Running Head Whole Foods Market

WHOLE FOOD MARKET

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUESTION NO

1.

QUESTIONS

1.1 Discuss how groups and teams can contribute to

organisational effectiveness at Whole Foods.

PAGE NO

1.2 Provide a detailed description of Self-managed work 5

teams, highlighting its advantages to Whole Foods
2.

2.1 Suggest ways in which managers can improve

effectiveness of communication to overcome any
potential challenges at Whole Foods.

2.2 Explain how group cohesiveness can be achieved at

Whole Foods.
Provide a detailed discussion on Conflict at the
Workplace, highlighting the strategies to manage
conflict.

4.

Critically discuss both transformational and

transactional leadership, making reference to relevant
organisational examples.

16

5.

References

21

3.

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QUESTION 1
1.1 Discus how groups and teams can contribute to organisational effectiveness at
Whole Foods.
In the previous decade world has witnessed an extraordinary change in worldwide
organisational structures. Although there are economic, technological and strategic
advancements that contributed in such a remarkable transformation but the main attribute is
the organisational effectiveness which is generally achieved by organized work and team
efforts. Increase in competition in global market is the key to the emergence of teams and
groups as the primary building blocks of an organisation.
Whole Foods Market Inc. has been the largest natural food vendor in the United States of
America. This company is often cited as one of the most experimental endeavour in
democratic capitalism in the world of business today. There are many companies in US that
talk about team building, group work, team effectiveness, etc but Whole Foods has spent 16
long years in implementing these theoretical concepts of Contemporary management into the
roots of their grand enterprise. It is the strategy of this leading company to undertake new
markets and cut the competitors. The company is based on the ideals of decentralized
teamwork. According to the CEO and Co-founder John Mackey, The Team is the defining
unit of the organisation not the hierarchy. Whole Foods has a total number of 43 stores in
each region throughout the country and they consider each store as an autonomous centre for
making profits. Each of these 43 stores in a region is made up of an average of 10 selfmanaged teams with designated leaders and a proper working target. Every work in this
enterprise is done in groups or teams. Team leaders in each store form a team; the store
leaders in each and every region also form a team and the organisations six regional
Presidents form a team too. These teams are not formed only to promote cooperation among

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the employees but to compete in every aspect with other companies in the market and also
with other teams within the organisation itself. This competition among the teams to outdo
each other contributes to the increase in the organisations quality, profitability and service.
This 65-year-old US enterprise is a place of radical ideas for work and contemporary
management. John Mackey and his team run their company on different terms. The company
gives a sense of democracy with a commitment towards discipline. The main working
principle of Whole foods as stated earlier is what they call ALL TEAMWORK.
Although many scholars distinguish between work groups and work teams but at Whole
Foods there is no such distinguishing between these two.

Teams are nested in an

organisational context and team itself enacts as a context for the team members.
Organisations, teams and individuals everything is bound together in a multilevel system.
Behavioural approach of the team members set the working behaviour of the team. At the
Whole Foods Market, teams may be formed with all new recruits or teams with a previous
history of development may have influxes and outflows of team members which affects its
structure and characteristics. According to Tuckmans classic model of group development Clinical and therapy groups, which provided the foundation for this model, have no prior
history, no broader context, and are almost completely unstructured save for a common goal:
to get well.
The main motive of building working groups or teams is to increase organisational
effectiveness. Organisational effectiveness can only be achieved in any company if the teams
are efficient. The teams in Whole Foods contest against their own goals in sales, production
and growth just to increase the efficiency of the teams thus increasing the efficiency of the
organisation itself. The team effectiveness model of Whole Foods is the main reason behind
the companys reining success.

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1.2 Provide a detailed description of Self-managed work teams, highlighting its

advantages to Whole Foods.
As it has already been discussed in the previous question that Whole Foods has a total
number of 43 stores in each region throughout the country and each of these 43 stores in that
region is made up of an average of 10 self-managed teams with designated leaders and a
proper working target. So the question that arises in a readers mind is What is a SelfManaged Team?
Well, to answer this question one should know that many authors of Contemporary
management have denied the existence of typical Self-managed or Self-directed teams. Yet it
is known to everyone that having a common definition will help in understanding the weight
of the topic. In the year 1990 the Development Dimensions International, the Association for
Quality and Participation, and Industry week defined the Self-managed teams as A group of
employees who have day-to-day responsibility for managing themselves and the work they
do. Members of self-directed teams typically handle job assignments, plan and schedule
work, make production-related decisions, and take action on problems. Members of selfdirected teams work with a minimum of direct supervision. As such, the teams are not quality
circles or cross-functional task groups. These teams are characterized by:

Face-to-face interaction in natural work groups;

Responsibility for producing a definable product;
Responsibility for a set of interdependent tasks; and
Control over managing and executing tasks.

