Cultural awareness and public engagement are essential practices for the survival of today’s organizations. They enhance a company's profitability, staff retention capacities, and their ability to contribute to society. The following is a description of Whole Food's strategies to enhance its cultural awareness and civic engagement strategies.
Cultural Awareness
The rapid trends in globalization imply that nearly all organizations across the world operate in highly diversified populations. Today's workforces comprise individuals of different cultural backgrounds. Additionally, many companies interact with consumers and members of the public with varied cultural inclinations. This situation provides firms with excellent opportunities to broaden their views and understanding of different cultures. Cultural diversity also facilitates the exchange of business and management ideas from different parts of the globe. However, the multi-ethnic condition presents companies with new sets of challenges. Inter-cultural conflicts, most of which are non-intentional, usually arise among members of staff and between companies and their consumers as well as the populations that they serve. Cultural awareness will help me prevent or solve such problems and facilitate an atmosphere that incorporates and encourages learning from other cultures.
Cultural awareness has been defined as one’s state of understanding and appreciating the culture-based dissimilarities that exist between themselves and persons of other backgrounds (Baltes, Collins, & Hernandez, 2015). Researchers have identified several ways in which organizations can promote cultural awareness within their units and the public. They include bridging communication gaps, encouraging good manners, and being attentive to ethnic differences (Baltes, Collins, & Hernandez, 2015). Whole Foods intends to increase its engagement in particular activities oriented at improving the level of cultural awareness within and outside the organizational context.
Culture awareness strategies will be implemented at an employee, consumer, and public levels. Regarding workers, the company plans to introduce classes for training employees on the value of global citizenship. Such sessions will include a broad range of elements including basic inter-culture etiquettes, marketing skills for diversified populations, and the integration of minority populations. Particular emphasis will be put on techniques for narrowing communication barriers and unintended misunderstandings.
At consumer levels, Whole Foods will endeavor to pay special attention to minority and foreign customers. The company will initiate strategies for increasing the integration of such population categories into their practices through such activities such as foreign assistance programs and customer desks for foreign citizens. Finally, at the public levels, Whole Foods will increase its efforts to promote the culture of the societies within which it operates, especially in foreign lands. Activities aimed at realizing this goal include the recognition of traditional lifestyles such as food and dressing as well as well as participating publicly celebrated days.
Civic Engagement
In addition to cultural awareness, social scientists and scholars in the field of ethics have always viewed civic participation as a central component of a healthy and productive society. The American Psychological Association [APA] (2017) defines civic engagement as any activity by an individual or a group of persons that concerns public issues. Indices for measuring civic participation include political systems, membership in communities, as well as public involvement in the decision-making processes of influential groups such as government agencies and education systems.
Several activities have been identified as constituting civic engagement most of which involve joint community efforts to participate in political and non-political actions (APA, 2017). Civic engagement can be of various forms including voluntary actions, community works, and the democratic election of leaders. At the business level, civic engagement encompasses the need to promote employee unity, employee-manager understandings, value-based culture, and employee assistance programs. Whole Foods will develop strategies for enhancing public participation in their programs. For example, it will stimulate initiatives for forming partnerships with various community-based institutions such as learning centers, environmental groups, and human right activists. The company will endeavor to keep open communication lines with its partners. Whole Foods will also focus on efficient utilization of public resources such as water sources. The firm will also increase its engagement in various employee and community assistance programs.
Expected Outcomes
Commercial institutions have a significant influence on the lifestyles and decision-making processes of the societies that they serve. Business activities, whether honest or scrupulous, have been blamed for the social and economic problems facing many societies today including inflation, poverty, environmental degradation, health problems, moral issues, and political upheavals. Due to the growing intensity of such problems, today's consumer is highly conscious of the need for companies to engage in socially responsible practices. Many organizations respond to the new shifts in consumer behavior by implementing strategies that aim at giving back to the community. Organizations that endeavor to incorporate societal needs in their policies have attracted public support and experienced an improved brand image.
