走進(jìn)西雅圖田園詩(shī)般的郊區(qū)小鎮(zhèn)伊薩夸，你絕對(duì)猜想不到,，眼前這棟靜得出奇,，看上去毫無(wú)特色，用米色磚和紅磚砌成的辦公樓,，竟然是美國(guó)一家巨獸級(jí)企業(yè)的神經(jīng)中樞,。保安不只是揮手示意放行；她還會(huì)花些時(shí)間與你攀談,。接待處擺放著一盤餅干,，接待員會(huì)熱情地鼓勵(lì)你自行品嘗。沒(méi)有喧囂,，只有一種平靜的感覺(jué),。鑒于這個(gè)星期的種種活動(dòng)通常會(huì)讓一家公司惶恐不安，如此祥和的氛圍就顯得尤為不尋常,。

就在這一周,，全球第三大零售商，2016財(cái)年銷售額高達(dá)1160億美元的好市多公司(Costco Wholesale),，正在同時(shí)經(jīng)歷三件大事：來(lái)自世界各地的經(jīng)理們飛赴這里參加月度預(yù)算會(huì)議；董事會(huì)會(huì)議,；還有周末的年度股東大會(huì),。就在這個(gè)大家族匯聚一堂之際,，好市多正在面臨一些逆風(fēng)。在一個(gè)以薄利潤(rùn)聞名的行業(yè)中,，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)加劇的威脅總是揮之不去,，最大的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手當(dāng)然是以亞馬遜為代表的電商零售巨頭。此外還有吸引千禧一代的挑戰(zhàn),。匯率波動(dòng)等原因?qū)е潞檬卸嗪Ｍ獾赇伒牧闶垲~持續(xù)疲軟,。好市多即將放棄合作多年的美國(guó)運(yùn)通卡，轉(zhuǎn)而使用維薩卡,。對(duì)于后勤系統(tǒng)來(lái)說(shuō),，這種過(guò)渡往往是一場(chǎng)噩夢(mèng)。

但所有這些問(wèn)題似乎并沒(méi)有驚擾好市多的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者們,。他們知道,，在一個(gè)猶如野兔的數(shù)字世界中，其倉(cāng)儲(chǔ)式量販賣場(chǎng)模式使得這家公司似乎成了一只慢悠悠的烏龜,。不過(guò),，他們堅(jiān)信，他們將贏得這場(chǎng)競(jìng)賽,。好市多總是笑到最后,。但很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間以來(lái)，有件事一直縈繞在他們心頭,。這件事與經(jīng)濟(jì)無(wú)關(guān),，至少不是直接相關(guān)。它與身份有關(guān),。

好市多的行事作風(fēng)更像是一個(gè)興高采烈的邪教組織,，而不是一家沖勁十足的企業(yè)。讓高管們倍感驕傲的是,，好市多的最高管理層幾乎全部提拔自公司內(nèi)部,。就連以說(shuō)話直率，從不矯揉做作著稱,，現(xiàn)年62歲的首席執(zhí)行官克萊格·杰利尼克,，也曾經(jīng)是一位收集整理購(gòu)物車的底層員工，98%的店鋪經(jīng)理都有一線工作經(jīng)歷,。其高管團(tuán)隊(duì)已并肩工作了大約30個(gè)年頭,，他們既是同事，也是家人,。但這也意味著,，在月度預(yù)算會(huì)議現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，有許多白發(fā)蒼蒼的老者。

You would never guess by looking at it that the eerily quiet, nondescript beige-and-redbrick office complex in the bucolic Seattle suburb of Issaquah, at the foot of a small mountain range called the Issaquah Alps, would be the nerve center of one of America’s corporate behemoths. The security guard doesn’t just wave you through; she takes time to chat with you. The reception desk has a plate of cookies, and the receptionists encourage you to take one. There is no bustle, only a sense of calm, which is especially striking, since this is the sort of week that would typically engender corporate jitters.

It’s the week when Costco Wholesale, the world’s third-largest retailer, with $116 billion in sales in fiscal 2016, is hosting a triple-header: its monthly budget meetings, with managers flying in from all over the world; its board of directors’ meeting; and, at week’s end, its annual stockholders’ meeting. As the tribes gathered, Costco faced some headwinds. In a sector known for thin profit margins, there was always the threat of intensifying competition, especially from e-commerce retailers like Amazon. There was the challenge of attracting millennials. There were weakening sales at Costco’s overseas stores due in part to currency fluctuations. There was the pending transition from a Costco-branded American Express credit card to a Visa card, which would turn out to be a logistical nightmare.

But none of these issues seemed to faze Costco’s leaders. They know that their big-box stores make the company appear to be a tortoise in a hare’s digital world. Still, they’re confident they will win the race. Costco always has. But there was one thing they have been mulling for a long time. And it has nothing to do with economics, at least not directly. It has to do with identity.

Costco acts more like a cheerful cult than a hard-driving business. Its executives are proud of the fact that the company promotes almost exclusively from within. Even CEO Craig Jelinek, 62, plainspoken and without affectation, once collected shopping carts at a Costco predecessor, and 98% of the company’s store managers have risen through the ranks. Its top executives have been working together for 30 years, more or less, which makes them family as much as colleagues. It also means there are a lot of gray heads now at those budget meetings.

