M1 Organizational Strategy, Costco and Tech Impact Analysis

This assignment comprises two parts: a case analysis of Costco's business model and an application assignment focusing on the impact of emerging technologies on the workplace. The case analysis examines how Costco's business model differs from traditional discount retailers, its potential for success in the coming years, and its ability to compete internationally. The application assignment reviews an article discussing the influence of emerging technologies on work, particularly concerning the human resource function. The student summarizes the article, identifies relevant course topics, and provides their views on the subject. The assignment integrates course concepts, provides external sources, and demonstrates an understanding of both business strategy and the effects of technological advancements on organizational practices and employee management, including discussions of automation, flexible work, and the challenges faced by HR professionals.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY AND POLICIES
Organizational strategy and policies
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY AND POLICIES
Table of Contents
M1 (Case Analysis Forum)..............................................................................................................3
Question no 1:..............................................................................................................................3
Answer to Question no 1:............................................................................................................3
Question No 2:.............................................................................................................................4
Answer to Question No 2:...........................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5
M1 (Application Assignment).........................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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M1 (Case Analysis Forum)
Question no 1:
How does Costco’s business model differ from that of traditional discount retailers? Is this
model likely to be more successful in the coming years?
Answer to Question no 1:
The business model of Costco generally emphasizes rock bottom prices based on a
number of limited selections of different kinds of brand name products in a wide range of
different kinds of merchandising. The sale of the products at typical rock bottom prices is itself
one of the most unique techniques that are applied by the management of the business
organization accordingly (costco.com, 2019). The traditional business models generally carry on
the wholesale business by selecting a stable price for all the items which are stocked for
wholesale purposes. The low price of the wholesale products in Costco thus turns out to be one
of the most unique advantages for the business organization.
Apart from the uniqueness in the price selection of the wholesale products, the
organization has also brought uniqueness in the quantity of the products sold. The company
generally sells a wide variety of products and according to the estimates of the management,
each of the typical Costco stores has a wide range of around 4000 different products up for sales
(costco.com, 2019). Costco’s product variety ranges from the likes of the different kinds of
products like pharmaceuticals, tires, accessories, electronics, clothing’s, grocery and many more
similar as such. Lastly the management of the company is also involved in the operations of the
manufacturing business like food packaging, processing of meat and has even engaged business
in the jewelry to support retail efforts (costco.com, 2019). According to, Yi & Yang (2017) much

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of the organizational success can be attributed to the ability of the organization to reduce costs by
negotiating with the suppliers of the business organization. The following mode of business
operations are now being adopted by most of the business organizations in the market and
therefore the management of the business organization must ensure some changes in the business
model to compete with the other competitors in the market.
Question No 2:
Can Costco compete successfully on a large scale outside of the United States and Canada?
Why or why not?
Answer to Question No 2:
Costco has a number of different stores across the globe with most of the outlets located
in Northern America and some in Asian countries like Japan and South Korea. The business
model of Costco which prefers the wholesale of different kinds of the products at super cheap
prices is one of the most important business necessities of the organization (nrf.com, 2019).
However, the company may face severe competition from other market operators in the process
and thus the organization needs to employ other strategies to sustain in the international market
(samsclub.com). Therefore it can be said that the Costco management may or may not achieve
success in the business market through the application of the following management techniques.

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References
Costco (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.costco.com/ [Accessed 20 May 2019].
NRF | Voice of Retail. (2019). Retrieved from https://nrf.com/
Samsclub (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.samsclub.com/ [Accessed 20 May 2019].
Yi, Y., & Yang, H. (2017). Wholesale pricing and evolutionary stable strategies of retailers
under network externality. European Journal of Operational Research, 259(1), 37-47.

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M1 (Application Assignment)
“The Impact of Emerging technologies on work: A review of the Evidence and implications
for the human resource function”
Emma Parry, Valentina Battista
The following article has been prepared to make the most of the technological advancement that
continues to have a dramatic effect on work. However it is quite difficult to distinguish between
the hype that surrounds this and the original impacts. The study clearly evaluates about the
importance of technology and will have a dramatic impact on the business (Parry & Battista,
2019). The study evaluates the impact of emerging technologies in the role of the human
resource function in helping the employees of the business organization to navigate through the
changes of the business organization. The research has also highlighted the importance of the
emerging technologies that supports the implementation of flexible work timings in the
workplaces of the business organizations (Parry & Battista, 2019). However, the following will
also present a number of business challenges to the HR professionals who will need to help the
employees to update their skills to compete in the future world of work.
The following paper clearly relates to the subject on the use of technology and its impact on the
workplace of the business organization. The increase in the technological advancement of the
business organizations and the changes in the work have helped the business organization to
ensure business success (Parry & Battista, 2019). The advancements in technology will help to
improve the business and also will help to improve business advancements. Studies have found
out that 47% of the total employment is in a high risk category. The high risk status is provided

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to the business organizations as because most of the organizations are slowly turning out fully
automated (Parry & Battista, 2019). The full automation will lead to the loss of the manual
workforce and will certainly have a strong impact on the employees.
The following paper has highlighted the impact of the employees on the automation of the
business units. The automation process thus has both positive as well as serious negative impact
on the business. The automation process is important as because it helps the organizations to
increase productivity and also increase the revenue of the organization. However, the increase in
the productivity through the automation process of the business comes at the cost of the sacrifice
of the manual labor system. The sacrifice of the manual labor will lead to wide scale
unemployment.

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References
Anderson, T. (2016). Theories for learning with emerging technologies. Emergence and
innovation in digital learning: Foundations and applications, 35-50.
Parry, E., & Battista, V. (2019). The impact of emerging technologies on work: a review of the
evidence and implications for the human resource function. Emerald Open Research, 1.
Rotolo, D., Hicks, D., & Martin, B. R. (2015). What is an emerging technology?. Research
Policy, 44(10), 1827-1843.