Costco Ethics
| Costco Warehouse | | Ethics |
| Costco Warehouse | | Ethics |
June 5, 2011
Authored by: Barbara Esslinger
MGT 430
Professor Lindauer
June 5, 2011
Authored by: Barbara Esslinger
MGT 430
Professor Lindauer
Overview:
Today ethics has become such a controversial topic. It would seem as though corporate fraud and breaches of fiduciary responsibility, coupled with greed and selfishness plague every aspect of our corporate environment; therefore, a simplified model of ethics which implies choices are either right or wrong, or that ethical decision making depends solely on personal character or values is too simple. Ethics in a broader sense, is a matter of carefully and responsibility managing the things which are entrusted into our care. For Costco their code of ethics is simple: “Obey the law, take care of its members, take care of its employees, respect its suppliers and reward its shareholders.” (Cascio)
Corporate Culture:
“In Southern California, a crazed motorist recently attempted to commit suicide by driving his car onto railroad tracks. At the last moment, he thought the better of it, abandoned the car, and ran home. Unfortunately, seconds later a full commuter train crashed into the car, leading to terrible loss of life and to severe injuries to hundreds of people. The accident occurred directly in the back of a Costco Warehouse store. Almost immediately, the blue-collar Costco employees organized themselves into an emergency brigade, and, armed with forklift trucks and fire extinguishers, set out to rescue trapped passengers, and to deliver first-aid to the wounded.” (O 'Toole)
It is said the ethics of an organization are displayed in the corporate culture of the organization and that the leaders have a huge influence on or actually creating the values of the company by what they believe are important. In turn, these leaders will bring on other’s who honor or value the same things. This leadership model will
| Costco Warehouse | | Ethics |
June 5, 2011
Authored by: Barbara Esslinger
MGT 430
Professor Lindauer
June 5, 2011
Authored by: Barbara Esslinger
MGT 430
Professor Lindauer
Overview:
Today ethics has become such a controversial topic. It would seem as though corporate fraud and breaches of fiduciary responsibility, coupled with greed and selfishness plague every aspect of our corporate environment; therefore, a simplified model of ethics which implies choices are either right or wrong, or that ethical decision making depends solely on personal character or values is too simple. Ethics in a broader sense, is a matter of carefully and responsibility managing the things which are entrusted into our care. For Costco their code of ethics is simple: “Obey the law, take care of its members, take care of its employees, respect its suppliers and reward its shareholders.” (Cascio)
Corporate Culture:
“In Southern California, a crazed motorist recently attempted to commit suicide by driving his car onto railroad tracks. At the last moment, he thought the better of it, abandoned the car, and ran home. Unfortunately, seconds later a full commuter train crashed into the car, leading to terrible loss of life and to severe injuries to hundreds of people. The accident occurred directly in the back of a Costco Warehouse store. Almost immediately, the blue-collar Costco employees organized themselves into an emergency brigade, and, armed with forklift trucks and fire extinguishers, set out to rescue trapped passengers, and to deliver first-aid to the wounded.” (O 'Toole)
It is said the ethics of an organization are displayed in the corporate culture of the organization and that the leaders have a huge influence on or actually creating the values of the company by what they believe are important. In turn, these leaders will bring on other’s who honor or value the same things. This leadership model will
Bibliography: Cascio, Wayne F. "Decency Means More than "Always Low Prices": A cojparions of Costco to Wal-Mart 's Sam 's Club." Academy of Management Perspectives (August 2006): 26-37. —. "The Economic Impact of Employee Behaviors on Organizational Performance." California Management Review 2006: 41-59. Desjardins, Doug. Culture of Inclusion: Where top executives lead by example and honesty and frugality are valued virtues. 19 December 2005. June 2011 <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FNP/is_23_44/ai_n15969651/>. Goosen, Rick. Costco, Social Responsibility and Competitive Advantage: Exclusive interview with Richard Galanti. 4 June 2010. June 2011 <http://www.makegood.com/blog/2010/06/04/costco-social-responsibility-part-i-exclusive-interview-with-richard-galanti-cfo/>. Hattel, Alvin. Corporate Case Study: Costco insits is is simply giving back. n.d. June 2011 <http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/josh_teter/AlvinHattal/Costco.htm>. Keller, Kenneth. The Signal.com:Eight Lessons to Learn from Costco. October 2008. June 2011 <http://www.the-signal.com/archives/5311/>. O 'Toole, James. "The Ethics of Human Capital." 2005. Santa Clara University. 3 June 2011 <http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/conference/presentations/human-capital.html>. Thomas, Terry, John Schremerhorn and John Deinhart. "Strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business." Academy of Management Executives 2004.