{"id":5279,"date":"2015-12-09T17:59:05","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T22:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/"},"modified":"2015-12-09T18:37:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T23:37:00","slug":"whole-foods-power-to-the-people","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Whole Foods: Power to the People"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Company Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Whole Foods Market was founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas when four small natural food store owners decided the industry was ready for a supermarket. Today, \u201cAmerica\u2019s Healthiest Grocery Store\u201d operates 412 stores in 42 U.S. states, 10 stores in Canada and 9 in the United Kingdom. With $15.4bn in total sales for fiscal year 2015, it is the largest natural and organic foods supermarket in the U.S., the 5<sup>th<\/sup> largest public foods retailer and the 10<sup>th<\/sup> largest food retailer overall. And Whole Foods has big aspirations \u2013 to the tune of 1,200 stores in the United States alone.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-5205 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/first_store.jpg-300x150.jpeg\" alt=\"'first_store.jpg'\" width=\"590\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/first_store.jpg-300x150.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/first_store.jpg-1024x512.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/first_store.jpg-600x300.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Business Model:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Whole Foods prides itself on being a mission-driven company where value is created through adherence to the following mission:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We sell the highest quality natural and organic products available.<\/li>\n<li>We satisfy, delight and nourish our customers.<\/li>\n<li>We support team member happiness and excellence.<\/li>\n<li>We create wealth through profits and growth.<\/li>\n<li>We serve and support our local and global communities.<\/li>\n<li>We practice and advance environmental stewardship.<\/li>\n<li>We create ongoing win-win partnerships with our suppliers.<\/li>\n<li>We promote the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This mission is in essence a commitment to its people \u2013 its customers, its employees, its suppliers and its shareholders. In my opinion, this commitment is the secret sauce of Whole Foods and the very reason that Whole Foods has been so effective at aligning its business and operating models since 1980.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Operating Model:<\/strong><u><br \/>\nCustomer Satisfaction<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5208 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/TeamMemberCustomersLifstyle2014-17.jpg-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"'TeamMemberCustomersLifstyle2014-17.jpg'\" width=\"405\" height=\"270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/TeamMemberCustomersLifstyle2014-17.jpg-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/TeamMemberCustomersLifstyle2014-17.jpg-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/TeamMemberCustomersLifstyle2014-17.jpg-600x400.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 405px) 100vw, 405px\" \/><\/u><br \/>\nWhile the U.S. supemarket industry grew at 3% in 2014, Whole Foods barreled ahead at almost 3x that pace. The company attributes its record sales to a shift in the consciousness of Americans who are becoming increasingly more aware of the connection between healthy eating and quality of life. During the 2015 Whole Foods Investor Conference, Co-CEO Walter Robb remarked, \u201cIn all my years of doing this, I\u2019ve never seen a time where the customer has more interest in where their food comes from.\u201d Importantly, customers trust Whole Foods because of the company\u2019s emphasis on quality. It is these quality standards (animal welfare standards, sustainable seafood standards and responsibly grown standards) that differentiate Whole Foods and thus ultimtely create value for WFM stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p><u>Employee Empowerment<\/u><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5197 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/DomainStoreTeamMembers-7.jpg-200x300.jpeg\" alt=\"'DomainStoreTeamMembers-7.jpg'\" width=\"251\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/DomainStoreTeamMembers-7.jpg-200x300.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/DomainStoreTeamMembers-7.jpg-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/DomainStoreTeamMembers-7.jpg-400x600.jpeg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 251px) 100vw, 251px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Whole Foods has been voted one of Fortune\u2019s \u201c100 Best Companies to Work For\u201d for 18 consecutive years. The reason is because Whole Foods gives employees a stake in the success of the business and, in return, employees take responsibility for delivering performance. Under this plan, each store is organized into ten self-managed teams \u2013prepared foods, grocery, customer service, etc. When a team comes in under budget, a portion of the surplus is divided among team members while another portion is put into the team\u2019s savings pool. When a team is over budget, on the other hand, the overage is taken out of the team\u2019s pool, or paid back using future surpluses. All teams with a positive balance at year-end are paid out. Furthermore, employees are treated as fully-informed partners in the business, as books are open to\u00a0everyone. Co-CEO John Mackey told Fast Company, \u201cWe have found that the more freedom and autonomy we give our people, the more we let them know about how the company works, the more committed and responsible they become.