...How sustainable is Whole Food’s competitive advantage? What factors will be the most crucial in maintaining it over the coming decade? Whole Foods can sustain its competitive advantage over the next decade on the basis of following four questions that will address about its resources and capabilities. The question of value: The Company has built a reputation for being selective in the products sold and only providing its customers with the highest quality natural and organic foods available. It appeals to upscale and affluent shoppers and has managed to evoke the kind of lifestyle brand. Moreover, Whole Foods strives to make shopping engaging, fun and interactive store atmosphere where community can interact, educate and grow, whereas its counterparts emphasize on low cost and abundant variety foods. For the upcoming decade, as customers are being more aware about the idea that low-priced foods from conventional sources costs more to the environment, communities, and animal welfare, the overall company’s outlook looks very positive. The question of rareness: The Company is in the customer-centered business, where customer happiness is pursued with greater interest, passion and empathy as compared to profit-centered businesses. The employees are organized into self-directed teams and employees are empowered to decide what products to stock in their section. The individual freedoms and positive reinforcement is far more philosophical, and therefore more difficult to replicate...
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...Executive Summary Your company has decided to turn down suppliers who are not fishing in a sustainable manner. This approach to sustainability is superficial. The rejected seafood by your company, not in-line with their sustainability standards, can be readily sold elsewhere. Your company is not providing incentives for the suppliers to reach sustainability goals together. This report provides a recommendation and an implementation plan for your company to achieve their goals while demonstrating true sustainability. With regards to the triple bottom line, your company is focusing their attention on Place (nature) while neglecting the People (suppliers) affected in the change. They intend to increase their profits by differentiating themselves through sustainability but as a fisherman pointed out in the article, it resembles a marketing ploy. Knowing some suppliers would be negatively impacted by the change; Your company did little to ease the transition. In fact, your company made the transition more difficult by moving up the deadline for adopting sustainable practices. The lack of interaction and cooperation between your company and the suppliers makes its sustainability initiative seem questionable. Your company’s competitive strategy is focused differentiation and any organizational actions and stance taken should be derived from its unique proposition. Current state between your company and the suppliers is being managed using a power strategy, leading...
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...Company Analysis: Whole Foods Market Introduction Whole Foods Market is American supermarket chains headquartered in Austin, Texas. Today, the company is the world’s leader in selling natural and organic foods and has more than 360 stores in the North America and the United Kingdom (Whole Foods, Inc. 1). As a company, they seek the finest goods available, while maintaining the most faithful quality of natural and organic food items. In essence, they have an impeccable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Their motto is “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet” (Whole Foods Declaration). The company markets food products and dietary supplements along with body care items, articles of clothing, educational books and household items which include furniture, carpets, lighting, etc (Whole Foods, Inc 1). Some of their specialty items are meat, fish, cheeses, wine, vitamins, vegetables, fruits, prepared meals, animal nutrition products (Whole Foods, Inc 1). The company has an overall good reputation when it comes to customer’s health and diet. With the expansion of the Whole Foods Market, organic food is becoming more popular in families’ kitchens across the globe. One might wonder what contributes to Whole Food Markets nationwide success. As a whole, ethics, social responsibility, sustainability, competitive advantage, technology and innovation are some of the contributing factors to Whole Food Market’s success. Application of Chapter Concepts Ethics One of the factors that...
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...the Harvard Business Review by Porter & Kramer 2006 and by Zadek 2006. Initially I had trouble choosing a company as my interest in working is majorly in NGOs. I sought out to understand their CSR but after a couple of searching, I was made aware they mainly collaborate with corporate organizations to promote CSR. Such NGOs like Save the Children, ILO, UNDP all align themselves to create a guideline for companies to function with CSR in mind. So next I thought about considering a company that had built in values of CSR from the beginning- thinking understanding a company who had a ‘proactive’ approach to CSR would be interesting. For which, I have chosen ‘Whole Foods Market’, as the company to base my paper on. As stated in their 2012 Annual Report, Whole Foods Market is the world’s leading retailer of natural and organic foods and America’s first national “Certified Organic” grocer. The Company was formed in 1980 and is based in Austin, Texas. The companies...
