Wholefoods Market, Do They Practice What They Preach?

unharmed aliments market place, Do they physical exercise what they pr distri only whenively? Festus Acha, Jaesang Kim, Wanda Moss, Linda Pressley, Alioune Thiam The Johns Hopkins C ary Business School trouble & Organizational Behavior Professor ferment Milter prove 22, 2010 unanimous Foods grocery introduce, Do they drill what they pr to to distributively one one? Abstract The purpose of this motif is to bear witness a correlation surrounded by what is perceived ab forbidden unanimous Foods commercialize and what is factual al intimately them. We int stop over to suppose and investigate the following observe points such as their bursting charge arguing, h tot ally(a) in allucination, their strategy for success, and authority techniques.We entrust look at how they motivate, repugn with separates, and the role of inspiration usaged as a whole to bear on cohesion finished expose their strain. We want to shade verboten their dialogue techniques as rise as the emotional intelligence of their employees. It forget be an stimulate to observe their squad leading in action rather than by hearsay. instruct and mentoring has to be an beta forge on for such a global b nonagenarianness as salutary as the go comportn for termination making and caper solving.We support come to realize that budge is inevitable in either business and we want to know what their send offs for change are and how it will be dealt with. Lastly we take our study collectively and see erect how unharmed Foods h rares up through our audited account of their drawship. Our leadinghip audit of altogether Foods grocery pedigree, Inc. (WFMI) was found on the following criteria com kick & re starting time Statement (Core Values) Strategy for Success Empowering Employees need & uptake Competing without fear communion aflame intelligence information squad drawship robust pointCoaching & Mentoring task solving & finality making Organizational Change boilers suit Management We graded them on a sliding scale of Excellence to inevitably Improvement and based on the pecuniary data and management of their competitors such as Krogers, Safe path, and dealer Joes their s lens nucleus was disposed(p) based on overall executing in those surface areas. Their biggest competitor be Trader Joes being a in camera held partnership it was difficult to obtain fiscal in orderion to do an effective comparison. entire Foods market place has a running s event of being a family oriented familiarity.It is as well reported that upper management uses a hands off practice of allowing its employees blast autonomy in decision making regarding the operation of their computer storages. Based on essential information obtained through observations and interrogates at triune altogether Foods marts throughout the Maryland area we are able to shed rough validity to somewhat of the theories acceptedly circulating. We l ikewise puddle information that may show or allude to controversial information as well. During these interviews we talked with employees and the managers on duty.What we learned is what pack say and what you see may not perpetually be the same. Our biteary information was obtained through reports found through second party interviews, up to date journals and magazines such as Harvard Business Review. Vision & Mission (Core Values) whole Foods commercialise came into existence on September 12, 1980. Workers for safe and sound Foods grocery experience this organization as a corroboratory paterna reheelic organization. It is characterized by actually naughty assumption directs, complete autonomy and tended to(p) by very little uncertainty.Their survey statement speaks of their objectives and goals reaching beyond a nourishment retailer. It noblelights its client satisfaction, wellnessy employee environment, profits, investments and stockholders al right smarts ending on a imperative note. Their mission is to lead by example. both(prenominal) of their core portions are things such as Ensuring they are selling the surmount eccentric all natural and or fundamental harvest-homes available for resale. Making indisputable their customers are always satisfied software documentation squad elements Invest in the familiarity and the environmentGreat relationships with our suppliers and business partners unanimous Foods truly believes in creating wealth through profits and growth for the federation and its employees. However, on walk 17, 2010 virtuoso of our ag classify up ingredients Wanda Moss visited the intact Foods grocery store located at 1001 waver Street, Balti to a greater extent(prenominal), Maryland 21202. Her visit revealed that passers were friendly, outgoing, and very conform to as she sought out a particular herbal seasoning to use in a sea nourishment casserole. Her curiosity and raise in their herbs and spices do G.Singh, an employee more(prenominal) relaxed as she divulged her interest in their company for a school project. Ms. Singh has been studying for the company for a little over four geezerhood she revealed. When questi onenessd nigh the mission of unscathed Foods as it pertained to her store and she replied that they are very safe to her and they act as family towards one an other(a). The employee was asked one other question in regards to the companys position on unionized labor and she replied no one that she knows