Chipotle Crisis Leadership Essay

Chipotle ventured into a new territory when it was created, as it had an innovative vision for fast-casual restaurants. By using fresh and quality ingredients, Chipotle raised the bar in their segment. The service line where customers could see their order being prepared enhanced the experience of Chipotle. Consumers who were used to eating at fast-casual restaurants where the food was frozen and made out of sight were able to savor the uniqueness of Chipotle. These differences helped Chipotle become successful. However, as competitors copy the traits that make Chipotle unique, Chipotle must adapt and overcome in order to remain a profitable company.

In March of 2012 Steve Parkland was hired as the new president at Charles Chocolates. He was immediately faced with numerous decisions about the future of the company. The board of directors had tasked Parkland with doubling or tripling the size of the company over the next decade, but the board and the senior management team had different opinions about the strategy that would accomplish this goal. The main issues that Parkland faced were how to increase the company’s operations while maintaining the traditional culture and support of the board.

Chipotle’s organizational structure is centered on the functional structure. The top levels of management include the co-CEOs, CFO, Head-Media Relations, and Chief Creative and Development Officer CCDO (Chipotle). Chipotle is a smaller corporation relative to its competitors, which allows it to focus on a vertical hierarchy based on functions. The fact that there are few departments demonstrates that Chipotle is still a growing corporation. Chipotle is a highly centralized corporation as all of its stores are corporate owned and they must follow the rules set by the corporate headquarters this involves the same menu throughout the country and the same prices. The restaurant business follows high levels of formalization a set of guidelines must be followed in order to comply with food and health regulations. There is low division of labor at the restaurant level as those cooking can shift to serving and cleaning when needed, allowing the allocation of labor to match whatever is needed in the situation. A unique aspect of Chipotle’s upper management is the fact that there are two CEOs (Feloni). The two CEO help ease job functions and enables them to be more accessible. Another managerial aspect of Chipotle is the through the position of restaurateur. There are 183 of these positions and they work to manage several Chipotles, bringing management close to each store (Investor’s Business Daily). From their organizational structure we can see they place high importance on

Chipotle is a highly centralized corporation as all of its stores are corporate owned and they must follow the rules set by the corporate headquarters this involves the same menu throughout the country and the same prices. The restaurant business follows high levels of formalization a set of guidelines must be followed in order to comply with food and health regulations. There is low division of labor at the restaurant level as those cooking can shift to serving and cleaning when needed, allowing the allocation of labor to match whatever is needed in the situation. A unique aspect of Chipotle’s upper management is the fact that there are two CEOs.

Chipotle is facing numerous challenges due to the fact that E. coli outbreak which requires the corporation from the key stakeholders to keep it under control and apply the new food safety protocols which can aid to bring the regular customers back. Although the main cause remains a mystery, Chipotle’s E. coli outbreak has been authoritatively declared officially over by the experts. However, since the poisoning outbreak, the impact of the reduced number of customers affects the profit which the company used to enjoy before such eventuality (Scholes 27).

The fast food, or quick service restaurant industry (QSR), represents approximately 200,000 restaurants and $155 billion in sales in the U.S. alone, they are one of the largest segments of the food industry (Hoovers, 2011). This segment of the restaurant industry is “highly competitive and fragmented… number, size and strength of competitors vary by region, market and even restaurant. All of these restaurants compete based on a number of factors, including taste, quality, speed of service, price and value, name recognition, restaurant location, customer service and the ambience and condition of each restaurant” (Chipotle, 2010).

One of the reasons that Chipotle has been so successful is because of its management style. The company has set up an adaptive culture that allows employees, managers, and customers to thrive. Managers appreciate people and the new

When Douglas Conant left his high profile position at Nabisco and became CEO of Campbell’s Soup Company in 2001, he inherited a company whose products had been a staple in the pantries of consumers since the late nineteenth century. However, despite a strong brand name and wide range of products, the company faced a slipping economy, tough competition, and a broken internal infrastructure. The organizational culture at Campbell’s was extremely weak, forcing Conant to make tough decisions and restructure the soup company from the inside out. His decision to fix the organization’s internal environment ensured that employees were engaged, excited, and had their voices heard. His leadership skills and

It seemed that he was faced with an overwhelming load of problems from Chiquita’s past, but he quickly decided on the best way to fix it. He told CEO Magazine in 2007, “[Chiquita’s] key challenge is to control costs while supporting innovation efforts. Cost-saving programs have not been nearly enough to offset higher industry and other costs.” He said also that “the second challenge is to remain agile in a competitive, fast-paced marketplace that is characterized by growing consumer expectations […] and that in order to strengthen the […] power of the brand, [they] are developing strategies based on consumer brands for healthy, fresh foods and focusing on diversification and innovation” (5). He made it clear from the beginning that Chiquita would be transitioning from the low-margin operations to a company that produced more value-added products. Also, that they would begin to maintain an excellent record of food safety, quality, management, customer service, and in-store

The purpose of this report is to present a strategic plan created for Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG). The strategic planning process began with an internal analysis to better understand Chipotle’s current mission and vision statement, and its effectiveness in leading current strategy and performance, and included analysis of Chipotle’s strengths and weaknesses, and trending financial position. External environment analysis was also conducted, to better understand the industry and its competitors. Results of the internal and external analysis were used to determine strategies for maintaining a competitive advantage. Recommendations and an action plan for strategy implementation are suggested, as well as, an evaluation plan

Steve Ells is the founder and CEO of Chipotle. Steve is a trained chef and opened his first Chipotle store in 1993 at a former Dolly Madison ice cream store in Denver, Colorado. His goal was to serve high quality, delicious food quickly and in a “fast-casual” setting (Ells).

Chipotle’s “Back to the Start” advertisement captures the sentiments of the audience by depicting Chipotle’s competitors’ practices as unethical. In both “Back to the Start” and the “Scarecrow” advertisements, Chipotle attempts to align itself with society’s growing belief that humane agriculture is better. Chipotle’s advertisements present their practices to be ethical, which sets its products apart from its competition. However, Chipotle’s message employs the same sentimental appeals and logical fallacies that are effective in their competitors’ advertisements.

The company’s problem is not related to who is CEO, but it is about the business model. In fact, the next CEO will run into the very same issues that Mason had. Unless the new CEO can introduce a radical change in the entire business model, it is very unlikely much can be done to turn the company around. Even with Mason gone, investors will just stay away.

The company as a whole was performing poorly. This led to a shake-up of executive management in 2006, with Irene B. Rosenfeld installed as chief executive officer (CEO). Rosenfeld had previously worked at Kraft for 22 years before leaving in 2003 to head Frito-Lay North America. In early 2007, Rosenfeld outlined a strategy to turn the company around that included product quality, research and development (R&D), and acquisitions as critical to the future growth of the company. Rosenfeld hired cutting-edge business leaders such as Khosla to help create the strategy that would change the way Kraft Foods Inc. does business.

Our company has extraordinary family and a very promising future. This is why I can say that I am extremely blessed to work for Keto Kettle and with such loyal and talented employees. I know that I am fairly new as CEO of Keto Kettle but I have grown to appreciate everyone who works here and have been treated as family. I was introduced as Keto Kettles CEO at the beginning of last year and have seen nothing but success. I had made a few pushes to get us moving to a larger global forefront and we will be seeing the benefits of this movement forward later in 2018.