Thursday, January 30, 2020

Costco Wholesale Essay Example for Free

Costco Wholesale Essay 1. Executive Summary Costco Wholesale Corporation founded in 1983 by Jim Sinegal in Seatle Washington with a vision mission â€Å"to continually provide members with quality of goods and services at the lowest possible price control inventory.† Part of their strategy include direct buying relationship that ensures an efficient strong SC management, high standard staffing plans, high quality products at lower prices and assessable to members who are considered more loyal. Efforts are made to develop strategic options in line with these strategies while focusing on the supply chain parameters that span from order placement to receipt of goods at the warehouse and made available to customers in the warehouse shop floor using the most cost effective processes in order to ensure they support the mission of the company. By assessing Costco’s external opportunities and threats as well as the internal strengths and weaknesses (using SWOT Porter’s Five Forces analysis), one can infer they are doing well within their industry. More options were generated to increase sales and awareness of the retail warehouses. The report concludes with recommendations for Costco to sustain it’s market edge and advance by expanding into the European Asian markets more as their presence is still very weak in these regions as well as add other services goods to their already existing list. 2. Introduction Costco Wholesale Corporation founded in 1983 within the retail industry is the largest warehouse club in the world based on sales volume. A major wholesale business offering three levels of membership and the largest wholesale club operator in the US with membership/warehouse locations spread across Asia, Europe, North South America with headquarters based in Washington, US. Their main competitors operating membership warehouses include Sam’s Club BJ’s wholesale club. Jim Sinegal, the founder defines the company vision as â€Å"giving the best to the customer at the best value possible†. Here best value (in quality of goods services offered) at low prices are the driving force. Costco backs up it’s products with a return policy within a time frame of average 90 days, a highly endearing attraction to it’s members. The business model focuses on low prices volume purchase in order to achieve profit at low margin with stores offering discounts on an average of 4,000 products out of which roughly a thousand are ‘treasure hunt’ referring to goods that are scarcely available for purchase always. Volume purchase from few vendors yielding further reduction in price and lowers cost in marketing. With low prices, quality goods in limited selection based on forecast lead to quick turnover in inventory. The high volume purchase and efficient network distribution yield efficiency in operations for Costco. With a stipulated membership fee, Costco warehouses are designed to help small to medium size businesses reduce purchasing costs as well as serving large families with the goods packaged in bulk ranging from alcoholic beverages, electronics, fresh food/produce, household office supplies, pharmaceuticals tires. Also available are special memberships with services like car home insurance, m ortgage and real estate services, and packages for travels. 3.Purpose and Main Areas Of the Research (Concepts Techniques) Analyzing the supply chain operations at Costco wholesales, in line with the business focus while limiting to it’s supply chain operations strategy for maintaining a competitive edge as it relates to SC operations (from sourcing to arrival on pallets and or display at their various warehouses racks), their challenges and options for improvement will be the focus of this report. The following issues will form questions that will give a frame for this report: †¢ What are the key issues facing Costco in line with (efficient) Supply Chain Operations? †¢ What would be options to compete with these issues?  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Which options best suits the business focus and would yield better growth financially? The sections thereafter will consider trying to answer the questions above by applying SWOT analysis (see appendix 1) and Porter’s five forces framework (see appendix 2). Areas needing improvement will be obvious from such, options that would generate better performance after localizing issues peculiar to Costco. These would ultimately lead to clear recommendations for Costco’s improvement. Due to inaccessibility of authentic and current data for successive years on sales, further analysis could not be carried out to compare Costco for accurate sales assessment in the last three years or compare with the other two leading club wholesalers (Sam’s BJs). Identifying, analyzing key parameters with Supply chain operations processes at Costco and suggest areas of possible improvement. Inventory Management: Since good are moved straight to the selling floor and inventory is not held by Costco but managed by vendors, inventory labor cost of handling is avoided. In their meat grocery section for instance, they focus on low-price high volume strategies hence, Costco carry very limited amounts of grocery perishables whereas Wal-Mart is known to have weakness in the area of perishables (Petrak, 2006) Partnership/Collaboration with suppliers: Costco has buying relationships with many producers of national brands and are supplied directly from suppliers routing to the warehouses of docking points that serve as distribution points. Partnership market is an attribute of Costco, for instance by partnering with American Express to create a Costco-AMEX credit card, discounts cash cards as offered to customers while Costco markets Amex cards, thereby helping