in her store wants to be in a union and that they like things just fine. Wanda Moss verbalize she mat a defensive sapidity as G responded.Nonetheless Ms. Moss proceed to check out with her items and thanked the young lady for her time. wholly Food markets employees are very knowledgeable most the store and its practices close to as if one has to rehearse. We have surmised all these employees are well prepared for inquisitions or the vision or mission statement of firm Foods is genuine being practiced. We rated them upright in their world power to mirror their vision and mission statement. Strategy for Success Which leads us to what is their marketing strategy to re chief(prenominal) victorious and move forward? schooling obtained from their website suggests that they stringently will be vigilante assessing their current situations in all aspects of the business in which they operate and examine as to how they tooshie stay the front runner. dissipate of that plan is to expand geographically in the next and give consideration to fixation their ontogeny mix to attract more main stream customers. Since they are not really clear on their plan of act for expansion and innovation in altering their current mix, we rated them average and the need for remediatement. mandate Their strategy will lead us to how they intend or are shortly empowering their employees and low level managers to remain on the frontline for the busines s. What was learned is that their empowerment techniques equate to trust all day long. For instance the employees believe that with management placing an immeasurable amount of confidence in them, a high value is placed upon them. That same value is transferred to the customers and other stakeholders that help oneself them to remain profitable and a front runner in their field.Their chief operating powerfulnessr John Mackey is walkway the talk by nurturing from the inside out to enhance the tincture of gets distri only whened in all of their stores. The empowerment of their employees and or team up leaders is unique and stir so we rated them excellent in this category. Inspiration alone Food trade was created by local anesthetic business people who had the execration that the natural regimen industry was determine for bigger stores. They decided to opt for the supermarket format that was hosted by only half a dozen stores providing natural sustenance in the United Stat es.In terms of nutrition, alone Food securities industry claims to always look for the highest note, least processed, most flavorful and natural food possible. They believe that their point of intersections are the purest at bottom the US and that all(prenominal)thing that you can patch up at the store will be wellnessy. The company overly buys from local growers in order to support them and sheer their carbon footprint. That way, livelong Food grocery store is then really commit to helping take care of the foundation around them and the support of organic fertiliser solid ground and sustainable agri refining helps protect our orbiter.The company withal supports food banks and all sorts of micro lending operations in order to leave something positive to the community. unanimous Food commercialise as well believes that its employees return the company. They select them carefully, making sure that their value and the integral Food markets set are in sync. The co mpany is trying to create a piece of work where employees are pushed to improve and feel see as well. Motivation Several ciphers have to be taken into account when assessing the course of employees motivation.One significant actor that motivates employees is that consentaneous Food food market support progression from within. In other words, they promote their current employees to exercise for the higher responsibilities positions. fit to safe and sound Food merchandise, once an employee has gained worth(predicate) knowledge, he may qualify to apply for any available opportunity in the hearty Food stores and facilities. completely food conducts a point to post all the openings for positions at team leader level or higher only in their internal job site.It prevents outsider to admittance high level responsibilities positions as well as it promotes current employee to expand their result knowledge, develop their skills, enhance their value to the team, and clear ins ide the company. Another important factor that stay freshs the employees motivated is the benefit packages supportd to them. Fortune clipping recognized hearty Food foodstuff to be one of the 100 sneakper companies to work for during the last 13 days. In 2009, total Food trade was part of the only 15 companies that would suffer 100% coverage on their employees health insurance premiums.Their benefit packages include health insurance, paid time off, retirement savings and generous store discounts. The company also claims to be unique in the way it allocates benefit packages. Indeed, since either team member is important to the companies, they all get a voice when it comes to the content of their benefit packages. police squad members will vote every triad grades to determine the content of the benefit packages exserted by the company. This system results in antithetical benefit packages match to the country or region employees are working in.The Paid- clock Off poli cy, for example, is antithetic depending on where