...Cloutier v. Costco Wholesale Corp. In this case Kimberly Cloutier worked as a cashier for Costco. In March 2001, Costco revised its dress code to prohibit all facial jewelry, aside from earrings. Cloutier was advised to remove facial piercings. Cloutier refused because she is a member of the Church of Body Modification (CBM), which was established in 1999 and has about 1,000 members who participate in such practices as piercing, tattooing, branding, cutting, and body manipulation. Eventually, Cloutier was fired. The district court granted summary judgment on the basis that Costco had offered a reasonable accommodation. But the First Circuit decides to uphold the grant of summary judgment on other grounds. The only accommodation that Cloutier will accept is exemption from the dress code. The First Circuit holds that Costco had no duty to offer a reasonable accommodation because doing so would create an undue hardship. An accommodation constitutes an undue hardship if it would impose more than a de minimis cost on the employer. The undue hardship claimed by Costco is that it has a legitimate interest in presenting a workforce to its customers that is, at least in Costco's eyes, reasonably professional in appearance. Costco has determined that facial piercings, aside from earrings, detract from the "neat, clean and professional image" that it aims to cultivate. Such a business determination is within its discretion. For similar reasons, the Court also upholds the grant of summary judgment...
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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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...Costco Wholesale Corporation Application of Calculating Ratio in Financial Analysis 2001-2005 Group 2: 1. Nguyễn Hoàng Yến 2. Nguyễn Trần Bảo Ngọc 3. Nguyễn Ngọc Tuấn 4. Trần Minh Hoàn I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Introduction: Costco Wholesale Corporation was founded in 1976 in San Diego, CAand with its first warehouse in Seattle. It is a membership-only warehouse club that provides a wide selection of merchandise. As of July 2012, it is the second largest retailer in the United States, the seventh largest retailer in the world and the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States.Today, Costco is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, United States has a total of 655 locations, with retail outlets in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Spain and the United States. 2. Problem In this case, our group has a mission to prove that the basing on some financial results can lead to the investigate activity. At stand point in the year 2005, we had an analysis about Costco in period 2001-2005, then use these figures to make a decision whether or not invest in Costco in the next period. II. ANALYSIS To avoiding the problem of comparing companies of different sizes in Stock market, one of the most effective ways is to calculate and compare the financial ratios. Capture this trend, we are using ratio to analysis and predict future financial condition of COSTCO. Furthermore...
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...Week 3 Homework Assignment for Chapters 9, 10 and 11 Chapter 9 Hardage v. CBS 1. What were the legal issues in this case? What did the court decide? In the summer of 1998, Hardage began working as an advertising account executive for KSTW-TV, a television station owned by Viacom Television Stations, Inc. and managed by CBS Broadcasting Inc. He was promoted to Local Sales Manager in February of 2000, and in this position, he worked with another Local Sales Manager, Nadene Stauffer, to manage and supervise the account executives. Patty Dean, the General Sales Manager, who was in turn supervised by defendant Sparks, the station’s General Manager, supervised both Hardage and Stauffer. Until about a month before Hardage resigned in August of 2001, he worked in the Seattle sales office whereas Sparks worked in the management office in Tacoma. Hardage contends he was sexually harassed by Sparks on several occasions and subjected to retaliation after he rejected her advances. He alleges that during Sparks' visits to the Seattle office, she repeatedly flirted with him and made inappropriate comments-such as “[y]ou need somebody that's older and more stable that can take care of you.” Leo Elbert, another employee at KSTW, stated that Sparks would “camp out” in Hardage's office, kick back in his chair with her feet on his desk, and smile and giggle in a flirtatious manner. Hardage asserts that he never flirted...
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...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 core courses. III. Course Learning Outcomes: This course has been developed to help you adapt to the rapidly changing markets, globalization, shifting government policies, new technologies and increasingly fickle consumer tastes, all which make the task of strategic management more difficult and critical over time. After taking this course, you should be able to: A. Recognize the most...
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...Summary Costco was co-founded by Jim Sinegal and Jeff Brotman. The first Costco store was in Seattle, in which operations commenced in 1983. Over the years Costco has grown to be the leading warehouse club sales company with 56% of sales in North America. As of 2010 Costco has 566 stores found worldwide where 413 are found in the United States alone. Costco has a membership program in which business and households alike can purchase. Approximately 5.7 million businesses and 31.1 million households have Costco memberships. Costco’s aim was to sell “top-quality merchandise at prices consistently below what other wholesalers or retailers charged” (Thompson C-57). Their main goal was to save shoppers money therefore they developed a philosophy of “keep members coming in to shop by wowing them with low prices and thereby generating big sales volumes” (Thompson C-57). This proved to be effective for Costco. Analysis Financial Key Ratios | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | ROA Profits after tax/Total Asset | 4.94% | 6.20% | 5.52% | 6.31% | ROEProfit after tax/ Stockholders equity | 10.84% | 13.96% | 12.56% | 12.06% | Current RatioC.A./C.L. | 1.114 | 1.066 | 1.087 | 1.053 | Quick Ratio(C.A. – Inventory)/ C.L. | 0.531 | 0.498 | 0.518 | 0.470 | Debt to Asset RatioTotal Debt/ Total Asset | 0.101 | 0.113 | 0.110 | 0.015 | Debt Equity RatioTotal Debt/ Stockholders Equity | 0.222 | 0.255 | 0.251 | 0.028 | Costco’s financial data shows there were some changes to assets in liabilities...