好市多的隱憂就在于此,。在那個(gè)月的會(huì)議上,，一眾高管溫情脈脈，頗有些傷感地送別了其中六位老者,，他們皆是高級(jí)副總裁,，現(xiàn)已退休。盡管他們終將被一些更加年輕的好市多人取代,，但這種繼承方式引起了一個(gè)問(wèn)題：隨著這家公司即將迎來(lái)成立35周年,，這些接班人能否延續(xù)好市多的經(jīng)營(yíng)理念和企業(yè)文化？

超級(jí)文化

在好市多,，這不只是一個(gè)問(wèn)題,。它就是問(wèn)題所在。很多公司都在吹噓自身的文化,。但很少有公司像好市多這樣,，對(duì)企業(yè)文化如此驕傲，如此依賴,。摩根士丹利零售業(yè)分析師西米恩·古特曼稱之為“超級(jí)文化”,。他將其描述為，“如果我們繼續(xù)服務(wù)于顧客,，讓他們心滿意足,，這些顧客就會(huì)持續(xù)返回?！?/p>

好市多是一個(gè)零售巨人,。其全球銷售額僅次于沃爾瑪，以及剛剛坐上第二把交椅的亞馬遜,。需要指出的是,，沃爾瑪擁有1.1528萬(wàn)家店面，而好市多僅有715家,。好市多是全球最大的精選牛肉,、有機(jī)食品、烤雞肉和葡萄酒買主,。它的堅(jiān)果銷量甚至連著名堅(jiān)果品牌Planters也望塵莫及,。從包裝商品到飲料，再到服裝,，其自有品牌科克蘭(Kirkland Signature)幾乎無(wú)所不售,，它創(chuàng)造的銷售收入比可口可樂(lè)公司還要多。

And therein lies the concern. At that month’s meetings, there were warm and wistful send-offs for six of those gray heads, all senior vice presidents, now retiring. And even though they would be replaced by younger Costco lifers, the succession raises a question: As the company approaches its 35th anniversary, will the replacements keep Costco as Costco?

At Costco that isn’t just a question. It is the question. Lots of companies brag about their culture. But few are as proud of it or as dependent upon it as Costco is. Morgan Stanley retail analyst Simeon Gutman calls it a “super-culture,” which he describes as, “If we continue to serve and delight our customers, they’ll want to keep coming back.”

Costco is a retailing colossus. Its worldwide sales trail only those of Walmart, which has 11,528 stores to Costco’s 715, and Amazon, which just climbed into second place. Costco is the world’s largest seller of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine (!), and it moves more nuts than Planters. Its private label, Kirkland Signature, which sells everything from packaged goods and beverages to apparel, generates more revenues than the Coca-Cola Co.

然而,，盡管好市多如斯龐大,，但它始終以自己并非一家典型的億萬(wàn)美元級(jí)公司為傲,。這就是文化的作用。高管們經(jīng)常親自接電話,。（CEO杰利尼克承認(rèn),，“我可能會(huì)接一位收銀員的電話，她可能會(huì)抱怨說(shuō),，‘我的工作時(shí)間不夠多?！?）他們的辦公室永遠(yuǎn)敞開(kāi)大門,。倘若一位記者想預(yù)約一次采訪，他或她恐怕要費(fèi)不少周折,，這倒不是因?yàn)檫@家公司諱莫如深,，而是因?yàn)樗X(jué)得沒(méi)必要成立一個(gè)公關(guān)部來(lái)安排這類事務(wù)。

“人們會(huì)爭(zhēng)先恐后地為好市多工作,?！辟|(zhì)量保證和食品安全業(yè)務(wù)副總裁，為好市多效力18年的克萊格·威爾遜自豪地說(shuō)道,。一旦加入,，就從一而終。就工作1年以上的員工而言,，好市多的員工保留率高達(dá)94%,。負(fù)責(zé)會(huì)員制、營(yíng)銷和好市多服務(wù)的高級(jí)副總裁保羅·萊瑟姆表示,，“就算你扔給我一袋子錢,，你也別想誘惑我離開(kāi)這家公司?！?/font>他已在好市多干了37年,。“我愛(ài)這里,?！比绻麤](méi)有人離開(kāi)，也幾乎沒(méi)有人會(huì)被解雇,。當(dāng)經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退和裁員潮襲來(lái)時(shí),，好市多的智囊團(tuán)沒(méi)有讓一個(gè)人離職。杰利尼克說(shuō),，“我們壓根就沒(méi)動(dòng)過(guò)這個(gè)念頭,。”恰恰相反,，這家公司反而給員工漲薪,，以幫助他們共度時(shí)艱,。

But Costco, big as it is, prides itself on not being your typical multibillion-dollar company. That is where the culture comes in. Executives frequently answer their own phones. (“I may get a call from a cashier,” admits CEO Jelinek, “who says, ‘I’m not getting enough hours.’”) Its offices are open door. And it takes a journalist forever to arrange a visit, not because the company is secretive, but because it doesn’t feel the need to have a public relations department to make arrangements.

“People will bang down a door to come to work for Costco,” says Craig Wilson, vice president of quality assurance and food safety, and an 18-year Costco veteran. And once there, just about no one leaves. The company’s retention rate for employees who have been there a year is 94%. “You couldn’t throw enough money at me to make me leave this company,” says Paul Latham, VP of membership, marketing, and Costco Services, with 37 years under his belt. “I love it.” And if nobody leaves, almost nobody gets fired either. When the recession hit and most companies were laying off employees, Costco’s brain trust didn’t let anyone go. “It wasn’t even something that we thought about,” Jelinek says. Instead, the company actually raised wages.

