Outputs Diagnosis

Onward to the next project: Outputs of Whole Foods Market. As I indicated before, this is a follow-up using the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model.

We need to analyze how Whole Foods Market, has been doing in terms of its performance, how it stacks up against its goals. And we need to do this at three levels: the overall organizational level, the group level, and the individual level. The Congruence Model really explains this very well. If you are not up to speed on this model by now, you need to get there.

The executives want to know how congruent the outputs are across the three levels. So given your analysis of performance at each of the three levels, are the interactions of these outputs congruent – highly, somewhat, or very little? I need you to make this determination and support it with a good logical argument using the information that you obtain about Whole Foods Market’s goals and performance.

REQUIRED READING:

Nadler, D.A. & Tushman, M.L. (1980) A Model for Diagnosing Organizational Behavior. Organizational Dynamics, 9 (2), 35-51.

CASE 4 ASSIGNMENT:

Use the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Module to analyze Whole Foods Market’s outputs. Start with the Organizational Level. Identify the Outputs – what does it produce and sell? What are its goals? How has it been performing? Then go the group level. What are some groups that Whole Foods Market identifies, and the goals and performance of these groups. Finally, discuss the Individual level. Here you will find it difficult to get much detailed information, so identify five to seven key jobs and their outputs. How can the performance of these jobs be measured? Finally determine the congruence of the outputs and make a strong argument for your case.

KEYS TO THE ASSIGNMENT:

In order to make your case you need to identify the outputs of the organization at each of three levels. Also identify the goals that it has set and its current performance. Include the following:

Outputs at the organizational level are the products and/or services that it provides to its customers. What are these and how does the company categorize them? How does it measure its organizational perfomance (e.g., sales, net profit, return on sales, return on assets, market share, customer satisfaction, etc.) Provide some specific performance data.

What are some ways the company identifies groups? For example, are there geographic groups (or divisions), functional groups, etc. What are the outputs of these groups? How does it (or how might it) measure performance of these groups?

What are some of the key individual functions, and what are their outputs? How do these outputs contribute to the group outputs? How do they measure individual performance?

Evaluate how the outputs at the different levels interact with each other. Determine if you think the congruence of the outputs is high, medium, or low. Then Make a strong Case. It is very important that you support your position with evidence and information that you have discussed earlier in the report.