Trader Joe's Case Study

Trader Joe’s is a company that many fellow corporations aspire to be because of their ultimate success. But how did Trader Joe’s get so successful? Trader Joe’s success built from their understanding that a good team can only succeed if that have a good leader, as in leader I mean manager (which is one of the duties managers are suppose to be on top of). Managers are taught to comply with the four functions that make up the principles of management. These four functions are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. One could say that if a manager does not follow this guideline

For Trader Joe’s, they are able to demonstrate the importance of each responsibility in the management process by establishing a plan to serve quality products with natural ingredients, inspiring flavors, and buying direct from the producer whenever possible,. They also organize their stores to limit its stock, carrying about 1,500 to 2,000 products compared to retail mega-markets with 25,000 to 45,000 products. Through leading, Trader Joe’s support their future leaders by hiring managers only from within the company. Future leaders enroll in training programs called, Trader Joe’s University that foster in them the loyalty necessary to run stores according to both company and customer expectations. Lastly, Trader Joe demonstrated the responsibility in controlling by placing standards to sell natural based ingredient products, as well as striving to offer the highest quality type foods.

Trader Joe’s is in the broad market of grocery retailers, a market where the top 10 revenue-generating companies accounted for over $360 billion in sales in 2011. This market is saturated with supermarkets (Publix and Kroger), large discount retailers (Wal-Mart and Target), premium retailers (Whole Foods and Fresh Market), warehouse clubs (Costco and Sam’s Club), and “hard discount” retailers (Dollar General). With this large variation in grocer strategies, the market is heavily penetrated and competition is fierce. Supermarkets are continually losing market share in grocery sales (51 percent in 2011 as opposed to 66 percent in 2001) as players like Wal-Mart and Costco continue to generate more revenue. Although the supermarket share is decreasing, the overall grocery market is steadily increasing as the population of the United States increases. People always need to eat, so there will always be a

Second, greater expansion could lead to increased standardization and bureaucracy across the company. Trader Joe’s thrives off the creativity of their employees, even to the extent that each store is free to organize products however they see fit and each store has unique signs created by employees. Trader Joe’s trusts their employees and gives them much freedom in how they interact with customers and conduct themselves during work, but this creativity and freedom could be crippled because of expansion. Also, bureaucracy could increase as the company increases because it becomes harder from the executives to control the direction of the business with such a loose grip on each store.

Trader Joe’s has successfully separated itself from its competitors and will continue to remain successful as their organizational culture values their employees and customers. Trader Joe’s has continually kept prices down, and offer one-of-a kind products while simultaneously keeping their customers and employees happy. Overall, customers want to build relationships where they shop and feel important, something Trader Joe’s has nailed the head

Trader Joe’s is a leading firm that is taking over the supermarket industry. The company completely altered the idea of a traditional supermarket and turned it into a whole new experience for consumers. Through Trader Joe’s strategic planning, they’ve paved a way for consumers to have high-quality products while paying low prices. Trader Joe’s provides fewer products that are health-conscious, unique and privately labeled. Trader Joe’s has utilized this, secrecy, employee job satisfaction, culture and starting trends to its advantage. Within its industry companies are divided into different strategic groups. Aldi, similar Trader Joe’s strategic planning, is apart of the cultured-discount neighborhood market. This firm continues the low-stock, less-waste, small store, and low price method. A Walmart express used a hybrid strategy that made it a cross between a grocery, pharmacy, and convenience store. Tesco is the third that falls with small neighborhood markets strategy and focused on organic products, similar to Trader Joe’s. As the company grows and expands, there is caution in change of Trader Joe’s processes. With growth, there comes new management and employees which can alter the way a specific store is ran and there is worry of change in the stores normal procedures. Change that doesn’t follow the process could ultimately result in a downfall, so this can be considered a key challenge to watch in the future. Increased bureaucracy is additionally a

Market Basket opened the first store in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1916, and almost one hundred years later, the family owned and operated company has expanded its chain to seventy one supermarkets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. By all accounts, the grocery store chain has been very successful, generating four billion dollars in revenue in 2012, and making a profit of over 200 million. (Kohn, S. 8/1/2014 Market Basket Workers are Right; Retrieved from: www.wcvb.com) However, a change in leadership has brought on a temporary demise of the company, providing evidence that a great leader is the backbone upon which an organization thrives.

Managers within the Trader Joe organization have to identify whether the technique, skills or training for the crewmembers are impactful to the continued success of the business. Trader Joe’s has a Leadership Development Program where employees are “allowed to make their own decisions about store operations, including product mix and in-store displays” (Lewis, 2005, para. 33). A crewmember who is responsible, knowledgeable, and friendly is what makes the company excel over other like businesses such as Whole Foods or Albertson’s. Trader Joe’s is utilizing contingency thinking because the business has incorporated an environment where employee opinions are respected, and with the employees’ happy the customer is also happy.

Trader Joe’s is a neighborhood grocery store chain which was founded by Joe Coulombe in 1967. It started as one store in California in 1967 and has grown to be 414 stores in 38 states as of July, 2013. As of 1979, It is privately held by German grocer Theo Albrecht, owner of Aldi North. Consumer Reports ranked Trader Joes the second best supermarket in the US in 2012.

In what ways does Trader Joe’s demonstrate the importance of each responsibility in the management process- planning, organizing, leading and controlling? They have created their own University for future leaders. By controlling who they promote, only within the company, and planning room for advancement from the day you become an employee shows the value they take in their staff. For example, imagine you start as a cashier and it’s your first day on the job. It can bring great comfort knowing that your manager started in exactly the same role. Not only provides management with the ability to relate to their employees but also the employees to look to the manager’s leadership and mentoring for success.

availability of substitutes 1, and the threat of retaliation from incumbents (by lowering price, for

Trader Joe’s has internally created a brand for its company using a different strategy as compared to other supermarkets. Its approach of effective relationship-building program pleases customers through unrivaled customer service. This case study presents many factors that play a part in their customer relations strategy. Trader Joe’s does not focus on advertising. Rather, it focuses on effective internal communications with employees to build strong customer relationships. Trader Joe’s takes a progressive approach to internal communications by allowing their employees to bring their own creativity to the workplace, by providing them with the context in which their role contributes to the business success, and asking for employees

Publix Super Market. Describe the type of business market, its business share, financials, size and global presence.

Currently I am employed with a company that some may say is the 'melting pot' of diversity. Working for Corporate Safeway, now Albertsons-Safeway, I can appreciate how judgement free the environment is in our work place. They are open to hiring minorities, LGBT, (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender), disabled veterans and that's just to name a few. Hiring a staff that is of many different cultures, nationalities and belief backgrounds is a great way to show the awareness of diversity. I am a true believer that a great business starts at the top. If management can provide their employees with the skills and knowledge of working in a diverse setting this will lead to a steady and smooth work environment. Knowing how to properly and correctly carry yourself is the first step in working with the different variety of customers or co-workers you may encounter.

Whole Foods Market (WFM) was founded in 1980 as a single local grocery store by John Mackey for natural and health foods. By 1991, WFM had 10 up-and-running stores with revenues of about $92.5 million in United States Dollars (USD), and a net income of about $1.6 million in USD. In 1992 WFM became a publicly traded company with its stock trading on the NASDAQ. By 2006 Whole Foods Market had progressed into the world’s largest retail chain of natural and organic foods supermarket. As of September 2007 WFM has 276 stores up-and-running. 263 of the stores are located throughout 37 of the U.S. and the District of Columbia. 7 of the stores are in Canada and 6 in the U.K.