Craig Jelinek, CEO of Costco, has employed you as a consultant to assess the attractiveness of the North American wholesale club industry and Costco’s overall situation and to provide a set of recommendations that will help the company grow. Please prepare a report to Mr. Jelinek that assesses the long-run profitability of the North American wholesale club industry, the quality of Costco’s internal situation and that makes specific recommendations on how they can attain their goals. In analyzing the situation be sure to perform a thorough Industry and Competitive Analysis (e.g., PESTEL, Porter’s 5 –forces, Driving Forces, KSF’s, competitor analysis, etc. from Chapter 3) as well as an analysis of Costco’s internal situation including its business level strategy, their resources and competitive capabilities (e.g., SWOT from Chapter 4), a Competitor Analysis (A discussion of key competitors and a group map) and a Performance Analysis (financial and strategic). Your recommendations should be specific, actionable and should logically flow from your analysis.
Your report should be no more than 15 pages inclusive of an executive summary, a recommendation section that is no more than 4 pages in length (double spaced), and appendices (single spaced) that should include analyses and may be presented in charts, tables, or any other format you deem useful and appropriate. The cover page is not included in this page limit. All pages must have 1 inch margins and you must use Times New Roman 12 font.
