Essay on Whole Foods Market's Tipping Point

Whole Foods Market started off as being Safer Way natural grocery store in 1978. However they were not

On “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell discuss different concepts that explain the sudden spread of a product or idea. Gladwell explains that this sudden and instantaneous spread is very similar to an epidemic. Gladwell uses the examples of fashion trends, the success of a book, the decrease of crime in New York City, smoking and the increase of suicide rate. To explain “the three rules of the Tipping Point, the law of the few, the stickiness factor and the power of context” (29) influence how a trend, product or action takes off as an epidemic. In the power of context Gladwell introduces a different way of being a connector. That one person can connect to many groups (173) and that small groups have the potential

In February 2000, Malcolm Gladwell’s famous composition was published, named The Tipping Point. He states that social epidemics are disseminated by a special small group of people, such as mavens and salesmen, and they gradually become conventional wisdom. However, in 2013, Jonah Berger indicates that conventional wisdom is incorrect, and that more crucial than the messenger is the message in his book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Moreover, Berger proposes six ingredients that can promote the message to become more contagious, which is summarized into the acronym, “Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, and Stories (STEPPS)” (Berger, 2013).

Whole Foods Market was involved in merger with Wild Oats in 2007 and has started to expand by purchasing small natural food chains, including North Carolina’s Wellspring Grocery, Bread & Circus out of New England, and Mrs. Gooch’s in California. The Federal Trade Commission tried to block WFM’s acquisition of Wild Oats, and the difficult process led WFM to lean more heavily on opening more stores instead of buying existing ones (Whole Foods takes over America).

“Starting epidemics requires concentrating resources on a few key areas. The Law of the Few says that Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen are responsible for starting word-of-mouth epidemics,

Whole Foods Market, Inc. was founded and created by four business people in Austin, TX during 1980. The founders opened Whole Foods Market because they wanted a supermarket that offered natural foods. This company was able to be successful because at the time they opened there were less than half a dozen natural food supermarkets in the United Sates. In 1984, they build stores in Houston and Dallas, they then moved to New Orleans, and eventually to the West Coast. A major part of Whole Foods growth has come from the many mergers and acquisitions with companies that have occurred throughout the years. The mergers and acquisitions gave Whole Foods’ even revenues to move to the East Coast.

Recommendation Whole Foods Market was the pioneer and leader of the organic and natural food sector for many years. The company had established their initial success due to a broad differentiation strategy. Unfortunately, large conglomerates consisting of Kroger “a best-cost provider” and Wal-Mart “a low-cost provider” have been able to provide the same unique goods and service as Whole Foods Market, while staying true to their respective competitive strategies. In result, making the organic and natural food sector a possibility for people of all socioeconomic classes. Due to the emergence of competition, Whole Foods Market is under extreme pressure from outside forces and will seemingly never return to their once prominent position.

For Whole Foods Market the attention and customer satisfaction it is

In his book “The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference,” Malcolm Gladwell (2001) indicates the power of intelligent action and the potential of little changes are responsible for starting epidemics. These epidemics occurred, according to the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The law of few affirms the influence on communication. That connector, maven, and salesman each has its ability to conjoin, collect, and cajole; they distribute information globally. The stickiness factor refers to a technique that allows information to stick in the minds of society. Moreover, he acknowledges how repetition and direct information bring success to Sesame Street. Last, the power of context stresses that not only human reactions are responsible for epidemics, but also the environment’s elastic. Gladwell, intelligently, collects the secret keys to successful business. To capture customer’s attention, to hire the perfect leaders, and to invest in the firm’s future, Whole Food Market enlarges its potential market even when large chain retailed competition increases.

There are currently 1.3 million people living in Munich, and their population consists of 23 percent immigrants (Official Website for the

One would place Whole Foods Market at the top of Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid where the focus is philanthropic responsibility. This pinnacle is where an organization has achieved peak performance on Carroll’s Pyramid and are performing as good global corporate citizens (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). Whole Foods Market is doing what is desired by global stakeholders and fulfilling their philanthropic responsibility (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). Placing a marker for Whole Foods Market at the top of the pyramid implies that the three supporting levels economic responsibility, legal responsibility, and ethical responsibility have been satisfied (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). This echoes Carroll’s belief that total corporate social responsibility is recognized by the sum of all the pyramid’s parts (Geva, 2008).

Connectors are defined as individuals who have connections in a lot of different zones and act as passages in the center of them, aiding to encourage relationships, connections, and “cross pollination” that or else might not have ever happened. Mavens are people who have a solid urge to help other regulars by assisting them to make knowledgeable choices. Salesmen are people whose uncommon personality permits them to be exceptionally convincing in persuading others’ buying choices and actions. The accomplishment of the tipping point that changes a singularity into a significant trend usually requires the involvement of a number of influential kinds of people. In the disease epidemic

The owners, Michael Gilliand and Libby Cook, lacked experience in the natural/whole foods market and the first store got off to a slow start. However, with consumer’s peaking interest in wholesome foods produced in an earth-friendly, responsible manner, sales soon increased and the company experienced rapid growth from 1991 through 1999. Even though they have remained

Whole Foods Market began in 1970 as a local supermarket. Over the past 31 years, Whole Foods Market has grown from a single store in Austin, Texas, to becoming one of the worldwide leaders in providing consumers with natural and organic foods. They have grown to over 300 stores in both North America and the United Kingdom. (Whole Foods Market, Inc., 2011) This report examines the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market has put into place. Also, it uses past financial data to provide an assessment of the condition of the company going forward. Those assessments include recommendations of future actions, along with concerns I have about the way the company is currently operating and some difficulties that may be on the way.

This book report discusses the best seller nonfiction book, “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. This book is an interesting read to understand the science of epidemics in all areas of life. The author various examples to elaborates as to how small actions at the right time, in the right and with the right people can create a tipping point for a product/service. For instance, Hush Puppies ‘tipped’ in 1993, when a few fashion-forward hipsters from Soho New York started wearing the failing brand again. A chain reaction was triggered through this small event, which cascaded though the US increasing sales and creating a word of mouth epidemic. Gladwell explains three point plan of how any brand