Introduction Most organizations view internal processes as ways of creating profits. In contrast, good companies create structures that use both societal and human values in its decision-making processes. These organizations believe that they have common purpose and strive to produce good and services that improve the lives of users and balance public interest with financial returns (Moss Kanter 2011). They also work to enhance the lives of the people that work for them. Good companies view their employees as their most value asset. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the differences in company culture of two major retail companies, Costco and Family Dollar. Costco is the second-largest membership warehouse club with hundreds …show more content…
Eighty percent of its gross profit comes from membership fees; customers renew their memberships at a rate of close to 90 percent (Stone 2013). The company’s stock has doubled since 2009. In 2012, Costco’s beloved co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Sinegal, retired and Craig Jelinek took over. Share prices rose 30 percent on the heels of this change. Possibly because Jelinek shares the same value system and leadership style as his predecessor. “If you treat consumers with respect and treat employees with respect, good things are going to happen to you,” Jelinek says (Stone …show more content…
Leon got his entrepreneurial spirit honestly. His father founded the Hub store in 1908 and his uncle founded Pic-n-Pay in 1957. Leon envisioned Family Dollar as a self-service retail store marketed towards middle and lower class families with all merchandise sold for one dollar. The company expanded quickly and opened stores across North Carolina and neighboring states. By the early1970s the company owned 100 stores. In 1975, sales declined due to a downturn in the furniture, textile, and tobacco industries and Family Dollar’s profits plunged by fifty percent (Northcarolinahistory.org 2014). The company was forced to revamp their marketing strategy. With this new strategy, products were no longer sold for three dollars or less, inventory controls were changed, and a new electronic, data price system was put to use. As a result, Family Dollar reached $151 million in sales by 1979 (Northcarolinahistory.org 2014). Throughout the 1980s, Family Dollar experienced a series of highs and lows which included earning record profits and opening new stores to a drop in sales due to high competition from other retailers. To beat out competitors, Family Dollar slashed prices in its stores and slowed down expansion. In the summer of 1987, Ralph Dillon became the new CEO and went back to the foundations of the company by slashing prices even further and began supplying more upscale items. In the
During the time of Sears, Roebuck and Co. first appearance, farmers and rural america were selling their crops for cash and buying what they needed from their local general store. The only problem was that many of these general stores had high markups on their prices of goods while the local farmers began to uproar and protest against these high prices wanting to cut out the middleman. Roebuck knew farmers and understood their need and desires. Sears was able to offer a volume based mail order catalog with a variety of products and clearly stated products. This was a major advantage over the high priced local general stores, farmers along with the greater rural community in america began to shop with and really value the catalog where it eventually become tradition in the rural communities.
The warehouse companies, such as Costco and Sam’s Club, use the subscription business model. Customers, who want to buy at the store and get the best offers, discounts have to buy a membership with the commitment of lower prices for the initial cost (Page 2015 n.p.). The companies’ customers subscribe not for products, but rather for serves of low prices.
Introduction: The following is a situation analysis for Costco Wholesale Corp. Key issues are noted, and recommendation is provided. Current Situation: The discount membership concept was pioneered by Sol Price, who opened the Price Club in 1976. Jim Senegal got his start in retail working at Price Club at the early age of 18 loading mattresses.
Home Depot was founded by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank in 1978. On June 22, 1979, Home Depot opened its first two stores in Atlanta, Georgia. Home Depot’s focus was bringing one-stop shopping to the do-it-yourselfers and providing the best customer service in the industry (Home Depot, 2015). Home Depot had a unique philosophy of customer service which was “whatever it takes” – meaning that their focus was on cultivating a relationship with customers, as opposed to just merely completing a transaction (Home Depot, 2015). Home Depot had immense growth during the 1980’s and the 1990’s; in 1985 they had expanded into California and by 1986 they had 60 stores total with sales of $1 billion (Parnell, 2015).