Scholars have different opinions regarding the roles of a Self-managed team. But they all
concur that the responsibilities of a Self-directed team lies in empowerment of the team and
the progression of the skills and qualities of the team members.

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Roles of Self-Managed Team

These roles help in providing a general context within which all work groups in an
organisation can function on a daily basis. Another responsibility of these self-managed teams
is to uphold the principles and values of the organisation along with the personal values of
team members.
In the Whole Foods these Self-managed teams compete to outdo each other in terms of
growth, sales and production and it ensures the profit for the company. Some other
advantages of these self-managed groups are:

Reduction of cost and accountability

Complete focus on the outcomes of the company
Resourcefulness and taking initiatives
Resolving any conflict internally without looking for sympathy from the labour

unions or third parties

Flexibility of roles as per the demand

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QUESTION 2
2.1 Suggest ways in which managers can improve effectiveness of communication to
overcome any potential challenges at Whole Foods.
Communication is viewed as an important aspect in achieving the organisational
effectiveness. By improving the effectiveness of communication in any organisation the
managers can deal with any problems faced by the company as effective communication is a
key term in team building, cooperation among the employees and resolving any conflict
within the company. Authors often compare effective communication within an organisation
with blood flow in human body. The most efficient managers are those who understand the
importance of communication and use it in improving the organisation environment.
As it is known that Whole Foods operate in the form of several self-managed groups so
effective communication within these teams is very essential in order to compete in the
market as well as to outdo other teams and to overcome any challenge posed to the company,
thus achieving the ultimate goal of making profit.
In any organisation the main point in effective management is communication.
Communication is the process of understanding and transferring the meaning.
Communication includes both sending and receiving a message. Communication skills have
great importance in the work area just as they in all areas of life. For most of the professions,
communication skills such as being able to express one or to understand the others correctly
are required for success and satisfaction at least in elementary level. Even though an
organization performs its tasks more efficient than expected, one should know that this
success will not continue so long if it lacks the same efficacy in communication. The success
of communication depends on several factors. Transmission of message by the process of
encoding and decoding the message, which may result in short-term perception, is not
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adequate for the success of communication. Communication should be in such a way that will
give opportunity for the respondent or receiver to task decision with regard to the message he
perceived.

Simple Communication model

Communication is the process of transmission of message from one person to another within
a company. Many mangers regard communication as a sub process that plays an important
role in the organisational process.

Communication Model
Purpose of communication is to initiate some kind of action or process. Whole Foods takes
pride in the fact that they are a company with a mission. They have a very extensive
philosophy of communication, known as their Declaration of Interdependence. It was created
in 1985 by 60 team member volunteers and has been updated in 1988, 1992 and 1997. It
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includes their philosophy on product quality; satisfying customers; supporting team member
happiness; creating wealth through profits and growth; supporting communities and local
involvement; promoting environmental stewardship; recognizing business associates.
The communication in organization is so important that it is said, the first and most important
task of managers that they have to expand communications system in the organizations.
Necessary information should be considered before a decision must be taken. Communication
is considered as the blood vessels that bring life flows and lack of information cause will be
disorder of the heart. In short, without effective communication tasks of survival and it will
not be possible. Communication helps in building the mindset of the employees and it
enables them to trust the management. Communication also helps an individual to trust other
employees. Thus, it can be said that communication helps in binding the management with its
human resource. This is why managers should focus in developing effective communication
so that in time of any crisis both the management and the employees can work side by side
cooperating each other. In order to say a company must overcome the barriers of
communications and should follow the communication models like that of the Johari
Window. A good manager who understands the communication process must be listening to
the team members along with instructing them to work.
2.2 Explain how group cohesiveness can be achieved at Whole Foods.
According to Festinger, Schachter &Back- group cohesiveness is the total field of forces
causing members to remain in the group. In other sense group cohesion is the factor that
attracts the group members towards the ideals held by the group. In any organisation it is
important for all employees to share a common goal which will be for the benefit of the
company. When the employees share a common goal then it promotes a sense of
interdependency among the colleagues; if each member of the group plays their part then

