Whole Foods Case Study
WHOLE FOODS CASE QUESTIONS
1. What are the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing? Whole Foods Market has a very well defined strategy that they are pursuing. First, Whole Foods strategy is to provide its customers with the highest quality natural foods that are “minimally processed, largely free of artificial ingredients, preservatives, and other non-naturally occurring chemicals; and as near to their whole, natural state as possible” (Thompson). The second part of their strategy is to live by their core values, which John Mackey elaborates on by saying, “our core values reflect the sense of collective fate among our shareholders and are the soul of our company. Our team members, shareholders, vendors, community and environment must flourish together through their affiliation with us or we are not succeeding as a business. […] By growing the collective pie, we create larger slices for all of our shareholders.” This part of the strategy is very utilitarian and shows the true values that the company wants to represent. The third key element of their strategy is to grow. Whole Foods has a great strategy in terms of growth. Their strategy for growth from 1991 to 2002 consisted of a combination of building new stores from the ground up and acquiring small, owner managed chains with capable personnel and desirable market locations. From 2002 - 2006 they changed their growth strategy to building 10 to 15 brand new stores per year that were strategically positioned in metropolitan areas. Since 1991, when Whole Foods consisted of 10 stores, they have increased their amount of stores to 276 at the fiscal year end of 2007. The final chief element of Whole foods strategy is to have empowered employees that are able to make sure each customer has an experience that exceeds their expectations in order to get those customers to become advocates for Whole Foods.
2. Is Whole Foods’ strategy well matched to recent
1. What are the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing? Whole Foods Market has a very well defined strategy that they are pursuing. First, Whole Foods strategy is to provide its customers with the highest quality natural foods that are “minimally processed, largely free of artificial ingredients, preservatives, and other non-naturally occurring chemicals; and as near to their whole, natural state as possible” (Thompson). The second part of their strategy is to live by their core values, which John Mackey elaborates on by saying, “our core values reflect the sense of collective fate among our shareholders and are the soul of our company. Our team members, shareholders, vendors, community and environment must flourish together through their affiliation with us or we are not succeeding as a business. […] By growing the collective pie, we create larger slices for all of our shareholders.” This part of the strategy is very utilitarian and shows the true values that the company wants to represent. The third key element of their strategy is to grow. Whole Foods has a great strategy in terms of growth. Their strategy for growth from 1991 to 2002 consisted of a combination of building new stores from the ground up and acquiring small, owner managed chains with capable personnel and desirable market locations. From 2002 - 2006 they changed their growth strategy to building 10 to 15 brand new stores per year that were strategically positioned in metropolitan areas. Since 1991, when Whole Foods consisted of 10 stores, they have increased their amount of stores to 276 at the fiscal year end of 2007. The final chief element of Whole foods strategy is to have empowered employees that are able to make sure each customer has an experience that exceeds their expectations in order to get those customers to become advocates for Whole Foods.
2. Is Whole Foods’ strategy well matched to recent