Assignment Brief
Assignment – Case study (100% of overall mark) – Individual – 3000 words
Task:
Carefully read the case study “Costco Wholesale Corporation: Market Expansion and Global Strategy” by Park et al. (2019). This case examines Costco Wholesale Corporation’s global strategy since its first foreign entry into Canada in 1985. Since then, the company expanded to 12 countries around the world as of 2023. The company has recently expanded to China with significant customer responseLinks to an external site.
Minimize Video. The Chinese food and grocery retail market had total revenues of $3,584.9 billion in 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% between 2017 and 2022. It is rumoured that Costco is next eyeing the Indian market, which grew by a CAGR of 14.2% during the same period to reach a value of $759.5 billion and is projected to be valued at around $1.7 trillion by 2026.
Assume yourself as a senior manager of the International Division at Costco, tasked with crafting a strategy to enter the Indian market. You are required to develop a 3,000-word report to be submitted to the CEO. Using theoretical frameworks mixed with the company’s experience in global expansion, you need to submit a persuasive strategy that helps Costco establish a firm foot in the buoyant Indian retail sector. The report should be structured and will be assessed as per the guidance in the table below.
Submission deadline:
Tuesday 7th May 2024 by 2.00 pm
Marking Structure:
Assignment Subsections
Words (indicative)
The report should include, but is not limited to:
Introduction (7 marks)
200
Briefly describe the global strategy, mission and objectives of Costco, to date.
Evaluating a Firm’s Environments (13 marks)
400
Evaluating Costco’s internal environment (use one of the relevant frameworks)
Evaluating Costco’s external environment in India (use one of the relevant frameworks)
Hint: Here, you may note any similarities with the external environment of other countries where Costco operates, if needed. This is how you learn from the experience of the company.
Global strategies (25 marks)
1000
Discuss the international distances of India from Costco’s home country.
Identify and justify which AAA global strategy/strategies Costco could use in India.
Critical discussion of your AAA strategies with those of the major foreign competitors in India
Corporate-level strategies (20 marks)
600
Briefly discuss the global diversification strategy of Costco
Advantages/Disadvantages of Strategic Alliances vs Mergers and Acquisitions in India
Corporate Governance Characteristics – (10 marks)
300
Critical discussion of the differences of TMT of Costco (parent company) compared to the TMT of competitors in the Indian Market (key foreign and local competitors)
Strategy Implementation and Conclusions (15 marks)
500
Discuss the strategy implementation, by referring to Costco’s formal organizational structure and the formal and informal management control systems.
Recommendation of Costco‘s strategy in the Indian market regarding the entry, AAA and corporate level strategy. Also, include one or two sentences on how the CG characteristics and organizational structure/control systems help with the implementation of this strategy.
The overall presentation (10 marks)
Correctness/Quality of referencing
Table of contents
Use of headings, subheadings, etc.
In this report, you are expected to demonstrate the knowledge you gained from the lectures and seminars.
You are expected to refer to the theories/theoretical concepts covered in lectures (e.g. AAA Global Strategy framework, etc). You should not explain what the theory is, but how it is applied in this particular case. When referring to theories/theoretical concepts make sure that you provide the corresponding citations from the literature (avoid citing the lecture materials).
You are also expected to obtain data from credible sources (e.g. academic articles, Bloomberg, MarketLine Advantage, Statista, Gale Business Insights, companies’ annual reports, and newspapers) to provide support for your arguments. Note that several of these sources are accessible via UoL library resources.
The 3,000 words are the absolute upper limit. There is no leeway over this, i.e. you will be penalized if you submit work that exceeds the word limit.
