1. Does the company's strategy reflect the company's mission? Explain. To compare Costco Wholesale's mission to its strategy, it is essential to determine exactly what Costco's mission is and how they plan to achieve it through their business strategy. Costco's mission is: The Company will continue to pursue its mission of bringing to market the highest quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices, while providing excellent customer service and adhering to a strict code of ethics that includes caring for our employees and our members, respecting our suppliers, rewarding our shareholders and striving to be responsible corporate citizens and environmental stewards in our operations around the world. (Thompson, Peteraf, C–9). Each of these elements focuses on an important aspect of Costco's mission. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that Costco Wholesale's business strategy actually follows their mission.2. What is Costco Wholesale's business model? Costco Wholesale's business model focuses on generating high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland III, & McGraw-Hill, 2013, pp. C–9). This provides Costco with the opportunity to sell and receive cash for inventory while allowing them to make payments to suppliers before expiration. As a result, Costco is able to take advantage of early payment discounts that suppliers offer as an incentive to complete payments sooner. These two aspects of Costco's business model have allowed them the flexibility to need less working capital while operating their business. By analyzing the financial results in Figures 1 and 4, provide an assessment of how the company is executing on its strategy. How has the company's stock price performed over the last four years? For a company to adapt well, it must adapt internally, externally and dynamically to its environment. Costco's strategy of treating their employees and customers well appears to be working with some success as there is only a slight decline in 2009 net profit. As evident from their recovery in 2010, it appears that they have developed a dynamic strategy that will adapt to changes in their environment effectively. A competitive advantage is essential to an effective strategy (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland III, & McGraw-Hill, 2013, p. 12). Without a competitive advantage, Costco would soon struggle to make ends meet. Based on Costco's growth between 2000 and 2011, it appears that Costco has built a competitive advantage by focusing on meeting customer and employee needs before turning a profit. While this means profits will be slightly lower, it appears to be working as there is almost continuous growth in the