- How Whole Foods mission and philosophy drive its strategy
The philosophy of Whole Foods resonates around the necessity for society to make the right choices. It assumes that everyone would act rationally and only resort for the alternative that addresses the situation in the interest of the public god. To this extent, Whole Food believe that society would essentially resort for the organic sources of food as they are health and most convenient for the people. Whole Foods believe that the people, being informed, would appreciate the nutritional value in food and for that reason prefer the organic foods to others. In the same vein, their strategy which entails minimum processing of products, high quality of food, ethical business relations and a proper and motivating work environment, ensures that they remain in the right side of history even in the face of adversity and intense competition. Indeed, their firm and fundamental belief in doing the right thing facilitates its overall achievement. The mission and philosophy of the company, therefore, has a bearing that on the strategy. In other words, the strategy is not merely operational from a void or vacuum but builds from the general ethos and principles as enunciated in the philosophy of the company. The strategy, thus, remains consistent with the philosophy and the mission.
- Competitive environment facing Whole Foods
The competitive environment can be rightly attributed to the information age in which the population have become more informed and equally concerned with what they eat or consume. The general trajectory is in favour of natural foods. While this phenomenon ought to place Whole Foods miles ahead, given that they are specialist and pioneers in that field, a lot of competition has arisen. A few years ago, natural foods businesses were only six inclusive of Whole Foods. Today the number is escalading into millions of stores. In addition to the increased service providers, various food grocery chains have come up and succeeded in their trade. Two chains worth mentioning at this point are the Trader Joe’s Co. and Wild Oats Market. The two chains have expanded extensively while availing their products at low prices. Ordinarily, the use of price and economies of large scale place competitors well within the top. This approach by competitors makes the market one of the most volatile and unpredictable. Groceries, such as Stop ‘N Shop and Shaw’s, have come up with convenient methods of selling that incorporating of natural food sections in their conventional stores. This ready availability of natural foods within the setting a conventional store dispenses with the desire of a customer to look particularly for natural food groceries. This could be partly responsible for increased cases of impulse purchasing in stores as opposed to impulse purchases in natural food groceries. Overall, the expansion of the market and entry into the market by new players, the dynamic approaches that each competitor adopts and the information accessibilities of consumers have all conspired making the Whole Foods environment quite competitive.
- What roles do employees play? The importance of the employees
Employees play an essential role in the company’s success. This is best captured in the fact that the employees work in small groups of eleven. This in essence ensures that the employees are able to participate effectively through teams. The fact that the company bases its service delivery on team work speaks volumes as to the essence of employees from a team based perspective. The role of the employee is not limited to implementation, rather, it is extended into proposals, design and planning through the team.
The importance of the role of the employee should be considered in light of the connection the employee plays between the entrepreneur and his clients or customers. Employees in a large measure are the ones who come in direct contact with customers. In addition, the participatory nature of teams essentially means the work cannot run without the input of employees. The employees, therefore, inform the backbone of the company’s success.
- Key factors driving the success of Whole Foods
A blend of factors work in unison to ensure the success of Whole Foods remains a reality and does not fade into oblivion. A discussion of the most conspicuous factors thus ensues. First, price plays a fundamental role. Whole Foods practises price discrimination in which for some areas, prices charges are way lower. In these areas, the strategy entails sale in large scale so as to leverage on the economies of scale. In other areas where the population of the target market is low, prices are higher as to enable recovery of costs and earning of profits. Secondly, Whole Foods approach costs cautiously. Generally, the company incurs only necessary and unavoidable costs. For instance, the budget on advertisement is quite lean. Instead, Whole Foods employ the use of word of mouth which is more effective and comes without additional costs. They also contribute to charitable organizations in a bid to popularize their image. Thirdly, Whole Foods concentrate on various market segments which it finds appropriate and receptive of their products. For instance, the baby boomers found an appropriate and viable target market for their products. Lastly, critical in the success of Whole Foods, it must be observed, is the fact that their products are of good quality. They pay lip service to anything but the quality of the products. Be it perishables, meat or any product, the quality has to be ascertained to have met the required standards and levels.
- Role of CEO Jack Mackey
Jack Mackey plays the critical role of strategic decision making and overall coordination of the company. From the onset, Mackey appreciates the synergies available to a company through cooperation, mergers and even acquisition of other ventures. For that reason, he chaperons and coordinates the processes of acquisitions and mergers involving his company. In the same strain, he passes out as the overall decision maker who has to sanction all strategic and other decisions for purposes of the continuity of the business.
- Challenges he and the company face
Like any other venture, Whole Foods has an equal share of challenges in the turbulent business market. First it is confronted with the ever receding quantities of organic foods. The sources of organic foods and other products continue to reduce consistently. In addition, the company’s target market is the educated consumer who appreciates the essence of nutrition and especially the essence of natural foods. However, most localities are inhabited with a hybrid of the educated and the uneducated, effectively complicating the marketing equation for the company. Lastly, the company is faced with immense competition which could even threaten their ethical standing hence the development of the code of conduct.
References
Baron, R. A. (2012). Entrepreneurship:An Evidence-Based Guide. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Boone, L. E., & Kurtz, D. L. (2011). Contemporary Business. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Griffin, R. W. (2012). Management. New York: Cengage Learning.
Harasta, P., & Hoffman, A. N. (2007). Whole Foods Market 2007:Will There Be Enough Organic Food To Satisfy The Growing Demand.
Jennings, M. M. (2010). Business:Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment. New York: Cengage Learning.
Kreitner, R. (2008). Management. New York: Cengage Learning.
