Writing Assignment for international business class

this writing assignment relates to our current Covid-19 situation and hoped for economic recovery continuing, albeit slowly. It could be a real fact pattern by the time you graduate UCI and are entering the job market.   

Background Situation: You were talking to your friend Sean, a recent UCI Graduate and student in International Business, who just completed an interview at Costco’s headquarters in Kirkland, Washington. Costco, he learned, operates internationally and Sean tells you that the interview was quite surprising. He was confronted with an unusual situation that he had to respond to on his feet. You ask him for the details and he tells you the following experience:

(1) At Costco’s corporate office, Helen, the Human Resources director conducting the interview, asked Sean to give his opinion on how to manage through the Covid-19 crisis at a company such as Costco. She said that Sean’s response should focus mainly on the concepts of “just in time inventory” and “supply chain management” of a large globalized company that uses private labeling for its Kirkland brand. She further stated that Costco had done quite well in the 6 months ended September 30, 2020 but she wanted a new approach to improving financial performance (i.e., sales, costs, cash flow, stakeholder benefits, etc.) as we work through this Covid-19 pandemic recovery. 

Sean was asked to explain to Helen ways to manage through this pandemic impact when many retail customers and suppliers were running out of money and lacking the ability to borrow from lenders. Costco, Helen further explained, has substantial liquidity itself and ability to borrow at low interest rates. 

Smiling, Sean tells you that having read the Unilever article on our class website Readings for Week 1, as well as parts of our textbook, he felt confident answering the questions.

Your assignment:  Write a 3-4page essay summarizing the related article and other articles or readings you can find online or elsewhere and explain how you would answer the interview questions. The essay should be on Word or related software, 12-point font, and 1.5 line spacing.

In this class, your paper will be graded both on content and writing style. Make sure that you read your essay prior to submission and correct all errors of spelling, grammar and other typical writing mistakes. 

Submitting what is, in effect, your first draft won’t work unless you are a perfect writer, which few of us are.