Cultural awareness and public engagement will present Whole Foods with a wide range of advantages and business opportunities. For example, the company will attract increased public approval. Studies have shown that organizations that engage in public participation and cultural awareness programs attract improved customer and public support (APA, 2017). Such approval will be valuable in enhancing Whole Food's celebrated brand. An increased brand image will drive the firm's profitability and growth to higher levels and will improve its competitive advantage.
Government and many privately-sponsored agencies expect business organizations to uphold the rights of the citizens of the lands within which they operate. Companies that fail to adhere to these requirements are likely to encounter legitimation challenges and legal issues. Public engagement provides corporations with excellent opportunities to learn and subscribe to general and industry-specific legal and social needs. In specific, many food and grocery products have attracted disapprovals from government agencies, health societies, rights activists, or the government. Public engagement will minimize Whole Foods' chances of engaging in many legal and societal battles.
Cultural awareness will also be a significant force in increasing staff motivation. Employee motivation is vital for staff retention. In the age of increased information and emphasis on employee rights, many companies across the world find it difficult to keep their employee, and high turnover rates have been frequent occurrences in many workplaces. Many employees cite low satisfaction, poor pays, deprived workplace conditions, and the absence of work-life balance as their reasons for quitting (Jena & Pradhan, 2017). In specific, inter-worker conflicts have been noted to have direct impacts on employee motivation (Jena & Pradhan, 2017).
Alignment with Mission, Vision, and Values
A company’s vision, mission, and values play critical roles in communicating these goals to all stakeholders. The two elements are essential tools through which a firm formulates its operations into declarations that are concise and easily transmissible across its communication platforms. They are valuable in providing direction along which the company should move. Mission and vision statements also stimulate a sense of commonality in purpose among the various stakeholders.
The extent to which an organization’s values, mission, and vision stimulate growth depends on the degree to which the firm aligns its goals, objectives, and practices with the stated mission, vision, or core values. Whole Foods’ efforts to promote cultural awareness and civic engagement align well with its vision, mission, and core values. The company’s vision and mission statements are highly comprehensive and cover nearly all aspects of its business practices. The firm’s mission and vision statements play critical roles in achieving these goals by driving its growth and current position in the health food and grocery markets. The company’s mission statement dictates its goals and the activities in which it engages while the vision statement provides with a strategic direction.
Whole Foods’ vision highlights the company’s desire to expand its public engagement beyond the seller-buyer relationship. In addition to focusing on the value of enhancing consumer satisfaction, the company’s vision statement, emphasizes its commitment to participate in community support, stakeholder independence, communication, environment management, population health, and employee support. All these aspects for promoting cultural awareness and civic engagement. For instance on forming partnerships with different organizations that promote social welfare will be fundamental in enhancing its commitment to community support. Additionally, the firm’s emphasis on integrated citizenship will be valuable for enhancing effective communication across the various stakeholders. The special attention to minority and foreign populations will ensure that the needs of all stakeholders, especially employees and customers, are met irrespective of their social backgrounds.
Whole Foods’ mission focuses on four key areas: quality products, excellence, adherence to standards, and stakeholder welfare. Like its vision, the firm’s mission statement focuses on promoting population health by producing food products that cause minimum harm to consumers and the environment. The combined impacts of the vision, mission, and value statements define the firm’s strategic choices, goals, and the approaches it uses to access the market. Whole Foods also focuses on developing quality products that meet most consumer needs. The company's approaches to cultural awareness and civic engagement will be essential in meeting these objectives. For instance, open communication will ensure that the company understands and meets the needs of every stakeholder. Additionally, the firm's emphasis on promoting traditional lifestyles will be an influential force in improving the health status of its consumers and the welfare of the general community.
Effects on Profitability
Like all companies, Whole Foods aims to position itself as a global leader in its market segments. Increased cultural awareness and civic participation will be a significant force in driving While Foods' performance and profitability. For instance, as noted above, many companies experience alarmingly high employee turnover rates. Even though many job losses are involuntary, many other instances are voluntary. Whether a job loss is voluntary or involuntary, any prolonged unemployment reduces the productivity of the country's workforce significantly (Extremera & Rey, 2016). In this regard, the goal of a company is to ensure that it keeps its employee turnover rates at low levels.