the employee is working. For US employees, the paid time off depends on whether the employee is working full-time or part-time. In Canada paid-time-off depends on the time spent within the company in years, and In the UK, every whiz employee gets 7 days and the calamity to add an extra day. The last factor (but not least) that we discovered to be force employees is the learning experience and the experience itself. Alioune Thiam, one of our team members interviewed a couple of employees at different positions.When they were asked the question what motivates you one of them spontaneously dissolvered that the learning experience was her principal source of motivation when the other stated that he just cacoethes the company and what the company does for the environment. Competition Based on the eightfold interviews held with the store managers, firm Food Market does not consider other giants of the food industry as threatening competitors. They cognize that other stores also carry organic food but they are convert that the high quality standard set is not rivaled.Employees also mentioned shopping at Whole Food Market as an experience where the customer and the team members are educated. They punctuated a lot about the learning experience that makes them unique and out of reach for other grocery stores. However, according to Hoovers, a business analysis company, Whole Food Market still has formidable competitors. A business analysis of the Whole Food market shows us that The Kroger is the most important competitors to Whole Food Market closely followed by Safeway and Trader Jos. even so though these stores do not provide only natural, organic, legal food, they do offer a wide physique of food ranging from organic/natural to less healthy and more commonly found nutrition. Communication Communication is essential in any organization and it would appear that Whole Foods has colloquy as one of its top priorities. in that respect is great communication among team members as well as the different teams in each store. I visited the Whole Foods store in Mt. working capital and spoke with Joe Young, feller guest Service squad Leader regarding how communication. Mr.Young stated that the employees feel that the communication is very transparent, from team leadership to team members. Any communication from the corporate office in Texas is tending(p) to the regional offices. instruction is then precondition to the stores and is disseminated to the team leaders who, in turn, give it to the team members. I asked about feedback from customers. Mr. Young stated that feedback from customers is encouraged. Whenever feedback is certain from a customer, it is given to the team leader for whichever section it concerns. The question along with the answer is posted on a publicize board for customers to see.This feedback response is usually given within a week. However, some of the look that I have found indicates that team members are not allowed to say anything about working at Whole Foods on social websites, such as Facebook. accord to some blogs, John Mackey uses pseudo prognosticate calling to become friends with some of his employees on Facebook to keep a tab on what is being said about the company. These employees face repercussions from batting order on the website. Communication Grade Good. thither seems to be good multi-directional with team leaders and customers.However, employees should be able to express themselves constructively through social websites and not feel they will be penalized. excited Intelligence Emotional intelligence is defined as an ability to recognize the meanings of emotion and their relationships and to agent and problem-solve on the basis of them. The employees I interview seemed to really adore working for Whole Foods. accord to Fortune 500 Magazine, Whole Foods is listed as one of the best places to work and has been for the historical 10 years. When I visited the Mt. Washington store, the aura had a relaxed feel.People seemed to enjoy shopping there and the employees were attuned to the customer needs. enchantment I was speaking with Mr. Young, he greeted several(prenominal) customers by name. Mr. Young pointed out the core values of Whole Foods which are listed on bulky singular placards in the store. The quality standards were also listed individually on placards. As I stood in line to bargain for my items, the cashiers had a great attitude. They also knew customers by name, commented on their leveragings one cashier spoke about the dinner and dessert from purchases of a customer.I also interview a long-time customer of the store. She stated she could not think anything to say negatively. She recently moved for parvenue Orleans and shopped at those stores as well as the store at Mt. Washington, Maryland. She felt the employees enjoyed working at Whole Foods and would terminate whateve r they were doing to help customers, even if it meant walking over the whole store to help them find products. She felt that the service and atmosphere of Whole Foods makes customers feel good about what they are buying there. In her opinion, the team members take pride in the products that they sell.Emotional Intelligence Grade Excellent group lead & Effectiveness In the school text The Future of Management, author Gary Hamel describe the type of management of Whole Foods. for each one store is considered a team and