Trader Joe's Keeps Things Fresh

Trader Joe’s Keeps Things Fresh

Review Questions

1. Trader Joe’s is basing its management practices on a solid understanding of human behavior in organizations. The “crew,” employees, of Trader Joe’s share a loyalty for and dedication to Trader Joe’s through their outgoing personalities. This likely makes for strong teams in the workforce. Trader Joe’s job description highlights soft skills like “ambitious and adventurous, enjoy smiling and have a strong sense of values.” Because the inventory is constantly changing, employees have the opportunity for lifelong learning about new products. The company also values their employees and rewards them in ways that are goo for them and for organizational performance over the long term. Trader Joe’s employees earn almost 20 percent more than at other competitors. Starting benefits also include medical, dental, and vision insurance; company-paid retirement; paid vacation; and a 10 percent employee discount. The organizational culture of Trader Joe’s seems to fit a specific type of employee – outgoing individuals who like to work with people in a casual setting, but are also experts about the products they sell. This probably leads to high job satisfaction for employees who enjoy this atmosphere. A weakness that the current approach may have is its avoidance of media. In the world we live in today media and especially social media is an ever growing marketing and promotional tool – as well as a source of both positive and negative public relations. It may be wise for Trader Joe’s to get a better grasp on how it handles media relations in the future.

3. Hazel needs to take into consideration the diversity of the team, the culture of Trader Joe’s, and the organizational climate. It would be important to note the generational differences that may be present between members of the team, as well as any gender, race, ethnic, able-bodiedness, or sexual orientation differences. Hazel will get the best relationships with...