從底層干起

克勞汀·阿達(dá)莫是這些員工中的一員。她代表著好市多的未來(lái),。當(dāng)現(xiàn)年46歲,，主修金融營(yíng)銷的阿達(dá)莫從西華盛頓大學(xué)畢業(yè)時(shí)，她申請(qǐng)加入好市多,，因?yàn)樗膬蓚€(gè)姐姐在該公司會(huì)計(jì)部門工作,。阿達(dá)莫原本希望在公司總部找份差事，但她被告知,，在好市多,，每個(gè)人都是從“倉(cāng)庫(kù)”（該公司這樣稱呼其寬敞無(wú)比的店面）干起的。她最初的夢(mèng)想就這樣破滅了,。阿達(dá)莫抑制住自尊心,，前往科克蘭。她在那里的工作是迎接會(huì)員,，檢查收據(jù),。“朋友們都認(rèn)為我瘋了,?！彼f(shuō)。

Claudine Adamo is one of those employees. And she is Costco’s future. When Adamo, now 46, graduated from Western Washington University, where she majored in finance marketing, she applied to Costco because her two older sisters were working in the company’s accounting department. Her initial dream was dashed when, hoping to land at headquarters, she was told that everyone at Costco starts in the warehouse, which is what the company calls its capacious stores. Adamo swallowed her pride and went to Kirkland, where she greeted members and checked receipts. “My friends thought I was crazy,” she says.

25年后的今天,，她正在被推薦為下一屆高管團(tuán)隊(duì)候選人,，后者將在未來(lái)某一天取代杰利尼克和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)。而就在此時(shí)此刻,，她和其他高級(jí)副總裁已經(jīng)開(kāi)始物色自己的接班人,。在許多方面，阿達(dá)莫的故事正是好市多領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的經(jīng)典寫照,。

此外還有好市多對(duì)待員工的方式,。這家零售巨頭樂(lè)意為員工支付高薪（其平均時(shí)薪為22美元，遠(yuǎn)高于沃爾瑪?shù)?3.38美元）,，并提供慷慨的福利——就連兼職員工也能享受充分的健康和牙科保險(xiǎn),。就職一年后，新員工的退休儲(chǔ)蓄賬戶就可獲得股票期權(quán)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì),。自由休假和探親假等傳統(tǒng)福利更是自不待言,。MIT斯隆管理學(xué)院副教授澤伊內(nèi)普·托恩說(shuō)，好市多員工也被給予了更大的責(zé)任,，由此造就了一支快樂(lè)和進(jìn)取的員工隊(duì)伍,。“他們不斷創(chuàng)新,，不斷改進(jìn),，這就是為什么好市多能夠給他們支付高薪,。”托恩說(shuō),。

阿達(dá)莫的整個(gè)職業(yè)生涯都是在這家公司度過(guò)的,。在“倉(cāng)庫(kù)”干了一年后，她成為一位庫(kù)存控制專家,，負(fù)責(zé)向西北地區(qū)的店鋪配給糖果,。她的晉升之旅仍在繼續(xù)：糖果采購(gòu)助理，公司郵購(gòu)業(yè)務(wù)（它后來(lái)演變?yōu)镃ostco.com）采購(gòu)員,，所有店鋪的計(jì)算機(jī)采購(gòu)員,。隨后，她還以商品經(jīng)理的身份在南加州開(kāi)設(shè)了一家區(qū)域辦事處,。阿達(dá)莫最終返回西雅圖，出任家庭事務(wù)部副總裁,，負(fù)責(zé)家具,、小家電和家庭用品業(yè)務(wù)。她現(xiàn)在是消費(fèi)電子,、珠寶和辦公用品業(yè)務(wù)副總裁,。

這是一段漫長(zhǎng)的旅程，但正是這段旅程,，讓她相信好市多不會(huì)屈從于下一個(gè)時(shí)尚理念的誘惑,。“在好市多,，你真的是從底層干起的,，然后經(jīng)歷每個(gè)崗位的磨煉，邊干邊學(xué),，在這種氛圍中一路成長(zhǎng),。”

Now, 25 years later, she is being groomed for the next executive cohort, which will one day replace Jelinek and his team, even as she and her fellow VPs are already identifying candidates for the cohort after her own. In many ways, her story is typical of Costco’s leadership.

Then there is the way it treats its employees. Costco pays them well—an average wage of $22 per hour, vs. $13.38 at Walmart—and provides generous benefits like full health and dental insurance even to its part-time employees; a 401(k) with stock options after a year; and liberal vacation time and family leave. Zeynep Ton, an adjunct associate professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, says Costco employees are given greater responsibilities too, which makes them a happy and highly motivated workforce. “They are constantly innovating, constantly improving, and that’s why Costco can pay them a lot,” says Ton.

Adamo has spent her entire career at the company. After a year at the warehouse, she became an inventory-control specialist doling out candy to warehouses in the northwest region. Her company voyage continued: assistant buyer for candy, buyer for the company’s mail-order operation (which morphed into Costco.com), computer buyer for all the warehouses, general merchandise manager to open a regional office in Southern California. Adamo then returned to Seattle as VP of the home division for furniture, small appliances, and housewares. She is now VP of consumer electronics, jewelry, and office.