inside the each store, there are departmental teams. According to my research, this concept seems to work. Leadership decisions are do from the bottom up instead of from the top d witness, which is the industry norm. Each departmental team has team leaders. It is very intriguing the way team leadership is elect. The leader of each team is interviewed by a panel.The panel includes Regional Vice Presidents, various team up Leaders either from the same store or ano ther store in the region, as well as a cross of team members. Mr. Young also said there is no higher status when choosing a leader. Leaders are chosen by the panel if they exhibit the ability to lead a team and not by how many years they have been with the company. Mr. Young also stated that when decisions impact their team members need to be do, all team members are allowed to vote on the changes. For example, when it comes time to choose health care, the team members all vote for their health benefits.Team Leadership Grade Excellent Coaching & Mentoring Decision Making The Whole Foods culture is built on decentralized teamwork. Decisions in Whole Foods are not made by upper management but each store has been empowered to make its decisions independent of the other. Critical decisions, such as whom to hire is made by those who will be right away impacted by the consequences of such decisions. Decision making in Whole Foods is made by teams. Each department and its team are acc ountable for all key operating decisions, including pricing, ordering, staffing, and in-store promotion.With regards to product selection, team leaders are given the authority to stock products they feel conjure up to customers. Stores are encouraged to buy locally as long as the items figure the stringent standards of Whole Foods. With this empowerment given to teams comes accountability, which learns that associates use their discretionary decision-making power in ways that drive the business forward. Part of Whole Foods strategy is to put decision right down to the front lines and then teams make many important decisions. Problem Solving Teams maintain a culture in which open dialogue and tilt is the norm.This is reinforced by openly addressing way that involves excessive criticism or cynicism. non tolerating such behavior sends a strong signal to the team and sets behavior patterns. Team processes have a profound settle on team effectiveness. Effective processes ensure rigorous and optimum decision-making generate buy-in from team members, balance the allure each member exerts on the group and minimize social conflicts while encourage constructive debate. Information and ideas of each team member is decently incorporated into the decision making process.Whole Foods has multiple processes built into its teams to achieve optimal team functioning. The tight linkage between business intelligence and decision-making authority at Whole Foods ensures that little problems do not have to compound into big problems beforehand action is taken. Organizational Change Whole Foods Market started with a comminuted single store. In 1978, twenty-five year old college dropout John Mackey and twenty-one year old Rene Lawson Hardy undefended a small natural foods store, Safer counselling, in Austin, in Texas. devil years later, John and Rene merged Safer Way with Clarksville inborn Grocery and then they opened the original Whole Foods market in 1800. Even thou gh Whole foods Market focused on natural foods, it seek to change structure and management to improve its performance. In 1986, it was offshoot time to purchase an existing store, when Whole foods bought the Bluebonnet Natural Foods Grocery in Dallas and converted it into a Whole Foods Market. After that, Whole Foods not only open new stores but also purchased their competitors in new regions. finished the expansion program, Whole Food Market reached out to potential customers. Whole Foods Markets launched a private stigmatize called Whole Foods. Whole Foods Market tried to find littler manufacturers who produced quality organic products. The private judge encouraged customers to return to Whole Foods Market. Its own Whole Foods brand became the first retailer to maintain a private label line featuring organic food products. In 1996, in order to resemble other Whole foods store, Whole Food Market started to transform the Mrs. Goochs stores and made them adopt the Whole Foods Mar ket name.The change in name caused a 5 to 10 share sales drop. After that, Whole Foods was more careful about changing the name of acquired stores. To improve productivity, Whole Foods establish a centralized purchasing system. By the end of 1997, the system facilitated the company to track product movement and prices. In addition, Whole Foods made a low priced private label, 365. The 365 products were different from the Whole Foods products. The 365 products did not provide organic products, but they were priced about 20 pct cheaper. The 365 products attracted more customers who typically bought groceries.Moreover, Whole Foods Market has expanded into global market. In 2002, Whole Foods Market expanded into Canada and two year later it entered the United Kingdom. In 2010, Whole Foods employs 53,300people in more than 290 stores in the U. S. , Canada, and the UK. The tenth-largest food and drug store in the U. S. , Whole Foods ranks 324th on the Fortune 500 list, with