Attention Shoppers

Kroger Supermarkets were started in 1883 by Barney Kroger in downtown Cincinnati. Mr. Kroger started his business with the motto: “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” Through the years Kroger has strived to uphold this motto to its customers and to provide great service, the freshest products and expansion to meet the needs of their customer base making it one of the world’s largest retailers. Kroger now has over 2,600 stores in 34 states with $108.5 billion in annual sales. Kroger operates 37 food processing facilities and Kroger was the first grocery retailer to use the electronic scanner.

Kroger’s business principles of service, selection and value were established from the very beginning of for the company (Kroger, 2015). Kroger CEO, Rodney McMullen started as a part-time store clerk and rose through the ranks to become CEO in January 2014 (SEC, 2014). Rodney McMullen tailored Kroger’s mission to “I, you, we make a difference” in Kroger’s sustainability report (Kroger, 2014). Kroger is classified as a retail-grocery store Global

Compensation systems can take on many forms, all of which have positives and negatives related to it. However, certain components are noted to be determinants of solid compensation plans. One agreement of a solid compensation system is the use of incentives. “Clearly a successful companies set objectives that will provide incentives to increase profitability” (Needles & Powers, 2011). Incentive bonuses should be measures that the company finds important to long-term growth. According to Needles & Powers (2011) the most successful companies long term focused on profitability measures. For large for-profit firms, compensation programs should offer stock options. The interweaving between the market value of a company’s stock and company’s performance both motivate and increase compensation to employees As the market value of the stock goes up, the difference between the option price and the market price grows, which increases the amount of compensation” (Needles & Powers, 2011). Conclusively, a compensation plan should serve all stakeholders, be simple, group employees properly, reflect company culture and values, and be flexible (Davis & Hardy, 1999; The Basics of a Compensation Program).

After reviewing the Wilson Brothers Case Scenario, as Director of Human Resources for the organization, what conclusions can you draw with respect to the status of the company’s compensation strategies that are currently in place? What would you do to begin to address this situation? (3 Marks)

Whole Foods leadership is rare in today's corporations, where many corporations are run by an authoritative figure. Mackey has received a $1 dollar per year since 2007 – his suggestion – they have also capped executives salaries. Mackey built the foundation of Whole Foods Market on this leadership style since the beginning. According to Flanagan, "We all have the authority to make a broad range of decisions on our own, but it's extremely rare for any of us to make a decision of any consequence without consulting the full team, or many people on the team," she said. "We just don't do it that way." Shared responsibility and decision-making has been a philosophy at Whole Foods Market from the start and is shared throughout the organization. (Gaar, 2010)

Since it first began in the late 1800’s, Kroger had been a store motivated to expand itsrole in the community. After first starting out by selling grocery items to customers, it began toalso sell bakery items and opened bakeries within the grocery store itself. This was a bigconvenience for the consumer to be able to shop for most of their grocery items within the samestore. The company then set its sights on the meat industry by purchasing several meat marketsand packing plants. This allowed them to provide cuts of meat to their customers so that theydidn’t have to go to another store to purchase meats. Once again, they found a needed serviceand expanded their role to capitalize on it. Over the years, Kroger’s expansion has followed

Kroger’s mission is to be a leader in the distribution and merchandising of food, health, personal care, and related consumable products and services. They envision the company will operate in a way that reflects their belief that the organization levels closest to the customer are best positioned to serve changing consumer needs. The mission and vision of Kroger is socialized and dependent on their employees (Retail Industry, 2012).

A well-articulated compensation philosophy drives organizational success by aligning pay and other rewards with business strategy. It provides the foundation for plan design and administration and anchors current and future plans to the company's culture and values (Kaplan, 2006, p.32). Recognizing and rewarding achievement is the cornerstone of the company A’s compensation philosophy. The mission of the company is to attract, select, place and promote all individuals based on their qualifications. The company believes that performance-based compensation helps attract, develop and retain talented professionals. In addition to base pay which based upon local market conditions and targeted to be above market, the company provides the following types of potential compensation to reward performance:

The Kroger Company uses the broad differentiation strategy. They have business in at least eight different market segments. They operate two thousand, two hundred and fifty-five stores across America and operate under twenty four banners. Their market position ranks among the highest in the nation. They also have a strong bargaining power because of their many endeavors into different market areas. Kroger supermarkets have been in business for one hundred thirty four years and have made a substantial contribution to the business world (Annual report, 2017).

The Kroger Company grew in 128 years from one store to over 3,500 stores of various banners and products. The Kroger Company is the largest food and drug retailer in the United States and is growing constantly with diversity in the retail market, dealing in food, pharmacies, apparel, jewelry and fuel. Kroger is governed by a 14 member Board of Directors including a Chief Executive Officer. Kroger is a leader in Corporate Social responsibility by maintaining environmental consciousness, social awareness and energy conservation awareness. Kroger is committed to customers, builds diversity and focuses on growth. The company operates a large part of it’s own manufacturing and distribution to increase profit

The second compensation package was not well designed nor did it help define what the corporate strategy would be. For a second time the compensation package focused on maximizing shareholder’s wealth and didn’t take into consideration the stakeholder’s position at all. Dunlap’s package was deeply weighted in company options ($3.75M). In fact it was weighted heavier than before. The stock grants were

Whole Foods' utilizes a differentiated strategy, focused on organic and natural foods. This distinguishes them from mainstream grocery competitors, and puts them into competition with other specialized grocery outlets (Urani, 2008). This differentiation, combined with more traditional grocery industry size and operations, gives the company an advantage over most of its competitors.

This strategic analysis of The Kroger Company will take a look at the changing trends of

A major role of this committee is the reviewing of the Company’s compensation strategy. Ensuring that the compensation strategy aligns with their goal to attract and retain high-quality leadership is crucial to the success of The Home Depot. They must make certain that management is awarded the appropriate incentives and rewarded appropriately for its contributions to the growth and profitability of the Company. The Home Depot’s compensation strategy must also align with all of the Company’s objectives and stockholder interests. ("Leadership development &," 2013)

Over the past few decades, the diet and health food industry has become big business. Americans, along with people in many other countries, have become more educated about the benefits of exercising regularly and eating healthy. Whole Foods Market is pursuing a business strategy that strives to offer products that are of the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful and natural foods possible (Whole Foods Market,