Mission, Vision, Social Responsibility, Strategic Planning Essay

Mission, Vision, Social Responsibility, Strategic Planning - Essay Example The vision of Trader Joe’s is not provided in its website, but based on its timeline of important company events and other company information, it is perceived as supporting a sustainable future, where communities benefit from a company that promotes originality, individual choice, and cultural diversity. For instance, according to Trader Joe’s history timeline, in 1977, it introduced the first reusable canvas bag for shopping needs (Trader Joe’s, n.d.). This shows its dedication to preserving the environment through the principle of reuse. In addition, Trader Joe’s describes how it seeks to find and to sell original and hard-to-find products. This goal is stated in the â€Å"About Trader Joe’s† webpage of its company website. Trader Joe’s is focused on originality, as a way of delivering high value to its customers. As for Whole Foods, its vision is clearly stated in its company website: â€Å"Our vision of a sustainable future means our children and grandchildren will be living in a world that values human creativity, diversity, and individual choice† (Whole Foods, n.d.). The visions of these firms are similar because they want to provide a better future for the coming generations, by thinking about how their actions impact the latter. They want to support sustainable development principles and practices. Whole Foods depicts in its â€Å"Our Mission and Culture† webpage that it supports organic farming and alternative sources of energy. It also recycles and composts waste, while participating in community activities through food banks, sponsoring community events, and donating at least 5% of its net profit to non-profit organizations (Whole Foods, n.d.). Trader Joe’s also manages its effects on the environment by not sourcing GMO materials for its private label products, based on its customer updates from the company website. The vision statements of these two firms are comparable because t hey base their business proposition on the framework of sustainable development. Moreover, the two firms share the same values, except that Trader Joe’s is more pronounced on being an original retailer. They both believe in and support creativity, diversity, and individual choice. They aspire for creative ways in using diversity, as their leverage against conventional food retailers. Despite a little difference, it is clear that Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are heading toward the same direction because they see themselves as forming a better impact on their stakeholders, as they think about the future and the quality of lives in that future, unlike other companies that focus on the bottom line alone. After discussing the vision, the missions of these two firms will be described. The mission of Trader Joe's is not identified in its company website, although one source provides it: To give our customers the best food and beverage values that they can find anywhere and to provide them with the information required to make informed buying decisions. We provide these with a dedication to the highest quality of customer satisfaction delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, fun, individual pride, and company spirit (Thompson Jr., Peteraf, III Strickland, & Gamble, 2011, p. 20). As for Whole Foods, its mission is: â€Å"Our whole business is about making a difference – in the lives of our Team Members and the customers we serve,