them to acquire more customers. Distribution Strategies/Transportation: The redesign of product packages to fit into pallets and thereby maximize space has led to reduction of trucks used to transport goods. Cross-docking of goods by delivering directly to Costco stores while some are kept in the distribution centers saves a lot of time cost along the SC. Utilization of buzzers for truck drives at delivery points to indicate when trucks have been unloaded can save time as against the truck driver’s physical movement within the warehouse is a time saver. Their warehouses are not situated on prime locations hence cost is saved from unnecessary high property cost; again, they own over 80% of the warehouses. Green Logistics: Costco Kirkland signature has launched eco friendly cleaning products. It maximizes the use of solar power in it’s warehouses, it’s delivery trucks are better packaged to allow maximization of space so as to reduce fleets of transportation and hence environmental pollution. Energy is better conserved with timed lighting and construction of warehouses that can maximize skylight during the day. Food products are packaged in recyclable and more environmentally friendly materials. Customers are paid to recycle their old electronics at the green sight. Information Technology: This retailer prides itself in it’s connection of all warehouses to the headquarters in Washington. By using the EFIM which provides real time information, manages control systems and inventory management system. The ECR is used to achieve profitability, improvement in efficiency, logistics, procurement and overall cost control. Kumar (2008) records that approximately $6 billion in a year is lost in the USA by supermarkets due to out of stock products among 25 top retailers as a result of inefficiency in their logistics. Vertical Integration: Costco practices a partial vertical integration with it’s cross-dock distribution. By gaining control of either its inputs or its outputs or both in sourcing directly from suppliers they have more control over innovation delivery of those services. Cost is also reduced which is ultimately transferred to customers. Further optimization of operational performance through SC operations options that can sustain a competitive edge and improve customer satisfaction through service improvement and cost reduction. 4. Description Of The Separate Areas 4.1Description of The SC Operations Performance Improvement. The measurement of SC performance can be based on profit, customer service or sales maximization (Chow, 1994). While the traditional method majorly measured product costs, identification of costs related to customer service is key. Elimination of various extraneous costs like plastic shopping bags, fewer shop floor staff, limited product variety brands on shelf and also slowing down on capital expenditure like expansion, Costco has been able to focus on improving buying power for achieving greater output. Since inventory rates are quickly turned over, payments to suppliers is fast tracked hence they are able to benefit from discounted early payments. Cost is involved in sourcing products from suppliers, shipment to depots warehouses, distribution to warehouses storage in inventory. By considering the concept of avoidable cost (possibly considering packaging storage), efforts can be made to improve on SC performance by implementing better SC integration program. Partnering with more suppliers and or service providers for better flow of operations as well as building keener competition can enhance better efficiency leading to more profit in the long run. More side business services can be added at Costco like money order and cash transfers to attract more customers and make Costco a one stop store. Aside from email messages being sent to existing members on promotions, greater awareness can create a more organized means to lure more customers on the expanding array of products services such that new more revenue streams are attained. 4.2 Issues Affecting Supply Chain and Possible Solutions Analysis of SC at Costco using SWOT analysis (appendix 1) reveals Costco is doing really well. Growth opportunities exist for business by entering the European Asian markets as these have not been exploited. From present methods of operations, the high staff salary and low margins maintenance amongst other issues need to be looked into for future prospects. The aging and close exit of the CEO along with growing competition and other threats in intended foreign markets such as political and religious wars, foreign exchange bank issues are threats to consider. In dealing with these issues, it will be important to assess briefly lead time management, product handling, transportation, quality, inventory as well as possible process solutions. Where possible, promotions should be done to enhance more sales though with the low prices and already highlighted low margin high employee, this may eat into the profitability but if well planned can create more publicity for the company which can yield quick inventory turnover. Since low overhead tight operation is the practice, better savings can be passed on to customers in form of promotion or otherwise. Exploration of overseas market is still a strong force and will yield greater profit considering the existing reputation Costco has and understudying how business is executed in such regions. Development of more private labels on wider product range and increased focus on customer loyalty programs are worth considering as well. It is advisable the board of management put in place a business plan before the exit/retirement of the CEO. Porters Five Forces analysis (see appendix 2) could identify an overall attractive industry, with the following power and threat situation: The buyer power was determined to have a positive potential impact on Costco business as it portray that buyers have the requisite level of expendable incomes to provide effective demand for goods services. In a similar manner, low threat of new entrants and substitute products portray an attractive industry whereas moderate internal rivalry and supplier power have a positive impact on Costco operations as it kept the company alert and devoid of complacency. 