Wegmans
1. Wegmans has always been managed by members of the Wegman family. Do you think the company could continue its winning way if the next generation doesn’t want to take over, forcing the company to hire someone from outside the family as CEO? Explain your answer.
The grocery chain is a family-run business founded by John Wegman. If the next generation of Wegman family is not interested in taking over leadership forcing the family-run business to seek an outside CEO, the business would still maintain its winning way. This is due to the fact that family ownership of business does not necessarily make eligible family members to run it. Many other family-run business have thrived under non-family leaders. Indeed Wegmans would benefit more from a non-family leadership because, unlike family members, the individual at the top would bring more objectivity and professionalism by staying off the family’s personal relationship issues.
2. Would the Wegmans approach work for car dealer? A Bookstore? A manufacturer of industrial goods? Explain your answers.
Functions products such as groceries that Wegmans deals in are often highly price-sensitive, translating that negotiations related to supply chain can be fierce. The food markets has thus a competitive model of supply chain, where costs are taken to be fixed, and both the manufacturer and retailer compete via price negotiations to get a larger share of the fixed profit pie. It may be problematic for the Wegmans’ approach to be applied to a car dealer, a bookstore, or manufacturer of industrial goods given that the other industries often use a continuous-repleshment approach where the manufacturer and retailer cooperate in cutting costs across the supply chain, resulting in increase in the size of the pie.
3. How does low employee turnover contribute to Wegmans’ distinct and positive corporate culture?
Indeed the main source of Wegmans’ competitive advantage and leadership in the grocery sector is its people. In its long history, Wegmansa has never laid off workers and lacks a mandatory retirement age. Executives at the company stress that their number one asset is their workers. As relates to the workforce, Wegmans has a unique yet simple model: a happy, knowledgeable and highly trained employee so as to create better experience for customers. This high customer service results in tremendous loyalty. Executive at Wegmans’ ensure low employee turnover by investing in them and focusing on steady, strategic growth given that the company is privately-owned and run. The company resists cutting jobs or shipping their employees to overseas because that would make the company to relentlessly strive to please the stock market at the expense of its most important resource. Wegmans therefore goes beyond its way to treat its employees right to stop them from moving to other firms. The company sends hundreds of staffers on trips around the United States and across the world to gain expertize in their products. The fact that the company runs 79 stores in New York and an additional four in East Coast states, attests to the grocer’s ability to effectively train its workforce and reap significant profits. In addition, Wegmans always part of its profits with its employees. As such, Wegmans boasts of an employee turnover that is half that of its rivals.
