Forty-three years ago, Milton Friedman’s famous article, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”, was posted on The New York Times Magazine. The main argument of his writing is well summed in its title. Friedman’s viewpoint, “there is one and only one social responsibility of business-to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits …” (M. Freidman, 1973), has been the orthodox view in modern business world. Nevertheless, John Mackey, the co-founder and CEO of the world’s largest natural and organic supermarket---- Whole Foods Market, publicly disagreed with Friedman. He claims that “the enlightened corporation should try to create value for all of its constituencies” (J. Mackey, 2005). Mackey started Whole Foods Market thirty-four years ago. His philosophy, “create value for all its stakeholders” (J. Mackey, 2005), rooted the base of the business.
“Profit is the means, not end” (J. Mackey, 2005)
The soul of a company is any aspect that key stakeholders view as core, enduring and distinctive. Those identities are usually brought by corporations’ founders at the very beginning----entrepreneurial stage. The Whole Foods Market, with Mackey’s strong stakeholderism belief, has been working on counterculture business paradigm since the start of it. Devoted in value creation for six of their most important stakeholders, including customers, team members (employees), investors, vendors, communities, and the environment (J. Mackey, 2005), Whole Foods Market’s philosophy is graphically represented in the opposite column of shareholderism. Five years after starting the business, five core values of Whole Foods Market were developed by John Mackey and a group of 60 voluntaril...
... middle of paper ...
...et. Harvard Business School Pub.
Mackey, J. (2005, October). Rethinking the social responsibility of business. Journal of Reason, 10, 15-17.
Whole Foods Market. History of whole foods market. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info/whole-foods-market-history
Whole Foods Market. Declaration of interdependence. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values/core-values/declaration-interdependence
Whole Foods Market. Why We’re A great place to work. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/careers/why-were-great-place-work
Zellner, W. (December 06, 1998). Peace, love, and the bottom line: How ex-hippie john mackey built a natrual-foods empire. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1998-12-06/john-mackeys-empire-peace-love-and-the-bottom-line
In a market that is so dependent on nature and agriculture, it is reassuring to see a company that values the recompensing of materials back to the natural world. In order for Publix to remain successful, the company must carry the momentum that founder George “Mr.George” Jenkins originally started in 1930. The morals and philosophies that lie at the center of Publix Super Markets are integral to their success. Mr. George believed that customers and employees should be treated like family, and if their business model continues to accurately portray their core values, then they will continue to be successful. The question that looms over Publix is not “What can we change?” it is “What can we elaborate on?” Publix needs to use their positive image to expand into other communities. Publix is well-received in the public eye to the point that they are considered beneficial to a community. A marketing campaign that focused on bringing positive change to a struggling community through Publix and their charitable campaigns would create a want/need for the super market in new, untapped territory. Publix is lesser known in the Northern regions of the U.S., a nationwide marketing campaign would result in well-received
Comparing my shopping experience at Whole Foods verses Walmart, I have always had positive experiences at Whole Foods. I admit at first I was hesitant to shop there because I thought their prices would be too high or that they wouldn’t have the items I was accustomed to purchasing. My first experience was shopping for lip balm. I was told they sold a brand that didn’t include camphor phenol and that was important to me. Being that I never shopped in Whole Foods before I immediately asked for assistance in finding the right isle. Not only did they direct me, they walked with me and asked what I was looking for, they showed me the product and even gave me useful information regarding the lip balm. Since that day I have been back many times, not only for lip balm but for a variety of groceries and products. Whole Foods staff is pleasant, enthusiastic and extremely helpful. They are well trained on their merchandise as well as customer service and seem to genuinely enjoy interacting and working at Whole Foods. In addition,
The terms “conscious” and “capitalism” are seldom used together; however, John Mackey, the Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, has started a movement known as Conscious Capitalism that has the power to change the way businesses operate. For years, many vilify businesses due to their reputation of merciless methods of earning profits. In fact, the Merriam Webster dictionary defines capitalism as, “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit”. Mackey introduces a new concept and meaning for businesses in his book Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business stating that there is a higher purpose for companies than generating profit. Higher purpose, conscious leadership, conscious culture, and stakeholder orientation are the four key tenants of practice to becoming a conscious capitalist company. After attending the trips on the Dallas Study Tour, I was able to witness how various companies operated and how their cultures were aligned with conscious capitalism.
“There is only one and only one social responsibility of business- to use its resources and engage in activities designated to increase its profits so long as it decides to stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.”
