Environmental and Institutional Analyses of Whole Foods, Inc. Capstone Project

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Strategic Review -- Whole Foods

Organizational diagnosis of Whole Foods, Inc. involved environmental and institutional analyses. The environmental analysis involved categories of political, economic, social, technological, geographical, community relation and informal sector network, seeking to discern opportunities and threats. The institutional analysis involved categories of organizational role & profile; membership; programs and services; resources and capabilities; management systems; and external links, seeking to discern strengths and weaknesses. The combined environmental and institutional analysis and their charted results the Company's nature and interactions for more fluid integration of Whole Foods, Inc. into ABC Company.

Body

Environmental Analysis

Analyzing the external forces affecting Whole Foods to see the options open to the Company (ffw.org.ph, n.d.), one can see significant opportunities and threats to the Company.

Political

Whole Foods Market, IP.LP is a U.S. based supermarket specializing in natural and organic foods and having 300+ stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom (Whole Foods Market, IP.LP, 2014). Founded in 1980, it corporate headquarters are in Austin, TX and the majority of its income is derived from U.S. sales (Hill, 2013). Whole Foods' customer base is liberal, though its CEO, John Mackey, is a very vocal, conservative libertarian (O'Callaghan, 2009). The 2014 mid-term U.S. elections giving majorities in both Houses of Congress to Republicans, is deemed very favorable to business and to corporate interests, in particular. For example, Republican tax reform is expected to close corporate tax loopholes but lower corporate taxes (Merrill, 2014). Whole Foods is a non-union employer, choosing to provide good benefits and community to workers rather than entertain the possibility of unionization; consequently, it suffers from external union opposition to its business model (Shaywitz, 2013). In addition, the Corporation was sued by the Attorney General of California in 2008 for knowingly illegally selling carcinogenic products (Baldas, 2008) and in 2014 for deliberately overcharging California consumers (Li, 2014). It appears that the 2008 suit may still be pending; however, Whole Foods agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement for the suit involving overcharging Californians.

2) Economic

Whole Foods' position as a primarily U.S.-based corporation in the retail grocery industry means that it must pay a higher tax rate (sometimes as high as 35%) than, for example, tech industry corporations (Berman, 2013); however, as mentioned above, Republican tax reform is expected to close corporate tax loopholes but lower corporate taxes (Merrill, 2014), which is certainly favorable to Whole Foods.

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In addition, the stock market continues to rise and is predicted to keep rising, which is favorable to U.S. businesses (Merrill, 2014), such as the publicly traded Whole Foods

3) Social

Whole Foods' customer base is liberal (O'Callaghan, 2009) and has reacted strongly to statements by CEO Mackey by boycotting the store in 2009 in reaction to his statement that Obamacare is "socialist" and immediately reacting against his 2014 claim that Obamacare is "fascist" (Kavoussi, 2013) as well as his pro-corporate tax haven assertions (Berman, 2013). Simultaneously, the fact that both Congressional Houses have won Republican majorities in the 2014 mid-term elections bodes well for corporate interests (Merrill, 2014).

4) Technological

Technology has reached the point at which Whole Foods' 300+ stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom are able to obtain and sell fresh organic foods (Cuenllas, 2013); however, technology has not reached the point at which the retail food chain can successfully sell fresh organic foods online. The Company attempted to do so several years ago but failed in that attempt (Shaywitz, 2013).

5) Geographical

Whole Foods is the largest retailer of fresh organic foods, with 300+ stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom (Whole Foods Market, IP.LP, 2014); however, it does not have a worldwide presence at this point.

6) Community Relation

Whole Foods' customer base is liberal, which has been alienated and driven to boycotts of the Corporation at times, primarily due to its CEO's conservative, outspoken views regarding corporate taxes, Obamacare and capitalism (Shaywitz, 2013). Simultaneously, the Corporation has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most socially conscious and environmentally conscious Corporations in America (Whole Foods Market, IP.LP, 2014).

7) Informal Sector Network

There is a strong informal sector network "surrounding" Whole Foods, with a web presence and social media (Whole Foods Market, IP.LP, 2014), local communities benefiting from food donations and….....

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