Costco case analysis until 2008 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Costco case analysis until 2008 - Essay Example This is the reason why it is not charging credit cards because current low margins do not cover this fee. Costco can solve this problem by using both the cash and credit card system of payment, but those people who want to pay using credit cards, an extra 2% should be charged to their bills in the lieu of banking fee. This method will be acceptable to most of the customers as the prices in Costco are already very low and people who use credit card can still make a saving even if they pay for extra 2 percent banking fee. This will help Costco attract a wider customer base and at the same time not lose out on their margins. Costco has also limited itself in the membership program. Special offers and discounts are given only to members of Costco. This is a dangerous policy because many potential customers who want to avail special offer cannot avail them and hence they do not shop at Costco. What Costco can do here is that they should publish and send out special discount coupons throug h direct mail and magazines. These coupons should be redeemable at Costco stores and this way Costco will serve a wider audience and will be able to attract larger pool of prospective customers. Many other shops and competitors to Costco provide ancillary services to its customers. However, Costco does not provide these services to its customers. Costco is operating at very low margin which does not give enough leverage to Costco to provide these services. This can be tackled by Costco advertising that should compare its costs with other retailers and should point out that Costco is competing on cost and the value of saving that Costco provides is greater than ancillary services that other retailers provide. This will encourage many more customers to buy from Costco and it will also help to increase Costco’s sales and revenue. It can be concluded from the above discussion that although Costco is doing pretty well, it needs to look at the external environment and should

The economic benefits of Sustainability Reports Dissertation

The economic benefits of Sustainability Reports - Dissertation Example The procedure is termed as sustainability report. This feature is developed and used extensively in order for companies to strike a balance between them, the society and the environment (GRI, 2012). The people, planet, and profit are the three elements which are considered while studying the elements of sustainability report. Emphasis is given to the stakeholders rather than the shareholders as they are the ones who are mostly directly or indirectly influenced by the activities or the action of any company. The sustainability reporting provides a platform for communication between the company and the stakeholders. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the use, importance, barriers and the economic benefits of using the sustainability report by a company in the daily practice. This allows the society to understand and judge how well an organization or a company is performing. The need of the hour is to make sustainability report a mandate and common practice to benchmark performance. Sustainability reporting – application within organizations Sustainability refers to the ability of maintaining an outcome over time without causing an ecological imbalance or exhausting the resources on which the result would depend. There are various theories and models of sustainability which are studied and considered. Some of them are the economic, ecological, political models etc (Jenkins, 2009). Sustainability reporting enables a company to communicate openly, positively and effectively with its stakeholders. This is crucial for maintaining and meeting the financial goal or the profitability of the company. The stakeholders, on the basis of the reports, can compare and analyze the performance of the company with others and to check on their own performance. Those organizations, which succeed in tailoring their communication with the stakeholders, to present a detailed analysis can convince them as to the fact that their company is working in tandem with the social, economic and environmental practices for long term growth. The success lies in a clear understanding of the true values of reporting and the issues associated with the making and execution of the sustainability reporting (KPMG, 2008). The management and the senior officers want to get the green label for their company, which is self explanatory by itself, that is it would prove that there is perfect alignment in t he company’s sustainability strategy, the environmental impacts and the social implications, as well. Sustainability reporting has now made its place in almost all sectors of business. Three out of Australia’s four largest banks publish annual sustainability reports (KPMG, 2008). Here, the reporting is considered as TBL (triple-bottom-line) business accountability. People, planet, and profit are taken into consideration while evaluating the reporting practices (vivodepot, 2008). Sustainability reporting involves a series of guidelines or a set of rules and regulations to be followed by the companies. As the aim is to deliver in accordance with the social,