Strategy Implementation Barriers

Introduction Organisations identify their objectives and goals, which they seek to achieve through a course of action that they draft out. This course of action, the strategy, can only be achieved as intended if every participant acts as required in executing his or her roles (Clemens Bakstran, 2010, p. 393).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Strategy Implementation Barriers specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As Beer et al. (2005, p. 446) assert, organisations have to ‘fit’ themselves with the environment, including the strategies, leadership skills, as well as capabilities if they seek to achieve effective operations. This research carries out an extensive analysis of all possible barriers to strategy implementation and offers a remedy for each of the barriers. It borrows from theories and models suggested by scholars, including the silent killers of strategy implementation, organisational fitness, and critical questions that can help managers to address the barriers (Beer et al., 2005, p. 446). Literature Review Critical Questions to help in the Attainment of Objective Business Model Is the interaction within the organization effective? Within the organisation, the leadership plays a critical role in providing direction, offering protection, managing conflicts, as well as shaping norms and conducting orientation (Heifetz Laurie, 2001, p. 131). However, the most important role of leaders in an organisation should be to enhance adequate interaction through practicing strategic leadership to ensure that barriers to strategy implementation are overcome. As Beer et al. (2005, p. 450) point out, the organisational commitment, as well as purpose is lost when there is poor interaction within the organisation. Managers must promote dialogue with the rest of the organisation’s members to develop common purpose, which is needed for instilling the necessary commitment required to co nvert purpose into action. This should purposely be geared towards encouraging commitment from every participant in the organisation (Malewicki, 2005, p. 141).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Effective strategic leadership that promotes interactivity should focus on five hierarchical levels. These levels include highly capable individuals who make their direct contributions through knowledge, talent, work habits, and high-level skills. The second level should comprise of contributing team members that target achieving the objectives of the group and working effectively within the group. The third level of the hierarchy should include competent managers (Kerr Werther, 2008, p. 112) whose main ability and contribution are in organising people and resources of the organisation, while the fourth level hierarchy should involve effective leadership. This mainly targets the adhere nce to the vision of the organisation, as well as the maintenance of the needed performance standards. The fifth and final strategy level involves the executive, with the specific quality being an endurance of greatness by way of professional will and personal humility (Watson Wooldridge, 2005, p. 147). The organisation’s leadership must have these characteristics as contained in the five hierarchies enumerated. Collectively, these qualities and values enable the management to develop a common purpose of communicating downwards to their subordinates, who are the actual executor of the strategic requirements (Allio, 2012, p. 24). The sufficient vertical communication provides the employees working in the department with the understanding about the actual organisational strategy and the directions that are needed concerning the daily decisions that are expected of them. It also enables them to understand about the exact priorities that will be needed by them as they collective ly work towards ensuring that the organisation achieves its objectives. Organisational Power Games and Politics: Are they Useful? All organisations have their unique internal politics and power games, which consequently affect the likelihood of the organisation to implementing its strategy as intended (Peng Litteljohn, 2001, p. 360). Managers are particularly responsible for this kind of barrier, mainly because their overriding personal interests and ineffective resource allocation on their part or respective departments. Adequate resource allocation is an important strategy implementation aspect because lack of resources eventually impedes successful strategy performance and activity (Brauer Schmidt, 2006, p. 205). Strategies are actually implemented by means of operational budgets and capital in general.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Strategy Implementation Barriers specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However , internal politics threaten to derail this because it mainly involves a clash between the manager’s personal interest or that of his respective department, on the one hand and the interests of the organisation, on the other hand. The structural arrangement of the organisation plays a contributory role in fanning the internal organisational politics as departments or functions may begin to view themselves as exclusive entities that are in competition with the other departments or functions (Stuart, 1998, p. 469). It, thus, results in resistance, power struggles, and even a pursuance of non-fitting interests, which eventually affect the achievement of strategic objectives. The most critical question for managers in a bid to address the issue of politics and seeking to determine answers to the question is to establish whether there is a clear understanding when it comes to resource allocation. Apart from the allocation of monetary resources, managers must also be aware of the i mportant role of allocating physical resources, including equipment, plant, geographic location, as well as raw materials in general (‘Business Policy and Strategy Conference Paper Abstracts’, 2004, p. 1). Managers should constantly realise and appreciate the fact that the availability of resources is often scarce to effectively and fully cater for the entire needs of the organisation. Thus, self-interest should never contribute towards the allocation of resources. Managers must not commit themselves too quickly in allocating resources as they target projects and goals that deem to satisfy their own interests or personal performance (‘Business Policy and Strategy Conference Paper Abstracts’, 2004, p. 1). The decision-making role of managers concerning resource allocation must, therefore, be done in a way that purely seeks to front the organisation’s interest and agenda.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Leaving the decisions and behaviour of managers unchecked is detrimental to the organisation because while it may ensure that their personal objectives are met, the organisation may end up suffering in the process (‘Business Policy and Strategy Conference Paper Abstracts’, 2004, p. 11). Eliminating this barrier requires that the decision-making process be made a collective function such that managers from all the departments and functions of the organisation make their individual contributions. This way, the collective responsibility would put a check in their irregular decision-making even though individual managers may still have the urge to pursue their personal agenda (‘Business Policy and Strategy Conference Paper Abstracts’, 2004, p. 18). How important is Organisational Learning? Organisations must continually remain and promote learning as a way of sustaining new ideologies and methods. However, managers and employees might feel the urge to resist ch ange and new working procedures at some point. This often occurs as a result of the individuals feeling threatened. Employees, therefore, devise defensive mechanisms that they feel would comfortably protect their old practice of doing things. For organisational learning to occur, healthy communication in all directions must be encouraged and tolerated (Và ¤nttinen Pyhà ¤ltà ¶, 2009, p. 47). Managers must feel free to communicate among fellow managers and to the senior executive management concerning the overall running of the organisation. Downward and upward communication must also occur such that no one in the organisation feels left out in the strategy implementation plans (Và ¤nttinen Pyhà ¤ltà ¶, 2009, p. 47). Encouraged communication provides managers with the chance to notice challenges in strategy implementation and raise the matter early enough to help in finding solutions. Managers do not also feel threatened because they understand the fact that it is not their pe rsonal objective they are protecting, but that of the organisation (Forman Argenti, 2005, p. 245). Thus, they do not view their colleague managers as competitors, but as important partners whom they can learn from as they also are a valuable source of knowledge to their other colleagues. Employees, who are very important because of their role in implementing strategy, also participate actively in the organisational learning process if the organisation promotes and allows free communication (Olson, Slater, Hult, 2005, p. 47). They would be able