Whole Foods vs. Whole Amazon
Lena A. McQuary
School of Business, Liberty University
Discussion-Week 4
2.9.23
Author Note
Lena A. McQuary
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lena A. McQuary.
Email: lmcquary@liberty.edu
Define the Problem
“Since the 1970s, companies from emerging countries have also shown rapid export
growth and a corresponding increasing share of the global market for goods and services”
(Losilla, L. V., Engler, A., & Otter, V. (2020). Positive outcomes are not always the case. For
example, both Whole Foods and Whole Amazon have different aspects and goals behind their
business. The case involves two companies: Amazon and Whole Foods. In this case, Amazon is
acquiring Whole Foods in a merger union. Integrating two companies is likely to face conflicts
of interest or a clash of operative cultures. For this case, the key problem is the clash of business
strategies and their outlook. “Amazon has a highly data - driven and centralized approach to its
business decisions, an aspect that significantly clashes with that of Whole Foods” from the text
of (Blanding, 2018). Coming in as the strongest partners, this clash of business strategies
frustrated some of the initial Whole Foods staff. Most Whole Foods customers also felt unhappy
with the changes and launched complaints.
Identify the Causes of the Problem
From the textbook, (Kinicki, 2021) “organizational climate reflects employees’ beliefs
about what they see going on at work and what is happening to them. These perceptions can
range from positive and uplifting to negative and debilitating.” The cause of this problem is
Amazon 's approach to running its business operations and making its business decisions. Unlike
Whole Foods, Amazon mainly focuses on data and data analysis to help them determine the most
appropriate product mixes thus, bring maximum efficiencies to most of their processes. On the
other hand, Whole Foods stores and their employees had great autonomy concerning decisions
on product selection, the different inventories, and how best they could serve their customers.
When Amazon came in, the impact was immediately felt. From surfacing their logos in every
corner of Whole Foods stores to the application of their business operation strategies. Before
Amazon came in, Whole Foods had a status for employee - centrical emphasis where they
permitted their employees to participate in how well the business is succeeded to attain their
goals. This program awarded the national records with the company, obtaining a spot-on
Fortune’s Best Places to Work list for 20 consecutive years. The accolades also promoted their
customers loyalty, allowing them to enjoy the personalized intensive and hands on services. The
merger with Amazon provides to fit for some employees. However, a substantial number found
this to be stressful and negative which in turn, felt demotivated and unappreciated. “The affect
was demonstrated by Whole Foods, dropping from the national listings, (Fortune’s List) in 2018
and again did not make the cut in the following year after” (Blanding, 2018).
Recommendations
As stated in the article, (Blanding, 2018), “The goal of this exercise is for you to consider
the nature of the culture clash between Whole Foods and Amazon, as well as how both
companies can overcome these issues.” Although there was decentralization, the new high -
touch approach had actual benefits for the merged companies. It also identified significant
inefficiencies that Amazon was keen to address. In most cases, acquisitions and mergers are not
always guaranteed to achieve universal acceptability and positive results. This is evident in this
merger. However, despite the differences, the companies still managed to address the issues and,
in the process, achieve some prospects. However, these changes negatively affected some parties
in the long run. Another recommendation, as it is stated in the text, “in a role is a set of expected
behaviors for a particular position, and a group role is a set of shared, expected behaviors for
members of the group. Norms are shared attitudes, opinions, feelings, or behaviors that guide
individuals in group behaviors” (Kinicki, 2021).
After reading this article, it reminded me of the following Bible verse (English Standard
Version Bible, 2020, Philippians. 2:4), “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but
also to the interests of others.” Word count: 663
Reference:
English Standard Version Bible. (2020). BibleGateway Online.
https://www.biblegateway.com/legal/terms/
Kinicki, Angelo (2021). Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach (3rd
ed.). Published by McGraw-Hill Education. New York. Retrieved from:
https://prod.reader-ui.prod.mheducation.com/epub/sn_0c285/data-uuid-
c4b89a1a1ba14924a69b16b16b17fed3
Losilla, L. V., Engler, A., & Otter, V. (2020). Internationalization paths of fruit export companies
from emerging economies: Are they regionally or globally oriented? [Fruit export
companies from emerging economies] International Journal of Emerging Markets, 15(2),
320-343. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-12-2017-0562
Michael Blanding, “Amazon vs. Whole Foods: When Cultures Collide,” Harvard Business
School Working Knowledge, May 14, 2018, https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/amazon-vs-
whole-foodswhen-cultures-collide.
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