Management and Leadership Paper: Costco
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Select an organization.
o Differentiate between management and leadership.
o Describe the roles and responsibilities that organizational managers and leaders play in creating and maintaining a healthy organizational culture.
o Evaluate the affect of globalization and management across borders.
o Recommend at least two strategies that organizational managers and leaders can use to create and maintain a healthy organizational culture. Support your recommendations with the concepts discussed in class and in the text, as well as your personal experiences.
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Solution Summary
This solution response provides a sample paper that will cover the differences between management and leadership at Costco Wholesale Corporation. It will discuss the roles and responsibilities that organizational managers and leaders play in creating and maintaining a healthy organizational culture at Costco. Globalization and management across the borders will be evaluated. Additionally, it will also cover two strategies that organizational managers and leaders can use to create and maintain a healthy organizational culture.
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Management and Leadership at Costco Wholesale Corporation
History and Background
Costco Wholesale Corporation opened in 1976 as Price Club. It was a small company and had small businesses as customers. They changed the way they were doing business and decided to reach out to the private non-business individual. The company being a warehouse club - membership increased quickly and in less than six years was grossing $3 billion dollars.
Costco Wholesale Corporation started its business in September of 1983 out of Seattle, Washington. James Sinegal founded Costco Wholesale Club in 1983, and he is the President and CEO of Costco. Jeffrey Brotman, Chairman of the Board of Directors assists James Sinegal since 1993. The Price Company merged with Costco in October of 1993 and together they became Price/Costco, Inc. The concept of a membership warehouse was first implemented by them. Price/Costco, Inc. moved back to Washington at the same time changed its name to Costco Wholesale Corporation.
Costco decided that it was time to infiltrate the online industry and in 1995 they posted a website that was purely informational but progressed to an e-commerce business in November 1998 (Costco Wholesale, 2011). It offered a variety of items and services such as electronics, flowers, books, music, and pharmaceutical items. Today, the website is amazing! They even offer Costco Cash Cards when you trade in your electronic equipment. Not only do they list locations, customer service, all the items they carry, but also rebates. Their website is colorful, appealing, and very easy to navigate.
Differentiating Between Management and Leadership
The biggest difference between management and leadership is that managers have subordinates and leaders have followers. Managing is more focused on the work force and leaders are more focused on the people. At Costco, James Sinegal believes that you need to concentrate on the employees who will concentrate on the customers. One of the big differences between managers and leaders is that a leader will not tell people what to do; they simply show them how to follow. Leaders have a stronger charisma which is what James Sinegal has. He is an effective leader and a fair and respected innovator.
A manager will handle focus by managing the workforce. The manager will direct the attention to objectives, make decisions with his/her head not heart, and wants control. The leader will seek vision, facilitate a decision using his/her heart, and passion motivates the energy. The culture of a manager is reactive and wants results. A leader is proactive and looks for achievement.
Roles and Responsibilities that Managers and Leaders Play in Creating
a Healthy Organizational Culture
The management at Costco is strong. It is important to James Sinegal that the employees are treated respectfully and make the work environment a place where employees really want to come and work. To bring the consumers in, unique items are top on the list. They are brought into the stores and are not advertised. The reason for no marketing on those items is so consumers come in and see what Costco has. Once they do this, they always find other bargains.
The Affect of ...
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