Costco Code Of Ethics

We as business owners, management and or in a role of authority must set, address and comply with a solid foundation of ethics. “A code of conduct is the single most important element of your ethics and compliance program. It sets the tone and direction for the entire function. Often, the code is a standalone document, ideally only a few pages in length. It introduces the concept of ethics and compliance and provides an overview of what you mean when you talk about ethical business conduct.”

As a Costco Wholesale consultant we are looking to expand our company in a foreign market. Costco wholesale first opened in 1976 under the name of Price Club who was originally serving to small businesses. Our company provides a wide rang of merchandise ( food, electronics, clothing, etc.) and the convenience to have a exclusive member service. Later on the company decided that they could achieve greater sells by serving to a selected audience of non-business members therefore the first Costco warehouse was opened in 1983 in Seattle. Our operation is simple we like to keep costs down and let our members save. Since our company has been expanding globally we have been looking for the next country that we would like to open our company in. The

Costco is a well-known and well liked wholesale corporation. The company stands by their mission statement that reads as follows “Costco’s mission is to continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. In order to achieve our mission we will conduct our business with the following Code of Ethics in mind: Obey the law, take care of our members, take care of our employees, and respect our vendors. If we do these four things throughout our organization, then we will realize our ultimate goal, which is to reward our shareholders.”

To have ethical practice in businesses it needs to begin with “whether our behavior is moral or immoral and deals with fundamental human relationships”. (Lawrence & Weber, 2014, p. 69). The foundation of ethical behavior has to be laid early in life and developed/built on it; this guidance can come from various sources such as, religion, family, school, neighborhoods, friends, etc. “The totality of these learning experiences creates in each person a concept of ethics, morality, and socially acceptable behavior.”

Pearl functions primarily as a symbol. Only seven years old when Dimmesdale dies. She has the ability to provoke the adult characters. Draws their attention to the overlooked truths of the adult world.

Ethics are what people think are right and wrong things to do. Ethical values can change from one person to the next. There are many businesses that have good morals- making them ethical; but there are also many businesses that have make unethical decisions in order to gain more money. Unethical businesses can hurt that community and environment. Businesses that have been recognized for being ethical include: Costco, Starbucks, and UPS. Although many businesses are ethical many have been recognized as unethical include Phillip Morris and Chevron.

The following outlines the companies code of ethics (Quinn, 2017). Contribute to Society for the Betterment of

Today, more and more companies are adopting a code of conduct and/or ethics in the

Costco has 36,347 million total assets and has 10,778 million shareholders in Sep 3, 2017. Just to give a little bit of context third largest retailer in the USA and the second largest retailer in the world. With 741 locations, worldwide and 231,000 employees. They are well known across the world. In the USA Costco has 8% market share but globally 15.7% for Q3 of 2017.

As many organizations have or seek to establish a global footprint, it is imperative that they establish a written code of ethics that clearly lays out what the company stands for as well as enforce it. This is required as it will establish the acceptable behaviors for those that fall under the code of ethics. Taking the time to develop this is key to successful interactions with internal and external shareholders as well as reducing negative perceptions by stakeholders.

“If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone… we’ll give the world an opportunity to see what it’s like to save and have a better life.” Those were the words spoken by Wal-Mart’s late founder Sam Walton. He believed that he could build a great business by offering low prices and great service. His goal was to target was the small rural areas in America and offer great deals on products, but is competitors thought his ideas would never work. They were wrong Wal-Mart stores grew rapidly all across the country. Mr. Walton credited a lot of Wal-Mart’s success to the associates because they provided customers with a great shopping experience that kept them coming back. Since Wal-Mart became so successful Sam Walton created other stores

However, today, the focus on stakeholder’s (apart from the shareholders, these are customers, suppliers and employees) expectations has also grown radically. Accordingly, ethical behaviours such as meeting stakeholders’ expectation objectives, environmental objectives and corporate social responsibility, which is accountability to the society and social responsibility, have resultantly become very important. Failure to comply with ethical behaviours can causes a business to damage its brand value and its reputation, which in turn could lead to reduced profits or even losses (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2014).

The world of 1851 differed on a significant scale from that of 1500 for both Asia and Europe. Until the 1800s, Asia was considered the centre of the world in many aspects such as trade, innovation, wealth, manufacturing and territorial influence and expansion. In contrast, Europe was disunited and divided at the core of its superpowers due to massive political reforms and religious warfare. Yet, and from these reforms, the continent was well within a new age of discovery and improvements. It was undoubtedly the success of this era and its breakthroughs (technology, pace, unification…) that allowed the European powers to surpass their Asian contenders and reach unchallenged dominance around the 1800s.

682). First, the establishment of the code of ethics within the business market has led to the incorporation of a corporate code for organizations (p. 682). Next, the corporate code is the document that outlines the current and future operations of an organization developed by the business (p. 682). In addition, the code outlines the conduct of the organization for the employee, manager, investors, and other beneficiaries of the business required to adhere to ethical principles and values (p. 682). In retrospect, this document formalizes the ethical requirement for the organization when conducting business practices (p.

Walmart’s code of ethics state their number one goal is saving people money so they can live better. “Through your ethical behavior and willingness to speak up for the highest standards, we earn and keep the trust of our customers, each other and our local communities. We believe in everyday low cost and everyday low prices, but only if accomplished through our everyday integrity”. (Walmart Handbook) Walmart says they can do this by gaining an honest relationship with their customers. Their code of ethics is, to be honest, and fair every day with everyone they come in contact with.