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...Nova Southeastern University Wayne Huizenga Graduate School of 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:...
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...In another equally important (for different reasons) challenge to state liquor authorities, Costco filed suit against the Washington State Liquor Control Board in 2004 (Costco Wholesale Corporation v. Hoen, et al.). The case, decided by the federal court in Costco’s favor in December of 2005 on Summary Judgment (on the self-distribution issues) and in March 2006 after a trial on the anti-trust issues, focused primarily on regulations forbidding the central warehousing of alcoholic beverages by a retailer with multiple outlets. The Court found that there was no legitimate state interest in state laws prohibiting large volume discounts or the central warehousing of inventory. Moreover, there was no legitimate state interest in state laws requiring mandatory distributor mark-ups, requiring that distributors be paid in cash or in fixing prices via price-postings. All of these practices violated the anti-trust laws. These were not new findings because various Supreme Court cases over the prior three decades had found these practices unlawful in a variety of contexts. However, this case was the first time they were all decided together in one case that effectively invalidated an entire state regulatory system. Additionally the judge observed that the Granholm case meant that if Washington wineries could sell direct to retailers, so could out-of-state wineries. This is the self-distribution issue, and now 35 states permit winery selfdistribution. This ruling is favorable...
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...Eddie Alvarez, Dana Huigen Chen, Jason Nguyen, Morgan Thomas, Charleen Binsol, Amit Shukla, Daniel Cho, Miko Xinyuan Shan Professor Macaulay MGMT 425 2/16/16 Costco Executive Summary This paper conducted an external analysis of Costco which is in the retail industry, more specifically, variety stores. The five forces of this industry include Threat of New Entrants, Bargaining Power of Buyers, Bargaining Power of Suppliers, Threat of Substitutes, and Intensity of Rivalry. After having conducted research, the intensity of each of the forces are as follows: Threat of New Entrants – moderate; Bargaining Power of Buyers – weak; Bargaining Power of Suppliers – weak; Threat of Substitutes – strong; and Intensity of Rivalry – weak. Furthermore, the greatest concern involves threats from online purchases, due to the convenience and ease of the transaction. Although, suppliers that have large economies of scale are working with Costco in securing preferential prices. Threat of New Entrants The first of Porter’s Five Forces is the threat of new entrants, which refers to the likelihood of new competitors entering the industry. The strength of this force depends on the levels of barriers to entry. When barriers to entry are high, the threat of new entrants are low, and vice versa. We determined the threat of new entrants to be moderate for the Variety Stores industry. The first two barriers to entry are large economies of scale and high capital requirements. When consumers...
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...Appendix C: Organizational Analysis Costco Wholesale Corporation Introduction… The purpose of this Organizational Analysis is to discuss Costco’s current mission and values, provide a snapshot of their existing overall business model and the environment they are working in, and then discuss the key success factors required to succeed in their industry. Beyond that will be an examination of what resources (tangible, intangible, and human) and capabilities (functional and value chain) are needed to deliver on these key success factors, as well as analyze how Costco ‘stacks up’ to the competition in those areas. Finally there will be a discussion of what areas should be either improved or exploited moving forward to give Costco a more distinct competitive advantage (and therefore increased profits) in this industry. Mission, Values, and Strategy… Costco’s mission, quite simply, is to provide high quality merchandise at the lowest possible prices for its members, in an ethically responsible manner. Below is a copy of their mission statement directly off of the Costco website… The Mission Statement of Costco Wholesale: "Costco's mission is to continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. In order to achieve our mission we will conduct our business with the following Code of Ethics in mind: • Obey the law • Take care of our members • Take care of our employees • Respect our vendors If we do these four things...
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...Companies srl Case 1 Costco Wholesale Corporation: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy he was prone to display irritation when he disagreed sharply with what people were saying to him. In touring a Costco store with the local store manager, Sinegal was very much the person-in-charge. He functioned as producer, director, and knowledgeable critic. He cut to the chase quickly, exhibiting intense attention to detail and pricing, wandering through store aisles firing a barrage of questions at store managers about sales volumes and stock levels of particular items, critiquing merchandising displays or the position of certain products in the stores, commenting on any aspect of store operations that caught his eye, and asking managers to do further research and get back to him with more information whenever he found their answers to his questions less than satisfying. It was readily apparent that Sinegal had tremendous merchandising savvy, that he demanded much of store managers and employees, and that his views about discount retailing set the tone for how the company operated. Knowledgeable observers regarded Jim Sinegal’s merchandising expertise as being on a par with that of the legendary Sam Walton. In 2006, Costco’s sales totaled almost $59 billion at 496 stores in 37 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Mexico. About 26 million households and 5.2 million businesses had membership cards entitling them to shop at Costco, generating nearly...
