Whole Foods Case

Whole Foods Case

On August 12, 2009 the Wall Street Journal featured a piece by John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods. This piece was titled “The Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare” (Mackey, 2009, p. A15). In his op-ed piece John Mackey gave examples of how Whole Foods employees are provided with health insurance and proposed a reform of health care. Mackey wanted “less government control and more individual empowerment”. In his article Mr. Mackey urged Americans to make better choices and lead a healthier lifestyle. He also idealized the IRS making it possible for people to make a tax-deductible donation to aid in supporting health insurance for people who are without. Mr. Mackey’s views on the topic sparked quite a bit of controversy due to the fact that it somewhat bashed the popular Obamacare initiative. This backlash led to a widespread boycott of Whole Foods and many debates.

The very well-known Milton Friedman, whose public image is defined as a widely respected economic idealists (Krugman, 2007), shared his views on John Mackey's beliefs and the Whole Foods Discussion. There was an interesting exchange of thoughts between Mr. Mackey and Mr. Friedman on the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility. Milton Friedman’s famous quote “The social responsibility of a business is to Increase its profits” (Krugman, 2007), was his sticking point in the matter. Friedman feels that an organization should focus solely on maximizing profits for the investors. On the other side of this debate is John Mackey, who feels “that to merely focus on the quantifiable would be to miss many of dimensions along which human happiness and value exists, and would in fact constrain his company’s ability to deliver value to a broader set of stakeholders” (Rodgers,2005). Mr. Mackey thinks caring about customers and employees is vital to a successful business.

There is most definitely a risk for business executives when they become involved in social and political issues. John Mackey simply stated his views in an article and provoked a backlash from union leaders, socialist, and boycotters. Luckily for Mr. Mackey and his company, he does have some supporters who feel strongly about his