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ultimately the work will come along. A Cohesive working environment is essential for
employee satisfaction and it also invokes a spirit of duty among the employees so that they
come to the workplace prepared and do their job better than the previous day. Lack of
cohesiveness among the work groups creates conflicts and provokes tension and mistrust
among the employees. It is a proven fact that when co-workers dont get along then the work
suffers and the work culture of an organisation gets destroyed. According to the article
published by Tuckman- Understanding the root of group formation, as seen through the
progression of stages, is an important element in maintaining cohesive relationships within
the work place; in fact, the development and maintenance of cohesive relationships within a
given workplace is often and important key to a companys success. Prior to entering into a
group, team members usually differ in many aspects, including personal background, work
ethic, attitude, and commitments. To best ensure cohesion and increase productivity for the
group as a whole, team members must find a common ground.
As it is known that Whole Foods operates by different self-directed teams, so group
cohesiveness is very important for the organisation. The main factor that plays the most
important part in group cohesiveness is trust. Once the trust is established the efficiency of
the group as well the individual performance increases. It promotes connectedness and forms
a close relationship between the co-workers. In the Whole Foods Market the group
cohesiveness can be achieved or maintained by following few steps:

To plan occasional fun activities outdoors like employee picnics etc. It helps an
employee to improve and strengthen the relationship with co-workers. This is
essential especially for the new workers as it will help them to interact and get to

know other employees.

By celebrating the birthdays of the employees as it will be marked as the appreciation
of other employees for a certain employee.

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By arranging New year/ Christmas parties among the employees and to celebrate the
success and appreciate the hard work they have performed throughout the year. It will
strengthen the group thus increasing cohesiveness.

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QUESTION 3
Provide a detailed discussion on Conflict at the Workplace, highlighting the strategies to
manage conflict.
Studies have proven that majority of employees have to face conflicts in workplace in some
form. In an organizational process, the management has many aspects to consider for a
workplace to be harmonious and successful. One of these things that should not be left
unattended is any presence of conflict. Conflict happens when individuals or groups do not
meet their needs and when they do not find satisfaction to their own wants or self-interest.
Conflict can be internal when the conflict is only within the individual; it is external if it is
between two or more individuals or between groups. Some people are not aware of the need
and react negatively toward the situation unconsciously. Some people know what they want
and would work hard at achieving such goal even to the point of going through conflict.
Situations that are triggered by fear, force, sense of fairness, and funds create conflict. In any
type of circumstance, even in a workplace or organization, conflict is inevitable. When there
are differences in background and orientations among employees in working toward a goal,
conflict arises. It is the differences of many aspects such as values, attitudes, needs,
expectations, viewpoints, and personalities that cause conflict in an organization. But despite
the inevitability of conflict, it can be minimized and even resolved when properly dealt with.
Organizational or workplace conflict is rooted from poor communication, weak leadership,
change in leadership, dissatisfaction with management style, and seeking power. For
example, when an employee demands for work recognition such as an increase in
compensation or a promotion, this scenario may cause conflict when the persons interest is
not acknowledged. This is a good example of conflict that is developed because of poor
management style. Disagreement is a common reason for conflict. People disagree on many
things such as contrasting opinions on a certain subject matter because we all have our own
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beliefs and principles. Even emotional differences cause conflict. When it comes to decisions,
even management pushes on individual proposals.
There are 3 elements involved in an organizational conflict: power, organizational demands,
and self-worth. These components must be aptly matched through important organizational
processes and decisions to resolve a conflict. Power is the individuals capacities and means
in getting a goal done. This element uses personal influence, information, and time. Managers
and those in the higher management make good use of power to resolve conflict, making the
members cooperate toward reaching a unanimous decision. But when not used properly,
power can also develop conflict. Organizational demands pertain to the expectations of a
working individual regarding the job performance. There are employees who tend to have
very high expectations of the company for them which can be rather impractical and difficult
for the organization to provide. When these are not met, the person becomes disappointed and
dismayed, leading him to cause conflict through constant disputes and protests on the
processes. Self-worth is the individuals self-esteem or value for oneself. When you work for
a particular organization, you always want to show that you can perform and deliver. An
employee wants to be rewarded and properly compensated for the kind of performance that is
shown. If this is not acknowledged, the person may feel unappreciated for the efforts shown.
The feeling of loss of self-worth may arise in conflict.
The existence of conflict in an organization may have both positive and negative results on
the people involved and the general situation. The outcome depends on how conflict was
handled and dealt with by the people involved. When conflict is efficiently managed, it can
diffuse more serious conflicts. An example of this would be when two groups are in a
disagreement over a certain process, they can be grouped into smaller groups and let the subgroups do brainstorming, so a larger dispute will be dispersed and varying opinions will be
considered. Conflict also stimulates a search for new information and tightens or increases
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unity and performance in a group. An individual or a groups ability to use power or conflict
management skill will also be measured. On the other hand, the existence of conflict may
cause a delay in formulating decisions or resolution especially if it is not managed well.
Although it increases group cohesion, it still becomes a hindrance in the smooth flow of
carrying out the job.
Conflicts in any workplace can be resolved by following the steps enlisted below:

