recommendations to the problems stated and implement a strategic recommendation. Regarding the problem in this case, as research will show, P&G’s faces three major problem...
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...April ALDI offering the ‘same for less’ value proposition Andrian Saputra Njonoriswondo Billy Qian Claudya Vici Yvonne Huang 17 Table of contents Introduction Australian Retail Industry Market Segmentation Product Differentiation Consumer Perception Cost Effective Strategy Potential Future Problems Conclusion Appendix References pg. 2 pg. 2 pg. 2,3 pg. 3 pg. 4 pg. 4,5 pg. 5,6 pg. 6 pg. 7 pg. 8,9 M A R K 1 0 1 2 M a r k e t i n g F u n d a m e n t a l s Introduction In present, the number of retailers in the marketplace is uncountable. Hence, it is important for the organisations to understand and satisfy their consumers and customers in order to have a long-run survival in the marketplace. Every organisation is aiming to be efficient and effective in operation. Thus, they have to be sure that consumers and customers have a freedom to choose goods at the best price and perceive a service that match their preferences. To succeed, the company has to be certain about which part of consumers or customers they want to satisfy. In other words, they have to create a more focused target market. This idea is often called market segmentation. Market segmentation can be defined as a marketing strategy that involves dividing a broad target market into narrower target consumers who have common needs and wants (Goldstein 2007). ALDI has been regarded as a successful company that can meet the expectations of customers whereas the other existing firms are...
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