Costco case study answers

Can you help me understand this Business question?

Please check attached task description and reference text. The requirement is a case study with 4 pages about the reference text provided, and the different questions are included in the task description. Please use APA format and proper citations.Case Study Assignment 1 The case study assignment for Module 1 draws on the following textbook case: Case 4: Costco Wholesale in 2016: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy, by Arthur A. Thompson (page C-26) Read Case 1 in the textbook, and then respond to the case questions given below. (See “A Guide to Case Analysis” for further guidance on written case analysis.) In addition to using the Costco Wholesale case study provided in the textbook, research the company further to find any relevant events that have transpired since the writing of the case study. Use the company’s website, Internet search engines such as Google, online data services, or other sources to locate the latest articles about the company including press releases and current financial information. Be sure to cite all sources according to APA. Please limit your analysis to four pages, double-spaced. Case Questions 1.The first chapter of your textbook begins with a quote from Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric: “Strategy means making clear-cut choices about how to compete.” Do the efforts, actions, and practices of Costco support Welch’s statement? Explain your answer. Be specific and expansive, and provide examples to support your views in your response. 2.One of the planks in Costco’s principles and operational approaches states that the firm “take[s] care of our employees.” Do Costco’s compensation and workforce practices align with this principle? Explain your answer. 3.Does Costco enjoy a competitive advantage over BJ’s Wholesale? If so, what is the nature of its competitive advantage? Does Costco have a winning strategy? Support your answer. 4.For a set of organizational strategies, goals, and objectives to have a chance of success there must be pervasive support by/from the organizational culture. Which of the practices of Costco do you feel has the most direct influence on its business culture? Explain the foundation for your response. Is the nature of that influence positive or negative for Costco’s organizational culture? Support your position. 5.Which revenue stream do you think is most important to the Costco business model and strategy? Provide details of your selection as well as the rationale for your choice. CASE 04 Costco Wholesale in 2016: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy Arthur A. Thompson Jr. The University of Alabama F our years after being appointed as Costco Wholesale’s president and chief executive officer, Craig Jelinek was proving fully capable of cementing the company’s standing as one of the world’s biggest and best consumer goods merchandisers. His predecessor, Jim Sinegal, cofounder and CEO of Costco Wholesale from 1983 until year-end 2011, had been the driving force behind Costco’s 28-year evolution from a startup entrepreneurial venture into the third largest retailer in the United States, the seventh largest retailer in the world, and the undisputed leader of the discount warehouse and wholesale club segment of the North American retailing industry. Jelinek was handpicked by Sinegal to be his successor. Since January 2012, Jelinek had presided over Costco’s growth from annual revenues of $89 billion and 598 membership warehouses at year-end fiscal 2011 to annual revenues of $116 billion and 686 membership warehouses at year-end fiscal 2015. Going into 2016, Costco ranked as the second largest retailer in both the United States and the world (behind Walmart). COMPANY BACKGROUND The membership warehouse concept was pioneered by discount merchandising sage Sol Price, who opened the first Price Club in a converted airplane hangar on Morena Boulevard in San Diego in 1976. Price Club lost $750,000 in its first year of operation, but by 1979 it had two stores, 900 employees, 200,000 members, and a $1 million profit. Years earlier, Sol Price had experimented with discount retailing at a San Diego store called Fed-Mart. Jim Sinegal got his start in retailing at the age of 18, loading mattresses for $1.25 an hour at Fed-Mart while attending San Diego Community College. When Sol Price sold Fed-Mart, Sinegal left with Price to help him start the San Diego Price Club store; within a few years, Sol Price’s Price Club emerged as the unchallenged leader in member warehouse retailing, with stores operating primarily on the West Coast. Although Price originally conceived Price Club as a place where small local businesses could obtain needed merchandise at economical prices, he soon concluded that his fledgling operation could achieve far greater sales volumes and gain buying clout with suppliers by also granting membership to i­ndividuals—a conclusion that launched the deep-discount warehouse club industry on a steep