Lesson 4: The Institutionalization of Business Ethics
The commitment of Whole Foods to corporate values has contributed to its success because of various reasons. To begin with, the company is fully focused on meeting the needs of its customers as its top stakeholders. The company does this by incorporating its core values throughout the stores. These core values comprise an emphasis on providing customers with healthy and organic food, quality over quantity, the happiness of their customers, and support to local communities (Esmaeili et al., 2020). These aspects are the driving force behind Whole Foods’ success in recent years.
The “declaration of interdependence” of the company forms a major part of the business operations, which significantly influences the company’s core values (Parkhurst et al., 2021). These operations have become part of Whole Foods’ business. Additionally, the company collaborates with its partners, for example, their suppliers, to ensure the entire business agrees with its core values. As a result, the company has succeeded in generating profits, and grow in American communities daily.
Describe how Whole Foods’ adoption of a stakeholder orientation has influenced the way it operates.
Because of how Whole Foods engages with the general public (potential customers), the company has a huge population of stakeholders. Whole Foods has adopted a plan for stakeholder orientation, which focuses and puts interest on all their stakeholders’ needs comprising their employees, and the community surrounding the stores throughout the country (Arora-Jonsson et al., 2020). In turn, the company comprises three primary stakeholders. As stated previously, their first set of stakeholders comprise employees and customers. The next group of stakeholders is combined with the stakeholders. For instance, the group of stakeholders such as their foundations, farmers with which the company receives food, and special groups is termed as stakeholders in the company. All this adds up to Whole Foods’ quest to ensure all its business operations and plans all align with its stakeholders’ interests (Parkhurst et al., 2021). The company believes that giving a voice to its stakeholders is better off and more profitable in the long run.
What are some ways that Whole Foods might have neglected certain stakeholders in the past?
Various ways indicate Whole Foods may have neglected certain stakeholders in the past. One of these stakeholders is employees. For instance, Whole Foods discouraged the formation of unions within the company. Here, the employees may have been denied the benefits of collective bargaining agreements with employers (Piest & Schreck, 2020). At the same time, the health insurance coverage for employees was not generous and fair in the past. Another stakeholder possibly neglected in the past is customers.
For example, when Whole Foods acquired Wild Oats, its biggest competitor, the customers were potentially denied advantages of competitive prices through competition. Again, not all products sold to customers from the Whole Foods outlet were healthy and organic following the CEO’s admission (Arora-Jonsson et al., 2020). Customers suffered in such scenarios. Lastly, the community is another stakeholder that may have been neglected. For instance, when expansion involved acquiring small rivals like Wild Oats, the communities around Whole Foods stores were potentially present (Piest & Schreck, 2020). The community had no option, but to patronize massive chains like Whole Foods whose products were deemed expensive. Again, when large chains such as Whole Foods moved into a community inevitably impacted smaller retailers.
Task 4 Business Leaders often say that there is a Shortage of Skilled Workers
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