Costco is successful, and I believe the primary reason is Chairman and CEO Craig Jelinek and his business philosophy. Examples of his beliefs are evident in the following quotes from an article published last month by Supermarket News.
“Companies sometimes lose their way because they lose their core values and culture. Your business can evolve, but it can’t afford to lose its values and culture.”
“You’ve got to think like a small company.”
“We’re still obsessed with driving prices down, getting better brands and keeping clear channels of communication. Complications cost you money, and when expenses go up, margins go up and then prices go up. And when prices go up, bad things happen.”
“Consistency achieves excellence. Perfection is just a fragment of the imagination that isn’t going to happen, but consistency is achievable.”
“You’ve got to acknowledge when you are wrong and move on. If we’re wrong, we admit it and determine to make it right. When we’re faced with adversity, we deal with it head on.”
“Most U.S. companies lack respect for whatever they have – the equipment, the employees or whatever. But respect is the most important thing.”
“Our attitude is that everyone in the organization is important. Some people may have less responsibility, but every job is important and so is every person.”
“We offer good wages and benefits because we don’t want people to be worrying about those things. We need them to focus on their jobs.”
“Costco has been successful for so many years because we’ve never had an exit strategy. We do things right and good things happen, and that can work for other companies.”