Understanding the situation. Some situations are not exactly as they seem to be or as
presented to an individual by others. Before trying to settle the conflict one must

insure to have investigated both sides of the issue.

Acknowledging a problem is a big issue. It resolves many problems. It should always
be kept in mind that ones small problem can be a big issue to someone else. So

acknowledging the frustration and anger is a big step.

Act immediately. Conflicts do not go away. Unresolved conflicts can lie dormant for
days, weeks or months, only to explode on another occasion. Avoiding conflict is one
of the main causes of claims being made against an organisation. Workers that make
claims often feel that no one has listened or done anything to resolve the conflict.
They feel they have no choice but to seek the help of professionals. Unresolved
workplace conflicts can quickly impact on workplace climate or culture (in smaller
organisations). Whole teams are quickly affected as conflict spreads and other
employees become involved. Productivity, performance and workplace relationships

are impacted quickly when conflict takes hold.

Negotiation. If people start freely negotiating at during conflicts, they should not be
interrupted. This is the chance to sit back and listen. If they get stuck at any stage,
then it is the managers duty to try summarising what they have achieved so far and
remind them of the agreements they have reached.

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The satisfaction of all the conflicting parties should be ensured. One should check in
with each person that they feel heard and have had their needs met to some extent.
Explanations must be given to people at the outset that resolution is often about
meeting their most important needs, not all their needs, helps with setting up realistic
expectations.

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QUESTION 4
Critically discuss both transformational and transactional leadership, making reference
to relevant organisational examples.
Leadership is probably one of the most important terms used in management. This is due to
the fact that leadership contributes to the welfare of the organisation. Several theories have
and are being put forward to explain leadership effectiveness. Two of the most prominent
leadership theories are Transformational and Transactional leadership theories. Since the late
1980s, theories of transformational and charismatic leadership have been ascendant. Versions
of transformational leadership have been proposed by several theorists, including Bass.
Though most authors believe that transformational and transactional leadership is totally
different in aspects but some consider that they augment each other.
At the Whole Foods Market, they believe in conscious leadership which binds both
transformational and transactional aspects. John Mackey, CEO and Co-founder of Whole
Foods wrote in his new book that Conscious business requires conscious leadership.
Conscious leaders are motivated primarily by service to the firms higher purpose and
creating value for all stakeholders. They reject a zero-sum, trade-off-oriented view of
business and look for creative, synergistic win-win-win approaches that deliver multiple
kinds of value simultaneously.
According to Robins and Coulter - A transformational leader is a person who stimulates and
inspires (transform) followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes. He/she pay attention to the
concern and developmental needs of individual followers; they change followers awareness
of issues by helping them to look at old problems in a new way; and they are able to arouse,
excite and inspire followers to put out extra effort to achieve group goals. Transformational
leadership theory is all about leadership that creates positive change in the followers whereby
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they take care of each other's interests and act in the interests of the group as a whole. The
concept of transformational leadership was introduced by James Macgregor Burns in 1978 in
his descriptive research on political leaders, but its usage has spread into organisational
psychology and management with further modifications by B.M Bass and J.B Avalio.
Transformational leadership motivates the employees in organisation by enhancing their
performance. These include connecting the follower's sense of identity and self to the project
and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires
them and makes them interested; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their
work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align
followers with tasks that enhance their performance.