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...main competitors, Costco and Wal-Mart, so that we can set some decision rules to allocate the resources. Target Corporation Brand Strategy Target Corporation has a very strong brand, and their logo is recognized by more than 97% of the United States population. One of Target’s strength is that the corporation has more than 1,750 stores in the United States, and it has store in almost all the states of United States. Another of its strength is its ability to anticipate the demands of the customers and its ability to provide high-quality and innovative products which in return make their customers become loyal of availing all their services and products. Table 1 SWOT Analysis of Target Corp. Strengths Strong brand awareness and recognition Employee retention Design and innovation Opportunities Global expansion Focus on private label products Advised Future Strategy The threat faced by all these market players is the recession faced by the US economy, and since Target only operates in the United States, they don’t have the ability to fall back on their foreign markets. So Target must begin their career to the global markets. And It’s over emphasis upon the quality of products makes its products expensive than its competitor Wal-Mart. Therefore Target must devise effective strategies to ensure high quality at economic prices. Weakness Low global presence Quality obsession Threats Economic condition Fierce competition 1 Costco Wholesale Brand Strategy Costco sells limited numbers...
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...Companies srl Case 1 Costco Wholesale Corporation: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy he was prone to display irritation when he disagreed sharply with what people were saying to him. In touring a Costco store with the local store manager, Sinegal was very much the person-in-charge. He functioned as producer, director, and knowledgeable critic. He cut to the chase quickly, exhibiting intense attention to detail and pricing, wandering through store aisles firing a barrage of questions at store managers about sales volumes and stock levels of particular items, critiquing merchandising displays or the position of certain products in the stores, commenting on any aspect of store operations that caught his eye, and asking managers to do further research and get back to him with more information whenever he found their answers to his questions less than satisfying. It was readily apparent that Sinegal had tremendous merchandising savvy, that he demanded much of store managers and employees, and that his views about discount retailing set the tone for how the company operated. Knowledgeable observers regarded Jim Sinegal’s merchandising expertise as being on a par with that of the legendary Sam Walton. In 2006, Costco’s sales totaled almost $59 billion at 496 stores in 37 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Mexico. About 26 million households and 5.2 million businesses had membership cards entitling them to shop at Costco, generating nearly...
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...Overview Margarita Torres Costco member and shareholder Evaluating Costco’s financial performance Evaluation methods Common-size statements Sustainable growth model Benchmarking ratios Retail Industry $1.6 trillion in retail and wholesale trade (2001) 15% of GDP (1960) 16% of GDP (2001) Department stores Customer service premium Many SKUs Discount stores Low prices No frills Retail Industry Wholesale clubs Membership only Volume discounts Limited SKUs Online stores Convenience Low overhead Sears, Roebuck, & Company Founded 1893 First retail store opened in 1925 $41 billion in sales (2001) 2,185 stores Wal-Mart / SAM’S Club Founded 1962 First SAM’S Club opened in 1983 $218 billion in sales (2001) 4, 189 stores 528 SAM’S Clubs 39 million members (SAM’S Club) Concentrated in the South BJ’s Wholesale Founded 1984 $5 billion in sales (2001) 130 stores 6.7 million members Concentrated in the Northeast Costco Wholesale Corporation Founded in 1983 Merged with Price Club in 1993 $34 billion in sales (2001) 365 stores 17.1 million members Concentrated in the West Costco Wholesale Corporation Target markets Middle class customers Small businesses Mark up limited to 14% Kirkland Signature store brand Brand name quality at discount prices Efficient operations Common-size Statements Absolute amounts vs. relative ratios / percentages Trends Where are funds allocated? How efficient is the business? Benchmarking Comparisons between businesses Sustainable Growth Model Step 1: Profitability and...
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...Executive Summary Costco is one of the most profitable retail stores in the United States at the moment. This is in spite of the prevailing tough global economic times and stiff competition from stores such as Wal-Mart and Target. Costco, a members’ wholesale retail store, was founded in 1983 in Washington by Jeffrey Brotman, who serves as the current Chairman of the board of directors and James Sinegal, the current company president. Costco has not been spared by the current global economic conditions. They have affected it in a number of ways that have made the company’s management respond in a manner that is meant to ensure that the business not only survives but grows even stronger. First, Costco has taken strong measures to keep enough employee numbers. Customers are better served by employees who are in good health. Employees are not going to be in good health if they work long hours and cannot visit a doctor when sick. Costco employees work normal hours since there are enough employees to serve the company’s customers. While other stores such as Wal-Mart have seen it fit to downsize their workforces, Costco has moved to ensure that employees are of the right numbers all over its stores within and without the United States. Secondly, the current tough global economic conditions have driven Costco into extending good salaries to its employees. The good compensation has ensured that employees are well motivated and ready to serve customers in a better manner. As counter...
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