Whole Foods Human Capital

Managers can accomplish more through people by viewing them as self-energized, committed, responsible, and creative human beings. Theory Y Human Capital The productive potential of an individual's knowledge and actions. The Social Capital, Productive potential resulting from strong relationships, goodwill, trust and cooperative effort. Corporate Social Responsibility The notion that corporations have an obligation to constituent groups and society other than stockholders and beyond that prescribed by law are union contract.

John Mackey the CEO of Whole Foods states that they want their employees to be happy because happy employees make happy customers and happy customers will refer people to the place of business there for bringing more customers

(Kreitner & Kinicki, p30)
1. What role, if any, does McGregor’s Theory Y play at Whole Foods? Explain
In my opinion, I would say Whole Foods falls in the second theory in McGregor's Theory Y because Mackey stated “I think business enterprises are like any other communities. They can aspire to the highest values that have inspired humans throughout time. You can use different value models...” I interpreted this as they feel the employees and/or person in general are self-motivated to do things and .history itself prove this. Whole Foods hires people that are well-trained who flourish in their workplace because they are happy with their jobs. Whole foods creates a conducive environment in which their employees will continue to develop and flourish which is the main objective of the firm.
2.

How does Whole Foods build human and social capital?

Mackey stated he believe that the hiring process is essential for a company to flourish. By hiring good employee that will enjoy their work and feel like they matter to the company, they will be a good investment to the company. Also by making the work environment comfortable for everybody, the .social aspect will come natural. Human Capital: Share visions, shared goals, teamwork, trust, mutual respect, and volunteering. Social Capital: Is necessary for the good of the organization for knowledge, sharing, and networking.

According to whole foods, they hire individuals and train their members to be highly Knowledgeable in a specific product or service area (e.g., prepared foods, meats and poultry, customer service). Team members report to a team leader, who then works with store management, referred to as store team leaders. These team members operate much differently than most "employees" in retail grocery outlets. These team members work together with their team leader to make a number of decisions with regard to their specific areas, and they contribute to store level decisions as well. In the social aspect Whole Foods Market emphasizes the importance of sustainable agriculture. Whole Foods tries to support organic farmers, growers, and the environment by a commitment to using sustainable agriculture and expanding the market for organic

products

3. How does this case bring the profile of the 21st century manager (Table 1–3) to life? Explain
Some managers in the 21st adapted the style of the win win solution as Mackey stated. By making good managers that view employees as equals and show support for them overall, employees will more likeness enjoy working. This idea would benefits managers by making the best and comfortable .employee which will make them more productive. Management's job is to make sure they hire good people and make sure they are trained well. A happy team member means happy customers which is a Win-Win situation.
Whole Foods is a cooperative business they strive for win-win situations. For example as stated above if the employees are happy, the customers are happy and that results in passing the word along. The end result is usually more business. Whole Foods refers to their employees at team members, they compensate based on skills and results. The team members are a critically important part of the Whole Foods operation (Whole Foods).
4. Where would you locate Whole Foods on Carroll’s global corporate social responsibility .pyramid in Figure 1–3? Explain
I would say that Whole Foods would be located at the Philanthropic Responsibility level which is the high level because of Mackey's zero sum game or at the top of the pyramid following every criterion. Mackey stated that what’s needed for a company is to adopted social justice in which everyone gets an equal slice of the pie. This avoids the idea that one individual getting the larger piece and everyone else getting the smaller which cause lower morale in employees.
5. Which of the seven moral principles in Table 1–4 appear to be in force at Whole Foods? Explain
The Common good would be a good moral principle for Whole Foods because they are trying to making the best outputs for their managers, employees, and customers which was mentioned by Mackey when he mentioned the zero-sum game. He stated that he wants everyone to win with fewer .losses rather than have a select few win and a lot losses. All the seven principles namely:
Dignity of Human Life; this refers to respecting the dignity of human race regardless of age or race. Human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Whole Foods Market’s success is closely related to an ethics of virtue. Oliver Williams describes an ethics of virtue as “assuming that being human entails living in community and developing certain virtue or skills required for a human life with others” (Williams 23).
Loyalty; the loyal customers to the business always gets rewards through points or free gifts.
The common good; Whole food and whole people create a common good providing the best services and products to its customers.
Fairness; Whole People means the people they hire are passionate about healthy food and a healthy planet. They take full advantage of the decentralized, self-directed team culture and create a respectful workplace where people are treated fairly and are highly motivated to succeed. Whole Planet means they are committed to helping take care of the world around us, and their active support of organic farming and sustainable agriculture helps protect our planet. Whole Foods also assists their global neighbors through the Whole Planet
Honesty; Whole foods creates an honest environment, the customers are satisfied, everyone is served according to their capability thus creating trust which is very important.

6. What appeals to you (or does not appeal to you) about working at Whole Foods? Explain
What appeal to me about working at Whole Foods is the caring and supporting of the employees rather than just expecting them to do their job? Many jobs that I have seen and worked at only care about making sure that you are doing your job and that's it. To see that managers and employee are selected and .trained to support one other shows the stability of the company as a whole.