Questions for the Costco Wholesale Corporation*
(Please update to present day 2021)
1) What is Costco’s business model? Is the business model appealing? Why? Why not?
2) What are the chief elements of the Costco Strategy?
3) What are the core values and principles stressed by the Costco CEO, Jim Sinegal?
4) What is the competition like for Costco in the North American wholesale club industry? Please do a five forces analysis of the industry.
5) How well is Costco performing financially? Please use the measures that we have gone over in class i.e. sales/revenue, net profit, earnings per share, stock performance etc. Use updated data/information.
6) How does Costco compare with Sam’s Club and BJ Wholesale? Does Costco enjoy a competitive advantage over these companies? What is the nature of the competitive advantage, if any?
7) What recommendations would you make to Costco to improve their operation in the future?