Crafting and Executing Strategy Essay

Develop an argument supporting the importance of a strategic plan for the success of the defined business. For the success of the defined business, in this case for Whole Foods Market, the importance of a strategic plan is unquestionable. In Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases Arthur A. Thompson, Jr., A.J. Strickland III, and John E. Gamble (2009) state that â€Å"a company’s strategy is management’s action plan for running the business and conducting operations† (p.6). They go on to further explain that a company’s strategy is all about how management intends to grow the business, how it will build a loyal clientele and outcompete rivals, how each functional piece of the business will be operated, and how performance will be boosted. Any organization without these defined â€Å"how’s† cannot succeed because all aspects of the business would be out of sync and could potentially take action that would be counterintuitive to the success of the company as a whole. If Whole Foods Market’s strategy (outlined below) didn’t fit the company’s situation, didn’t help the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, or result in better company performance, than the overall strategy would come up short and need to be re-evaluated to meet the needs of the business to drive success in these three big areas. Whole Foods Market’s strategy focuses on being America’s healthiest grocery store, seeking out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintaining the strictest quality standards in the industry, and having an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. All of these pieces make up the Whole Foods Market’s strategic plan for its day-to-day operations in all aspects of the business, and without all of its employees being clear on this it would fall apart and not be the success that it is since its inception in 1980. Create a mission statement for the company explaining how the mission will be essential to the company’s success. Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble state that the mission statement for any organization is essential to a company’s success because â€Å"†¦it represents the company’s present business purpose and reasons for existing, and sometimes its geographic coverage or standing as a market leader† (pg 28). The mission statement for Whole Foods Market is a good example of this due to providing customers and potential customers what Whole Foods Market is now and how they function as an organization. Whole Foods Market’s mission is to be known for selling the highest quality of natural and organic products available, for satisfying and delighting their customers, supporting team member excellence and happiness, creating wealth through profits and growth, supporting communities and encourage local involvement, promoting environmental stewardship, acknowledging all business associates, and operate with balance and integration. All of these boil down to one fact†¦ that Whole Foods Market intends to grow, and that today’s growth is just the beginning of tomorrow’s development. If Whole Foods Market didn’t have a mission statement clarifying exactly how they want to be portrayed in the food retail industry, then any current or potential customer would never know the type of business they were dealing with. The drive to be a leader in the organic and natural foods industry, and for every single â€Å"team member† to be a part of that drive, is an indicator that the organization values its standing in the industry and has a trusted staff invested in its own success. This is used as a lure for customers to want to do business with an organization that prides itself on being the best in the country. Whole Foods Market states that â€Å"our customers are the most important stakeholders in our business†¦ we want to meet or exceed their expectations on every shopping trip. We know that by doing so we turn customers into advocates for whole foods† (WholeFoodsMarket.com). The more customers that promote their experiences and happiness with Whole Foods Market, then the more they will want to continue to do business with them and potentially grow with the company as a whole and help more and more customers become a part of the Whole Foods Market customer base. Create a vision statement for the company explaining how the vision statement supports the company’s mission. Thompson, Strickland, and Gamble state that â€Å"a strategic vision delineates management’s aspirations for the business, providing a panoramic view of ‘where we are going’† (p.25). They go on to say that a strategic vision can only function as a valuable management tool it must do two things – illuminate the company’s directional path, and provide managers with a reference point for making strategic decisions and preparing the company for the future. Whole Foods Market’s vision statement is its Declaration of Interdependence: â€Å"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 Food Market. Our motto – Whole Goods, Whole People, Whole Planet – emphasizes that our vision reaches far beyond just being a good retailer. Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer satisfaction, Team Member excellence and happiness, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of the environment, and local and larger community support. Our ability to instill a clear sense of interdependence among our various stakeholders (the people who are interested and benefit from the success of our company) is contingent upon our efforts to communicate more often, more openly, and more compassionately. Better communication equals better understanding and more trust.† (WholeFoodsMarket.com) This vision statement supports Whole Foods Market’s mission because it brings out to the open for all of its team members a lighted patch to take to drive the success of the business, both on a small and grand scale. Because the vision provides a purpose to all team members it highlights that Whole Foods Market is known for being a leader in the organic and natural food industry, and it also provides a roadmap to everyone employed within the company with the big-picture plan on how to succeed at continuing to be a leader within the industry. Establish five (5) key objectives for the company encompassing operational, financial, and human resource aspects of the business and justify why each of these objectives is essential to the success of the business. Whole Foods Market has six (6) key objectives that encompass operational, financial, and human resource aspects of the business, and each of them are essential to the success of the business currently and for in the future. The ten key objectives are: (1) quality standards, (2) organic farming, (3) seafood sustainability, (4) animal welfare standards, (5) caring for communities, and (6) Whole Trade guarantee. Each of these objectives fits within either the operational, financial, or human resource aspect of the business, and each of them plays an important role in the success of the organization as a whole. Whole Foods Market’s goal operationally and financially is explained in each of the six objectives in more depth because they explain how Whole Foods Market will operate day-in and day-out to perform as a company†¦ the types of standards being used to the types of the types of products being used, as well as how giving back will even help the company operate in the long run and into the bottom line. Each of the six (6) key objectives listed by Whole Foods Market is essential to the success of the business because they outline exactly how the business will be functioning in its everyday interactions with all of its customers, even demonstrating how future decisions and actions taken by a team member will drive their own personal/business success along with the success of Whole Foods. The Whole Foods Market brand thrives on being known as a leader in the organic and natural food retail industry, and by making it known to the public how it will drive customer experiences for future growth it gains even more customer loyalty. This subsequently drives the bottom line for any successes it has achieved as well as plans to achieve in the future. Justify how the five (5) key objectives established support the mission and vision statements of the company as defined by management. The six key objectives listed above for Whole Foods Market supports both its mission and vision statements because it outlines in depth how the company as a whole functions to drive its desire to be a market leader within the natural and organic food retail industry and utilize all of its resources (from locations to team members, etc.) to ensure the organization’s success is not just financial gain. The company prides itself on its customer service and ability to provide excellent products and services to its customers because its customers are what will continue to allow Whole Foods Market to do what it loves to do best. References Thompson, A. A., Strickland, A. J., & Gamble, J. E. (2010). Crafting and executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage: Concepts and cases: 2009 customer edition (17th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill-Irwin. Whole Foods.  © 2013 Whole Foods. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info