Costco’s Power of Organizational Culture
Costco is a store where operations resulted from labor to transform corporate culture and leadership. The company has successfully shaped strategies to win the market and distribute its products through a combination of operational choices. Costco has focused on standardizing its products and offering options for consumers to purchase them. The company has focused on satisfying all consumer needs and providing quality service and ongoing support to its employees.
The company’s organizational structure refers to a matrix structure with a strong base in functioning elements. Costco’s culture consists of five segments that have allowed the company to create a solid divisional organization. The culture, first and foremost, is embedded in the overall goal of excellence: this criterion refers to the incentive to do even better through learning and leadership. A positive attitude and a fast pace are embedded in Costco to achieve effectiveness through employee behavior and motivation. Service orientation is embedded in Costco’s organizational culture as a powerful tool for high-level service; through teamwork, employees better understand business goals and act on the company’s strategic objectives.
The company uses learning mechanisms and promotion philosophies to embed its culture: understanding how the business works can only be achieved by coming to the bottom and gradually climbing up. Every action of the employees has to be in line with the corporate culture, so the senior managers try to involve every employee as much as possible. The company also encourages leadership by offering training and personal growth programs with mandatory courses on the organization.
Probably only other large retailers can make up Costco’s competitive advantage. IKEA and its corporate culture exemplify consumer-driven solid leadership. The company’s culture is that everyday life touches everyone, and it is vital for the store to understand customers’ daily needs. The main feature of the culture is austerity and down-to-earth, which ensures that resources are spent wisely and used appropriately for the benefit of the consumer. Like Costco, IKEA offers high customer service solutions and encourages an environmentally friendly atmosphere.