James Sinegal Quotes
-
Our attitude has always been that if you hire good people and provide good wages and good jobs and more than that - if you provide careers - that good things will happen to your company. I think we can say that that has been proved by the quality of people that we have and how they have built our organization.
-
There was a proposal in California that would keep out Wal-Mart but allow Costco. You opposed it. Are you nuts? That's true: I always oppose these kinds of things. Competition makes us better. Some of our best stores have a Sam's Club next door.
-
Technology helps us become more efficient and productive but our business still has a lot of art as opposed to strictly science.
-
You don't have a very motivated working class, it starts to affect the dynamics of the economy. If workers are disenchanted and disenfranchised, productivity losses will go along with that.
-
You just can't get too focused on worrying about what's going to happen in the next quarter. You have to worry about where the business is headed long-term.
-
I say at our management conferences that the amount Wal-Mart grows in just one year is the equivalent of Costco's size.
-
We've always been in favor of improved wages for workers. When you have a strong middle class, they want to buy more stuff at Costco.
-
Obscene salaries send the wrong message through a company.
-
When employees are happy, they are your very best ambassadors.
-
It is improper for one person to take credit when it takes so many people to build a successful organization. When you try to be top dong, you don't create loyalty. It you can't give credit (and take blame), you will drown in you inability to inspire.
-
If we take care of the business and keep our eye on the goal line, the stock price will take care of itself.
-
Driving stock up from one day to the next is not what we are about. We are about building a good company and performing for the long term. I know everyone says that, that sounds trite when I repeat it that way, but that is and has always been our attitude about our business. If we do the right things, the stock price will take care of itself, and our shareholders will be rewarded.
-
You have to worry about where the business is headed long-term.
-
I think the biggest single thing that causes difficulty in the business world is the short-term view. We become obsessed with it. But it forces bad decisions.