I Trust Costco Case Study

Social responsibility makes a company more competitive and reduces the risk of sudden damage to the company’s reputation and sales.

They are performing very well from a strategic perspective. No, Costco does not enjoy a clear competitive advantage over Sam’s. It does however enjoy a competitive advantage over BJ’s. the nature of this competitive advantage includes the fact that BJ’s has too many products, which makes rapid turnover harder to achieve. I think that Costco has a winning strategy because they are selective with the

Social responsibility is generally regarded as a duty of an organization’s management towards the benefit and well-being of the society in which it is engaged. The organization must behave ethically considering the social, cultural, economic and environmental issues.

But, here is my point. If the social responsibility of a business is to increase profit, this does not omit the probability of degrading the surrounding environments (society, economy, ecology...) which by default will be contradicting to the term social responsibility itself which enhances on bringing benefit to society. For me, a business can be at the same time socially engaged and financially maximizing its profit without using someone else's money. For example, a company can be ecological by doing some really simple actions like recycling papers no longer needed, turning off lights and powering off devices not in use, donating equipment and material no longer used in the work offices, and so on. These simple actions are in fact very beneficial for the

Firstly, I would like to explain what Corporate Social Responsibility is. “It is a company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and

John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods once said "Business social responsibility should not be coerced; it is a voluntary decision that the entrepreneurial leadership of every company must make on its own." (Mackey, 2005) In today’s society it is increasingly common for businesses to actively identify and become directly involved in the country and the global social issues and needs. It is now common

Many believe that business entities should have an ethical duty to be socially responsible, to work towards increasing its positive effects on society while decreasing its negative effects. Many organizations look for opportunities to be socially responsible while also creating shareholder wealth.

Renee McDonald (“Plaintiff”) allegedly sustained personal injuries on October 8, 2015 while shopping at a store owned and operated by Costco (“Defendant”) in Brooklyn Park, Maryland. According to the plaintiff, while walking through the store, she tripped on mop water which caused her to fall to the ground and suffer “severe bodily injuries.” The Plaintiff claims that her fall was caused by the mop water. The mopped area had been secured with a yellow caution sign that warned customers of the wet floor. At the time of the Plaintiff’s fall, however, the sign had fallen down and was lying on the floor. Plaintiff alleges that the store did not have proper signage to warn of the hazardous condition.

What is Costco’s business model? Is the company’s business model appealing? Why or why not?

Costco’s business model is to generate high-volume sales and rapid inventory turnover by offering low prices on a limited set selection of brands and a few selected privately labeled products. This model does not turn a profit on its own with the company operating slightly below its break-even cost. However, to make up for this Costco charges a membership fee and this is a simple way of padding their profit but also enabling them to provide a customer experience that emphasizes value.

Costco has many competitors with the primary two being Sam’s Club, a warehouse wholesale business being managed by Walmart, and BJ’s warehouse. Sam’s Club is offering the same services as Costco. They offer their customers lower prices than traditional stores and like Costco they sell their products in bulk to keep members interested. What makes them a threat to Costco is the cost of becoming a member to shop at their stores. For Costco’s basic membership, known as a Business membership, a price

This is a comparison between Costco and Walmart’s Sam’s Club which shows Costco is more loyal

Do you agree or disagree with the following quotation: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say engages in free and open competition, without deception and fraud.” Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize winning economist. In other words, the social responsibility of business is to make a profit.

​Costco, a discount warehouse based in Issaquah, Washington, specializes in selling quality products at low prices.  The company operates as a membership retailer, focusing its business on small and consumers with incomes averaging $75,000 with over 30 percent having incomes of $100,000 or more annually.  The wholesale club segment of retailing in 2008 was estimated to be a $120 billion business in the United States, and it was growing about 20 percent faster than retailing as a whole (Thompson,

Costco Wholesale Corporation entered the wholesale club industry in the early 1980s. The idea behind a wholesale club was to maximize profits by minimizing operational costs and maximizing inventory turnover ratio. The company experienced tremendous growth from 1997 up to 2001 and has caught the attention of its competitors. Costco Wholesale is one of the largest retailer stores in the market. The company has differentiated and positioned itself well in the market through its mission statement. The company’s mission statement well understood throughout the firm.