to notice challenges within the system and quickly act by raising the issue with their immediate supervisors or managers, who would in turn act by providing a solution to the impediment or barrier. Where an organisation does not promote free and easy communication, the general learning process is also affected. People may not feel comfortable in pointing out at mistakes, especially where they believe or know that the mistake is contributed b y their superiors (Olson, Slater Hult, 2005, p. 47). For fear of being vilified, the employees would better maintain their silence and wish that their supervisor or manager discovers it on his or her own. Thus, an impediment to strategy implementation that would have otherwise been discovered and dealt with at an opportune time is allowed to continue wrecking damage to the entire organisation, thereby slowing its resolve to achieve its set objectives (Hendry, Huang Stevenson, 2013, p. 69). In addressing this aspect of organisational knowledge and learning, employees must be skilled and educated enough to enhance their ability of implementing strategy. It is not enough for information to be allowed to flow freely only, but that it should also flow freely to people who understand and realise how to put it into good use (Ramanigopal, 2012, p. 17). Without learning, it is not possible for change to be experienced or witnessed in the organisation. Increased knowledge through learning h elps the actors in their effort to engage successfully in the overall implementation process. Individual experience, though it is a critical aspect of goal achievement within the organisation, should not be confused with learning. Should Resistance to Change be encouraged? The external environment influences the way in which organisations operate in their quest to achieve their objectives. The environment acts as a barrier, particularly when the internal management of the organisation fails to realise some of the best strategies required to address the external environmental challenges. Decisions need to be made almost immediately to reflect on the changing external environment condition (Barton Ambrosini, 2013, p. 721). However, this is a challenging area because the changing environmental conditions can never be easily anticipated. Experienced management is required to determine the way forward on what steps the organisation should take. The major mistake that managers often comm it while facing external environmental challenges is making decisions that rely on an old mental form. This mainly occurs where the management is also ill experienced to tackle and address such challenges. This is further worsened by the inexistence of honest feedback as well as discussion. This is itself an impediment when it comes to learning about similar models. Resistance to change particularly occurs where managers feel threatened by a certain phenomena and focus their attention on fighting it, instead of seeking for solutions (Barton Ambrosini, 2013, p. 723). Although experience is important in addressing such challenges that arise from external business environment, organisations must also work towards making themselves as centres of knowledge. In other words, solutions to external business challenges must be formulated from within the organisation itself to give it adequate ability to respond (‘Organization Development Change Conference Paper Abstracts’, 2005 , p. 1). The organisation is directly affected by the changing circumstances and it understands uniquely how best to react. Internal understanding and knowledge is promoted and sustained by allowing all participants in the organisation, including employees, to contribute towards providing suggestions on the way forward. The collective contribution by participants offers a wide range of alternatives from which the management can pick the best. This gives continuity to the organisation, especially in the face of new challenges that cannot be compared to past challenges. Because managers have a large pool from where they can obtain fresh ideas and suggestions, their unique solutions to challenges ensures that barriers to strategy implementation are effectively addressed. The quality of the ideas and management plans is also effective as it is provided by the actual implementers of the strategy, who understand all the challenges that they face in the process (‘Organization Develop ment Change Conference Paper Abstracts’, 2005, p. 6). Organisational Fitness and Silent Killers Beer and Eisenstat (2000, p. 29) have introduced a new phenomenon that seeks to empower managers even more as they participate in ensuring that their organisation fits with the strategy. The Strategic Fitness Process (SFP) comprises of high-potential managers that sit in a task force aimed at enhancing value-addition in the running of the organisation. The task force operates in coordination with the management of the organisation through issuance of feedback messages. In general, the SFP reveals up to six common barriers that hinder organisations from attaining their objectives and goals (Beer Eisenstat, 2000, p. 9). The barriers include unclear strategy that comprises of conflicting priorities, a top management team that is ineffective, a style of leadership that is too rigid in its top-down framework or one that is too laissez-faire, and lack of coordination across functions, geographic regions or businesses. Other common barriers identified include poor vertical communication and an inadequate leadership skill that also affects the nurturing of down-the-line leaders (Eisenstat Dixon, 2000, p. 52). What are the causes of unclear strategy? An unclear strategy implies a course of action that does not clearly identify an objective or one that identifies an objective, but fails to enumerate clearly the needed set of actions by the workers and management. Lack of clarity of a strategy may result from various causes, including a senior management team that is ineffective in its operations and a too disengaged or too controlling leader. While it is possible that the strategy of the organisation will be well designed and targeted towards achieving specific objectives, the leadership may lack a common focus towards attaining (Ketzenberger, 1998, p. 84). Communication is also paramount in this regard as it determines the quality of information flow. If the strate gy intent is constantly communicated, all the participants will realise what their role is and will work towards making it actual. On the other hand, poor flow of information denies the workers the ability to determine what their actual role and contribution should be (Ketzenberger, 1998, p. 84). Remedy for unclear strategy Addressing unclear strategy, therefore, requires that information flow within the entire organisation is improved to a greater extent. The senior teams must be able to issue relevant instructions to the lower level managers and subsequently to the employees who engage directly in executing the strategy (Ketzenberger, 1998, p. 84). Consequently, feedback information must also flow freely from the employees through the lower-ranked managers all the way to the top management. This way, all the participants are constantly reminded of the actual strategy that they are pursuing. It also empowers everybody to notice early enough and signal the senior management of any u nderlying barriers that could be working against the organisation and its resolve (Ketzenberger, 1998, p. 84). What are the influences of Ineffective Management? The management of an organisation is considered ineffective, particularly where it is unable to make quick and accurate decisions concerning the organisation. Additionally, ineffective management arises as a result of functional or departmental managers operating as though they were competing against each other. This leads to lack of cooperation between the managers, with vital information that would have otherwise helped the entire organisation to speed up its performance being kept away from individual managers (Majer Bell, 2011, p. 62). The top management of an organisation must get involved in all the decision-making processes and steps in order to develop fully and test the whole processes sufficiently. Because of the top management’s usefulness in the entire process of making strategy, any ineffectiveness on t heir party is likely to result in unclear strategy, as well as priorities and affect the top-down relation or interaction within the organisation (McGuinness Morgan, 2005, p. 1306). This ends up curtailing the ability and possibility of the organisation to achieve its strategy effectively as desired. Quick and accurate decisions can only be achieved when a wider team or group of members within the organisation participates in providing solutions to challenges that affect the organisation (Majer Bell, 2011, p. 62). It improves the quality of decision making because all the areas in the organisation get equal representation in the decision-making process. Equally, all the managers feel as though they are a part of the organisation, especially when they witness their contributions being integrated by their employer. Remedy for ineffective management All the senior management team must get involved in the strategy process. They should participate in strategy development, perform organ isational diagnosis together, as well as conduct action planning and participate actively in communicating and monitoring the change. In other words, the top management team must combine efforts and work together as one in their quest to lead the organisation towards achieving objectives (Dervitsiotis, 2007 p. 21). There should be higher interactivity, close discussions among the managers, and high tolerance within the group. This kind of arrangement will help in speeding up the learning process in the organisation. Individual managers will get to understand how exactly they can stop from being an impediment to the rest of their organisation through the solitary decisions that they make (Dervitsiotis, 2007 p. 21). It will help in creating a good rapport among the managers, thus increasing the participation of each individual. Collective decision-making eliminates the need for rushed conclusions that individual leaders may fall prey to, particularly when their departments or function s fail short of performing as required and expected. Limited Top-Down/Laissez-Faire Style of Leadership: How does it affect strategy? Managers may have their own preferred management styles. The styles might be critical in impeding the organisation’s achievement of strategy and objectives. Limiting interaction to a top-down kind of flow only provides for managers to issue directions and instructions to the employees. It does not support a more interactive kind of interchange where the employees may also contribute towards strategy formulation and implementation (Skogstad et al. 2007, p. 80). In essence, a strict top-down interaction only emphasises the fact that employees are ignored by their managers and their contributions are not really considered as being worth. This affects the entire process because employees play a critical role in implementing strategy. Employees know the areas that are challenging to them when it comes to implementation and ignoring them means that t he manager may never get to realise what kind of remedy may be required. On the other hand, a laissez-faire style of management is not important in helping in the implementation of the strategy. Managers, while they should promote participative interaction with their employees, also need to be at the forefront leading. A lenient kind of leadership does not rein-in the followers or employees. Instead, the employees may feel as though they have a lot of freedom and get the temptation to indulge in other activities (Skogstad et al. 2007, p. 83). This is in, itself, a barrier to strategy because the organisation needs to have a common purpose in its focus on achieving strategy objectives. A limited top-down or laissez-faire leadership style creates an environment where conflict thrives between the departments or functions. The top divisional heads only concentrate on issuing orders and instructions that affect their areas of jurisdiction, but they fail to recognise the importance of ope rating as a unit with the rest of the functional heads. Managers must work towards forming partnership with their employees in order to address this impediment effectively. Managers must realise and appreciate the fact that employees are important players in the entire process, instead of considering the employees as being an impediment or barrier to strategy. Their contributions are important and should help the management in the decision-making process (Fredberg Norrgren, 2012, p. 34). Poor Functional Coordination: How is it a barrier? Organisations ought to integrate their activities effectively around the consumers, markets, and even products across the diverse functions of the organisation. However, lack of functional coordination is a recipe for competition within the organisation, where functions consider each other as competitors and not as contributors of the same cause. It is difficult for proper coordination across the functions to be realised unless the organisation set s up initiatives that cover the entire organisation and require the collective responsibility of all the managers. Responsibilities for the managers must also be defined properly and in clear terms to avoid clashes between the managers. Each manager must understand the contributory role that he or she must play in the organisation to create the much needed functional coordination. Another important aspect that must be taken into account when seeking to address the challenge of poor cross-functional coordination should be the question of hiring the right people. Managers with the right skills will find it easier and possible to work with each other, irrespective of their varying functions, and help in implementing the strategy. The organisation’s traditional structure and approach to management could be the main reason hindering the cross-functional coordination within the organisation. In such an instance, the best remedy for the challenge should involve restructuring the org anisation to promote coordination. It is important that the management should transform its existing internal structures and model because the external business environment keeps changing, thus continually offering new challenges to the organisation. This transformation is necessary in order to fit properly with the existing environmental challenges. This would, in turn, result in the alignment of different organisational parts, thus providing an accurate mechanism for promoting effectiveness in the running of the organisation. What is the role of leadership skills? Organisations have varying management levels that are expected to work together towards making objective achievement easier and less demanding. While the top leadership of the organisation is directly responsible for formulating and determining strategy, the subsequent management levels play a critical role in enforcing and ensuring that the strategy is achieved as intended. However, organisations must have adequate lead ership skills to ensure that this objective is attained. New opportunities need to be continually created, especially by the top-level management, to offer a learning opportunity for the low-level managers. This will provide a practical experience from where the lower-level managers can build upon their skills. Apart from availing practical experiences, the organisation should arrange for just-in-time coaching, training sessions, as well as targeted recruitment. The idea is to continually help the managers to attain the appropriate knowledge and skills to enhance their contribution in strategy formulation and implementation. Although the top-level managers may formulate the best fitting strategy for the organisation, the lower level managers who participate in the direct implementation may turn out to be the actual strategy barrier. Their lack of knowledge and skills may end up hindering the organisation from attaining its goals and objectives. Having determined how important the co ntribution of the lower-level managers is, it is important that the organisation only acquires individuals who are capable of performing the role. Where a middle-level manager is not able to measure to the challenge, the organisation should move with speed and replace them with other qualified and able candidates. Appraisals can be conducted on a more regular basis to measure and ascertain how effective each of the middle-level managers are in performing their roles. Relevant Theories and Models Organisational Fit and Fitness: Integrated Analytical Framework The SFP identifies an effective diagnostic framework that allows managers to link their respective organisational business strategy together with the competitive environment with the capabilities of the organisation. As Beer (2002) notes, organisations must ensure that their strategies fit within the competitive environment in which they exist. Three basic areas define the organisational fitness model, which include the organisa tional levers, organisational capabilities, and the goals. An organisation must carefully align the three important aspects with specific consideration to the external competitive environment before seeking to implement it. Organisational levers The organisational levers mainly involve the internal systems that the organisation adopts in its effort to ensure that it functions effectively. They include the leadership team, which comprises of the senior executive management, and other managers within the organisation, including functional and departmental heads, as well as line managers (Dervitsiotis, 2008, p. 709). Leadership is a critical aspect because it determines, through the shaping of policies and opinions, the actual decision that the organisation will follow. Work systems consist of the actual methodologies that the organisation applies as it executes its roles and functions. Management processes, on the other hand, have a direct influence on the performance of the organisat ion because they determine the decisions and the course of action to be applied by the organisation. The quality of an organisation’s overall leadership and management depends on its management processes because it identifies the roles and participation of individual managers in making decisions (Kostopoulos, Spanos Prastacos, 2013, p. 1430). The human resource system identifies the quality of employees that the organisation acquires in terms of their skills, experience, and knowledge. It also determines the skill development path for the workers by integrating external business environment components within the training framework. The organisational principles and culture affect the entire operations of the organisation. It affects the way interactions within and outside the organisation take place. These organisational levers must be aligned such that they result in organisational capabilities that would enhance goal achievement. Capabilities Organisational capabilities co mprise of the ‘7Cs’, which include coordination, competence, commitment, and communication. Others include conflict management capabilities, creativity, as well as capacity management. Coordination results in effective cooperation between different individuals and functions or departments of the organisation, which need to combine efforts towards implementing goal realisation (Hanna, Crittenden Crittenden, 2013, p. 18). Competence focuses on developing and utilising the appropriate skills. This leads to the achievement of desired objectives and goals. Quality leadership entails competence as it requires individuals to understand how to relate and integrate with colleagues (Heide, Grà ¸nhaug, Johannessen, 2002, p. 217). As the organisation targets to achieve its set out objective using the available resources and within the stipulated period, it has to ensure that both the management and the employees are committed fully to realise the objective. The individual contri bution of each employee is critical in building and enhancing the commitment. Failure or lack of commitment, on the other hand, results in employees directing their efforts toward different directions. This makes it difficult for the strategy to be followed and the objective be attained. Communication is needed for relaying information, thereby improving the quality of interaction within the organisation. Managers must communicate with their employees, but they also need to communicate with their peers in the other departments (Heide, Grà ¸nhaug, Johannessen, 2002, p. 217). This improves coordination within the organisation, while also promoting learning. On the other hand, upward communication must also be encouraged to enable employees give their feedback details to the management for appropriate action to be taken. The focus of the management should be to devise appropriate ways of addressing conflicts because conflicts are inevitable in any society (Heide, Grà ¸nhaug, Johann essen, 2002, p. 217). Competition between individuals and their personal interests should be put in check as this is a major source of politics within the organisation. However, individual creativity should never be curtailed as a result. The competitive environment where the organisation operates demands the identification of unique ideologies that can attract the market and create a competitive edge against the rivals. The effective alignment of the organisational levers eventually results in the achievement of the capabilities (Heide, Grà ¸nhaug, Johannessen, 2002, p. 217). The organisation can direct its efforts towards goal achievement once the appropriate capabilities are achieved. The framework forms an important learning loop, which is a continuous cycle that can revert to the organisational levers or capabilities in case the objectives fail to be met. Summary and Recommendations The success of any organisation’s operations depends on how effective its strategy has been formulated and how efficient the implementation is executed. The organisational setup exists in a complex business environment. This requires that the fitness of the strategy is maintained all through to enhance the achievement of the objectives. However, several factors within the organisation act as barriers in the execution of strategy and they need to be addressed to enhance overall organisational performance. These factors include unhealthy internal power struggles and politics. These could see managers pursue their own personal interests at the expense of the organisation’s interests. They could also see managers allocate resources in an ineffective way, where the basis of their actions would be on their own interests and goals. Lack of organisational purpose also forms a barrier to strategy implementation, where the organisation lacks an effective communication system. The rest of the participants may lack the necessary commitment to push through the objective. Re sistance to change also occurs within the organisation, where managers resort to formulating defensive routines, while the employees in departments opt to remain silent even where they notice difficulties. Another barrier to strategy implementation involves the prevention of organisational learning by the managers. 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10 Countries with the Highest Population Density

10 Countries with the Highest Population Density Cities are known for being crowded, but some cities are far more crowded than others. What makes a city feel crowded isnt just the number of people who live there but the physical size of the city. Population density refers to the number of people per square mile. According to the Population Reference Bureau, these ten countries have the worlds highest population densities 1. Manila, Philippines - 107,562 per square mile The capital of the Philippines is home to roughly two million people. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay the city is home to one of the finest ports in the country. The city regularly hosts over a million  tourists each year, making the busy streets even more crowded. 2. Mumbai, India - 73,837 per square mile Its no surprise that the Indian city Mumbai comes in second on this list with a population of over 12 million people. The city is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India. The city lies on the West coast of India and has a deep natural bay. In 2008, it was dubbed an alpha world city. 3. Dhaka, Bangladesh - 73,583 per square mile Known as the city of mosques, Dhaka is home to roughly 17 million people. It was once one of the most wealthy and prosperous cities in the world. Today the city is the countries political, economic and cultural center. It has one of the largest stock markets in South Asia. 4. Caloocan, Philippines - 72,305 per square mile Historically, Caloocan is important for being home to the secret militant society that spurred the Philippine  Revolution, also known as the Tagalong war, against Spanish colonialists. Now the city is home to almost two million people. 5. Bnei Brak, Isreal - 70,705 per square mile Just east of Tel Aviv, this city is home to 193,500 residents. It is home to one of the largest coca-cola bottling plants in the world. Israels first womens only department stores were built in Bnei Brak; its an example of the gender segregation; implemented by the ultra Orthodox Jewish population. 6. Levallois-Perret, France - 68,458 per square mile Located roughly four miles from Paris, Levallois-Perrett is the most densely populated city in Europe. The city is known for its perfume industry and beekeeping. A cartoon bee has even been adopted at the citys modern emblem. 7. Neapoli, Greece - 67,027 per square mile   The Greek city of Neapoli comes in at number seven on the list of most densely populated cities. The city is divided into eight different districts. While only 30,279 people live in this small city thats impressive given its size is only .45 square miles! 8. Chennai, India - 66,961 per square mile Located on the Bay of Bengal, Chennai is known as the education capital of South India. Its home to almost five million people. Its also considered one of the safest cities in India. Its also home to a large expat community. Its been dubbed one of the must-see cities in the world by the BBC. 9. Vincennes, France - 66,371 per square mile Another suburb of Paris, Vincennes is located just four miles from the city of lights. The city is probably most famous for its castle, Chateau de Vincennes. The castle was originally a hunting lodge for Louis VII but was enlarged in the 14th century. 10. Delhi, India - 66,135 per square mile The city of Delhi is home to roughly 11 million people, putting it just after Mumbai as one of Indias most populated cities. Delhi is an ancient city which has been the capital of various kingdoms and empires. Its home to numerous landmarks. Its also considered the book capital of India due to its high readership rates.

Tawaraya Sotatsu Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Tawaraya Sotatsu - Research Paper Example Background of Tawaraya Sotatsu Sotatsu was born in the 17th century in Japan. There isn’t a trace of the time frame when he was born or died, who is parents were and what his status was. The only eearly reference is to his name, which stands for ‘shop.’ It was also known that during this time, there were social differences in class and hierarchy, specifically between spiritualists, royalty and those who were designated to work in labor designated areas. Sotatsu belonged to the commoners group, known as a rising merchant. However, he began to notice his talent for the arts and painting earlier, which led him to connect to distinguished individuals that were known as warriors and which could educate Sotatsu on painting and illustrations. This led him to move into the genre of painting while working among more wealthy merchants so he could develop his talents in a different manner. It was from this that Sotatsu began to become a leader that revitalized literary paint ing for the period, specifically allowing the Edo Period to begin to transform in the types of works that were offered and the approach to art that was considered in high regard during the time1. Techniques of Sotatsu There were several techniques that Sotatsu used to become distinguished within Japan and to push forward the art work that was associated with the time. One common technique was the fan paintings that Sotatsu used to sell among the higher class and merchants. These were illustrated with authentic illustrations that were based around figures and decorative ideologies for the time. Flowers, trees, birds and animals are the most common seen in the fan paintings, as well as the other works of Sotatsu. Narrative scenes were also depicted, specifically with the fan paintings that were available. The main themes which were a part of the fan paintings were the most important, specifically because it was a newer way of approaching the decorative arts2. The fan paintings led int o other decorative materials that Sotatsu was known for using with the paintings and drawings. The materials that Sotatsu used led to the change in illustrations to ink painting. Most of the illustrations before this time were done with the drawings and lines that were used with ink. However, Sotatsu began to experiment with the ink and the ways in which it could shape and change the images. The ink became a way of painting because of the shading that he was able to incorporate into the paintings, as well as new textures which were implied through the ink. This began by applying a layer of pigment to the ink on paper or silk for the drawing. This was followed by a second layer of ink or colorant, usually which was applied before the ink was dry. The new pigment would then bleed outward to form a larger mark on the original material. This is combined with what is referred to as the tarakashomi method. This was popular during this time frame but was no longer used among artists. Sotat su began to popularize this concept with his works, which was inclusive of dripping or pooling. The ink would drip into the layers of pigments for visual effects. The fluidity of this particular ink would also allow for the painting to be applied to the work that was being illustrated, creating a thicker texture to the lines that were a part of the illustration3. The approaches which were taken for the layered pigments, ink

Explain why you would rather live in the city, the suburbs, or in the Essay

Explain why you would rather live in the city, the suburbs, or in the country - Essay Example My learning need is better addressed by the city because all good universities are located in urban areas. This is evident with a lot of students from the rural areas who come to the city to attend the universities. While there are also colleges in the countryside, the really good learning institutions are located in the cities. Big cities are also a host of a lot of experts in different fields who offer lectures either in class or symposia. As a young student like me, these lectures offers me an invaluable opportunity to gain insights in my chosen field of endeavor which is otherwise not available had I lived in the rural areas. I also grow better as a person and a professional by living in a city. There are a lot of people with different backgrounds living in a city. Acquainting myself with them widens my perspective and enhances my social skills. We are now living in a globalized environment where it will be necessary for me to work with different people of varying orientation in the future and this exposure to different kind of people afforded by living in a city will enable to better deal with them when I become a professional. I believe that to become successful in my chosen endeavor, my academic preparation should be coupled with social skills which the city can better prepare me. It is also fun living in a city. Almost all type of entertainment is located just nearby. Whenever I feel bored, I can always go to the movie house or watch a concert. There are also bars in the city where I can party to unwind myself. For a young person like me, the city also keeps me abreast not only with the latest news, but also with the latest fads. There are also a lot of interests in the city where I can engage myself in. Living in a city makes me a well rounded person which is why is I prefer living in it than in the countryside. I may prefer living in the city but it does not mean I do not like the countryside. I like the

Unifying Forces in East Asia and the role that Versailles Conference Essay

Unifying Forces in East Asia and the role that Versailles Conference played in the development of Asian nationalism - Essay Example In addition, its proximity in terms of geographical outlook has enabled it access its goods and services with a lot of ease. This is a sign of unity that is deeply rooted in the entire region of East Asia in terms of bringing new inventions and technological advancements, receiving information, and letting it be in a constant unity with its neighboring economies thorough getting involved in direct investments. As a result, it has been seen how a long-established flying geese, a form of monetary relations between Japan and East Asia, has ended up as a unifying factor of regionalization. East Asian Culture is further noted as a unifying factor. In this, one sees how common orientation Confucianism and, on the other hand, Buddhism are a unifying force amongst them. Other sub expanses within the East Asian communalities are deeply rooted in linguistic similarity as well as ethnic ties that join them together. Northern China, Southern Korea, Southern China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong amongst o ther East Asian countries have all embraced ethnicity as a unifying factor. They have a logic regional consciousness, mutual interest, identity and common destiny existing amongst them. These are amongst the unifying forces that have immensely tried to unify the entire East Asian communities. However, according to Calder (134-157), this is never the case between US and Japan, as he thinks that the relationship between the countries is deteriorating as they quest for global ambitions. Additionally, these communities have constructed a more articulate Pacific Regional identity, something that has been so significant in improving unity amongst the East Asian states. In another new look, development of Asian nationalisms was greatly influenced by Versailles Conference, a peace conference that was held in 1919. This conference took place after the war, and it had to bring peace within the Asian territory as well as rebuild nationalism at the same time. The peace conference united a number of countries in Asia after the First World War that has separated so many of them. It is imperative to understand that not all countries in Asia embraced the Versailles Conference. In fact, China as a country did not sign the Versailles Treaty but rather preferred walking out of the plan because of its grievances and betrayal that it felt. China was involved in anti-Japanese protest and finally left the Versailles Treaty. Versailles treaty had a greater role in Asian nationalism. For instance, after Japan had succeeded in leading most of Asian undertakings, this peace treaty brought about unity that had long been dreamt of. Asia as a nation had been deprived of personal ruling at the continent because of the influence and authority of power that the powerful Western countries inflicted on them. Step by step, through this treaty, a great unity was implemented. It is after this treaty that a stream of new ideologies including missionary based assistance came into place. In order to achieve a great nationalism in Asia, the people had to embrace new ideas that could assist their economy and education to rise to the required standard. The Versailles Treaty itself had provisions that for sure enabled Asia to rise and recover their nationalism. For instance, Germany, which is regarded as a colonial power, had responsibilities to undertake after The First World War. It had to respect the independence of Australia and other countries while at the same time surrendering its rights and entitlement over other

Pompidou Centre Design Concepts

Pompidou Centre Design Concepts This essay looks at the Pompidou Centre of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, in terms of how its design can be understood as a product of its cultural, social, political and economic context, including a discussion of the influences and relationship between the philosophical ideas underpinning the movement and the resulting building. The essay first provides a brief overview of the Pompidou Centre’s history and the architecture of the Pompidou Centre and its external spaces (recognising that the Pompidou Centre is more than simply the High Tech structure; it is also composed of its plazas and external pedestrianised spaces). The essay then moves on to discuss the philosophy behind the Pompidou Centre, in terms of the intersection of the philosophy for the building and the resulting design for the building. The essay then discusses how the design of the Pompidou Centre can be understood as a product of its cultural, social, political and economic context, and ends with a brief co nclusion. The Pompidou Centre was the result of an architecture competition aimed at producing an â€Å"architectural and urban complex to mark our century† (Bachman, 2003). Bachman (2003) identifies the Pompidou Centre as belonging to the high-tech style, due to its construction, namely its revealed structures, its exposed ducts and the sharp, inside out, industrial aesthetics of the entire structure. As Bachman (2003) argues, the process of revealing normally internalised sections of such a structure led to the re-thinking of these sections, in terms of their workings, their function and the ways in which they are organised and work in concert with each other. This led, implicitly, to a re-thinking of the idea of a ‘cultural space’ and ideas about what a cultural space should be used for, and who it should be used by (Thompson and Bell, 2007). The Pompidou Centre was novel in many ways, not simply in its design, but also in the ways in which the whole space was designed t o be user-friendly, to attract a variety of different users to the space for multiple purposes (Bachman, 2003). The structure, and its surroundings, were also entirely novel, with the building essentially being turned inside out, with long facades that could act as ‘information surfaces’ and a plaza that was designed to act as a meeting point for the various visitors the Centre would attract. Casati (2007), interviewing Richard Rogers, discusses the idea of the Pompidou Centre stemming from the idea of uniting machinery with a cultural centre, which essentially means the idea of containing the cultural aspects of the centre in an innovative way, to allow multiple users to use the space in many different ways. As Richard Rogers says in this interview, â€Å"†¦.we very quickly realised†¦.a need not only for a museum but also for a place for people in this area to do other things: a place to go on Sunday morning with children, with dogs, with girlfriends, or to go to all manner of activities not specifically stated in the programme. It became something in which both culturally oriented people and the public could participate.† (Casati, 2007). On this understanding, then, it becomes clear that the multi-functionality of the space was a basic design concept, a basic philosophy, for the design of the Centre, and, as Rogers says, â€Å"†¦I have always drea med of this piazza becoming the Parisian Hyde Park Corner† (Casati, 2007). From this interview with Rogers, it becomes apparent, therefore, that the space around, and including, the Pompidou Centre, should be a public space, drawing people in from the community and wider afield, not only for cultural events and happenings, but also to come together to enjoy the space, for itself, as a place to come together or to simply enjoy some alone time, enjoying the space created. Indeed, with the construction of the Pompidou Centre, Rogers and Piano managed to pedestrianise a large section of this part of Paris, ensuring that people could use the space around the building for precisely this objective, in order that there be a ‘physical space where there would be no traffic, noise or danger, that would be suitable to pedestrian activities or to leisure activities.† (Casati, 2007). As Rogers explains, â€Å"The centre needed†¦a surface of contact with the rest of the city†. (Casati, 2007). This external space, the plazas surrounding the actual s tructure, were thus fundamentally important to Rogers and Piano, as an integral part of their design, to achieve the vision they had of the Pompidou Centre as being a space for people to interact with in the manner in which they wished to interact with it. As Rogers also notes in his interview with Casati, â€Å"†¦the word which most stood out on the brief was ‘information’†¦that (the Pompidou Centre) should be a ‘building for information, culture and entertainment’.† (Casati, 2007). Parts of the design of the building conform to this brief, in terms of the long facades, for example, which allow information to be displayed. Parts of the overall design also conform to this overarching design ideal, in that the plazas and pedestrianised spaces surrounding the actual structure also became regenerated following the opening of the Pompidou Centre; bookshops opened around the plazas, and informational and cultural events began to spring up in the plazas, from the wider city, in terms of impromptu circus events, markets and concerts, for example, all of which served the function of inviting a wider audience to the Pompidou Centre as a whole. Rogers’ and Piano’s overarching philosophy fo r the design of their Pompidou Centre, the need to create a space for multiple activities, for multiple users, was therefore realised through their careful design of not only the structure they designed, but also via the structure’s surroundings. As Rogers states, in his interview with Casati, â€Å"†¦if nothing else, the building will be a surface of contact with a non-specialised public, with the public at large. People know how to read it instantly. It’s entrails are on the outside.† (Casati, 2007). This idea of the structure being turned inside out was obviously, therefore, a major philosophical starting point for the design for Rogers and Piano who were concerned, as has been seen, with designing a space that could be used by many different types of users, for many purposes, not only for cultural events: under this concept, therefore, it was important that the actual structure itself not be forbidding, not be off putting to all visitors that might pass by it. This idea, of opening up dialogue with culture, to people who may not normally have been open to culture, or who may have thought that culture was not open to them, was facilitated by opening up the building, by turning it inside out, as a way of saying, ‘Here I am, I am exposed, you can see what I am, I am not forbidding, I am open’ and, through this, taking the intimidation out of visiting a cultural space. The surrounding plazas and pedestrianised areas facilitate this open invitation to visit the spaces w ithin the structure, inviting visitors in, enticing them to pass through the doors in to the Pompidou Centre itself. As Levy (2007) states, Rogers’ and Piano’s design was chosen for its simplicity, a work of high-tech modernity, that would, through its steel, glass and stone work, open up a pedestrianised space in the heart of the city of Paris, allowing visitors from all walks of life, and all persuasions, to partake of it’s offerings how, and when, they wished to do so. The great success of the design of the external spaces, and the construction itself, is precisely that. It’s simplicity allows people to feel comfortable within it’s spaces and to explore themselves in relation to their surroundings in a way that was extremely novel at that time in the history of architecture. The structure itself, a giant enveloped space, with its innards on show, is simple in the context that has been discussed, that it reveals itself to newcomers on first contact, and, through this, presents visitors and users with a simple task: to feel welcome enough to approach, to enter an d to use the space in the ways in which they wish to use the space. The greatness of the Pompidou Centre design is this simplification, this opening up of cultural spaces for the visitors, making the spaces a function of the visitors, and not vice versa. The guiding philosophy of this project was opening, welcoming, of providing spaces for information sharing and retrieval and for exchanges of all kinds, cultural and otherwise. In this sense, the Pompidou Centre is a resounding success, given the uses to which the spaces within the structure, the plazas and the pedestrianised areas are put, by many and varied visitors. As Proto (2005) argues, the great vision of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano was to realise the need for an information centre, for a centre that would facilitate many different types of exchanges. As Proto states, â€Å"..the hyper-objectification of it’s form and the consequent transparency of its content led†¦to a new type of architectural fruition: that in which the ideological perception of the building exceeded the real possibilities suggested by it’s hyper-flexibility.† (Proto, 2005). The Pompidou Centre not only invites, facilitates, different kinds of exchanges, and multiple exchanges, but also allows for self-empowerment through self-learning via these exchanges, such as inter-personal interactions, and interactions with culture and with one’s surroundings, for example (Proto, 2005). In this sense, again, the Pompidou Centre was visionary in terms of creating a physical space designed to enable these interactions, these exchanges. As Stephen ( 2001) notes, Rogers and Renzo’s idea, and the realisation of this idea was also visionary in terms of the realisation that museums, cultural spaces, have to serve a leisure function, in terms of benefiting the wider public through the provision of leisure opportunities (Stephen, 2001). The Pompidou Centre, through its many different spaces, designed for different ends, allows users to spend their leisure time in and around the Centre, very comfortably, something that, in 1977, when the Centre was designed and built, was forward-looking, to say the least. In terms of the Pompidou Centre’s design being understood as a product of its cultural, social, political and economic context, as has been seen, the building, and its surroundings, were very much intended to become a unified enabling space, through which visitors could interact with their surroundings in novel ways, initiating, directing and thus controlling their own experience whilst in the Pompidou Centre. The approach of visitors to the culture presented at the Pompidou Centre was this very different to how culture was, and is, presented at many other cultural centres and museums. Socially, as has been seen, the ethos of the Pompidou Centre was to bring together a wide variety of visitors, from many different backgrounds, and experiences, for many different purposes, from partaking in the cultural events on offer to enjoying the open spaces around the structure. Socially, therefore, the philosophy behind the design of the Pompidou Centre was to unite previously often soci ally disjunct visitors, through its welcoming, inside out, structure and through the offering of many different recreational spaces, in which visitors are free to choose, and direct, their own visitor experiences. The Pompidou Centre space attracts not only visitors one would normally associate with cultural attractions, but also visitors who would not normally visit museums and other such sites (Thompson and Bell, 2007); on this basis, then, the design, and its intentions, have been entirely successful, allowing for multiple visitors, undertaking multiple activities, within the umbrella of the Pompidou Centre spaces (both internal and external). Under this view, as Rogers argued (Casati, 2007), the Pompidou Centre does indeed act as a ‘Parisian Hyde Park Corner’, a place in which people can air their views, express their desires for their free time and enhance their lives through multiple exchanges. Politically and economically, the Pompidou Centre, has, as has been seen, led to a large amount of redevelopment and regeneration in the surrounding areas of Paris. The plazas and other external spaces have been filled with complimentary shops, stores and cultural/entertainment activi ties (circuses, for example), leading to a general regeneration of the area surrounding the centre. This essay has looked at the Pompidou Centre of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, in terms of how its design can be understood as a product of its cultural, social, political and economic context. This analysis included a discussion of the influences and relationship between the philosophical ideas underpinning the movement and the resulting building. As has been seen throughout the essay, the whole concept of Rogers and Piano was to use the entire space they had been given in order to create a variety of spaces in which multiple users could interact in multiple ways, with the spaces and with each other. Philosophically the main driving force behind the Pompidou Centre seems to have been to offer culture to the masses, to enable interaction with culture, in a novel way, in such a way that this offering would be embraced, by multiple users, in a myriad of different ways. This aim seems to have been achieved, and even surpassed, in terms of how visitors use the spaces within the Pompidou Centre and in terms of the sheer numbers of visitors to the Centre. Adapting the High Tech style to a cultural centre elicited novel design features, such as the use of the inside out design, which, in turn, enabled the philosophical aim of the Centre to be enacted; the walls of the structure have everything on display, nothing is hidden, welcoming visitors through its honesty and openness. The design is the Centre’s genius, the key to the realisation of its governing philosophy. As has been seen, the sheer number of visitors, who use the Pompidou Centre and its external spaces in multiple ways, is the proof of the validity, and success, of the philosophical underpinning of the project. Not everyone likes the Pompidou Centre, and politically it has been greatly debated, but, as an architectural project, it wholly met it’s brief and has surpassed expectations in terms of user satisfaction. In conclusion, with the Pomipdou Centre, Rogers and Piano, who at the time were relatively unknown architects, showed how an unused section of a city can be regenerated, and opened up to a mass of users who previously would not have considered using a ‘cultural centre’. It is, through its High Tech design, as Proto (2005) argues, a successful exercise in showing how visitors can be enabled to direct their own self-learning, through multiple, previously unexpected, and un-hoped for, exchanges. Rogers’ vision for the Pompidou Centre as a ‘building for information, culture and entertainment’ (Casati, 2007) has been realised, and its aims and hopes surpassed in this sector of Paris. Bachman, L.R. (2002). Systematic Centre Pompidou. In Integrated Buildings: The Systems Basis of Architecture. John Wiley. This extract is also available from Architecture Week, via [Accessed 6th July 2008]. Casati, C. (2007). The Parisian Hyde Park Corner. The Guardian Tuesday October 9th, 2007. Kron, J. and Slesin, S. (1997). High Tech: The Industrial Style and Source Book for the Home. Levy, B-H. (2007). A monument of audacity and modernity. The Guardian Tuesday October 9th 2007. Proto, F. (2005). The Pompidou Centre: or the hidden kernel of dematerialisation. The Journal of Architecture 10(5), 573-589. Stephen, A. (2001). The contemporary museum and leisure: recreation as a museum function. Museum Management and Curatorship 19(3), 297-308. Thompson, H. and Bell, J. (2007). The Pompidou Centre. The Guardian Tuesday October 9th 2007.

Carlsberg Background and History in Malaysia Essay

The Carlsberg Group is a Danish brewing company founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen after the name of his son Carl. The headquarters are in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company’s main brand is Carlsberg Beer, but it also brews Tuborg as well as local beers. After merging with the brewery assets of Norwegian conglomerate Orkla ASA in January 2001, Carlsberg became the 5th largest brewery group in the world. It is the leading beer seller in Russia with about 40 percent market share. In 2009 Carlsberg is the 4th largest brewery group in the world employing around 45,000 people. Carlsberg was founded by J. C. Jacobsen. The first brew was finished on 10 November 1847. Export of Carlsberg beer began in 1868. Some of the company’s original logos include an elephant (after which some of its lagers are named) and the swastika. Jacobsen set up the Carlsberg Laboratory in 1875 which worked on scientific problems related to brewing. It featured a Department of Chemistry and a Department of Physiology. The species of yeast used to make pale lager, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, was isolated at the Laboratory and was named after it. The laboratory was part of the Carlsberg Foundation until 1972 when it was renamed the Carlsberg Research Center and transferred to the brewery In December 1969, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad (Carlsberg Malaysia) began brewing Carlsberg Green Label beer locally in 1972. Since then, the brand has become part of everyday’s life and is the No. 1 beer brand with more than a 50% share of the Malaysian Beer Market. Carlsberg Malaysia is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Malaysia Stock Exchange) under the consumer products sector. It is an established brewery that manufactures and distribute beers, stout and other beverages mainly in the domestic Malaysian market and also has investments in Sri Lanka, Singapore and in a Malaysian alcoholic beverage company. Carlsberg Malaysia has a beer for every drinker with different palates and lifestyles for every occasion. Its expanded brand portfolio includes Carlsberg Green Label, Carlsberg Gold, Carlsberg Special Brew, Kronenbourg 1664, Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc, Asahi Super Dry, Somersby Apple Cider, SKOL beer, SKOL Super beer, Danish Royal Stout, Corona Extra, Jolly Shandy Lemon and as well as non-alcoholic Nutrimalt drink. In addition, Carlsberg Malaysia through its subsidiaries, has also a wide range of imported international beer brands such as Hoegaarden, Stella Artois, Budweiser, Grimbergen and Beck’s. The Company now has 7 of 9 world’s top international beer brands.

