Business Ethics And Corporate Morals

Costco Wholesale Corporation, the third largest US retailer, is a membership-only warehouse club that sells in high volume, low price products. Costco prides itself on keeping low prices for the consumer, as evidenced by the brief period they stopped selling Coca-Cola (11/09-12/09) until the manufacturer lowered their wholesale prices (Allison, 2009). In addition to their business methodology to provide low-cost quality goods, they also have a code of ethics to (1) obey the law (2) take care of our members (3) take care of our employees and (4) respect our suppliers (Costco Code of Ethics, nd). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is a long-term key factor contributing to Costco’s success. By adhering to their mission and code of ethics, which includes low prices, high quality products, above average hourly wages, and employee health insurance coverage, they get customer and employee loyalty, low employee turnover (17%), and highly productive employees, that contributes to their bottom line: high profits (Caitlin, 2012).

Hartman, E. (2006). Can We Teach Character? An Aristotelian Answer. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(1), 68-81

Did you know that Costco has over 500 warehouses that operate in 40 different states! Two men, James Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman, founded Costco in 1983 (Company Overview, 2014). Costco’s warehouse has one of the largest product category selections when being to compared to other warehouses. Costco is known for carrying the best quality brands at low prices. According to Jim Sinegal, the Company 's Co-Founder and Director, "Costco is able to offer lower prices and better values by eliminating virtually all the frills and costs historically associated with conventional wholesalers and retailers, including salespeople, fancy buildings, delivery, billing and accounts receivable. We run a tight operation with extremely low overhead which enables us to pass on dramatic savings to our members (Company Overview, 2014)”.

The first warehouse store was opened in 1976 by Price Club which was founded by Sol and Robert Price in San Diego, California. Initially it was open only to Business shoppers. By 1983, Jim Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman created Costco and open its first membership warehouse in Seattle, Washington on September 15, 1983. Within the first three years Costco had opened 17 more warehouses in other locations, had 1.3 million members, and 3,740 employees (Costco, 2014a). Costco expanded

Economic obligations are known to be the fundamental responsibilities of a socially responsible corporate. If a company does not strive to be profitable, it will not create jobs and provide important services and hence contribute to a vibrant economy. Costco’s code of ethics sets rewarding the shareholders as the company’s ultimate goal, which clearly indicates the company’s emphasis to meet its economic responsibilities. The code of ethics stresses that the organizational success is contingent

In 1982, Jeff Broman and Jim Sinegal plan to start a wholesale club business. One year later, the first Costco warehouse was open in Settle, Washington (Costco). In the following years, Costco crossed into national market, it expand their market to United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the United Kingdom (Costco Wholesale Corporation).

Costco as a company began operations in 1983 with its headquarters in Issaquah, Washington (Costo 1). It was founded in Washington, United States by James Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman. Brotman comes from a family that had been involved in retail business before the establishment of Costco. Therefore assuming that his background may have prepared him for running Costco

Corporations can be large or small but they all have some sort of ethical impact on their employees, shareholders, customers, community, and surrounding environments. Richard DeGeorge writes, “We can speak of corporations having moral responsibilities to act in certain ways, and they are morally responsible for the consequences of their actions on people.” (p. 200). Large corporations are comprised of the board of directors, management, and their workers. They also deal with suppliers, customers, and have competitors. This essay will examine the moral responsibilities within a corporation.

with traces of E. coli that harmed sixty people around the United States on two different

In 1983, The first Costco warehouse location was opened by Jim Sinegal and jeffrey Brotman (Seattle, WA)

On September 15,1983 the world had witness the opening of Costco the first warehouse on Seattle, Washington by James Senegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman. The owners had started in distribution their wholesale by working for Price at both FedMart and Price Club and Brotman, an attorney from an old Seattle retailing family, had also been involved in retail distribution from an early age.

Costco Wholesale Corporation began operations in 1983 in Seattle, Washington. In 1993, it merged with The Price Company -which had pioneered the membership warehouse concept– and formed Price/Costco, Inc. However, in 1997, the company changed its name to Costco Companies, Inc., and in 1999 after relocating to Issaquah, Washington –where headquarters are located– it adopted the name it is now recognized for: Costco Wholesale Corporation. Its company’s website is www.costco.com, and trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol “COST.”

Business ethics refers to the consideration of moral decisions and responsibilities in the process of operating a business. Business ethics, practiced throughout the deepest layers of a company, become the heart and soul of the company 's culture and can mean the difference between success and failure. Values drive behavior and therefore need to be consciously stated, but they also need to be affirmed by actions. Ethical business environments are created with foundations of integrity, accountability and commitment.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco) is a retail membership warehouse chain which was founded by Jim Sinegal and Jeff Brotman in 1983. Headquartered out of Issaquah, Washington, Costco has grown in to one of the largest wholesale giants in the industry. The company’s business model was to generate high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover by offering members low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and selected private-label products in a wide range of merchandise categories (Gamble & Thompson Jr., 2009, p. 217). This

ITC Ltd has worked exremly hard to start several procedures that have led to compliance of the standards of social responsibility. ITC’s dealings within the tobacco industry have contributed to the increase in company revenues and the company has worked towards following the triple bottom line and giving back to society. Most, businesses pay little attention to their social responsibilities and make it part of their overall strategy, instead they concentrate more on financial benefits from the sales of products. Consequently, managing business in a socially responsive manner contributes to the best combination of business success and societal acceptance, trust and loyalty. Giving back to the community in ways that benefits only society such as planting trees to curb pollution and help the environment or using biodegradable materials in packaging can reap financial benefits to a company by building loyalty among the community. The notion of business ethics and corporate social responsibility is becoming a defining concept in all industries worldwide. ITC believes in the Triple Bottom Line philosophy where the performance and perception of a corporation should not be judged only on the basis of its financial statements or revenues, but its environmental and social performance as well. ITC is one of the only companies in the world to be carbon positive, water positive, and conduct solid waste recycling. ITC provides water to areas where water is very