4.3 Analyzing The Contribution Of SCOM to Competitive Business Performance To further highlight the role of SCOM in enhancing business performance and maintaining a competitive edge, a few activities like volume purchasing, efficient packaging distribution, supplier integration customer integration have contributed to give a close picture of Costco capabilities and business level performance with each activity having unique benefits and detriments. Again, constant review of SCM practices may further help management in Costco to further match demand with SC requirements like efficient, lean SC (Cook et al , 2011). Their Network design, JIT resource planning distribution, optimization of transport replenishment policies have impacted positively and should be subject to constant review for sustaining a competitive edge. 5. Conclusion Finally, it is believed that some useful contributions are being developed to improve supply chain and it’s operation in line with the objective of Costco in delivering quality at lowest cost to customers on time with the aim of sustaining a more competitive advantage. Some useful SC options have been suggested above which support these objectives. While the ultimate goal remains to sustainably increase market share by achieving more qualitative growth and at the same time expand on the earning base through exploitation of the European market and already existing markets, Mascarehas et al (2004) adds that â€Å"competitive advantage must be won again and again† in other words, giving the current ever changing business world we live in, customer tastes and priorities are changing hence the need for Costco to be better positioned in order to respond always to it’s members needs while expanding on new fronts.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

The Distance that Separates us from Shakespeares Merchant of Venice Es

The Distance that Separates us from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice Without a doubt, Shylock of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice has been a subject of much controversy and debate for scholars and critics worldwide. Specifically, an element of his character that has been thoroughly reviewed is the harshness with which he proposes his bond with Antonio. As contemporary readers of the pound of flesh story we are naturally mortified by the fact that Shylock would call for such barbarous terms. What many of us do not realize is that while we might feel horror about the idea of the bond, the same is not necessarily true for an Elizabethan audience. This story has been a major source of misunderstanding for many of its readers, as it is often interpreted as a demeaning reflection of the nature of the Jew. However, a more careful look at this story, where it may have originated, and what it may have meant to a 16th century audience, may cause us to revaluate this very significant element of the play. The tracing of the possible sources of the story and the examining of the history of usury as well as its position in Elizabethan society may actually serve as testimony on behalf of Shylock and his Jewish identity. A careful look at the text In order to begin a comprehensive analysis of the pound of flesh story, it is important to first compare our reactions with those of the other characters in the play. Examining how Shakespeare has his characters respond can tell us a lot about how his audience most likely would have reacted to the same thing. If Shakespeare’s purpose for the bond was indeed to portray the Jew as vulgar and shockingly inhuman, then he would not have had his characters respond so calml... ...n our ages, the differences must be insisted upon.† He eloquently acknowledges the distance that separates us from Shakespeare and asserts that is, â€Å"When we disregard that distance, that the static of our desire to claim his as our contemporary disrupts his voice, and we listen less to his concerns than to his anticipations of our own.† Works Cited Charlton, Henry. Shakespeare’s Jew. Manchester: The Manchester University Press, 1970. Friedlander, Gerald. Shakespeare and the Jew. London: George Routledge & Sons LTD., 1921., Grebanier, Bernard. The Truth About Shylock. New York: Random House, 1962. Greenblatt, Stephen; Cohen, Walter; Howard, Jean; Maus, Katharine. The Norton Shakespeare . New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. Watson, Alan. The Law of the Ancient Romans. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1970.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Create a piece of drama about homelessness to educate our audience