It has been a long journey, but the journey is the reason she believes Costco won’t succumb to the lure of the next trendy idea. “At Costco, you really start at the bottom, work your way through every position, learning along the way,” as she puts it, “growing up within the environment.”

幾乎每位高管都經(jīng)歷過(guò)類似的成長(zhǎng)歷程,，包括CEO杰利尼克,。“我知道收集整理購(gòu)物車是怎么回事,?！彼f(shuō)?！拔抑来驋咝l(wèi)生間是怎么回事,。我可以走進(jìn)衛(wèi)生間，告訴員工他忘記了清理小便池附近的哪一塊瓷磚,。我知道采集農(nóng)產(chǎn)品或者研磨生牛肉是怎么回事,。所以當(dāng)你和員工交談時(shí),，你并不是某個(gè)騎著大白馬從天而降，不食人間煙火的貴族,。他們知道你來(lái)過(guò)這里,，干過(guò)這事?！遍L(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任首席財(cái)務(wù)官的理查德·加蘭蒂如是描述公司文化：“沒(méi)有蠢蛋”,。

總是做正確的事

好市多的每個(gè)人都會(huì)告訴你，這家公司的文化直接來(lái)自吉姆·辛內(nèi)加爾,，一位身材矮小,，留著一撇小胡子，慈愛(ài)可親的老人?，F(xiàn)年80歲的辛內(nèi)加爾是好市多聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人,，曾經(jīng)長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任CEO（1983年到2012年）。時(shí)至今日,，你每天仍然可以在伊薩夸總部看到他的身影,。辛內(nèi)加爾反過(guò)來(lái)將他的經(jīng)營(yíng)理念歸功于索爾·普萊斯。1954年,，這位脾氣暴躁的律師在圣地亞哥創(chuàng)辦了堪稱倉(cāng)儲(chǔ)式賣場(chǎng)鼻祖,，奉行低價(jià)批量銷售原則，主要服務(wù)于小企業(yè)的FedMart公司,。最初在FedMart工作時(shí),，辛內(nèi)加爾還是一位年僅18歲的大學(xué)生。他很快成為普萊斯的門徒,，特別認(rèn)同后者在大蕭條期間目睹人們漫天要價(jià)之后領(lǐng)悟到的黃金準(zhǔn)則：總是做正確的事,。

1983年，西雅圖律師杰弗里·布羅特曼主動(dòng)聯(lián)系辛內(nèi)加爾,，并提議兩人攜手創(chuàng)辦一家自己的倉(cāng)儲(chǔ)式賣場(chǎng),。在他們的構(gòu)想中，它不僅僅是一家公司,，更是一項(xiàng)使命,；它不僅僅是一門生意，更是一種營(yíng)商方式,?！白稣_的事”過(guò)去是，現(xiàn)在仍是該公司的口頭禪,。它可能聽(tīng)起來(lái)很陳腐,，像一個(gè)空口號(hào)，但好市多員工們真的在努力踐行,。（阿達(dá)莫說(shuō)她每天都會(huì)聽(tīng)到這句話,。）

Just about every executive has grown up that way, including CEO Jelinek. “I know what it’s like to shag carts,” he says. “I know what it’s like to clean bathrooms. I can come in and tell you where you missed the tiles around the urinals. I know what it’s like to cull produce or to grind beef. So when you talk to people, it’s not somebody coming in off their white horse. They know you’ve been there and done that.” Longtime CFO Richard Galanti has a term for the company’s culture: “jerk-free.”

To a person, everyone at Costco will tell you that its culture comes directly from Jim Sinegal, now 80, a short, grandfatherly man with a brush mustache. He was Costco’s cofounder and its CEO from 1983 to 2012, and he is still a daily presence at the Issaquah headquarters. Sinegal in turn attributes his business philosophy to Sol Price, a gruff attorney who founded FedMart in 1954 in San Diego—the original warehouse store that sold in bulk, primarily to small businesses, at good value. Sinegal began working at FedMart as an 18-year-old college student and became Price’s protégé, subscribing to the golden rule of business that Price drew after seeing people gouged during the Depression: Always do the right thing.

In 1983, Seattle attorney Jeffrey Brotman approached Sinegal with the idea of opening their own warehouse store. They conceived of it as more than a company. It was a mission—as much a way of doing business as a business itself. “Do the right thing” was and still is the company mantra. It may sound corny—or like an empty slogan—but employees really try to live up to it. (Adamo says she hears the phrase every day.)