\u201d As a result, 70% of Whole Foods\u2019 90,900 employees work full-time, with voluntary turnover at only 14%, an incredibly low number for the industry \u2013 and one that then creates value for WFM stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"My Purpose l Company Info l Whole Foods Market\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iAKZARYUuuQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><u>Supplier Partnerships<\/u><\/p>\n<p>Whole Foods proactively partners with its suppliers in order to ensure supply. First, the company believes in being fully transparent and sharing forecasts as early as possible and as far out as possible, thereby enabling its suppliers to accurately forecast their own demand. The company also helps suppliers grow through its local producer loan program. These loans \u2013 $18 million to date across 235 suppliers \u2013 enable partners like Coyote Creek, a Texas egg farm with the state\u2019s only organic feed mill, to build additional mills and sell feed to other Whole Foods suppliers and Thompson Farms, a pork producer in Georgia, to build its own processing plant. Lastly, Whole Foods willingly shares its purchasing power. The Commodities Team purchases on behalf of both Whole Foods and many of its suppliers, thereby sourcing in bulk from all over the world at the best prices. The cycle comes full circle when Whole Foods is able to get the supply it needs for its stores \u2013 and creates further value for WFM stakeholders when the suppliers pass costs savings back to Whole Foods.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WB6324afWrA\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WB6324afWrA<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>References: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/assets.wholefoodsmarket.com\/www\/company-info\/investor-relations\/annual-reports\/2015-WFM-10K.pdf\">http:\/\/assets.wholefoodsmarket.com\/www\/company-info\/investor-relations\/annual-reports\/2015-WFM-10K.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wholefoodsmarket.com\/mission-values\/core-values\">http:\/\/www.wholefoodsmarket.com\/mission-values\/core-values<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/assets.wholefoodsmarket.com\/www\/company-info\/investor-relations\/presentations\/20150227Walter-Robb-John-Mackey.pdf\">http:\/\/assets.wholefoodsmarket.com\/www\/company-info\/investor-relations\/presentations\/20150227Walter-Robb-John-Mackey.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/assets.wholefoodsmarket.com\/www\/company-info\/investor-relations\/presentations\/20150227-presentation-transcript.pdf\">http:\/\/assets.wholefoodsmarket.com\/www\/company-info\/investor-relations\/presentations\/20150227-presentation-transcript.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Whole_Foods_Market\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Whole_Foods_Market<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.freibergs.com\/resources\/articles\/accountability\/whole-foods-a-disciplined-democracy\/\">http:\/\/www.freibergs.com\/resources\/articles\/accountability\/whole-foods-a-disciplined-democracy\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/media.wholefoodsmarket.com\/image-library\">http:\/\/media.wholefoodsmarket.com\/image-library<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whole Foods empowers people through high quality, extraordinary service and competitive prices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":612,"featured_media":5334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-5279","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/the-tom-challenge-tom-winners-and-losers-assignment\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Whole Foods: Power to the People - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whole Foods: Power to the People - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whole Foods empowers people through high quality, extraordinary service and competitive prices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-09T23:37:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/\",\"name\":\"Whole Foods: Power to the People - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-09T22:59:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-09T23:37:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2015\\\/12\\\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Whole Foods: Power to the People\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Whole Foods: Power to the People - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Whole Foods: Power to the People - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"Whole Foods empowers people through high quality, extraordinary service and competitive prices","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","article_modified_time":"2015-12-09T23:37:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/","name":"Whole Foods: Power to the People - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg","datePublished":"2015-12-09T22:59:05+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-09T23:37:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/WFM_store_logo_with_shopper.jpg.jpeg","width":1800,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/whole-foods-power-to-the-people\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Whole Foods: Power to the People"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/5279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/5279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}