1. Alysia Chevalier
Anqi Li
Elaine Wang
Serena Li
Vicky Sun

2. INDUSTRY DEFINITION
 The Supermarket and Grocery Stores industry
makes up the largest food retail channel in the
United States.
Primarily engaged in
retailing general lines of
food
products, including
fresh and prepared
meats, poultry and
seafood, canned and
frozen foods, fresh
fruits and vegetables
and various dairy
products.

3. THE PRIMARY ACTIVITIES OF THIS INDUSTRY

4. KEY EXTERNAL DRIVERS
 Per capita disposable income
 External competition
 Population

5. INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE
 Revenue $ 494.6bn
 Annual growth 06-11 0.4%
 Annual growth 11-16 0.1%
 Profit $9.9bn
 Businesses 63,239

6. BUSINESS LOCATIONS 2011

7. BARRIER TO ENTRY
 Capital intensity----medium
 Product differentiation----low
 Distribution network and licenses----hard
to get

8. MARKET SHARE AND OTHER COMPANIES
The Kroger Co. 1.5% 1.0%
3.5% 3.5%
Supervalu Inc. 3.5%
15.5%
Others ( Walmart. Fresh &
Easy, Mom&Pop grocers)
8.0%
Safeway Inc. 6.5%
Publix Super Markets
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.
Delhaize America Inc
Whole Foods Market Inc.
57%
Aldi Group

9. INTRODUCTION
 #1 organic retailer in the world
 Established in
1980, Austin, Texas
 Operates more than 300 stores
in the United States, Canada and
the United Kingdom with 54,000
global employees
 In 2010, produced a 12%
increase in sales to $9.0
billion, and 84% increase in stock
market
 On Fortune Magazine’s list of the
top 100 companies to work for
13 years in a row and currently
ranks number 24

10. SWOT ANALYSIS
• Strong revenue growth • “Weak” international
• Focused growth operations
strategy • Conservative
• Wide product international policy
portfolio • Word of mouth
• Local farming and advertising
fishing market ties
Weaknesse
Strengths
s
Opportunities Threats
• Higher demand for •Increasing competition:
organic products Traditional grocers
• Labeling and other
• Expansion in the UK regulations
• Growth in private label • Slowdown in the US
products economy

11. CORE VALUES
 Selling the highest quality natural and organic
products
 Satisfying and delighting customers
 Supporting team happiness and excellence
 Caring about the community and environment
 Creating wealth through profits and goals
 Creating ongoing win-win partnerships with
our suppliers
 Promoting the health of our stakeholders
through healthy eating education

12. COMPETITIVE STRATEGY-DIFFERENTIATION
 The Price Difference
 Lowering Prices: The “Whole Deal”
 Community and Environment
 Human Resource Department
 Team Members
 Partnerships

13. CORPORATE STRUCTURE
Decentralized Centralized

14. STORE STRUCTURE
• Human Resources
Support • IT
Staff • Marketing
• Accounting
• Store Team Leader
Managers • Assoc. Store Team Leader
• 11 departments each
with :
• Leader
• Associate Team Leader
Staff • Team Members

15. RECRUITMENT OVERVIEW
 Method: centralized and decentralized
 Proposed: college recruiting, formal employee
referral program, structured interview, job
knowledge and intelligence tests
 Goal: more applicants, higher quality
applicants, and lower costs resulting in a better
workforce
 Evaluated: Retention rates, time for
promotion, number of qualified applicants per
position, cost of program relative to
benefit, performance of new team leaders

16. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
 Mission
 Believe employees are the most valuable resource
and do everything to ensure they are motivated and
successful
 Provide a great work environment to give them the
best chance to develop and succeed as team
members in any part of the company
 The knowledge is obtained through
 classroom training
 articles related to the field of organic foods
 online through the Whole Foods University
 mentoring program

17. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
 New team member orientation
 Department-specific training
 Product knowledge training
 Customer service training

18. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
 "Green Mission" training
 recycling and composting at Whole Foods
Market
 Benefits training
 preparation for enrollment
 being a wise health care consumer
 Whole Foods Market University
 Career development programs

19. WHOLE FOODS MARKET UNIVERSITY
 self-paced courses and video vignettes
 Introduction to Organics
 Dietary Supplements and the Law
 Introduction to Quality Standards
 Gain sharing for Team Members

20. CAREER DEVELOPMENT
 Classes or trade shows, ESL
resources, books or magazine
subscriptions related to the business
 Working with existing team leaders
 Attending leadership development
classes
 “Buddy” leadership training

21. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
The goal =
Staff members + Intrinsic value of
bettering their communities > the Money
they earn

22. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
And How?
 Team responsibility for failures and successes
 The financials and all meeting notes open to employees
 Regular team meetings for creative ideas development
 On site HR
 Rewards and recognition for successes:
Profit sharing for teams / store competitions
Employees who are actively involved in community service
 Transferring/ “store opening” encouraged
 Stores promote from within whenever possible
 Transparent pay system

23. TEAM CONTROL
 Orientation Period 30 – 90 days and
Team Vote
 The criteria used :
 positive job performance
 adherence to policies and
procedures, excellent customer service skills
 teamwork

24. COMPENSATION
All jobs in a class are paid the same rate.
Salary caps of 19X average Store team leaders
In-store 20-30% discounts
Stock options Associate store team leaders
Chosen benefits package
Seasonal sales bonuses Specialized store support
Department team leaders $20-25/hr
Associate team leaders
Specialized team members
Team members $10-15/hr

25. ON SITE HR
Conducts surveys:
 salary and compensation surveys
 interviewing and recruiting surveys
 business outlook
 employee workplace behavior surveys

26. SUCCESSION PLANNING
 Career development programs targeted to: are team
members, associate team leaders, team leaders and
associate store team leaders who are interested in
promotion.
 ”Team Leaders" not traditional ”Managers.”
 Rotational hands-on learning during training
 Verbal, written, media materials to improve
leadership styles and skills.

27. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATION
Skills
group
practice
building
case study

28. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDATION
Kirkpatrick
Model
Results Reaction
• Level 4 • Level 1
Behavior Learning

29. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATION
Specific, self-setting goals
Multiple levels
Incentives for individuals

30. Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet
Questions?