The Publix Company (Publix Super Markets) is a chain of supermarkets and is one of the largest regional chain stores in the US. The Company’s headquarters are in Lakeland, Florida. It is an employee-owned company with about 193,000 employees (Schoultz, 2014). Most of the Company’s outlets are spread in the Southeastern parts of the US, especially in the state of Florida. Indeed, the 787 stores that Publix has in Florida account for about two-thirds of the total number of stores. Publix has eight stores in Virginia, 58 in South Carolina, 186 in Georgia, 38 in North Carolina, 69 in Alabama, and 42 in Tennessee. Apart from its various stores, Publix also has grocery distribution outlets, manufacturing facilities (deli, bakeries, and dairy), corporate offices, and cooking schools making it a market force to reckon with (Guy & Pentz, 2017). Like any other business, it has an internal and external environment that influences its operations and market performance.
External Environment
Competitors
One of the main aspects of Publix’s external environment is competition. Being a retailer of consumer products, the firm faces a lot of competition from other market players including The Kroger Co Costco, Rite Aid Corporation, Walmart Inc., Wholesale Corporation, Walgreen Co., Kmart Corporation , and Whole Foods Market, Inc. These businesses engage in one or more trading activities with Publix hence posing as competitors in the market. Also, these players make sudden price shifts and other strategic moves that influence the market forces of demand and supply (Carucci, 2018). This constitutes to the external environment of Publix in a manner generally stated as negative.
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Location
By looking at the location of Publix’s Stores, it is easy to see why they are demographically restricted. For instance, almost all stores are located in the Southeastern parts of the US implying that the company is experiencing challenges with its demographic operations. This is an important aspect of the company’s external environment since it is definitive of the expansion restrictions and opportunities (Guillén et al., 2015).
Legal, Demographic and Political Issues
The different US states have dissimilar state laws regarding the conduct of business. As such, the demographic, political, and legal factors contribute to the external environment of Publix. In addition, the fact that the company is a great market force means it should have stores virtually everywhere in the US and beyond. Having been started in the 1930s, it is only right for the company’s stores to be at the reach of every American. However, this is not the case due to the mentioned factors in the company’s external business environment.
Technology
Technology is the other major factor of Publix’s external business environment. Since technology is one of the most dynamic aspects in the world, businesses that are able to keep up and adapt to the dynamics of technology gain a competitive advantage over the other players in the market. Publix mainly relies on traditional methods of conducting business. Unlike other market influencers, for instance, Amazon who utilize the merits of cutting-edge technology to conduct business, Publix overly depends on its stores to conduct business. While physical stores are important and quite useful in every market, a business increases its market influence and profitability by being technologically dynamic.
Socio-Cultural Factors
The socio-cultural elements of a particular area significantly determine the decision of a firm to shift to a new environment. These elements may include certain societal values or in some cases religion. For Publix to maintain a competitive edge, it must take into consideration the socio-cultural trends both in the international arena as well as specific nations where they intend to venture. Such trends include the sale of organic foods as well as the provision of healthy foods. Most importantly, the quality of service should be top-notch while prices should be fair so that customers get value for their money.
Internal Environment
Stakeholder Analysis
Most of Publix’s internal environment is definitive of organizational behavior. While the owners of the company are the ones who operate its day-to-day functions, the employees are involved in structuring the company’s code of conduct and its functioning system. Thus, the main stakeholders of the company are its employees. The company’s decisions and policies are made with the prioritization of the shareholders. Atop Publix’s management sits the CEO, Chairman, and the CFO who are involved in making most major decisions regarding the company. The main OB process applied in Publix is employee motivation. The company achieves this by establishing honest communication with the staff, encouraging them to develop their careers, and providing a conducive environment where the staff are allowed to have fun and thus able to create new ideas.
Financial Stature
In 2017, Publix posted a gross income of $ 34.6 billion, and from these sales, the net profits amounted to $ 2.3 billion. Notably, the first aspect of a business’ internal environment is its financial position, which is essentially the backbone of a business and the most fundamental parameter of gauging its existence. From this financial performance, several things emerge. First, the debt management of the company is superb, meaning that Publix is able to create an amicable balance between its debits and credits. Most importantly, inventories are balanced between the confinements of the generated revenues to make sure customers, as well as employees, are satisfied (Marita & Marilyn, 2018). As of 2016, Publix had an operating income of $ 2.678 billion and its return on assets was $11.98 million. The return on equity and invested capital were $15.66 million and 15.37 million consecutively. Also, the average financial leverage was $ 1.3 million (McGregor & Doshi, 2018). These are few financial records showing the internal environment of Publix. From the data, it is undeniable that Publix’s financial stature is quite stable. From the company’s balance sheet, it is evident that Publix’s common stock value has been averagely stable from 2012. Although there were a few annual fluctuations, the company’s common stock value was considerably high.
