Walmart and Costco are very similar in their board governance. When selecting new directors, Costco’s nominating and governance committee recommends candidates to the Board on the basis of skills, expertise, and knowledge (Costco 11). This is also how Walmart selects new members. Like Walmart, Costco has a mandatory orientation program for new directors to familiarize the directors with the business. Costco also does a self-evaluation of the board which like Walmart, is governed by the governance and nominating committee and focused on areas of improvement (Costco 11).
Their boards are similar in member size (Walmart with 12 and Costco with 13). Both companies also advocate for a separate CEO and Chairman. They also have a similar number of meetings per year (Walmart 6 and Costco 5) (Spencer 4). Both companies also utilize executive sessions and Costco, like Walmart, has at least two executive sessions a year for independent directors (Costco 11). Finally Costco also has a code of ethics that applies to all employees, directors and executives. They
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encourage the reporting of ethical violations and have their own whistleblower link to report violations while keeping things confidential (Code of ethics). There are also some noticeable differences in their governance.
One of their differences relates to directors sitting on other company boards. While Walmart limits audit committee members from serving on more than two other audit committee boards, Costco does not have a policy limiting the number of boards on which a director can serve. A second difference relates to independence of board members.
While Walmart requires independence according to the NYSE, Costco requires independence according to NASDAQ. Walmart has a mandatory retirement age of 75 if a member as served for six years, but Costco does not believe in a retirement age. Their nominating and governance committee will decide when a member can no longer serve (Costco 11). The average age of a board member for Walmart is 56, which is 12 years younger than Costco. Costco’s members also serve seven years longer than Walmart’s members on average (Spencer
4). Walmart’s board retainer is triple Costco’s retainer, but Costco’s board members receive more total compensation. Costco’s average compensation is a $30,000 retainer and $325,000 in stock units compared to Walmart’s $90,000 retainer and $225,000 in stock (Costco Proxy). The percentage of cash and stock compensation is also quite different for each company. Walmart’s board compensation is approximately 60% stock and 40% cash. Costco’s board compensation is 90% stock and 10% cash (Spencer 4). Another interesting difference is that Walmart has seven board committees while Costco only has three (audit, nominating and governance, and compensation) (Costco 11).
As I have outlined in the charts below, there are various similarities and differences between Wal-Mart and Target. Wal-Mart is Target’s primary competitor, and vice versa. Wal-Mart has a strong market presence in its global markets and has a diverse range of products and services that are affordable and available in stock. Target, on the other hand, does not have a strong market presence or efficient product supply; however, Target’s physical environment and innovative products further the brand’s image and value. Unfortunately, Target and Wal-Mart are both e-commerce laggards with major competitors such as Amazon. Target faces complications with their pricing strategies and their product availability, which hinders their strength when competing
Costco was founded on September 15th, 1983 by Jeffery Brotman and James Sinegal (Chesley). It became renowned for its warehouse club retail model, pioneered by former competitor Price Club. After a major merger in 1993 with Price Club, Costco expanded to 206 locations, doubling the size of the company (“Costco Wholesale Historical Highlights”). The decision was based on the fact Costco and Price Club shared similar business philosophies, operations, and the looming threat of being taken over by Sam’s Club. Operating as PriceCostco, international expansion began with development of stores in Mexico, the opening of two stores in England, and the licensing of a Price Club in South Korea ("Costco Wholesale Corporation").
“Culture is not the most important thing. It’s the only thing.” (Gabler, The Magic in the Warehouse, 2016). It has been said that “Costco acts more like a cheerful cult than a hard-driving business.” (Gabler, The Magic in the Warehouse, 2016). Costco hasn’t wavered from their founder’s strategy of promoting within; over 98% of their management started their careers with Costco. This strategy clearly works; the environment is one of family not just coworkers. They are loyal to the brand and motivated to work hard and climb the corporate ladder. Costco sees this as ensuring the future of their values which in turn ensures their
If you have ever heard me talk about Wal-Mart, you may notice I constantly call it a communist regime. It may have nothing related to communism, but communism is bad and so is employment at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart for me was the most biased and unfair treatment of any kind that I have ever felt in my life. Their policies are extremely ridiculous and their managers have very unrealistic goals. Wal-Mart is, in my opinion, one of the most stressful and unfair places to work.
Price: All the Costco products have a maximum mark up of 15%, keeping their prices competitive and almost always cheaper than their competitors which usually mark up at 25%. In the video the founder is seen comparing the price of one of their products (a toy truck) to Sam’s Club which was offering it at a lower price, and reconsidering their pricing for it. Their pricing does however force the consumer to buy the product in bulk- making them assume that they are getting the best possible price.
The Wal-Mart Corporation is a multi-billion dollar low-cost retail organization, consisting of 6400 stores and 1.8 million sales associates worldwide. Wal-Mart’s influence on the retail world and the enormity of their corporate size is unparalleled. Wal-Mart can easily report sales of $312.4 billion dollars per fiscal quarter and net profits of $3.8 billion dollars. Wal-Mart promises her customers "Always low prices. Always!" and upholds this motto by providing low prices to her customers and high return on investment to her stockholders. One way that Wal-Mart has managed to maintain a competitive edge over other low cost retail giants and provide low prices is by cutting wages and by not offering too many company benefits to their employees. Full-time employee working at Wal-Mart only make $8 an hour, while only 45% of the workers can afford to be covered by health insurance. Wal-Mart also increase part time employees from 20 percent to 40 percent so that they do not have to cover all of their employees for health insurance . Although Wal-Mart may not provide excellent benefits to her employees, it successfully performs as a legitimate business operating in a capitalistic society. Wal-Mart upholds the primary fiduciary duty to satisfy her stockholder and follows free the market libertarianism model, which states that a business should not interfering with the free market. In a free market Wal-Mart has a direct responsibility to her primary stockholders rather than the employees of a company.