The goal of every company is to have a clear and concise definition of its core values, such core values need to be what guides the company, what sets the company apart. Effective core values connect employees to company’s ultimate purpose and help employees understand how their work impacts the business. This paper will focus on the core values of Whole Foods Markets and the evaluation of their job structures. Whole Foods Market has identified its core values and has instilled into the company, whole food is a company that not only cares for the well-being of its customers, but it also cares for its employees and their work environment. As the company says “Our success is dependent upon the collective energy, intelligence, and contribution
If employees are not familiar with the company’s goals and what the company is expect from them they won’t be able to perform good. Successful organizational culture requires a team work. Johnson should establish the espoused values of the company. These are the stated values and norms that are preferred by the company (Kreitner, 2013, p.63). Johnson should set the basic assumption which values employees (Kreitner, 2013, p.65).
Organizing – Organizational Culture Organizational culture consists of the set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that a group holds in the workplace (Kinicki & Williams 226). The Publix Corporation formally states its commitment to its organizational culture in their published mission statement. One of the bullet points of the Publix mission is dedication “to the dignity, value and employment security of our associates” ("Mission Statement & Guarantee"). It is the founder’s values that drive an organization’s culture (Kinicki & Williams 227).
Key Trends – Globalisation One of the main opportunities Costco has is more global expansion to specific targeted countries. Although operating in many countries, Costco is heavily dependent on the U.S. and Canadian markets. It still has the opportunity to expand into the Asian and Australian markets where it has a limited presence. Costco has the capability to operate about 100 stores in Taiwan, Korea and Japan combined and about 20 stores in Australia. It currently has 41 stores in Taiwan, Korea and Japan combined and 6 stores in Australia.
A firm that utilized cost leadership is Costco. Since Costco is able to purchase in bulk, they can in return pass on the savings to the consumers. With this strategy, they have positioned themselves well according to Porter’s five forces. Rivalry among current competitors: LOW
Argument 1 1. Analyze the organizational culture and values of the Hyatt hotel and link them to executive’s actions in leadership position. A. In what way does the organizational culture, values and style agree or disagree with the action executives/leaders take or not take to avoid an escalation of the case?
Sam Walton always said the greatest risk to his business was that his customers would stop buying at his stores. That fear translated into customer fanaticism is strengthened by HR to this day. Traditionally, everyone is focused on improving every aspect of customer service, because they know the greatest risk of all may depend on it… their own job.
Introduction According to Schein (1992), organization culture is becoming very significant nowadays compared with the past because it will affect the overall performance of an organization. By understanding the organization culture, it enables managers to analyze the organization behavior in order to lead and monitor (Ojo, 2010). Organizational culture is the system of sharing the common actions, values and beliefs that develops within an organization despite the characteristic of the members are different and it will guides the behavior of its members (Schermerhorn et al., 2011, p 366). It acts as glue that holds the overall organization together with the common practices (Tichy, 1982).
Over the past decades, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have become increasingly common as a means for organizations to grow fast and offer an alternative to internal, organic growth (Teerikangas & Very, 2006). Nonetheless, although M&As provide unique opportunities for expansion, their success rates are relatively low and many do not meet expectations. Since financial and strategic aspects fall short in explaining these mediocre outcomes (King et al., 2004), researchers have shown a growing interest on the human factors during post-merger integration (Cartwright & McCarthy, 2005). Indeed, employees’ perceptions of the operation are important in the integration phase (Zaheer et al., 2003), and academics frequently refer to organizational culture
The culture, leadership style and performance of an organization are all inter – related elements(Schmid, 2011).Various researchershave explored the relationbetween organizational performance and leadership style. The examination between the relation ofsituational variables, effectiveness of leader and personal traits has proved that organizations will never succeed, if any of theseelements goes missing. These studies also stated the fact thatthe performance and leadership style of an organizationis directly proportion to each other. However, the relation between these two elementsalso has a chief intermediary, whichplays its role asa title of “organizational culture”(Rogers, 2012).Moreover, studies along the period of 1970s and 1980s have again
The culture of the organization expresses its unique personality, character and philosophy. It also tells the story of the organization. Positive culture cultivates the human competencies required for the company to thrive in the long term. Further, positive cultures have widely shared, people-centred values that guide managers and employees to act with stakeholders best interests (Lowe, 2012). Each day we are handling new information and rules, more places and people and more tools.