Industry Analysis : Dominant Economic Characteristics

For this discussion, I have chosen a company that’s a lunchtime favorite in my office—Panera Bread Company, a steadily-growing national restaurant chain headquartered in Sunset Hills, Missouri. Ron Shaich, the creator of Panera Bread, joined with partner Louis Kane, the founder of the bakery-café chain Au Bon Pain Co., Inc. (ABP). In addition to ABP, Mr. Shaich started a “fast casual” sandwich shop that he eventually named Panera Bread, and once ABP was sold in 1999, Mr. Shaich focused on growing the Panera Bread brand. Within the next 15 years, Panera Bread practiced a slow but steady growth pattern and there are now more in 2,300 Paneras in the United States (Panera Bread Company, 2017).

As mentioned in the case study, Panera Bread Company is known to be one of the leading bakery/café that offers freshly baked pastries and French inspired entrées across various states in the US. However in the recent years, Panera Bread faced a decrease in their usual high growth rate from 9.1% and 12.0% in the year 2000 to merely 0.2% and 0.5% of comparable sales and annualized unit volumes respectively.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.

A key aspect of Panera Bread’s business that protects the company from direct competition in the fast food industry is their product niche, artisan fast food. Fast food chains are often criticized for offering unhealthy foods. But, Panera Bread focuses on a higher nutritional value in their products. Dine in restaurants are very susceptible to drops in consumer spending, so Panera Bread’s

Overall, the Industrialization had a greater positive effect on society. There was easier farming and a higher standard of living. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because of people got separated from their family, there was crowded living space up to six people a bed and there was child labor. It was actually a positive thing for society. Industrialization’s positive effects were better financial opportunities, more jobs, and faster transportation.

Thesis: All throughout the history of America, industrialization was always a big impact. Soon after the war in 1812, America's nationalism increased. This contributed to the industrialization of the United States very quickly. This time period shows a huge change from agriculture to the new industrialization. Not only did the shift impact the economy and technology it also largely affected politics in the United States. With the expansion of the market during the 18th-century the most significant effects of the market revolution were the developing sectional tensions in the US, the expansion of the market with new and improved transportation technology (making it easier and faster to transport goods), and the substantial changes in labor and production of resources.

Talking about more in detail, due to increasing interest in eating healthy food, Panera bread’s menu is consistently reviewed and revised to keep the interest of regular customers, fulfilling their changing consumer preferences and adaptive to change in environment. I would consider it as an Opportunity. To be in the food industry it has made so many changes to be in the market. According to the case study, the company had developed

Panera has three business segments: Company-owned bakery-café, franchise operations and fresh dough operations. The company’s growth strategy was “to grow their store profits, to increase transactions and gross profits per transaction, use capital wisely and put into place drivers for concept differentiations and competitive advantage” (Vincelette & Fogarty, 2010, p7.). In 2009 while everyone else was experiencing the hard economic times Panera Bread was sticking to their strategic plan. Panera did not lay off employees, or worry about closing underperforming stores. Instead, they continued to add menu items and even increased prices on existing items. This strategy worked for them and they were able to take advantage of clientele that came from fine dining. The company has

The industry is made up of full service restaurants, which provide take out and entertainment services along with food services (Southward, 2013). The food service industry is extremely competitive, in which BWW is constantly increasing and improving its brand image, recognition and loyalty. The actual major industry concerns are rising food and labor costs. Rising costs have forced restaurant chains to increase prices for meals.

The purpose of the report is how good BlackBerry run in the radio and television broadcasting and wireless communications equipment manufacturing industry in Canada in terms of revenues, market share, and the corporation’s Strength and weakness. Also, the report will analyze the BlackBerry’s three corresponding competitors’ market share in the hope of predicting the firm’s future performance.

“This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) preparing and/or serving a specialty snack, such as ice cream, frozen yogurt, cookies, or popcorn or (2) serving nonalcoholic beverages, such as coffee, juices, or sodas for consumption on or near the premises. These establishments may carry and sell a combination of snack, nonalcoholic beverage, and other related products (e.g., coffee beans,

3.) Strong presence in high margin health services business. In addition to UnitedHealth Group’s leadership position in the health benefits market segment, UnitedHealth Group has strong information and technology based health services platform through its business segments which is Ingenix, OptumHealth and PrescriptionSolutions. The “CNN MONEY” (2012) website states Ingenix is one of the largest health information, technology and consulting companies in the world. The UnitedHealth Group derived $2.3 billion of revenues from Ingenix which contributed $284 million (excluding $200 million in goodwill impairment and business line deposition charges) of operating profit, and an operating margin of 12.1% during FY2010.

The restaurant industry is said to be one of the oldest industries in the economy. As the economy and urbanization grow, so too does the industry of restaurants; it’s for this reason that the industry has been growing at a rapid pace. Even with the restaurant industry ebbing and flowing, there are still new entities entering the fray consistently. Some restaurants may close, but it will not be too long before a new restaurant opens in the place of the old one. Historically, the restaurant industry has contributed nearly 4 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States (U.S.) economy. The most recent findings show that the restaurant industry employs more than 12.7 million people (which is approximately equal to 9 percent of the

Panera Bread is considered to be one of the U.S. most successful fast-casual restaurants. The company is one of the revolution makers in the industry of fast food, which managed to transform the traditional image and perception of to-go products that are available at an acceptable price on the market. As its initial founding company was established in 1981, Panera Bread managed to gain up to 4.5 billion USD in sales by the year of 2015, whereas the average sales per one store made up to 2.5 million USD annually (Thompson). Nevertheless, the company that once managed to upgrade bread and pastry into a trend of fast and healthy eating, today is struggling with massive competition on the fast food market. Its previous strategic strengths now became a burden that stops innovation and creativity and does not

The definition of an industry in general, it means that group of companies offering products or services that are close substitutes for each other, and satisfy the same basic customer needs. To narrow a definition of industry may cause firms to miss or reject attractive new opportunities. Starbucks is the largest coffee industry in the world. To analyze Starbucks’ coffee industry environment, The Five Forces Model will give a clear picture of the position that the industry is in and help develop an optimum strategy for success in the industry.