Research owned and published globally by The Paper Store, Inc 1-800-90-WRITE ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR AND COSTCO WHOLESALE
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1. Similar or comparable strategies The strategies that are similar in both companies are innovation and a focus on customer satisfaction. Neither company veers off its path just because a competitor is doing so. They hold to their founding principles and the customer is a focus in those principles. Both companies expanded into ancillary or compatible businesses. For example, Costco added food courts, one-hour photo processing, gas stations, pharmacies, and hearing aid centers in many of its locations. Enterprise expanded from leasing to renting to becoming a consultant to firms. These could be considered value-added services/products but, in Enterprise's case, they became large segments of the company. Both companies give managers a significant degree of authority over their locations, fostering a sense of entrepreneurship among location managers. Also, both companies purchase in such large quantities that they have a great deal of leverage in their supply chains. As a result, both companies strive to offer the lowest price with the highest quality. Both companies started new hires in the lowest position. For Enterprise that meant washing the cars on the lot and for Costco that meant retrieving shopping carts from the parking lot. Both also promoted from within the company. One difference in this strategy is that Enterprise pays new hires more than Costco does. The human resource practices at each company lead to more internal promotion, i.e., career ladders, and paying their people well. In fact, most executives at each company began their careers in very low positions at a store or location.
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