The first thing I did was research about homelessness at home. I found out from my homework: Why people become homeless, some of the reason I found out: Finding suitable housing and unemployment Relation breakdown 39% Heavy drinking 21% Losing job 18% Having no money to pay for housing 13% Around a quarter have mental health problems Around a half have drink problems. It was important to do this research because it helped give us more idea’s and know more about the issue of homelessness. This then helped us decide in our performance why we would become homeless. I found out all different reasons why people become homeless and we decided all of us would use one of those reasons. I also did a mind map in class for the possible idea’s why someone would become homeless and what we could use in our performance. Possible ideas The first thing we did was get into groups and did 3 still images based on homelessness to give us idea’s and to help us understand the types of things to include in our performance. The first still image was of 2 different women one with money and a family and another having an abusive husband. Our second was the women with the abusive husband getting beat up, which caused her to become homeless. Then the third one was the women on the street, homeless and the other women and her children seeing her helping her. In my group we discussed our ides and decided to develop them. We then used our mind map and research to help us get an idea. We all sat down and discussed our ideas. Some of our ideas were to become homeless because of domestic abuse, being evicted or being abandoned by parents. We did have some problems, we had a lot of people in our group so it was harder to work and focus. We overcome them by listening to each other. This also helped us improve our work by giving us more ideas to work with, .e.g. Dying because of being homeless, and being abused by father which we used. Also we could make our performance longer. What worked well in our performance was our still images at the start some of us have our hands over our face to show being afraid. We also used levels. Then we came out of our freeze frame and said what we were a victim of. We did this because it shows our audience that there is all kind of different reasons why people become homeless, and it’s not their fault. We also used vocal singing, Juliana and Hannah sang because of you which went well with the theme. The physical theatre we used worked well also when Sophie, Juliana and Callum repeated their movements (when the mother found out about the father abusing his daughter). It showed that the abuse is being repeated over and over again. Sophie also used mimetic gestures. Also when the father (callum) went to punch the mother (Juliana) he used slow motion which was effective because it would have caught the audience’s attention. It was good when we all repeated (after Juliana said â€Å"Don’t say a word†) â€Å"you heard her don’t say a word†. We repeated this 3 times because it was more effective than saying it once. Also I and 2 other’s in my group (Chloe and Nikky) spoke out of character to show how my character felt and it helped the audience understand the characters better about why they were homeless. We also did thought tracking. In our performance we also used a narrator this helped tell the story of what was going on. The narrator told the audience about the abuse that was happening to the child so the audience new exactly what was going on. Also our performance was non-naturalistic so it was different from everyone else’s and made it better. At the end of our performance we had statistics which really help inform the audience about homelessness. I think our performance would have been better if we added more scenes and made it longer. Also if we practiced a bit more so we don’t forget bit of our performance. We could have put a scene in to show how horrible and unpleasant it is to live on the streets. We could have added more drama skills. It would have been better if we included a video about homelessness in our performance. I think our performance did inform the audience because our performance showed that there are lots of reasons why people become homeless. It showed how you become homeless and it’s not the type of people you always think that become homeless. We also included statistics which informed the audience what type of people are homeless and what percent it is. We also informed the audience that’s its children and teenagers that can become homeless not just adults. Our target audience was 13-18 year olds, to raise awareness to children about the issue of homelessness. I think it did suit our target audience because our performance showed what types of people are homeless and why they become homeless. We also had a role-play in our performance about 3 teenagers living on the streets so it would be easier for the target audience to relate to them. Also they can understand what’s going on because there not too young. In my performance we showed them about being abused and not having anyone help you, so they understand that it’s not someone fault if they people homeless. In Abby Smith’s group I thought what work well was she used a narrator which really helped tell the story. Also what worked well was the choral speaking and slow motion they did. I think she could improve by focusing and practicing more also adding more drama skills and making her performance much longer.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Five Key Aspects Of Theoretical Orientation Essay

The five key aspects of theoretical orientation to development include: psychoanalytic, cognitive, behavior and social cognitive, ethological, and ecological. Each one of these happen to contribute an important piece to the life-span development puzzle. Although some of these theories may contradict the others they all work together to make us understand the things that happen throughout life. Together the coincide to let us see the total picture of development and the great things that come along with it. Psychoanalytic theories describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Psychoanalytic theorists emphasize that behavior is merely a surface characteristic and that true understanding of development requires analyzing the symbolic meanings of behavior and the deep inner workings of the mind. They also stress that the experiences children have with their parents earlier on in life shape development. 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