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...3. Is the firm more stakeholder or shareholder focused? Wal-Mart is the world largest retailer and successful retailer in US market that offer low prices to customer. Wal-Mart is a company that focuses on it shareholder. Wal-Mart most definitely makes shareholder money. Since the establishment, Wal-Mart has served the public interest by creating wealth, primarily by selling worthwhile goods and services for a profit. This encourages Wal-Mart expand their business to international markets. Today, Wal-Mart’s customer base no longer targets only low income customers and has expanded into targeting African-Americans, the affluent, empty-nesters, Hispanics, suburbanites, and rural residents. As such, Wal-Mart took a holistic approach to changing its mission statement to “we save people money so they can live better” to appeal to a broader customer base. By expanding the target customer base, the retail giant has strategized to appeal to a mixed demographic which out performs other rivals. Wal-Mart’s net sales over the last 3 years have increased consistently with an increase in 2012 of 5.9% year over year. Wal-Mart’s performance and shareholders are inter-related, shareholders are concern about company performance because it will affect shareholders interests if company not doing well in their business. Wal-Mart main focus is to uphold and maintain it responsibilities to shareholders and follows free the market libertarianism model. Milton Friedman model was that...
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...Date: To: 26 January 2011 Mr. John Mackey, CEO Whole Foods Market , SVP Corporate Strategy Group Interim Strategic Analysis From: RE: In response to our conversation on January 19, I have prepared a strategic analysis to assess the current competitive position of Whole Foods Market in the retail grocery and organic food industries. As you are aware, the US food industry is intensely competitive with firms ranging from corner store shops up through national retail chains. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on healthy living as characterized by exercise, mental wellness, and eating healthy and organic food. In addition, concerns over food safety, particularly the use of pesticides and other chemicals, has gained media attention and caused some consumers to shift their purchase habits toward organic and natural products.1 If the government implements stricter food production policy, Whole Foods should expect an additional increase in sales. Lastly, a growing awareness of the food supply chain sustainability from the producer to the retail store has also attracted some customers to our stores. Whole Foods enjoys as loyal customer base because of our unique position as a national organic food retailer. We have seen an increase in middle aged and older customers shopping at our stores, in line with the aging US population. These customers tend to have higher discretionary spending and can afford to pay the premium price for organic groceries. On the other...
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...Whole Foods Market Corporate Social Responsibility Whole Foods Market prides itself on their Corporate Social Responsibility. They do not have a written initiative in place but do have many aspects of it on their website. They are very much into the community, the environment sustainability. One way they benefit society is by supporting organic farmers. The government does not subsidize the organic farmer like they do the non-organic farmer making it harder for them to make a profit. The non-organic farmer uses 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides each year. The organic farmer uses no toxic chemicals. By supporting the organic farmer, they are helping to keep the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat clean. This is why they can state in their mission statement that they are “selling the highest quality natural and organic products available.” Whole Foods Market was one of the first American companies to sign on to participate in the Marine Stewardship Council. This Council promotes sustainable fisheries and responsible fishing practices worldwide to help preserve fish stocks for future generations. Whole Foods will only sell fish with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label. This lets the Whole Foods Customer know that they are supporting seafood sustainability by buying these seafood products. This also lets the customer know that Whole Foods has taken their pledge of quality food seriously. Whole Foods Market gives over 5% of their total net profits...
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...Business Analysis I, II & III Stephanie Upchurch MGT/521 June 11, 2011 Anthony Manzanetti Business Analysis I, II & III Part I of the business analysis will review the outcomes of the SWOT analysis conducted for Ford Motor Company. The SWOT analysis will look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and the threats that Ford Motor faces. Next, part II of the business analysis will review Fords income statement, balance sheet and cash flow to determine the financial health of the company. Last, part III of the business analysis will review the strategic initiatives of Ford Motor Company relating to the organizational and operational adaptations to the changing automobile market. SWOT Analysis The reduced availability of fuel and the economic distress of Ford suppliers place the company in potential risk. The world has experienced great woes in regard to fuel availability. Events beyond car manufactures control have caused consumers to take a second look at the way they purchase automobiles. As gas prices increase consumers seek price effective ways to travel and transport goods. SUV’s, V-8 engine cars and other gas guzzling vehicles abate consumer purchases. Ford must combat the potential risk of consumer purchase decline by producing fuel efficient vehicles while making up profit losses in the slump of sales in major Ford models such as the Expedition, Explore and the F-150, super Duty and Ranger. The following will review the outcomes of the SWOT...
