Whole Food Case Study Analysis

Introduction

Whole Food is the largest natural and organic foods supermarket in the United States. Since its inception, the company has had tremendous growth as both an organization and a movement based on consumer trends and demands. As an organization, the company evolved from a simple local supermarket in Texas to a chain supermarket across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. As a movement, the company has sponsored the largest natural and organic foods movements informed by the consumer trends. The success of the firm is a representation of the nature of strategic vision and mission developed for the company. Further, the company is an icon on strategic management and the setting and actualization of strategic goals of the firm. Therein, this paper will be categorical in the analysis of the management strategy of the organization as well as other influencing factors within that has shaped the success of the organization.

Whole food strategy

The growth and development of the firm are widely contributed to the mission and vision developed for the organization. Through its inception, development, management and other processes involved in the company, the dedication to the mission enabled the management to have a progression path untainted by ambiguity. The mission of the company was forged from the perspective of consumer demand, information and trends facing food consumption and environmental concern. Therein, informed by coherent social, environmental as well as economic constructs, the founders of the firm developed a mission statement that only resonated with the consumers but also economic and environmental influences. A coherent mission, bold enough to the direction of an organization is imperative to success and growth of any business. The founders of whole food recognized the strategic advantage through which they could develop a sound business plan for the company. Grounded in social constructs of environmental awareness and consumer knowledge, the founders of the organization were able to derive an ambitious vision for the company that enhanced its expansion, growth, and success across the geographic space. The mission and the vision of the corporation are informed by the imperative nature of the natural and organic foods concept that lays the foundation of the company.

Strengths

Driven by the mission of the company, as well as the core values contained therein, whole food generates its major muscle in the market. The company recognized the trends in information as well as a growing concern for environmental issues that affect not only individuals at a personal level but also the lifestyle of people. The company, therefore, identified an opportunity within the consumer market that was greatly underserved and curved a business strategy. The concept of natural and organic foods therein became the major asset through which the mission and vision of the company were developed. Consumption of natural and organic foods is informed by consumer information where individuals make rational decisions based on issues within the environment. The twenty-first century is characterized by technological advancement and development, as well as information sharing. The advancement has unearthed the detrimental effects through which human processes have affected the environment. Informed by such constructs, the campaign for natural and organic foods became the company’s largest strength. Not only does it provide quality and wholesome foods to its consumers, but also provides them with an opportunity to have a positive impact on the environment. The contribution is achieved through the encouragement of planetary friendly practices such as sustainable agriculture, organic production and environmental sensitivity (Beske, Land, and Seuring, 2014). The concept integrated into the core values of the strategic mission of the company yielded significant results.

Weaknesses

Development of whole foods is not without its set of challenges that unearth specific weakness within the strategy adopted by the company. The mission and vision of the company are very ambitious, were among its core values is to provide the best quality of natural and organic products to the consumers. While the strategy is sound, it exposes issues within the market strategy the company struggles with. Among them is the pricing strategy adopted for the products within the company stores. While the prices could be attributed to high cost of product acquisition due to the quality, the company has been identified to have relatively overpriced products in comparison with its competitors or similar products in other stores. Further, the standards of the products within the store have been questioned identifiable through ligation suits of pricing and labeling of the products within the store. The company has however been adamant in the provision of high-quality products and strengthen its focus to remedy such issues through the tightened quality selection process of suppliers to guarantee high quality. 

Threats

Whole food as an organization in its development and expansion process has faced significant threats that have and continue to threaten the development agenda of the organization. Among them include regulatory issues within the product line that the company offers to its consumers. There are stringent regulations and legal hurdles in the determination and labeling of natural and organic products. The issue goes hand in hand with pricing regulations that exist to protect the interests of the consumers in the market. The regulations have waylaid the firm with a series of lawsuits in several stores in the United States. The firm has settled billions of dollars in the suits that have threatened the reputation and the expansion strategy of the company. Further threats have sprouted from the competition present in the industry. There exist some competitors whose products in close contrast to whole foods are cheaper and readily available to consumers as a substitute. The threat of reduced consumer base was resolved through the dedication of the company to high-quality natural and organic products. Acquisition of some competitors slowly reduced the severe competition.

Opportunities

Cognizant of the economic and environmental factors affecting the organization, whole food identified significant opportunities residing in the market. The firm therein developed a strategy informed by the concept of the bargaining power of the buyer as opposed to the bargaining power of the suppliers. The application of both concepts while offering a unique perspective of quality within food production and consumption, the company was able to expand the consumer market. Whole food deals with organic and natural foods and other related products, with the stringent regulations and standards required in the production of such products, there is a need for heavy investment to ensure quality. Therein, the company intensified its investment in the quality of products in order to maintain its integrity to core values while inviting opportunities for development, growth, and expansion of the firm. The strategy employed by the firm was also in recognition of the concept of intense rivalry which informed its expansion and growth strategy (Cohen, and Muñoz, 2017). Through the appreciation of the competitors' capabilities, whole food embarked on an acquisition strategy to expand its business in the United States and the United Kingdom. The effectiveness of the strategy enabled the company to grow explosively partly due to the acquisition strategy and the differentiation of the products within its stores. 

References

Beske, P., Land, A., & Seuring, S. (2014). Sustainable supply chain management practices and dynamic capabilities in the food industry: A critical analysis of the literature.  International Journal of Production Economics ,  152 , 131-143.

Cohen, B., & Muñoz, P. (2017). Entering Conscious Consumer Markets: Toward a New Generation of Sustainability Strategies.  California Management Review ,  59 (4), 23-48.