Value and Values: Building a High-Performance Company (updated)

Panel Composition and Market Positions: The discussion features CEOs and executives from top-performing companies integrating values with performance: Mark Benioff (Salesforce, largest global CRM provider), Ken Hicks (Foot Locker, global athletic retailer), Walter Robb (Whole Foods Market, leader in natural/organic foods), Jay Rizzullo (Walt Disney Company, largest media/entertainment co), and Tom Wyatt (Knowledge Universe, largest early childhood education provider).

Salesforce.com Performance and Innovation Strategy:

• Achieved 37% revenue growth on a constant currency basis last year.
• Voted "Most Innovative Company" by Forbes for two consecutive years.
• Transitioned management models to leverage social networks, mobile technology, and big data.
• Implemented a "worldwide manager meeting" strategy using internal collaboration tools (Chatter) and video streaming to increase transparency and speed.
• Adopted a "1-1-1" philanthropic model (1% equity, 1% employee time, 1% profit to charity) as a core business differentiator.
• Provided employees with 6 days of paid volunteer time annually; over 90% of employees participate in service groups.
• Committed to giving away over $100 million in philanthropy within the next five years.
• Integrates philanthropy into the onboarding process (half-day selfless service on day one of employment).

Whole Foods Market Culture and Values:

• Attributes success to a "culture of empowerment" where store managers can spend up to $150,000 on authority without permission to serve customers.
• Discontinued tilapia production overnight upon discovering it contained female hormones to maintain brand integrity.
• Announced full transparency on seafood labeling and the discontinuation of "red-rated" (unsustainable) seafood effective Earth Day.
• Committed to full GMO labeling transparency across all products by 2018 (five-year timeline).
• Expanding into Detroit to address "food deserts," a move described as a "cultural stretch" to combat elitism and racism.
• Reports that hard value-driven decisions generate significant employee and customer trust, with 150 emails received in one day supporting the seafood stand.

Knowledge Universe (KinderCare) Turnaround and Engagement:

• Operates 30,000+ individuals, including 28,000 teachers serving 130,000 children daily.
• Turnaround strategy focused on raising employee engagement, talent assessment, and clarifying a "North Star" strategic plan.
• Partnered with Gallup for employee engagement surveys and talent assessment to drive culture change.
• Emphasizes the educational impact, citing studies showing KinderCare children outperform peers in kindergarten readiness.
• Selects centers for community integration based on shared values, such as accepting a center in Portland for an autistic child rejected by other facilities.

Foot Locker Turnaround and Leadership:

• Transformed from a top-down "army" management style to a distributed decision-making model with clear strategic vision communicated to all associates.
• Developed values through a bottom-up process involving store managers globally, resulting in unified core values (excellence, teamwork, community).
• Implemented a "Community Day" personal day policy for all associates.
• Invests in literacy and education, including scholarships for associates and customers.
• 97 out of 99 district managers started as part-time stockroom employees, indicating strong internal career progression.

Disney and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Integration:

• Reports CSR directly to the CFO to ensure difficult decisions aligning with brand values are weighed against financial performance.
• Imposes an internal "carbon tax" on business units to fund carbon offsets and incentivize technological innovation for cleaner footprints.
• Maintains supply chain integrity to ensure no labor exploitation or environmental damage exists in the production of branded goods.
• Attributes brand success to a consistent message of trust, creativity, and family safety.

Market Trends and Stakeholder Dynamics:

• Customer Shift: Accenture predicts 30% of retail business will be driven by millennials by 2020.
• Technology Impact: Accelerated adoption cycles allow competitors to copy products instantly, making culture and purpose the primary source of enduring value.
• Wall Street Alignment: Investors generally focus on short-term performance (average equity holding duration: 6 months; "long-term" definition: ~3 years).
• Investor Feedback: While Wall Street rarely asks direct questions about specific philanthropic activities, they react negatively to reputation damage (e.g., supply chain scandals) and positively to improved employee quality and customer experience.
• Recruitment: CSR and values are increasingly critical for attracting and retaining young talent (Millennials), who view "counterparty risk" regarding supply chain ethics as a hiring factor.

Forward-Looking Statements and Strategic Priorities:

• Salesforce: Focus on "speed" and "openness" as essential for the next phase of growth post-financial crisis.
• Whole Foods: Believes transparency and accountability will be mandatory for future business operations ("nowhere to hide").
• Knowledge Universe: Lifelong commitment to literacy as a core organizational purpose.
• Foot Locker: Continued emphasis on distributing decision-making power to store associates to foster innovation.
• General Consensus: The "new normal" requires new leadership models that prioritize transparency, collaboration, and the ability to evolve faster than competitors through culture.