它意味著永遠(yuǎn)不要欺騙供應(yīng)商,、客戶或員工。它意味著直面錯(cuò)誤,，主動(dòng)矯正,，而不是被迫這樣做或找借口。（當(dāng)好市多發(fā)現(xiàn)一件他們此前宣稱100%絲綢質(zhì)地的襯衫其實(shí)并非絲綢的時(shí)候,，他們主動(dòng)聯(lián)系每一位購(gòu)買者,，并退還價(jià)款。）它甚至意味著堅(jiān)持一項(xiàng)無(wú)條件退貨政策,，盡管他們知道它會(huì)被一些客戶濫用,。“我過(guò)去總是認(rèn)為自己很優(yōu)秀,，誠(chéng)實(shí),，很有信譽(yù)，我現(xiàn)在也這樣認(rèn)為,。但當(dāng)你遇到吉姆時(shí),，你會(huì)由衷地發(fā)出驚嘆，‘哇,！’”首席財(cái)務(wù)官加蘭蒂說(shuō)。正如辛內(nèi)加爾所說(shuō),，“文化不是最重要的事情,。它是唯一重要的事情?！?/font>

It means never trying to gouge vendors or customers or employees. It means facing up to mistakes and making them right without being forced to do so or making excuses. (When they discovered that a shirt they had advertised as 100% silk wasn’t actually silk, they contacted each purchaser and refunded the money.) It even means maintaining a return policy without restrictions, though they know it’s abused by some customers. “I always thought I was pretty good and honest and reputable, and I do think I am,” CFO Galanti says. “But then you meet Jim, and you go, ‘Whoa!’” As Sinegal puts it, “Culture is not the most important thing. It’s the only thing.”

Though the moral imperative was stern, Sinegal’s management style was anything but. He created an informal, unintimidating environment in which no one was afraid of making mistakes and no one was jockeying for position. Egalitarianism permeated everything, from Sinegal, and now Jelinek, taking a substantially lower salary than most other corporate executives of their standing (“I make more than I’ll ever spend,” says Jelinek, who earns a base salary of just under $700,000) to assigning parking spaces on the basis of seniority, not hierarchy.

伊內(nèi)普·托恩表示，好市多“激光般地專注于為客戶創(chuàng)造價(jià)值,，” 其運(yùn)營(yíng)系統(tǒng)致力于惠及客戶,，而不是投資者?！耙粋€(gè)傳統(tǒng)的零售商會(huì)說(shuō),，‘我買進(jìn)這件商品花了29美元，我想以35美元的價(jià)格賣出,?！?辛內(nèi)加爾說(shuō)。 “但我們會(huì)說(shuō),，‘這件商品我是90美元買進(jìn)的,，我想降價(jià)，以18或17美元將其賣出,?！@已經(jīng)成為我們的營(yíng)商之道。你必須不斷思考,，如何以更低的價(jià)格將商品和服務(wù)推向市場(chǎng),？” 當(dāng)然，人們欣賞好市多員工待遇好這一事實(shí),?！暗绻覀儼焉唐穬r(jià)格提高一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)，我想他們就不會(huì)關(guān)注這檔事了,?！彼_(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)。

好市多是一家追求高效率的公司,。比如,，其基本費(fèi)用（包括銷售費(fèi)用、一般費(fèi)用和行政費(fèi)用）只占總收入的10%,，而沃爾瑪則為20%左右,。體現(xiàn)好市多效率的事實(shí)包括，它不做廣告,；它的商品選擇有限——好市多只有3700種商品,，遠(yuǎn)低于沃爾瑪和亞馬遜，后者的商品類別分別為14萬(wàn)和5億,。這使得好市多能夠與供貨商討價(jià)還價(jià),。加蘭蒂表示，好市多的分銷系統(tǒng)能夠填充其95%的貨運(yùn)能力，這是一個(gè)聞所未聞的數(shù)字,。

好市多不得不一切從簡(jiǎn),，因?yàn)椴剂_特曼和辛內(nèi)加爾早早就立下一條規(guī)矩：任何一件品牌商品的價(jià)格上調(diào)幅度不得超過(guò)14%；自有品牌科克蘭的零售價(jià)不得超過(guò)其成本的15%,。這是一條不可侵犯的紅線,，它是好市多的價(jià)值主張。（低售價(jià)在一定程度上被每年55美元的會(huì)員費(fèi)所抵消,，會(huì)員可享受在那里購(gòu)物的特權(quán),。會(huì)員費(fèi)收入占好市多利潤(rùn)總額的3%。）正如該公司的計(jì)算結(jié)果所示,，鑒于汽油和碎牛肉等商品的利潤(rùn)率極低,，好市多的平均價(jià)格上調(diào)幅度是11%，遠(yuǎn)低于沃爾瑪（24%）,、普通超市（30%）,、家得寶和勞氏公司（35%）。

Costco, says Zeynep Ton, has a “l(fā)aser focus on creating value for the customer,” and its operating system is dedicated to benefiting customers, not investors. “You look at a traditional retailer, and he’ll say, ‘I’m getting $29 for this item,’” says Sinegal. “‘I’d like to get $35 for it.’ We look at it and say, ‘I’m getting $90 for it. I’d like to get it down to $18 or $17.’ And that’s got to be the MO of running your business. You have to constantly think, How can we bring goods and services to market at a lower price?” Sure, he says, people like the fact that Costco pays its employees well. “But,” he jokes, “if we raised the prices a little bit, I think they could get past that.”

Costco is a lean company. The company’s spending on basic overhead—the selling, general, and administrative category—is only 10% of revenues, compared, for example, with about 20% at Walmart. Among Costco’s efficiencies are the fact that it doesn’t advertise; it has a limited selection—only 3,700 products compared with 140,000 at a Walmart superstore and half a billion at Amazon. That allows Costco to drive hard bargains with suppliers. And it has created a distribution system that, according to Galanti, fills 95% of its freight capacity, an unheard-of number.

