1. Whole Foods is a natural and organic foods retailer started by John Mackey and Renee Lawson in 1978. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Today it operates 456 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom and employs approximately 93,000 employees.

The mission statement of Whole Foods Market is:

"A dynamic leader in the quality food business. We are a mission-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food retailers. We are building a business in which high standards permeate all aspects of our company. Quality is a state of mind at Whole Foods Market."

The company's core values include a focus on the following: selling the highest quality natural and organic products available, satisfying, delighting, and nourishing our customers, supporting team member excellence and happiness, creating wealth through profits and growth, serving and supporting our local and global communities, practicing and advancing environmental stewardship, creating ongoing partnerships with our suppliers, and promoting the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating education.

The company has a variety of key strengths that it can leverage to achieve a competitive advantage in the future. First, it maintains a strong emphasis on the highest quality standards for all of its food and health products and customer service. Second, Whole Foods enjoys a strong brand reputation as being a good place to work as well as a great place to shop. Finally, the company has developed a highly motivated workforce that believes in its mission, is engaged, and is team oriented.

In terms of Whole Food's external environment, there are some additional key opportunities that are noteworthy. First, the company could export its business by opening retail stores in other countries. It could also expand its supply chain to a global level in order to obtain the highest-quality products for its customers. Finally, it could attempt to modify its pricing strategy to be more competitive with the growing number of retailers that are getting into the natural and organic foods market.

Whole Foods also places a strong emphasis on being an ethical and socially responsible company based on its core values of serving and supporting local and global communities and sustainability. The company's statement of its philosophy regarding sustainable agriculture includes the following principles:

We respect our environment and recycle, reuse, and reduce our waste wherever and whenever we can;

We are committed to greater production of organically and bio-dynamically grown foods to reduce pesticide use and promote soil conservation;

We reduce waste and consumption of non-renewable resources. We promote and participate in recycling programs in our communities. We are committed to re-usable packaging, reduced packaging, and water and energy conservation.

We encourage environmentally sound cleaning and store maintenance programs. In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods. So only time will tell how Amazon will change Whole Foods.

Questions

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

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

3. Describe the organizational culture at Whole Foods.

4. What does Whole Foods do to support being an ethical and socially responsible business? 

5. Do you agree with Whole Foods' emphasis on being socially responsible and ethical in how it does business? Why or why not?

6. Is it a good or bad idea for Whole Foods to lower the quality standards for its food items so that it can reduce prices and potentially broaden the appeal of shopping there to a wider range of consumers?