In addition to individual and national impacts, studies have revealed various disastrous effects on high employee turnover rates on the success of the affected organizations. High turnover rates increase operation costs, lower profitability, and destroys a firm’s reputation. According to Organization Science (as cited in Kesavan & Kuhnen, 2017), losing a worker who receives an hourly wage of $8, may cost a retail store between $3,500 and $25,000. The figure is likely to vary with factors such as the employee’s role, wage, or the industry wherein the firm operates. Factors that contribute to high expenditure rates include lost sales, training and reduced productivity. Additionally, the management has to facilitate advertisements for the vacant positions and the interview process.
All these factors contribute to putting pressure on a company's profitability. By engaging in a cultural awareness program, Whole Foods will keep a motivated workforce and eliminate the costs associated with high turnover rates. A motivated workforce will also be instrumental in improving employees' innovative capabilities, which will contribute to profitability.
Additionally, the improved brand image associated with increased civic engagement and cultural awareness will be valuable for attracting and retaining customers. Increased consumer and attraction will retention ensure that high-volume customer flows are maintained, a situation that will lead to increased sales and profitability.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards
Over the last few decades, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increasingly gained popularity and importance in all regions of the world. CSR has been defined as a combination of organizational practices that demonstrate a firm’s awareness and sensitivity to social and environmental concerns emerging in business activities (Werre & Marrewijk, 2003). CRS represents a range of transactions a corporation’s obligation to give back to the society or communities that support its existence. Various elements of cultural awareness such as employee recognition, sensitivity to the environment, and the responsible exploitation of natural resources contribute to a company's social responsibility practices.
Whole Foods is likely to derive several intrinsic and extrinsic rewards if it implements the civic engagement and cultural awareness initiatives in its CSR program. At the intrinsic level, the company will be in a position to reduce the instances of workplace conflicts that may arise due to cultural misunderstandings. Civic engagement will enhance the welfare of the firm’s employees by ensuring the company integrates the views of staff members in major decisions.
Externally, increased civic engagement will ensure that the views and opinions of the community are included in the company’s practices. Such integration will be instrumental in minimizing community-business conflicts. Whole Foods will be able to participate actively in the management of various social problems such as racial and ethnic-related clashes that may result from cultural differences. The company's efforts to promote cultural tolerance will be instrumental in fostering political stability in its operation bases. Enhanced political stability will be fundamental in driving the company’s profitability and sales.
Summary of the Outcomes
Whole Food will endeavor to promote cultural awareness among its employees, consumers, and the public. Strategies for improving cultural awareness will include regular training on the value of global citizenship, special attention to minority and foreign customers, and emphasis on the promotion of indigenous cultures. Whole Foods will also create mechanisms for increasing its engagement in civic obligations. Intended approaches to increase public participation include forming partnerships with various community-based institutions such as learning centers, environmental groups, and human right activists. The company will endeavor to keep open communication lines with its partners and increase its engagement in various employee and community assistance programs.
The expected outcomes of such initiatives include increased public approval, enhanced brand image, and minimized business-community conflicts. The company will also be able to enhance employee motivation levels and reduce its employee turnover rates. The combination of such outcomes will improve the firm’s profitability and chances of survival.
References
American Psychological Association (2017). Civic Engagement. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/civic-engagement.aspx
Baltes, B., Collins, C, & Hernandez, D. (2015). Increasing cultural awareness through a cultural awareness program. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 5(1), 1–20. doi: 10.5590/JERAP.2015.05.1.01.
Extremera, N., & Rey, L. (2016). Attenuating the negative impact of unemployment: The interactive effects of perceived emotional intelligence and well-being on suicide risk. PLoS ONE, 11(9), e0163656. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163656.
Jena, L. K., & Pradhan, R. K. (2017). Employee performance at the workplace: Conceptual model and empirical validation. Business Perspectives and Research, 5(1), 69-85. doi: 10.1177/2278533716671630.
Kesavan, S. & Kuhnen, (2017). Demand fluctuations, precarious incomes, and employee turnover (Dissertation). University of North Carolina.
Werre, M., & Marrewijk, M. (2003). Multiple levels of corporate sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 44(2–3), 107–119. doi: 10.1023/A:1023383229086.
