1. What are the key internal environmental factors facing Whole Foods?

The key internal environmental factors facing Whole Foods cited Mackey, J. (2012) are its
organizational culture, building conscientious leaders and its mission (which is a higher purpose
of creating simultaneous value for all stakeholders). Its mission is to set higher standards for all
other food retailers and deliver quality food to its customers. As its organizational culture
promotes a strong emphasis on being an ethical and socially responsible company based on its
core values; serving and supporting local and global communities and sustainability.

But they are also committed to running and managing the business through conscious
capitalism, not only maximizing profits and creating shareholder value, but also considering the
business as an interdependent network of stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers,
investors, communities and the environment, also government activists, labor unions). (Mackey,
2012)

2.What are the key external environmental factors facing Whole Foods?

The external environmental factors facing Whole Foods are the economy, customers and
competitors. Whole Foods could boost the economy by exporting its conscious capitalism
business and opening retail stores in other countries. It could also expand its supply chain on a
global scale to obtain the highest quality products for its customers. Furthermore, it could try to
modify its pricing strategy to be more competitive against the growing number of retailers.

3. Describe the organizational culture at Whole Foods?

According with Balke, Steven Organizational (or corporate) culture consists of the widely
shared values within an organization that foster unity and cooperation to achieve common goals.

Their organizational culture is committed to achieving harmony between the interests of all
stakeholders, including investors, customers, employees, suppliers, community members...

Instead of showing that their primary objective is to obtain profitability at all costs, enabling a
shopping cart as soon as you access the site, Whole Foods Market demonstrates at all times that
they are involved with society.

Basically, it seeks synergies so that all parties involved and interested parties win, using
precisely the strategy cited by Mackey, (2012) win-win-win, thus generating a harmony of
interests.

BONUS: What are some ways WF works to keep their company culture with their employees in
the hiring, firing processes?
According with Borkus, D. (2016) “the hiring process for new team members is unconventional
for Whole Foods. Like the design of the company, it runs on team input. New associates
undergo a 60-day process that involves a variety of interviews, including phone interviews, one-
to-one interviews with store leaders, and panel interviews with teams built from recruiters,
managers, and select employees. When new associates come on board, the store leader places
them on a team, but only provisionally. After the trial period, the existing team votes on whether
to fully vest the new associate. It takes a two-thirds majority vote from the team to become an
employee. The voting step is required, but the method is left up to the team. New associates who
don’t get voted in are off the team and must either find a new team — repeating the trial period
— or leave the company. This team selection process happens for every new member, from
cashiers on checkout teams to financial analysts in the home office.”

In a research of Burkus (2016) cited “the rationale behind such a team-focused process is that
hiring is a critical decision and critical decisions should be made by the people most affected by
their outcomes. In this case, deciding who to bring onto a team is best made by the team itself.
In addition, being given the authority to welcome or to veto a new team member helps everyone
on the team take ownership of their performance.”

Ensuring that new hires are a good fit for individual teams is also vital because teams are the
basic unit of measurement for performance. Whole Foods makes performance data for every
team in every store widely available across the entire company. Teams are given their profit per
labor-hour every four weeks, as well as their historical performance, the performance of other
teams in their store, and the performance of similar teams in other stores. Teams compete
against similar teams and also against themselves to continue to improve performance.

Reference List

Balke, Steven. Review Lab. McGraw-Hill Create. Retrieved from:

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781307744699

Burkus, D. (2016, 8 junio). Why Whole Foods Builds Its Entire Business On Teams. Forbes.

Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidburkus/2016/06/08/why-whole-

foods-build-their-entire-business-on-teams/?sh=31f0ce753fa1

Tuck School of Business. (2012, 9 octubre). Strategic Business Insights: An interview with
Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey. YouTube. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbdGJpacYMA