The Business Case : Ludmilla And Igor, Who Are The Creators Of Iggy 's Bread Of The World

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.

This paper is intended to explore the work ethic and value of Trader Joe’s as a company and their employees. Hands-on top managers have always been insistent in the company. Now, CEO Dan Bane created the values to reflect on the original traditions of its founder. When reading through the accomplishments of this grocery store, I was pleasantly surprised that they have managed to keep their integrity during their growth. Being a customer at Trader Joe’s myself, I find myself thinking about all the good experiences I have had every time I visited the store. Trader Joe’s has grown from a “mom and pop” grocery to a worldwide chain. Their integrity for selling a good product at a good price with great customer has proven them to be one of the grocery stores to be in high completion with other retailers in their genre. Their focus on giving their customers the options of different goods and the smiling faces of their friendly employees has risen them to a higher level of grocery shopping.

Organizational culture according to Hofstede (2007) “is a much more superficial phenomenon residing mainly in the visible practices of the organization, acquired by socialization of new members who join as young adults. Culture helps define what behavior gets recognized and rewarded along with appropriate actions taken by top management. When Leary was introduced into the Elmville office, she knew that in order for her to build a winning team she would need to change the culture because the current one would not allow for such growth.

The organization which I attended to analyze their organization, based on the three levels of culture discussed in class was Moe’s Southwest Grill. Over the past couple of years, my friends from Bloomington-Normal have raved about how good Moe’s food is. I thought that this class assignment would be a good opportunity to take up one of my friend’s offer to go to Moe’s. Doing so allowed me to get some great food and to further look into the company’s culture. From walking in, to getting food, and eventually leaving, it was evident what the employees at Moe’s believe in and the culture within the organization. Specifically relating to artifacts, espoused and enacted values, and basic assumptions, Moe’s organizational culture was extremely apparent.

The focal point of this is essay is none other than Panera Bread. Louis Kane and Ron Shaich established a bread kitchen bistro called Au Bon Pain Company Inc. in 1981. The organization developed and succeeded through the 1980's and 90's. Saint Louis Bread Company was purchased in 1993 by the association the company already had 20 different locations that covered vast areas of Saint Louis in the first place. Saint Louis Bread Company was at first established by Ken Rosenthal. In May 1999 Panera Bread ventured into a national eatery, Au Bon Pain Co. sold their different chains including Au Bon Pain, which is currently claimed by Compass Group North America. Panera moved its central command to another area in Richmond, Heights Missouri in 2000.

The RemyCake bakery created a cohesive team and an established clientele and became a staple within the community. Their exemplary customer service and the charismatic presence of their founders created a unique work and customer environment. However, with the recent retirement of the RemyCake bakery founder, a number of issues have arisen. Our Task Force identified the origin of their organizational issues. The following summary addresses and provides solutions for the RemyCake Bakery’s issues of ineffective leadership style, lack of organizational hierarchy, under-developed employee training program, and poor communication at all levels.

Chick fil A is a unique company and is clearly different from most fast-food restaurants; employees are kind, helpful and maintain a clean environment no matter where they located. As stated previously Chick-fil- A’s corporate purpose is constructive in addition it emphasizes their culture “To glorify god by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil- A.” (cite) This statement truly shows how the company’s leadership has created a culture where service is just as important as profit. The emphasis of this section of the paper will be to research while also analyzing how Chick-fil-A makes people a priority and how doing things in an uncommon way has certainly helped Chick-fil-A create a strong culture as well as a successful business.

“A loaf of bread in every arm” is the mission statement of Panera Bread Company (Vincelette & Fogarty, 2010, p.1). Panera started as a small bakery under the name Au Bon Pain and grew to one of the largest fast food service companies in the U.S. In 2008 they had the 5th overall rating in the restaurant industry. “Panera Bread is widely recognized for driving the nationwide trend for specialty breads” (Panera Bread, 2011).

McRae started with Iggy’s as a consultant less than a year prior to him deciding to bring in an organizational consultant when he failed to resolve his communication issues with the Ivanovics. This option itself was suspect and I personally would not have trusted McRae’s choice of consultant since I would have already felt some hesitation about McRae’s hiring competence that he had made thus far. The number one essential ingredient to all relationships is trust and although the Ivanovics perhaps gave that trust blindly to McRae, I feel that he not only abused his responsibility to them and their company, I feel that he did not return any faith.

Bread & Co. is a café serving a variety of fresh breads cooked daily on site and serving a

Del’s Custard & Yogurt has been a small business in my hometown for over 30 years. This is a family owned business that is broken up to 3-way partnership. The main factors in this business are, customer, economy, competition, legal regulations, and public opinion. Each factor has its own challenges, but it does not stop the business’s ability to successfully function. Most plans of action require some thought and managerial modifications. Every business has faced some altercations to the design that goes without saying, but it is how the business handles those mishaps and grows from them. This business has won the home town “Best of the Best” award countless years.

Among the crowded field of casual, quick-service restaurants in America, the distinctive blend of genuine artisan bread and a warm, comfortable atmosphere has given Panera Bread Company a golden opportunity to capture market share and reward shareholders through well-planned growth. With the objective of opening approximately 1,000 more bakery-cafes in the next three years, Panera Bread Company must make prudent strategy decisions about new store locations, supply-chain management and expanded offerings, all the while continuing its above-average earnings per share growth of at least 25 percent per year.

The company is now having problems. They have lost significant market share and are continuing to lose clients. The staff at Strident are equally troubled. There is friction among every department to include Alex being unhappy with most of the employees. Alex is frustrated and his employees are not very happy either.

Unfortunately, the same issues that existed with the overall governance existed here. The company may have been acting as an exemplary corporate citizen, but with no overall strategy and minimal communication, there was no consistency or coordination, and the company was not getting the public relations benefits that they might have otherwise gained (Veleva, 2010).