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...Wal-Mart rationalize its seafood supply chain to reduce costs and promote sustainability? Walmart has a large retail seafood business and it is always a challenge to reduce cost and promote sustainability. With upward trend for the demand of sea-food, depletion of the seafood supply is inevitable unless Walmart have a deep engagement of their supply chain. One strategy that Walmart wants to promote to their suppliers is for all of them to take up the Marine Stewardship Council’s certification program. This process will be time consuming, expensive and complex. The depletion of some fish poses a threat to Walmart and its seafood supply chain. Many challenges exists that will lead to indirect or direct increases in the cost of the supply chain. Because of the lengthy supply chain, with the fish travelling through many parties who are involved in catching, packaging, forwarding, and labeling, cost increases drastically. Wal-Mart’s customers are uneducated about the MSC Eco Label. Therefore, it will be costly to invest in certifying their fish with this standard while it may not boost their sales. While seafood supply can be sustainable by establishing fishing farms, there is always the concern for retaining the same quality as wild-caught fish. Therefore, Walmart needs solutions for the continuous supply of wild-caught fish while retaining its sustainability. In an effort to promote its sustainability, Walmart started to carry MSC certified Chilean Sea Bass in three hundred...
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...Target market #1 Food wholesalers [pic] fairway market Fairway market locates in British Columbia. They have stores at Victoria which is the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada. The produce department offers the best variety and quality of organic foods. "Today’s customers are focused on buying local whenever possible. At Fairway Markets, They are proud to be the conduit to bring local and international agriculture to customers' neighborhood via their stores." (Fairway market) PPL is an international company, they produce premium and organic pistachios witch fits the requirements of fairway market. In terms of the products they offer, PPL has highly potential to get the shelf space in fairway market. [pic] Longo Longo is a high quality food market witch has stores in Ontario. They have 7 stores in Toronto. Their uniqueness is commitment of environmental friendly and sustainability. Each longo store has green bins which use to recycle organic waste. They also have lots of programs to pursue environmental awareness initiatives (Longo). The shell of pistachio can be recycled. (wikipedia) In the meantime, PPL offers totally organic and high quality pistachios. For longo, the quality and sustainability of products is vital. They have relatively low price sensitivity. Therefore PPL has great opportunity to sell their products to longo. [pic] whole foods market Whole foods market has stores in both British Columbia and Ontario. There are 4 stores in Vancouver...
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...Whole Foods Market Paper two BA 311 Whole Foods Market passionately expresses its core values of high quality, natural and organic foods that come full circle in promoting sustainability and quality of life. The shopping experience at Whole Foods Market can be described as wholesome. It provides a friendly neighborhood environment through cheerful customer service and a positive staff of employees. These characteristics have allowed the company to set higher prices than its competitors because of the perceived value. Being able to find and maintain a competitive advantage requires a strong marketing mix consisting of product, price, place and promotion. The marketing mix provides the customers with a clear, distinct and desirable understanding of what the company does and why the product or service is preferable over its competitors (TEXT). The natural and organic food industry is growing with the number of competitors increasing, and to stay at a competitive advantage companies must match the needs of the customers in its target market with its products or services. Product Management Competitors within the natural and organic foods market offer differentiated selections of organic products to the consumers. As shown in the perceptual map, the Y-axis represents the selection of organic, ranging from a limited selection to an extensive selection. The X-axis represents the price of organics, ranging from low prices to high prices. The perceptual map shows the difference...