Costco has to be lean because Brotman and Sinegal long ago established a rule that no branded item could be marked up more than 14% and no Kirkland Signature item more than 15% over cost. It is an inviolate line: the very value proposition of the company. (Prices are partly offset by a $55-a-year membership fee, which customers pay for the privilege of shopping there and which constitutes 3% of Costco’s profits.) As it has worked out, given the very low profit margins on items like gasoline and ground beef, the average markup at Costco is 11%, which compares with markups of nearly 24% at Walmart, 30% at supermarkets, and 35% at Home Depot and Lowe’s.

好市多絲毫不能容忍任何商店的售價(jià)低于自己,。公司食品和雜貨副總裁南?！じ窭锼贡硎荆叭绻覀儼l(fā)現(xiàn)有哪家店面的商品售價(jià)比我們更低,，”好市多將在“日落前”下調(diào)價(jià)格,。不過(guò)，好市多永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)做虧本生意,。

辛內(nèi)加爾還有一項(xiàng)不可侵犯的價(jià)值主張：售價(jià)低不能意味著質(zhì)量低,，因?yàn)樗溃热绱?，好市多?huì)失去客戶?！百|(zhì)量,，質(zhì)量，質(zhì)量,?！焙檬卸嗌唐肥紫\(yùn)營(yíng)官道格·舒特說(shuō)?！拔覀冏畲蟮奶魬?zhàn)是,，確保商品質(zhì)量一如我們宣傳得那樣好?！焙檬卸嘤幸粋€(gè)嚴(yán)格的質(zhì)量保障體系,。從腰果的大小到殘留在桃子罐頭上的果皮數(shù)量，這家公司事無(wú)巨細(xì)地測(cè)試一切商品。1993年,，在Jack-in-the-Box快餐店爆發(fā)大腸桿菌之后,，好市多特別擔(dān)心碎牛肉的質(zhì)量，最終決定建造一家自己的牛肉加工廠,。這家工廠每15分鐘就會(huì)對(duì)牛肉進(jìn)行一次測(cè)試?，F(xiàn)在，它甚至在內(nèi)布拉斯加州啟動(dòng)了一個(gè)牛群飼養(yǎng)試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目,。

好市多的利潤(rùn)率只有2%,。這個(gè)微不足道的數(shù)字一度讓華爾街抱怨連連。無(wú)需贅言,，大多數(shù)零售商都在竭力擴(kuò)大利潤(rùn)率,。“我們的文化是違反直覺(jué)的,?！睆腜rice Club跳槽至好市多，現(xiàn)擔(dān)任該公司董事的理查德·萊本森這樣說(shuō)道,?！跋騿T工支付盡可能高的薪酬和最好的福利，同時(shí)堅(jiān)持低利潤(rùn)率原則,，以盡可能低的價(jià)格銷售商品,。”但這樣做是因?yàn)?，辛?nèi)加爾總是覺(jué)得,，如果你滿足了客戶和員工，你最終也會(huì)讓投資者心滿意足,。

如今,，華爾街幾乎與8100萬(wàn)好市多會(huì)員一樣迷戀這家零售巨頭。瑞銀集團(tuán)零售分析師邁克爾·拉瑟表示,，這家公司始終恪守其創(chuàng)立原則：“以非常注重價(jià)值的價(jià)格提供高質(zhì)量產(chǎn)品,，公平對(duì)待客戶和員工?！彼a(bǔ)充說(shuō),，好市多不必重新考慮與亞馬遜等野兔競(jìng)爭(zhēng)?！昂檬卸嗟哪Ｊ皆诮裉烊匀慌c20年前一樣有意義,。我們不認(rèn)為這真的會(huì)改變?！?/p>

變與不變

變革通常被視為一種商業(yè)需要,，但在伊薩夸，人們并不這樣認(rèn)為。好市多的高管偶爾會(huì)援引百年老店西爾斯作為前車之鑒：如果失去身份感,，即企業(yè)文化,，一家曾經(jīng)偉大如斯的公司也難以擺脫關(guān)門大吉的命運(yùn)。

好市多不愿重蹈覆轍,?！斑@家企業(yè)將不斷演變，”杰利尼克說(shuō),?！澳阈枰龀龈淖儭５悴荒芨淖兊氖?，如何對(duì)待人,、吸引人，包容人,。這不能改,。”抵抗變革并不容易,。一說(shuō)到變革,，往往就會(huì)談及電子商務(wù)。好市多擁抱電子商務(wù)的速度一直很緩慢,。例如,，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手山姆會(huì)員店允許客戶在線訂購(gòu)，然后在商店提貨,，而且不必離開(kāi)他們的汽車,。除藥店之外，好市多不提供這樣的服務(wù),。通過(guò)收購(gòu)電子商務(wù)網(wǎng)站Jet.com,，沃爾瑪升級(jí)了其在線銷售庫(kù)，以便更好地應(yīng)對(duì)亞馬遜的咄咄攻勢(shì),。但好市多和華爾街似乎都不認(rèn)為這筆收購(gòu)會(huì)構(gòu)成威脅,。好市多有會(huì)員費(fèi)，會(huì)員們似乎很享受在實(shí)體店購(gòu)物的樂(lè)趣,。事實(shí)上,，他們?cè)黾恿巳ズ檬卸噘?gòu)物的次數(shù),，從幾年前的每3?周一次,，增加到現(xiàn)在的每周一次。

