The emotional intelligence of Mackey
Mackey’s behavior towards the employees customers and the stakeholders can depict the level of his emotional intelligence. On the part of employees, he presents himself to be in support of them yet he does not want them to be involved in trade unions because he understands well the consequence of such a move. His intelligence is also demonstrated to the customers whom he has managed to maintain because he values them than any other asset in the business. As a sign of his loyalty and commitment to reducing costs of running the business, he denies himself the pay and demonstrates to the rest that his involvement in work is not motivated by money but the desire to see things being done in the correct way. This strategy is used to impact emotionally on the employees and realize why they should work hard to see the business succeed. The fact that he uses love to maintain the very people that he oppresses using his capitalist system is in itself an emotional intelligence. At Whole Foods he has made use of women to change the shopping and buying patterns of Americans. The strategy that he adopted to impact on the emotional aspect of the customers through respect and courtesy has earned the business good reputation and more profits that he has enjoyed. This is intelligent in the sense that it has earned him more sales due to the increase in the number of shoppers who visit his store and even recommend it for new customers. This indicates that Mackey is highly intelligent emotionally and that is why he is successful in his position.
Goal setting and performance
In terms of goal setting and performance, Mackey would score highly because he has managed to achieve a lot of success in his strategies. Firstly, by increasing the number of women in leadership positions in the business, this has achieved the goals he set.In the motto of the company, it is clearly states on what the business intends to achieve in future. This is supposed to b propelled by customer satisfaction which has been set in every day activities of the business. Mackey has set high quality standards of products in the business that meets the needs of the consumers. The high quality products are meant to offer high value to the customers as he explains. This is because the customer is the number one stakeholder in the business. The goals set on the quality of the products are focused on specific aspects of the products for instance the ingredients, freshness, nutritive value, taste, safety and appearance. Once this has been identified, it is easy for the teams to achieve the quality and performance goals. Great performance in the business is marked by the increase in the number of customers and the resulting sales volumes. Mackey has adopted an open minded and less restrictive approach to deal with customer needs. There is even mention of going to the extremes to satisfy the customers through high performance products.
Leadership model
Mackey best presents a democratic leadership model. This is because from his stand point it is clear that he understands the fact that the future of the business needs all the stakeholders who include customers, team members, stockholders, community and the environment. He therefore recognizes the role and contribution of each and every stakeholder towards the business. He states that all the stakeholders need him and he has to strike a balance between all of them to ensure their satisfaction. In his words he mentions striking a balance between the interests of the various constituencies and stakeholders so as to create a win win scenario. Based on hi stand point, it is vital to mention that, he cannot just come up with decisions affecting the business without consulting all the stakeholders. This means that all the people are involved in the management process and he just provides leadership and direction where necessary. This shows that Mackey is committed to the spirit and ideals of democratic leadership.
Dimensions of self managed teams
The concept of self managed teams presents itself in the Whole Foods business.
The teams have been formed through the leadership of Mackey and are self sustaining as they work towards achieving their goals. All the team members are committed towards their activities as demonstrated by the fact that they are intelligent and have directed all their energies towards the teams. There is no discrimination with the wages of the team members and this is one factor that keeps the members focused together in achieving their targets. Members believe in the value of their work because they are in a position to see from the success where all their efforts go to and what they are able to achieve.The teams promote motivation amongst themselves and this is crucial towards personal development and performance by enhancing the potential of each and every team member. The teams do not limit the heights to which an individual can reach and it does not matter how long an individual member has been working for the company.
Teams are independent and there are no interference from the Top management.
All the activities of the teams are taken care of by the members and the spirit of togetherness is greatly emphasized. The autonomy of the teams is a clear indicator that the teams are self-managed by the employees.
The goals of the teams are straight and are worked on collectively. This is illustrated in the way all the team members are committed to quality products and customer satisfaction in the business.
Ethical concepts/principles that guide Mackey and Whole Foods Markets
First of all the ethical issues concerning the marketing strategy of the business which is focused on the customer. The business believes in respect and understanding of the customer. This is because customers are humans and they have feelings and therefore the products that are sold to them have to meet their feelings by satisfying their needs in terms of quality. The business, therefore, respects the wishes and needs of the customers by creating products that are of high quality and value for the customer’s money.
Customers are the ones who drive the teams into action in the business. Indeed without customers, there would be no motivation to achieve objectives. There is a strong relationship between the business and the customers because both of them are dependent on one another for mutual benefits. This is a concept that maintains the business to high standards. Consumer satisfaction is a concept that has been effectively utilized by the business to create customer loyalty. This is because customer satisfaction means that they can express their loyalty and recommend the products to new consumers.
References
Hellriegel & Slocum Organizational Behavior Edition: 12th ISBN: 0324578725