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...ISSUES One of the issues of business sustainability is transparency of company. Effective communicating of what a company is doing on sustainability requires transparency on its operations if a company wants to avoid accusations of green washing. Transparency has become new normal because of the trend of digital empowerment. Most of the people around the world own a mobile phone and the use of Twitter is growing rapidly every year. Social media like Twitter and Facebook are powerful driver of transparency for businesses. Either businesses embrace greater transparency or transparency will happen to them as customers or employees talk about the business via social channels. Successful business should be open about their weaknesses and what they are doing to address them. This builds a more realistic and honest representation of the business, rather than falsely trying to pretend that everything is always perfect. (Guardian, 2012) The example of company transparency is AT&T Company. The phone company AT&T has been communicating with customers using Twitter and updating to public about the fiber cut that caused thousands of people in San Francisco Bay Area went without broadband and phone service. They did not hide this issue to their customers and they honestly let customers knew what was issue going on through Twitter. (Popick, 2010) Another issue of business sustainability is biodiversity business. Biodiversity is the term used to describe the variety of life on Earth. It...
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...Environmental Fundamentals ENV 100 September 9, 2013 Environmental Fundamentals For a number of years, the planet and its environment have strived to meet the demands of the increasing growth in populations, global warming, and altered habitats, which has produced a global impact on the sense of balance between nature and man. The struggles amongst the environment do not affect one group of individuals or living entity; the whole planets population is concerned by environmental troubles. Each living entity on the planet may affect the environment. In order for individuals to preserve the planet, assistant in resolving environmental problems, and attain sustainability of the planet as it grows, a person should know the fundamental principles of environmental science. Environmental science may be described as the study of human connections with the environment. It is the interdisciplinary subject that blends knowledge from several disciplines such as geography, biology, chemistry, physics, geology, economics, cultural anthropology, sociology (particularly demography, the study of populations), natural resource management, engineering, agriculture, law, ethics, and politics (Berg & Hager, 2009, p1.4). Science and Technology effect the Environment Science and technology affect environmental challenges and resolutions in today’s culture. Science and technology both support humanity by assisting in the advancement of new innovations for surviving, but likewise...
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...The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has identified alarming levels of growth in urbanization and consumption in a new report, and describes the crucial role of business in the transition to sustainability. According to the report, "Business and Development: Challenges and Opportunities in a Rapidly Changing World," published this month by WBCSD, "the world is experiencing a historic shift of economic and political power from the traditional base of industrialized countries to the emerging economies." As the report points out, by 2050, three of the four largest economies -- China, India, and Brazil -- will be those of countries now described as developing. As development in those and other countries intensifies, their populations will become increasingly urban. By 2050, when the world's population is expected to be about 9 billion, 70 percent of the world's population will live in urban environments, with the great majority living in cities in developing countries. "Urbanization is happening fast," the report observes, "And most of it is being poorly managed, putting hundreds of millions of the urban poor in harm's way." As the economic emergence of developing countries continues, global consumption patterns will become increasingly critical. "Global consumption patterns and trends are putting unsustainable and increasing stress on the Earth's ecosystems, the supply of material resources needed for industrial growth, and human social systems...
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...About the Whole Foods Market? Whole Foods Market is the leading retailer of natural and organic foods and America’s first national “Certified Organic” grocer. The Company incorporated in 1978, opened the first Whole Foods Market store in 1980, and is based in Austin, Texas. The Company’s mission is to promote the vitality and well-being of all individuals by supplying the highest quality, most wholesome foods available. The core mission is devoted to the promotion of organically grown foods, healthy eating, and the sustainability of our entire ecosystem. Organic food and products are considered popular products that are experiencing an increasing demand year after year. The new shift in the consumer’s life style and taste desires keeps this industry growing faster year after year. Consumers tend to be more educated, and more aware of the health concerns that other processed food or products could negatively affect their health or their planet. What makes Whole Foods Market so popular? Will this trend last? The competitive environment for Whole Foods Market is very aggressive, especially that the industry is facing increasing demand for this type of products. The first factor that will be evaluated is the bargaining threat of buyers; buyers will still look for better prices for the products desired, and especially if it is available somewhere else such as Wal-Mart, and Giant. The rivalry in the foods market...
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