在最近一次財(cái)報(bào)電話會(huì)議上,，首席財(cái)務(wù)官加蘭蒂詳細(xì)闡述了好市多的電子商務(wù)問(wèn)題：“我們認(rèn)識(shí)到我們的網(wǎng)站面臨一些挑戰(zhàn),。”他告訴分析師?！霸诮酉聛?lái)的幾個(gè)月里,，下單所需的點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)將大幅改善。在未來(lái)六個(gè)月或八個(gè)月內(nèi),，網(wǎng)站的搜索功能也將出現(xiàn)一些大的改進(jìn),。”加蘭蒂補(bǔ)充說(shuō),，“便利性從來(lái)都不是我們的優(yōu)勢(shì)所在,。我們的成功向來(lái)基于價(jià)格和價(jià)值，質(zhì)量和數(shù)量,。我們確實(shí)認(rèn)識(shí)到,，便利性也是一種價(jià)值。我們將大大改進(jìn)我們的工作,。但這并不意味著我們會(huì)在兩個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)就會(huì)把貨物送到你的面前,。”

盡管如此,，如果你認(rèn)為好市多應(yīng)該仿效亞馬遜,，不妨再想想：正如一位分析師給我指出的那樣，杰夫·貝索斯推出的亞馬遜金牌會(huì)員服務(wù)其實(shí)是在仿效好市多的會(huì)員模式,，而不是好市多正在采用亞馬遜的電子商務(wù)模式,。這位分析師甚至認(rèn)為，由于好市多擁有一支訓(xùn)練有素的員工團(tuán)隊(duì),，它或許比電子商務(wù)公司更適合服務(wù)客戶,。就連你或許認(rèn)為更喜歡用手機(jī)購(gòu)物的千禧一代，也正在成為好市多的忠實(shí)擁躉,。在好市多的客戶中,，千禧一代是增長(zhǎng)最快的人口群體?？偟膩?lái)說(shuō),，這家公司的會(huì)員正變得越來(lái)越年輕。

好市多面臨的問(wèn)題并非公司之外,，而是公司內(nèi)部的千禧一代,。華爾街仍然看好這家公司，但讓分析師有點(diǎn)擔(dān)心的是,，在如今這群老臣子相繼離開(kāi)之后,，好市多還會(huì)是我們熟悉的那個(gè)好事多嗎？“我認(rèn)為這種卓越的文化可能會(huì)一代代相傳下去,?！蹦Ω固估墓盘芈f(shuō),。“但我們并沒(méi)有很多例子,，因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)零售商都相對(duì)年輕,。我們還沒(méi)有見(jiàn)證過(guò)一家零售商的元?jiǎng)讉兗磳⒃谑聵I(yè)高峰期離去的情形?！倍诤檬卸?，這一幕正在開(kāi)啟?！八晕覔?dān)心,，權(quán)杖交接后的好市多究竟會(huì)發(fā)生什么事情?！?/p>

當(dāng)他退休時(shí),，辛內(nèi)加爾選擇時(shí)任總裁杰利尼克作為自己的接班人。杰利尼克表示,，他現(xiàn)已開(kāi)始規(guī)劃自己的繼承計(jì)劃,，盡管沒(méi)有人認(rèn)為這一天即將來(lái)臨。他說(shuō),，好市多有一個(gè)高管交班十年規(guī)劃,。克勞汀·阿達(dá)莫表示,，早在離職前,，辛內(nèi)加爾就制定了一項(xiàng)計(jì)劃，邀請(qǐng)迅速崛起的高管們“相互認(rèn)識(shí)”,，而杰利尼克也在延續(xù)這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃,。

瑞銀集團(tuán)的拉瑟似乎吃了定心丸。他說(shuō),，“他們擁有非常強(qiáng)的板凳陣容,，”而且在任何情況下，“文化都不是依附于某一個(gè)人的,?！北M管如此，誰(shuí)都不能保證接班人將永遠(yuǎn)拒絕誘惑,，不會(huì)把好市多轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐患腋岣?，非常不一樣的公司?！皬南旅鎭?lái)的人也懂得這種文化嗎,？他們是否出身于這種文化？這是他們經(jīng)歷的唯一工作嗎,？”好市多董事會(huì)成員萊本森這樣問(wèn)道,。這些都是極其迫切的問(wèn)題。

阿達(dá)莫的職業(yè)生涯給予所有這些問(wèn)題以肯定答復(fù),，而且還注入了另一劑強(qiáng)心針,。“這項(xiàng)事業(yè)的終極核心是,，你不僅要在工作中做正確的事,，而且它會(huì)涉及到你生活的各個(gè)方面?！?/p>

這就是為什么好市多很可能在未來(lái)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間內(nèi),，仍然是我們熟知的那家零售商。數(shù)十載光陰轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝,，這家公司始終在灌輸一種現(xiàn)在比以往更加竭力堅(jiān)守的經(jīng)營(yíng)理念,。或許還需要再經(jīng)歷幾十年,，以及一些目前不可預(yù)見(jiàn)的事件,，才能削弱這種理念。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

本文的一個(gè)版本發(fā)表于2016年12月15日的《財(cái)富》雜志,。

譯者：Kevin

Costco is determined not to let any store undersell it. “We look at anyone who beats our price,” says Nancy Griese, VP of corporate food and sundries, and Costco will change its price to compete “by sundown.” Still, Costco will never sell at a loss.

