Whole Foods

Case Study assignment

1. What are the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing?

Fresh natural and organic foods and products with no preservatives or artificial ingredients. Promote healthier eating/lifestyle and increasing consumer knowledge/education of food safety, environment and how pesticides affect the land as well as the human body.

2. Is the strategy well matched to recent developments and conditions in the natural and organic foods segment of the food retailing industry?

Yes the Whole Foods strategy has worked well for the company. They have good products and seem to have happy employees who also obtain shares in the company. They do not have much competition only on smaller scales or small areas in existing regular food markets. The company is still expanding even in this poor market and acquiring new stores and companies.

3. Do you think John Mackey has a good strategic vision for Whole Foods? Why or why not? What do you like or dislike about the company's motto "Whole Foods, Explain.

Yes, looking at the company's profits and growth I believe John Mackey has an excellent strategic vision for this company and employees. He has managed to maintain a top quality product, expand stores all over the country, offer good employee incentives and expand his food store chains all over the USA and some locations abroad, while still making good profits. The motto to me isn't two impressive it is just a play on words to somehow match the stores name "Whole Foods" the Motto Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet. If I didn't know we were talking about Whole Foods I would have no idea what message that motto was trying to convey.

4. Do Whole Foods Market's core values as presented in case exhibit 3 really matter? Are they "real" or just cosmetic window dressing? What evidence can you cite to support your answer? Have Whole Foods' core values contributed to the company's success? Why or why not?

Core values do matter as long as the company and its management practice what they preach. If employees aren't behind the managers then the companies success will either be poor or non-existent. Also customers can be tough, if they see words on a wall, look around a see poor displays, moldy food and unhappy/unfriendly store associates, customers won't come back, especially if the products being sold are high end. Whole Foods Market's Core Values are good, but are very extensive and should probably be trimmed down a little and still able to convey the message the store wants to express. From my own shopping experiences there they do seem to follow their Core Values the store is clean, colorful and the food is excellent.

5. How well is Whole Foods Market performing from a financial perspective? Do some number-crunching using the data in case exhibits 9 and 10 to support your answer. Use the financial ratios presented in "A Guide to Case Analysis" as a basis for doing your calculations.

Based on Exhibit 9 financial their sales doubled in 4 years but so did their cost of goods sold. Based on the figures in Exhibit 10 the store is in the positive for working capital having assets of $1.3M over its liabilities. The store is in the black and expanding their operations and in today's economy that is a good thing.

6. How well is Whole Foods Market performing from a strategic perspective? Does Whole Foods enjoy a competitive advantage over its three chief rivals—Wild Oats, Fresh Market, and Trader Joe's? Does the company have a winning strategy?

From the reading I would say that Whole Foods Market is performing better then the other three companies. Web searching I performed on the two companies I was not familiar with Wild Oats and Fresh Market, I found out that Whole Foods Market purchased the Wild Oats chain expanding the Whole Foods Market enterprise even further. I have never