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Essay Instructions: Costco's strategic vision and mission
Costco's financial and strategic objectives
Costco's business strategies, which includes
company situation analysis
competitive business position
Generic competitive strategies

Costco's strategy execution

Reference: Crafting and Execution Strategy by Arthur A. Thompson Jr.
2 pages single space

Essay Instructions: Using the Costco case:

Executive Summary: In one page, capture the essence of the marketing plan and communicate its foundation and action plan. The reader should have a complex understanding of all aspects of the plan.

Situation Analysis: Cover each of the elements of the situation analysis in detail. Include enhanced analysis, including conceptual, financial or statistical material.

Market Analysis: Using the material in the case, provide thorough analysis and accurate descriptions of: Market Size, Market Growth, Market Potential and Forecast, Market Segments, Customer analysis and Consumer Behavior.

Competitor Analysis: Using material contained in the case, provide accurate descriptions of existing competitors, their strategies, and their relative market shares. Involve deep analysis or synthesis of the facts to highlight important facts not obvious to the reader.

Company Analysis: Classic SWOT Analysis. Identified the key Internal Factors (Strengths and Weaknesses) as well as the External Factors (Opportunities and Threats) clearly. Highlight the relationship among the factors.

Objectives: Describe and discuss a complete set of marketing objectives.

Marketing Strategies: thoroughly discuss marketing strategies that are appropriate to the case organization. Should include potential conflicts, interactions, and areas for synergy.

Action Plan: The action plan should be comprehensive and realistic.

Product: Demonstrate clear integration of target market wants and product benefits.

Price: Use a strategic pricing process and justify the recommended price with facts.

Place/Distribution: Justify clearly the choice of distribution method.

Promotion: Propose a promotion mix appropriate for the given the target audience, and other marketing mix elements. Discuss synergies or advantages resulting from the choice.

Contingency Plans: Discuss alternative plans weighted by the importance of recognized external factors that might mitigate the success of the plan.

Essay Instructions: Case Study on "Competition among the North American Warehouse Clubs: Costco Warehouse Clubs: Costco Wholesale versus Sam's C;ub Versus BJ's Wholesale" The summary is from the textbook "Crafting and Executing Strategy" 18th edition.
Must use 5 sources with main source being the textbook.

Essay Instructions: Case Study 1
The case study assignment for Module 1 draws on the following case study in your textbook:

Case 2: ?Costco Wholesale in 2010: Vision, Business Model, and Strategy?, by Arthur A.
Thompson, pages C-6 - C-25.

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 Web site, 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 guidelines (see also Documentation Rules and Citation Styles).

Note: For assistance with analyzing the financial data in this case, Table 4-1 on pages 83-86 of your
textbook is a useful reference.

Please limit your analysis to four pages, double-spaced.

Case Questions:
1.Does the company?s strategy reflect the company?s mission? Explain.
2.What is Costco Wholesale?s business model?
3.Analyzing the financial results in Exhibits 1 and 4, give an assessment of how well the company is
executing its strategy. How has the company?s stock price performed over the past four quarters?
4.How well does the company link its mission and strategy with its philosophy and values?

I will try to email the documents.