Evergreen Case Essay

818 Words4 Pages
Firm Overview and Introduction to the Case Evergreen Natural Markets, founded in 1966 by Donald Slater, is a multi-site grocer that specializes in selling and distributing natural and organic products. Since its beginnings, Evergreen has procured economical gains by engaging in the acquisition of independent grocery stores in the vicinities of its first store (Kanter 2). This strategy to build up the business by seeking opportunities was mainly endured when Kathleen Norton (Slater’s daughter) became CEO of the company. With the assistance of a well-qualified team, which included CFO Harry Miller and CTO Sheila Merlin, Evergreen Natural Markets and Norton faced many challenges as part of the expansion process. The growing competition and demand for organic products were important points to be considered by Evergreen’s expansion plan. Rapid expansion always comes with issues such as the ones face by Evergreen during the integration of new acquisitions, where running all stores under certain uniform conditions becomes a challenge dictated by demographics differences and distance from headquarters. Internal perspectives The primary problem faced by Evergreen derives from its expansion plan and stores acquisitions during time of rising competition. Regardless of the autonomy given to managers and the “mentor store” program, employees at newly acquired stores defied the “Evergreen Way” and felt that power was taken away from them. Under this circumstances where management does not share the company’s values, the integration process can negatively be affected or delayed because the company has to deploy more resources (time, recruitment, development) to solve the issues. Management disagreements and organizational change were key elements to be overcome as rapidly as possible in order to respond to “increasingly intense completion”, as noted by Norton during Arugula

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