Ciulla, J. B., Martin, C. W., & Solomon, R. C. (2007). Is "The Social Responsibility of Business... to Increase Its Profits"? Social Responsibility and Stakeholder Theory. Honest work: a business ethics reader (pp. 217-253). New York: Oxford University Press.
..., John E., Strickland, A.J. Thompson, Arthur “Whole Foods Market In 2006: Mission, Core Values, and Strategy”, Crafting & Executing Strategy 15th Ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007
To most consumers Whole Foods is known as a chain grocery store specializing in organic and natural foods. Some may go as far as say the name is synonymous with quality. This comparison is the result of Whole Foods’ marketing their brand successfully to consumers demanding their specialized foods. As with any organization, Whole Foods may consider evaluating their strategic objectives and decide if necessary course corrections are needed to reach their objectives and goals. Through a fundamental and technical analysis, I will discuss Whole Foods’ mission, vision, and goals, their competitive environment, and some factors within their strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat analysis. With such data and information I will recommend, if needed, and strategic changes in order to sustain a competitive advantage.
Bibliography:.. Works Cited Friedman, Milton. A. The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Profit. N.P. Santayana, George.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was the dream of a great entrepreneur, Vernon Carver Rudloph. Although, Mr. Rudolph did not invent the doughnut, he definitely improved the process of making the doughnuts and the taste of the doughnuts, with his secret recipe for yeast-raised doughnuts. There are many values, within, this organization that are passed onto employees, and then to customers. The company's shared values include: integrity, authenticity, passion, learning, sharing, and positive expectations. Krispy Kreme is business to produce a top-notch doughnut and share it with the world. Their commitment to being an ethical and social responsible company shows in all they do. Krispy Kreme helped to raise some $43 million for various charities and social causes in their last fiscal year. They do not only say they are socially responsible, they prove they are in their day-to-day operations. I plan to address many issues affecting Krispy Kreme in this case study. For instance, this case study will include discussion of; the growth strategy of the company, identifying ways in which the company can effectively expand using e-commerce, identifying the company?s competitors and discussion of their competitive advantages and disadvantages, how the company uses its production processes to enhance customer relations, and predictions for company?s growth and continued success in the future.
Seawell, Buie 2010, ‘The Content and Practice of Business Ethics’, Good Business, pp. 2-18, viewed 22 October 2013, .
Social responsibility allows for the market system to be centrally controlled by forcing shareholders to unwillingly contribute to social responsibility. While this idea of social responsibility may help companies in the short run, it will ultimately hurt them in the long run. Each person has their own values and responsibilities and “society is a collection of individuals and of the various groups they voluntarily form” (55). Businesses, as Friedman understands, are separate from this society since individuals are the only ones who can hold values and responsibilities. Subsequently, businesses are freed of the need to embed social responsibility into their practices and should focus only on creating the largest profit possible for their shareholders
Schultz, Howard, and Joanne Gordon. Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul. New York: Rodale, 2011. N. pag. Print.
Whole Foods build human capital with a strategic plan of empowering the intelligence and the eagerness to learn of their employees, and the enthusiasm and motivation of their employees. Through building a community of individuals that has a willingness to learn and improve and develop their skills, Whole Foods can increase their ventures into other factors. Their plan of hiring virtuous and sharp operatives ensues their commitment offer ample productivity and excellent customer service. In Joseph H. Bragdon’s article, “Capitalism as a Human System: The Value of Relational Equity,” he insists that organizational leaders that understand the benefit of human capitalism build values that stimulate growth and increase profit (Bragdon, 2009).
Covey & Brown (2001) “the role of business in society has progressed over the years, from being primarily concerned with profit for sharehold¬ers to a stakeholder and community approach with a focus on corporate social responsibility”
The first discussion question posed was, “How does Dr. Friedman characterize discussions on the “social responsibilities of business”? Why (Jennings, 2009, p. 79)? Friedman (1970) characterized the discussions on social responsibilities as one hundred percent unadulterated socialism. Friedman (1970) characterized these discussions in that manner because he felt that a corporate executive should focus solely on making profits and not on social aspects. He mentioned how people who conduct and express themselves in this fashion are positively reinforcing and supporting the actions of individuals that have been weakening the foundational blocks of free society. Friedman (1970) posed a question which was the crux of his 1970 article “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” where he investigated the true contextual meaning of what responsibilities mean to businesses. Friedman describes how businesses cann...