Whole Foods Under Amazon

Dennis  Campbell; Tatiana  Sandino; James  Barnett; Christine  Snively

Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2018 (Revised July 2018)

Whole Foods Under Amazon

by Dennis Campbell, Tatiana Sandino, James Barnett and Christine Snively

Abstract

In August 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. Whole Foods was struggling with high costs and faced growing competition from traditional supermarkets offering more organic products. Prior to the acquisition, Whole Foods began rolling out a new order-to-shelf (OTS) inventory management system that many observers believed had led to shortages. For years, store team leaders at Whole Foods were empowered to make inventory decisions and tailor their stores to meet local needs, but the OTS system, and an increasing number of strict rules for purchasing and displaying goods, upset many employees. Should Amazon push Whole Foods to improve performance by emphasizing efficiency and standardization? Or should it aim to maintain a sense of empowerment among employees?

Keywords: Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Employee Relationship Management; Acquisition; Change Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry;

Language: English

Format: Print

30 pages

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Citation:

Campbell, Dennis, Tatiana Sandino, James Barnett, and Christine Snively. "Whole Foods Under Amazon." Harvard Business School Case 118-074, March 2018. (Revised July 2018.)

In December 2004, Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo announced its purchase of IBM’s PC division. At the time, few industry observers were optimistic about the merger of these entities with seemingly opposite company cultures. How should the two entities plan to integrate?

Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2019 (Revised June 2019)

From Globalization to Dual Digital Transformation: CEO Thierry Breton Leading Atos Into 'Digital Shockwaves' (A)

Tsedal Neeley, JT Keller and James Barnett

Thierry Breton, chairman and CEO of IT company Atos, faced a pivotal juncture. After spending eight intense years scaling the company globally to over 100,000 employees in 70 countries, he was ready to take the next crucial step. Breton was convinced that rapid digital shockwaves would cause transformative disruption and become key to competitiveness for companies, including his own. To take the digital leap, Breton needed Atos to undergo dual digital transformation—defined as redesigning the underlying processes and competencies of an organization to become more adaptive using digital technology, from artificial intelligence and machine learning to the Internet of Things, while simultaneously guiding customers through the same changes. Breton had also struck a high-profile partnership with Google to deliver cloud design and artificial intelligence to customers. But now that the deal had been announced, Atos had to deliver. The firm's top leadership was split on how to equip Atos' large workforce for its digital transformation. In one view, Atos needed to motivate the majority of its employees to voluntarily complete digital certification programs. In another view, on-the-job learning was the best way to train both technical and non-technical employees in the digital skills relevant to their respective roles. Breton had to determine which approach would be the fastest and most effective way of upskilling his workforce to meet the demands of dual digital transformation.

Keywords: dual digital transformation; Transformation; Disruption; Employees; Competency and Skills; Training; Decision Making;

Citation:

Neeley, Tsedal, JT Keller, and James Barnett. "From Globalization to Dual Digital Transformation: CEO Thierry Breton Leading Atos Into 'Digital Shockwaves' (A)." Harvard Business School Case 419-027, April 2019. (Revised June 2019.) View Details

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