Business Analysis: Costco's Business Strategy

On the other hand, a Sam’s Club employee starts at $10 an hour and makes $12.50 after four and a half year. The turn-over rate at Costco is only at 6 percent. The turn-over rate at Sam’s Club is at a whopping 50 percent. The employee benefits at Costco are better than Sam’s

According to Barney (1991), a firm can be said to possess competitive advantage when it achieves superior performance over its competitors by implementing a value-creating strategy that is not simultaneously being implemented by a competitor. TJ is Barney differentiates simple competitive advantage from sustainable competitive advantage, which is more durable because existing or future competitors cannot duplicate the benefits of the company’s strategy. Recommendations and

In the review of the corporate level strategy, we can see many different competitive advantages branching from their use of corporate diversification and vertical integration. Going deeper into those strategies the three elements that allow for a competitive advantage for The Kroger Co. include operating into different markets, having a successful customer reward program, and by having many different locations nationwide under many different brand names. The VRIO analysis found that all three of these give Kroger’s a sustainable competitive advantage by being valuable, rare, costly to imitate and having the right organization structure business wide. In the review of the business level strategy, there were just as many different competitive

Resources and Capabilities VRIO Framework V R I O Competitive Implication Strong corporate culture + + + + Sustainable competitive advantage Strong investment in R&D + + + + Temporary competitive advantage Outstanding customer service + + + + Sustainable competitive advantage

In Costco’s macro-environment, a variety of factors could affect the company’s economic viability. External factors such as inflation, foreign currency exchange rates, levels of unemployment, reduced consumer confidence, and changes in tax policies could unfavorably affect the demand for Costco’s products and services. Prices of some goods and services including food products, are often variant and subject to fluctuations deriving from changes in domestic and foreign supply and demand, competition, taxes, labor costs, or delays in delivery which could significantly affect Costco’s sales. Therefore, the product’s costs and selling could also increase affecting financial results. Other important economic factors include the increasing international

Apply the concept of VRIN to analyse its value-creating ability. All resources that an organization has may not have strategic relevance. Only certain resources are capable of being an input to a value creating strategy which put the organization in a position of competitive advantage. Great brand identity gives Disney's parks an edge over its competitors. Applying the concept of VRIN (valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable) on Disneyland theme parks- • Valuable-

Market Segmentation: To be of value market segments must be measurable, substantial, accessible, differentiable, and actionable (Kotler & Keller, 2012). Segmentation of demographics for Costco is vast as the current product offerings include all genders, ethnicities, incomes. age groups, and social classes. When considering demographics, it is important to consider the average or typical characteristics of the target market. As mentioned earlier the target market or focus for this company is supplying the small- to medium-sized business and targets the middle- to high-end consumer with its private label brand Kirkland Signature.

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.

These important resources are assets of a business that supports their companies in production and transportation.

Costco’s business model is centered around offering a smaller range of products at incredibly low prices which attracts the consumer. In order to supplement this lowered profit margin, they require their shoppers, both businesses and individuals, to purchase annual memberships. The membership fee accounts for a majority of the company’s profit. Furthermore, Costco operates its under a wholesale warehouse style which eliminates the need for excess handling and workers in the store. The stores are stocked to carry certain big ticket, ‘limited time offer’ goods so that customers feel the need to take advantage of the deal because it may not be there when they next return.

Walmart stores is one of the largest retailers not only in the United States but across the world. They hold tremendous power from a retail level and on a political level with governments in the US and outside. Ratios help create Walmart as a company and allows investors to be able to gauge and understand the metrics of the organization. These metrics and ratios help investors understand the specific direction of the company and the effectiveness of executive leadership. The primary ratio that must be understood regarding Walmart's earnings-per-share is the price earnings ratio.

What are the two types of core competencies that drive a firm’s competitive advantage? Which firms demonstrate a clear competitive advantage because of (a) major value-creating skills/core capabilities and/or (b) superior assets or resources? Which firms have demonstrated sustainable sources of competitive advantage? The two core competencies that drive a firm’s competitive advantage are cost leadership and differentiation.

They have achieved such a success based on the way they have organized their operations. Competencies are very important for an organization to build up on their own. Competencies can be of two aspects namely core competencies and threshold competencies. A core competence can be identified as a unique set of skills or production techniques that deliver a particular value to the customer. A threshold competence can be identified as a quality that need to maintain by the organization in order to remain competitive in the market (Rohwedder & Johnson,

This is the comparison of the benefits offered by a company's product to its customers relative to the price it asks customers to pay. To do this, companies can influence the value proposition in one of two ways mainly. This can be done through long term brand building. They can also offer a relatively low cost to enhance value. Ultimately, the key is that customers perceive that the product's merits exceedingly justify its price.

 COST STRUCTURE OF SAMSUNG Low cost structure of Samsung and high responsiveness to economic events has made Samsung more competitive. For example, initially Samsung focused more on volume and domination on market rather than increasing profitability. However, in 1990s, during the Asian financial crisis, Samsung cut costs and reemphasized product quality and manufacturing flexibility, which allowed its consumer electronics move from project phase to store shelves within next six months. Under the resources-based view of strategic management, effective resources available to a firm, as well as the competency of a firm is responsible in affecting competitive advantage received by a firm.