Elements of transformational leadership

The transformational leadership have multiple weaknesses. They are:

Ambiguity is underlying its influences and processes. The theory fails to explain the
interacting variables between transformational leadership and positive work
outcomes. The theory would be stronger if the essential influence processes were
identified more clearly and used to explain how each type of behaviour affects each
type of mediating variable and outcome.

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Overemphasis of the theory on leadership processes at the dyadic level. The major
interest is to explain a leaders direct influence over individual followers, not leader

influence on group or organisational processes.

Rationale for differentiating among the behaviours is not clearly explained. The
partially overlapping content and the high inter-correlation found among the

transformational behaviours raise doubts about their construct validity.

Like most leadership theories, transformational leadership theory assumes the heroic
leadership stereotype. Effective performance by an individual, group, or organization
is assumed to depend on leadership by an individual with the skills to find the right
path and motivate others to take it. In most versions of transformational leadership
theory, it is a basic postulate that an effective leader will influence followers to make
self-sacrifices and exert exceptional effort. Influence is unidirectional, and it flows
from the leader to the follower.

On the other hand, transactional leadership which is also known as managerial leadership
puts focus on the role of supervision, organisation, and group performance; transactional
leadership is a style of leadership in which the leader promotes compliance of his followers
through both rewards and punishments. Unlike Transformational leadership, leaders using the
transactional approach are not looking to change the future, they are looking to merely keep
things the same. These leaders pay attention to followers' work in order to find faults and
deviations. This type of leadership is effective in crisis and emergency situations, as well as
when projects need to be carried out in a specific fashion.
With the context of Maslows hierarchy, it can be said that transactional leadership puts the
maximum stress on the lower levels of hierarchy. Transactional leaders are concerned with
processes rather than forward-thinking ideas. These types of leaders focus on contingent
reward or contingent penalization. Transactional leaders use reward and punishments to gain

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compliance from their followers. They are extrinsic motivators that bring minimal
compliance from followers. They accept goals, structure, and the culture of the existing
organization. Transactional leaders tend to be directive and action-oriented. Transactional
leaders use reward and punishments to gain compliance from their followers. They are
extrinsic motivators that bring minimal compliance from followers. They accept goals,
structure, and the culture of the existing organization. Transactional leaders tend to be
directive and action-oriented. Within transactional leadership, there are two factors,
contingent reward and management-by-exception. Contingent reward provides rewards for
effort and recognizes good performance. Management-by-exception maintains the status quo,
intervenes when subordinates do not meet acceptable performance levels, and initiates
corrective action to improve performance.

Difference between Transactional and Transformational leadership

Transformational and Transactional leadership theories represent bold attempts by researchers
to explain the nature and effect of leadership. Both theories have their various strengths and
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weaknesses However, the influence of situational variables on leadership outcomes within

the context of both styles of leadership should not be ignored. From the analyses of strengths
and weaknesses of these two leadership models, it is clear that more empirical work still
needs to be done to gain clearer understanding of these two concepts.
Transformational and transactional leadership principles can largely affect an organization.
Specifically, it is considered that if a good transformational leadership principle is enacted
throughout an organization it is visible to the outside through things such as employee
motivation and personality towards customers. This is important for World Foods Market
because of the type of atmosphere they are trying to create inside their stores. Using the
model of good transformational and transactional leadership could help solving the
constraints and give another reason to customers to shop at World Foods Market and not at
one of its competitors who is offering a substitute product.

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REFERENCES
1. Alderfer, C. P. (1977). Group and intergroup relations. In J. R. Hackman & J. L. Suttle
(Eds.), Improving the quality of work life (pp. 227-296). Palisades, CA: Goodyear.
2. Ancona, D. G., & Caldwell, D. F. (1992a). Bridging the boundary: External activity
and performance in organizational teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 634665.
3. Bennis, W. and B. Nanus. (1985). Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge.
4. Schein, E. H. (1992). Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: JosseyBass Inc., Publishers).
5. Bateman, T.S., and Snall, S.A., 2002. Management, McGraw-Hill Higher Education,
5th.
6. McManus, J., 2006. Leadership: Project and human capital management,
Butterworth Heinemann.
7. Bass, B. M. (1996). Anew paradigm of leadership: An inquiry into transformational
leadership. Alexandria VA: U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and
Social Sciences.
8. Judge, T. A. and Bono, J. E. (2000) Five-Factor Model of Transformational
Leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology. Pp 751 765
9. The Consumer Capitalist, Mackey John.

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