The Kroger Company: An Organizational Behavior Study

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Recommended: KROGER COMPANY OPERATION STRATEGY

Company Background

According to the Kroger business web page, in 1883 Barney Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open a grocery store at 66 Pearl in downtown Cincinnati. The son of a merchant, he ran his business with a simple motto: Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself. It is a motto that has served him well for the next 120 years. Today, Kroger has grown to 2500 stores with $70 billion revenues, 40 food processing plants ranging from bread, milk, soda pop, ice cream and peanut butter. Kroger operates under two dozen banners, has acquired warehouses, trucking companies, and has over 14,400 private-label items (The Kroger Co., 2012).

Barney was always on the cutting edge of retail. Kroger quickly grew to 40 stores by 1902 with about 1.72 million in annual sales, and in 1904 Kroger bought 14-meat markets and for the first time ever a consumer could buy meat and groceries under one roof. On its 25th anniversary, Kroger ventured into streamlining shipping and bought 200 horses and wagons to deliver to its locations. By 1913, in an attempt to streamline again, Kroger had replaced the horse and wagons with 75 model T trucks. In 1916 Kroger offered a new concept of self-serve; this meant for the first time ever a customer could shop inside a store (The Kroger Co., 2012).

However, today Barney would not recognize his company. The business strategy that Kroger has used for the last 20 years is one of acquisition, realizing the time of the super giant corporation was upon them, and the only way to survive in this market place was expansion. Kroger adopted a strategy to buy the competition and add its distinctiveness to its own culture. After over 100 years the Kroger Company merged with the Dillon Comp...

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...com/facultyandresources/articlelibrarymain/the-impact-of-culture-on-mergers-a-acquisitions.html

The Kroger Co. (2012). Kroger’s corporate home on the web. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://www.thekrogerco.com/

Marketingteacher.com (2012). Kroger SWOT. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from http://marketingteacher.com/swot/kroger-swot.html

Retail Industry (2012). Kroger supermarkets mission statement - being the leader with values. Retrieved January 9, 2012, from http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Kroger-Mission-Statement.htm

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). New York, NY: Prentice Hall.

Welsh, G. R. (2011, December 27). Kroger shooting raising a number of issues [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2011/12/kroger-shooting-raising-number-of.html

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