Firm+Analysis+Part+5

//__ #5 the firms issues from multiple stakeholder/functional perspectives __// Trader Joe’s, like all other firms, is made up of different functional groups that contribute various kind s of input s toward its end-service. The input comes from both internal and external sources and the firm has many different kinds of stakeholders. Amongst the internal stakeholders are the employees and the shareholders, whereas the external stakeholders would be its customers/consumers and the communities within which it operates. Because of their differing standpoints, and positions within the company and outside it, the issues that the firm faces have different effects on the various stakeholders groups.

One of the major issues discussed regarding Trader Joe’s are the widely criticized seafood policies by the media (Greenpeace, 2009). This kind of bad press from the shareholders perspective is only an issue until it risks the company's image affecting its financial profitability .In order for the firm to benefit from a sustained competitive advantage, the resources that it has have to be rare and costly to imitate (Barney & Hesterly, 2010), but at the same time this has to be a long-term benefit. Even though h aving selling rare fish sold in their stores was adding ﻿ added to their temporary competitive advantage, in the long run it was hurting their business because of all the anti-Trader Joe’s sentiments that arose as a result. Employees may view this as a weakness too, because of the implications that it may have on their jobs. Who wants to work for a company that is being so negatively scrutinized? In addition,as a consumer stakeholder this would not initially be looked at as an issue because it was adding to the “rare” value that the firm was offering them. But as time progresses, if anti- Trader Joe's sentiments continue to flare up, this will eventually change the employee attitudes too. The community is a large stakeholder because of the long lasting impacts it can have on a firms success. A firm that refuses to do the “right” thing and has a reputation for being secretive about its practices (Tice, 2010) rarely ever fades from the media spotlight, and instead gains a lot of negative press.

Another issue discussed is the lack of accessibility of the firm to its consumers. In addition to not being able to access the firm through its website, the fact that Trader Joe’s doesn’t share any of its “secrets” regarding its organic products (Tice, 2010) may also be negatively impacting the firm. From a shareholder's perspective, this may not appear to be a big issue in its initial stages. Again, this is because in the short-run those same “issues” regarding its secrecy, work toward its competitive advantage of being rare and costly to imitate (Barney & Hesterly, 2010).The external shareholders will view this as a weakness, and as discussed earlier this is taking away from customer support. Since part of the image that Trader Joe’s portrays is that of being “homely” and your “neighborhood store” (Tice, 2010), not being accessible to its consumers is a contradicting approach.

Lack of brand awareness is another issue, but on a milder scale. Not knowing that Trader Joe’s exists is not an uncommon occurrence. However, this works as a positive as well as a negative. Having the firm perceived as a small “homey, mom-and-pop chain” (Tice, 2010) works to its advantage because it adds to its rarity value. When discovered, consumers regard it as being different from super stores and so may frequent it more. From the perspective of the internal stakeholders, this may not be perceived as a weakness or a problem, instead this may be encouraged because it adds value. After all, it was an internal decision to avoid marketing gimmicks and over-the-top marketing (Kaiser, 2009). External stakeholders may perceive this as a weakness however, because they may disregard the firm as being of lesser value because no one else has heard of it or frequents it. Even though the firm is slated to expand now, the perception is still that it’s a small firm so it’s still satisfying that “rarity” value. = Works Cited = Barney, J. B., & Hesterly, W. S. (2010). //Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage: Concepts.// Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Incorporated.

Kaiser, C. (2009, July 9). //Trader Joe's: How Not to Approach Sustainability//. Triple Pundit. Retrieved from http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/07/trader-joes-how-not-to-approach-sustainability/

Tice, C. (2010, August 25). //Why Expansion Won’t Hurt Trader Joe’s Brand, But Secrecy Will.// CBS Interactive Business Network. Retrieved from http://www.bnet.com/blog/retail-stores/why-expansion-won-8217t-hurt-trader-joe-8217s-brand-but-secrecy-will/1256