Our decision is to invest in Wal-Mart. The choice for Wal-Mart is on the basis that their functional-level strategy is really robust, nevertheless of the fact that they do not treat their employees well. The fact remains that they are financially stronger, have a better business-level strategy, and have a corporate-level strategy than Costco. Costco v. Wal-Mart: What must we learn about them? Let start with Costco. Costco is Wholesale, Retail Corporation which operates an international chain of membership distribution centers that provides quality, brand name merchandise at noticeably more affordable rates than a conventional wholesale or retail sources. Costco 's warehouses display the largest and great product categories such as groceries, candy, appliances, television and media, automotive supplies, tires, toys, hardware, sporting goods, jewelry, watches, cameras, books, house wares, apparel, health and beauty aids, tobacco, furniture, office supplies and office
customer service while Wal Mart is the almost the opposite. Wal Mart has a negative atmosphere
In the warehouse segment, Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club competes harshly with Costco. Costco has fewer warehouses but greater sales and revenues. Costco customers also shop at Costco more frequently than Sam’s Club customers and, on average, spend more each visit as well. Costco’s dominance may be the result of better innovation. Costco offers luxury items and was the first to sell fresh meat and produce, and gasoline. This is important because innovation is a key factor in assessing competitors in an industry.
Walmart a name known globally they are a true empire. They are known as one of the largest company in the world. Sam Walton founded Walmart opening the first store in 1952 and Arkansas since then in has grown. According to Snyder Walmart is located in over 27 counties they have over a 11,000 stores and over two million employees. Walmart stands by the mission statement “We save people money so they can live better.” Walmart is known for is super low prices, and they compete with anyone who tries to enter their market. Walmart has a very formal and bureaucratic structure. There is a very clear hierarchy and commands come from the top and flows to the bottom. Although Walmart is so successful they have received lots of backlash due to some
Costco has many competitors with the primary two being Sam’s Club, a wholesale business being managed by Walmart, and BJ’s wholesale club. Sam’s Club is offering the same services as Costco. They offer their customers lower prices than traditional stores and like Costco they sell their products in bulk to keep members interested. What makes them a threat to Costco is the cost of becoming a member to shop at their stores. For Costco’s basic membership, known as a Business membership, a price increase had to occur to outweigh price increases from their suppliers. This led to the Costco Business membership annual fee being set at $55. When looking into the case study assembled by Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, and Strickland (2014) they point out that Sam’s Club is able to offer similar benefits ...
In comparison with Apple, Walmart uses a very expansive network of vendors to source all their types of different items. Apple’s key components are typically sourced from a single manufacturer and used across their whole product line. Apple’s devices are available only in a limited number of configurations, allowing the component sourcing to be managed and streamlined. Walmart’s vendor network supplies thousands of different products, making the supply chain larger and vendors more diverse. Walmart’s main controls are placed around cost, and while Apple is also cognizant of cost, they also have the capital to pay to ensure they receive high quality cost and
Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our society. From grocery shopping, to changing your oil and even filing your annual tax returns, Walmart is always there, everyday. Started by Sam Walton in 1962, it began as a small operation catering to a small Arkansas community. It was started on principles very similar to small local businesses in small towns. Today Walmart has gotten a different, darker reputation. On the surface, Walmart may seem like the solution to everyday issues. Low-income families are attracted to the low prices, and people who work odd hours benefit greatly from the 24 hours a day that many Walmarts are open. Lately, Walmart has also managed to be publicly recognized as a store that sells many of today’s green products, including organic food, environmental conscious cleaning products, as well as, paper products made from recycled paper. However, underneath all this, Walmart has a different side. Exploitation of its workers is widespread amongst Walmarts who do not belong to a union, especially in the United States. Wal...
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in the discount, variety stores industry. It was founded in 1945, Bentonville in Arkansas which is also the headquarters of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart operates locally as well as worldwide. It operated 1209 discount stores, 1980 super centers, and 567 Sam’s Club by January 31, 2006. It has also extended its operations to many international countries. It runs its retail stores in two forms: Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Stores. The Sam’s Club sells assorted product lines such as hardwares, electronics, jewelry, and to mention a few. The Wal-Mart stores also offer similar products in addition to the following: health and beauty products, apparel for women, men and children, household appliances etc (www.yahoo.finance.com). The Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Values and Code of Conduct, Corporate Governance: Directors, Executive Management, Committees and Stakeholder will be the key elements that will discussed in this report as it relates to Wal-Mart. In addition to that, the major trends in the general/macro environment and industry will be analyzed.
From the consumer side, Amazon provides services like Amazon Prime, which delivers free two-day shipping on retail purchases, on-demand video streaming and a free access to the Kindle library, everything for an annual