Organizational Behavior
Publix has recurrently appeared in the top100 best companies to work for list for the past 24 years. In 2014, the company ranked number 15 in 25 top places to work in America (Goldman, 2015). This suggests the company is good at taking care of the employees’ interests. Also, being an employee-owned company, it means the policies and decisions have to be made in favor of working conditions and other employee concerns (McGregor & Doshi, 2018). Also, the company is highly rated in coming up with policies, structures, and systems that boost the employees’ motivation. Although the scope and magnitude vary from one employee to another, there are benefits, opportunities, and compensations accorded to the employees. It must be noted that the level of motivation or psych the employees of a company have is an important aspect of its internal business environment.
Resources
The resources a company has is an important aspect of its internal business environment. Resource are primarily categorized into two main categories; human resources and physical resources (Fowler, 2015). The human resource force of Publix comprises of about 193,000 people having different duties and responsibilities in the company. In one way or another, each of them is pertinent to the overall success of Publix. Its stores, outlets, manufacturing facilities, and offices also form a key segment of the company’s internal business environment.
Management and Organization
The management of Publix is run by a board headed by a chairperson (Schein, 2010). However, different stores have their respective managers who oversee the daily activities (Ganesh, 2016). Since Publix is an employee-owned company, most of the board members are employees. All these factors and aspects of Publix’s business environment constitute to the overall market existence and performance of the company.
Data Collection and Analysis
Several methods were used to collect data and information about Publix Company with the primary technique involving the conduction of interviews. As such, several employees from different stores were interviewed. The interview questions were structured to be precise and short thus allowing more respondents to be reached, and their responses to be noted (Thomas et al., 2015). The central theme of the interview questions was based on understanding the internal business environment of Publix. For instance, some of the questions were: How long have you worked for the company? How does your company motivate you? What are the benefits that you partake in within the company? On some occasions, while conducting the interviews, customers were encountered and subsequently interviewed, but there was no specific set of questions accorded to them. However, such inquiries were based on understanding the company’s services and overall efficiency of the employees (Holvorson, 2011).
Getting the statistical information regarding the company was the most challenging part of the data collection exercise. Indeed, many of the employees interviewed were not in touch with the finer details regarding the market performance of the company and its overall financial stature (Dutton et al., 2018). Therefore, this part of the exercise was primarily conducted through a critical analysis of multiple verified sources. First, the 2017 annual report was acquired and analyzed. It is from this source that information about sales, profits, number of employees, and the number of stores together with their location was retrieved. The report also offered critical information about the management of the company, its accolades, and outstanding recognition.
References
Carucci, R. (2018). What Not to Do When You're Trying to Motivate Your Team . Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2-4.
Dutton, G., Leddin, P., & Menswar, B. (2018). Why change initiatives fail... and What L&D Can Do. Training , 55 (4), 22-26.
Fowler, S. (2015). Motivation done right : motivation science provides alternatives to outdated approaches to workplace motivation. (learning blueprint: SCIENCE OF LEARNING). TD Magazine, (12).
Ganesh, A. (2016). Understanding the relationship between employee motivation and customer retention. Vilakshan: The XIMB Journal of Management, 13 (1), 101-114.
Goldman, L. (2015, February 15). The 25 Best Companies to Work For In America. Retrieved on September 4, 2018
Guillén, M. M., Ferrero, I. j., & Hoffman, W. m. (2015). The neglected ethical and spiritual motivations in the workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 128 (4), 803-816. doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1985-7
Guy, Z., & Pentz, T. t. (2017). Millennial employment through Maslow's eyes. Career Planning & Adult Development Journal, 33 (2), 22-25.
Holvorson, R. (2011, October). Empowered employees perform better. IDEA Fitness Journal, 8 (9), 14. Retrieved from September 4, 2018 http://0go.galegroup.com.novacat.nova.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA270421506&v=2.1&u=novaseu_main&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=17a5bf98981a8a392b74740a3162aed4
Marita M., H., & Marilyn D., K. (2018). Generational differences in workplace motivation . South African Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 16, Iss 0, Pp E1-E10 (2018), (0), e1. doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v16i0.967
McGregor, L., & Doshi, N. (2018). How to motivate frontline employees. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2-7.
Schein, Edgar H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership defined. Organizational Culture and Leadership . Jossey-Bass. (pp. 1-68). Retrieved from http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=275599
Schoultz, M. (2014, January 27). Is employee engagement the backbone of the publix culture? Retrieved September 4, 2018.
Thomas, V. G. B., Charlotte A., S., Lasse, K., Gisela, S., & Lars Louis, A. (2015). When intervention meets organization, a qualitative study of motivation and barriers to physical exercise at the workplace. The Scientific World Journal , Vol 2015 (2015), doi:10.1155/2015/518561
Appendix
Interview Questions
How would you describe motivation?
Do you feel as if motivation is temporary? If so, why?
How long have you worked for the company?
How does your company motivate you?
Who motivates you as an employee?
How does teamwork affect your motivation?
What are the benefits that you partake in within the company?
How does pay affect your commitment to the company?
If offered double your pay, would you choose to stay with your company? If so, why?
When presented with a challenging task, do you feel motivated to complete it?
Does your company offer opportunities for you to grow from within?