Sinegal had one other inviolate value proposition: Inexpensive couldn’t mean cheap, because he knew Costco would lose customers that way. “Quality, quality, quality,” says Doug Schutt, Costco’s chief operating officer of merchandise. “Our biggest challenge is making sure the quality is what we say it is.” Costco has a stringent quality-assurance program to test everything from the size of cashews to the amount of skin left on canned peaches. After the E. coli outbreak at Jack-in-the-Box in 1993, Costco was so concerned about its suppliers of ground beef that it built its own beef-processing plant, where the meat is tested every 15 minutes. Now it has even started a pilot project in Nebraska of its own cattle herd.

Costco profit margins are a whisper-thin 2%—a figure that has caused grumbling on Wall Street in the past. Most retailers, needless to say, aim to expand margins. “Our culture is counterintuitive,” says Richard Liebenson, who came to Costco from Price Club and is now a member of the board, “paying people the highest wages possible and the best benefits in a business where you’re working on a very low margin and you’re trying to sell merchandise for as little as you can.” But that’s because Sinegal always felt if you satisfied customers and employees, you would eventually satisfy investors too.

Nowadays, Wall Street is nearly as smitten with Costco as its 81 million members are. Michael Lasser, a retail analyst at UBS, says it is a matter of the company being true to its founding principles: “delivering high-quality products at very value-oriented prices and being fair and treating its customers and employees with respect.” And, he adds, Costco doesn’t have to rethink itself to compete with hares like Amazon. “Costco’s model remains as relevant today as it was 20 years ago,” Lasser says, “and we don’t think that is really going to change.”

Change is usually considered a business necessity, but not in Issaquah. Costco executives occasionally invoke Sears as a cautionary tale of a company that was once great and then lost its sense of identity—basically, its culture.

Costco is determined not to let that happen. “The business will evolve,” says Jelinek. “You’ll make changes. Where they won’t be able to change is how you treat people, how you engage people, how you include people. That can’t change.” Resisting change isn’t easy. That topic tends to lead to talk about e-commerce, which Costco has been slow to adopt. For example, rival Sam’s Club allows customers to order online, then pick up the order at the store without getting out of their cars. Costco does not offer such a service other than at its pharmacy. For its part, Walmart upped its online-selling arsenal, to better keep up with Amazon, with its purchase of e-commerce site Jet.com. But neither Costco nor Wall Street seems to think the acquisition poses a threat. Costco has its membership fees, and members seem to enjoy the physical shopping experience. Indeed, they’ve increased their visits from once every 3? weeks just a few years ago to once every week now.

Galanti addressed Costco’s e-commerce issues in some detail on a recent earnings call: “We recognize our site has had some challenges,” he told analysts. “You’re going to see in the next few months a big improvement in the number of clicks [needed to place an order]. You’re going to see in the next six or eight months some big improvement on search.” Galanti added, “We’ve never been big on convenience. Our success has been based on price and value, quality and quantity at the lowest possible price. We do appreciate that value also is convenience. We’re going to greatly improve what we do. But it doesn’t mean we’re going to get something to you in two hours.”

Still, if you think Costco should be emulating Amazon, consider this: Jeff Bezos’s company has adopted Costco’s membership model with Amazon Prime, as one analyst noted to me, rather than Costco adopting Amazon’s e-commerce model. Ton even thinks that because Costco has such a well-trained workforce, it may actually be more adaptable in serving customers than e-commerce companies are. Even millennials, who, you might assume, would prefer shopping via their phones, are coming onboard. They’re Costco’s fastest-growing demographic. Overall, the company’s membership is getting younger.

It isn’t the millennials outside the company who are the issue; it is the ones in it. Wall Street remains bullish, but analysts have some concerns that Costco might age out of itself. “I think these transcendent cultures probably move from generation to generation,” says Morgan Stanley’s Gutman, “but we don’t have a lot of examples because most retailers are relatively young. We haven’t seen a retailer where this generation is going to be exiting at their peak,” which is what is beginning to happen at Costco. “So I do worry when a changing of the guard happens.”

When he retired, Sinegal finessed the problem by tapping Jelinek, then the company president. Jelinek says he is already planning for his own succession, though no one thinks it is imminent. He says the company has a 10-year plan for executive replacements. Before he left, Sinegal had already instituted a program in which he invited rising executives to “get to know each other,” says Claudine Adamo, and Jelinek has continued it.

UBS’s Lasser is reassured. “They have a very strong bench,” he says, and in any case “the culture isn’t based on a single person.” Despite that, there is no guarantee successors will permanently resist the temptation to turn Costco into a cooler, faster, different company. “The people who are coming up underneath—do they know the culture as well? Were they born into it? Was it the only job they ever had?” asks board member Liebenson. Those are pressing questions.

Adamo’s career answers all of them in the affirmative and adds one more fillip. “When it comes down to the extreme core of what we do,” she says, “it truly is that you get not only to do the right thing at work, but it goes to all aspects of your life.”

And that is why Costco is likely to remain Costco for a long time to come. It has taken decades to inculcate a philosophy that is now more fiercely held than ever—and it will likely take decades more, and events that are currently unforeseeable, to weaken it.