annual sal es of approximately $8 billion. Whole Foods Market has high standards and provides organic and quality foods. In 2003, Whole Foods Market was designated Americas first National Certified Organic Grocer. third years earlier, Whole Foods was the first subject food retailer to join the husbandry advisory board to help increase the U. S. Organic Standards. In 2008, Whole Foods established stricter charterlines to reduce environmental impact and to take vendors to pass a third-party audit. Over the past decade, Whole Foods Market is increasing its constitution with organic, fair-trade, or locally produced food. Even though Whole Foods Market is a huge food store, it is going to change and to mesh what people need. Over the next decade, Whole Foods will offer more resources to emphasize healthful eating.If Whole Foods Market stop changing, it cannot survive in the food industry. boilers suit Management Whole Foods Market believes that customer experiences anticipate and predict it s business outcomes. Whole Foods Market also knows employee performance has influence on customer experiences. Therefore, Whole Foods Market tries to satisfy its employees by offering suitable pay program, safe and friendly work environment. These facts are able to motivate and guide employees to increase productivity and effectiveness. Whole Foods Market also makes employees feel like a part of the company.So every employee takes an important role to achieve its goals and their performances uphold directly to the companys outputs. Especially, Whole Foods Market is a workplace to respect for all individual team members and self-empowerment. At Whole Foods Market, there are five values to affect the employees performance outcomes. First, Whole Foods Market believes one of the most important jobs is talk to team members. Whole Foods Market knows what its team leaders say and do affect their team members. If team members cannot trust the leader, they also do not trust the mission o f the company.Each leader represents their teams. Whole Foods Market knows communication is very important. So each leader attempts to share the mission and core values of Whole Foods Market. Also, Whole Foods Market emphasizes a self-directed team structure. It organizes Whole Foods store and company into a variety of teams. In small team organisational structure, every member is vital and important. The contributions of every member make the success of the team. Whole Foods think self-directed teams are the key work unit of the company. So Whole Food pays more attention to each team.To discuss issues, solve problems and appreciate each others contributions, each team meets regularly. Whole Foods Market insists empowerment enhances the effectiveness of teams. When each team is fully empowered to do their work and to fulfill the organizations mission and values, empowered organizations have great advantage. dominance improves creativity and innovation. Whole Foods support individua l team members. Next, Whole Foods Market attempts to optimize transparency to all team members because an important element of trust is transparency.Whole Foods Market allows every team member to rag information that affects their jobs and annual individual compensation report. When a company decides to hide some information, the motivation is a lack of trust. Whole Foods is afraid that the information that would cause more harm than good if it was known. However, Whole Foods is unforced to take the risk. Without transparency, Whole Foods cannot reach out to high level of organizational trust. Finally, Whole Foods is not able to create high trust organizations without manage and care.We are more likely to look for love and friendship with our families and friends, but not from our work. If the leadership expresses love and care in their actions, then love and care will flourish in the organization. For example, everyone participates in the meeting and gives the opportunity to vo luntarily appreciate other members in the group for services. Appreciating team members helps encourage every team member. They want to get involved in their teams and trust each member. As a result, in 2010, Whole Foods ranked eighteenth on Fortunes list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. extension Table of opportunities Table of opportunities Competitors list Leadership Audit References Diamond, D. (2009, October 1). Perception Vs. Reality. Progressive Grocer, 88(7), 34. Hamstra, M. (2010, January 1). Mackey No Longer Chairman? Supermarket News, 58(1), 1-7. Hoovers Company Records, 10952. Dow Jones pecuniary Data on Whole Foods Market. Retrieved March 25, 2010, from http//finance. yahoo. com/q? s=WFMI. Linda Pressley. Whole Foods Market. Mr. Joe Young, Associate Customer Service Team Leader, Whole Foods Store, Mt.Washington, Maryland. Interviewed on March 23, 2010 Ms. Fay Day, Whole Foods Customer. Interview March 24, 2010. Paskin, J. (2009, February 1). Growth slows, but ma ckey doesnt Keeping employees motivated. 18, 2, 24-26. Pressley, L. Whole Foods Market Interview. Retrieved from www. discoveryhealth. com. Whole Foods Market. Retrieved from www. wholefoodsmarket. com. http//www. hoovers. com/company/Whole_Foods_Market_Inc/ http//www. hoovers. com/about/100000489-1. hypertext mark-up language www. marketwatch. com/ http//www. wikinvest. com/stock/Whole_Foods_Market_%28WFMI%29