Panera Case Essay

Industry Analysis Dominant Economic Characteristics Panera Bread Company is a chain of restaurants, both company owned and franchised, that provides food and beverages with more of a cafà © experience as oppose to a traditional fast food restaurant. Panera NAICS code is 722310, which is classified as food service contractors. Food service contractors can be can be classified as cafeterias, fast food restaurants, or regular restaurants just to name a few. In 2007 there were approximately 23,250 establishments in this industry, which was up from 20,693 in 2002 and 18,991 in 1997, which shows that people are continuously opening more and more restaurants each year. Since 1997, the food industry under this NAICS code has seen significant increase in sales. The total number of sales in this industry has more then doubled since 1997, which can be attributed to two things. One of those is that they’re a just more establishments out there in 2007 then there were 10 years ago. The second, and probably most important reason why sales have more then doubled, is that people are just simply going out to eat more as oppose to cooking at home. Success in this industry is predicated on the ability to be able to not only appeal to consumer taste and preferences but continually changing product offerings to keep these customers happy and loyal to your restaurant. More often then not, companies in this industry fail and go out of business prematurely because they are not able to appeal to a wide enough customer base. Obviously you must have great food in this industry, but equally as important is the location, customer service, prices, and time of day that you choose to do business. If you don’t have a handle on these items then you will likely not make it past the first year without taking a significant loss. Due to the fact that there are different types of needs among customers, there is no way one establishment can serve the needs of everybody. Each restaurant must figure out the few things they do well and service those customers whose needs fit into what that restaurants do well. Driving Forces One of the key driving forces in this industry may seem obvious and simple but it is the most important thing in this industry. The restaurants must have good food to satisfy the ever-changing needs of customers. Since customers do have different preferences and these preferences could change at anytime, food companies must figure out a way to not only attract, but also maintain customer who love their food. However, to develop a sustainable advantage on taste alone is not likely when there are so many options when people eat away from home. Price is also a driving force as it is with any industry. A company must be able to provide their products cheaper then their competition or be able to convince their customer base that their products are worth the extra buck. In order to justify customers spending more money on your products, you have to somehow differentiate your product. Typically, companies either make their products healthier or find ingredients that make the products taste better then the competition if they are charging a premium price. If they are unable to convince consumers that their products are worth the premium price then they must figure out a way to drive down costs so they can charge as little as possible. With the economy struggling, this is a viable option for many companies in this industry. The last driving force is in this industry is location. A prime location can make or break a company. A company can have the best food in the world and even offer their products at great prices, but without the ability to get the foot traffic, because of a bad location, the company is doomed before it is even started. A restaurant must pick a location that will be able to service as many people that they have identified as potential customers. For instance, a healthy sub shop may be inclined to locate their business next to a health spa where people workout. The restaurants that are able to find an optimal location give themselves a far better chance to succeed for many years. A great location can be a sustainable competitive advantage and allow companies to outperform their rivals. Key Success Factors One of the key success factors is to be able to adapt to customer taste and needs in this rapidly changing market. To put it plain and simple, people get tired of eating the same thing so in order for a company to be successful, Companies must have a wide variety of product offerings. This is why you see many restaurants introducing new products for their customers to try. They have trail stages to see if these new products will be a hit and if they are then they keep them on the menu. If their customers do not accept them then they take them off the menu and try something else. So not only must you have a great core group of food options on your menu, but you must be able to change up your menu so that customers don’t get bored with the same options. Another key success factor in this industry is customer service. When people elect to eat out instead of eating at home, they expect to be treated well by the restaurant personnel. Obviously the level of customer service changes depending on the place that an individual is eating at. The more money someone is spending then it is likely that they will expect better customer service. Part of going out to eat is the experience and bad customer service can cause a company to lose customer even if their products are top of the line. Location is also a key success factor and a big one at that. Many companies that are unable to acquire a prime location are unable to stay in business. People don’t want to have to go out of their way to go to a restaurant in most cases so if a particular restaurant is not in a convenient place then they will not get much foot traffic. Foot traffic is the only way that companies in this industry can keep up with their financial obligations and turn a profit. I can say from personal experience that I have chosen to go to a restaurant based on convenience of the location and I feel that I am not the only one who has made a decision like this when choosing a place to eat. Porters Five Forces Threat of New Entrants The threat of new entrants in the food service contractor industry is extremely high. The restaurant industry is one of the most entered  industries year in and year out. The barriers to open a restaurant are nowhere near as high as other industries and if a restaurant owner can find a niche group of customers in a good location then they can be profitable. However, this is a feat that is much easier said then done. Although it is very feasible for new entrants to enter into this industry, it is definitely not an industry that is easy to have longevity in. The threat of new entrants for Panera Bread is not as high as some of the other restaurants in the industry. They have many established cafes all across the country that have been successful for years and would be hard for new entrants to compete on their level. In local markets a new entrant may be able to undercut the business of one individual store but it would be much more difficult for a start up to undercut Panera in the national or even the regional scene. Also, the fact that Panera Bread has a very aggressive growth strategy makes it even more problematic for new entrants to be able to compete at the level the Panera is on because they are always playing catch up. Substitute Products Substitute products are very prevalent in this industry and it affects all restaurants that are in the food service contractor industry. If you ride down a main street in any decent size city in this country for five minutes you will pass at least one hundred places to eat. Each one of these places is a substitute for one another, which makes this industry one of the most competitive industries that we have. With the number of restaurants growing, there are going to continue to be a plethora of substitute products. Also, items that people purchase at grocery stores and cook themselves are substitutes for restaurants in this industry. Americans are becoming more cognizant of what they put in their body and the best way to be absolutely sure that what you are putting in your body is exactly what you want is to prepare the food yourself. Just like every other company in this industry, Panera Bread is not immune to substitute products and must always account for other companies that offer substitute products. There are many viable eating options for customers in close proximity with nearly every Panera Bread cafe. With this  being the case, Panera must always look for ways to continue to bring customers into their cafes instead of those customers picking another option. Panera has been able to offer some unique products that are perceived as healthy which allow them to lessen the threat of some substitutes but it would be nearly impossible to get rid of the threat of substitute products because there are so many options. Perhaps the most difficult thing for competitors to be able to duplicate is the experience that is provided at Panera. Although there are other companies who are able to offer a pleasant dinning experience in the fast-casual restaurant industry, there is no substitute for this type of customer servi ce. Either you have quality service for your customers or you don’t. Power of Suppliers The power of suppliers in this industry is relatively low. This is due to the fact that there are often many possible suppliers to supply the needs of the restaurants. When this is the case, suppliers have no negotiating power to charge extremely high prices and must come to terms with the restaurants that are purchasing the various ingredients that go into their products. If suppliers are able to develop an ingredient that is rare or somehow do a value chain activity better then other supplier then they may have more negotiating power. However, even with this fact, the majority of the power in this relationship lies with the restaurants that are making the purchases. Panera Bread has 17 regional facilities that make all of its dough and then it is shipped out to each individual store. These facilities are owned or franchised out by Panera Bread, which gives them a huge competitive advantage. They control every step of the making of their main ingredient and this obviously gives them all of the power when it comes to purchasing dough. As long as the people who work there are satisfied then they will have no problem with having there dough needs met. They do ensure that these facilities make a profit but obviously not at the expense of Panera Bread. However, with other products that they use such as paper goods, coffee, and sweet goods, they use independent distributors to meet these needs. These suppliers have a very low amount if power when negotiating with Panera. These suppliers likely depend heavily on the Panera account to survive so  they must meet virtually all of Panera’s requests if they want to continue to do business with them. Some products that each individual store may have to order on a frequent basis may find that they have a little less negotiating power if a particular supplier is able to delivery these supplies on a timely basis. With this being said, the bulk of the power lies with Panera and not the suppliers. Power of Buyers The power of buyers in this industry is extremely high for various reasons. The main one is that there are low switching costs when an individual chooses to go from fast-casual restaurant to fast-casual restaurant. The only real cost may be one place may be further then the other which brings gas prices into play but typically these types of restaurants are located in similar areas so this is not that big of a factor. Anytime someone is spending money in a saturated market with several options, the consumer has all the power. The only way for restaurants to get some of the power back is to offer products that are perceived to be better then the competition. Panera Bread customers have an extremely high degree of power just like customers that buy food within this strategic group in the market. There are viable options for customers of Panera to choose from which always puts Panera in a position in which they have to convince customers that Panera is the best option to meet their needs. Panera must continue to evolve their menu and keep coming up with new items that keep their customers coming back for more. This is the only way that they can take some of the power back from their customers. Rivalry Among Competitive Sellers Everybody wants a piece of the American Dream in this country and the good thing about this country is that through hard work and dedication, anyone can be successful. With this being the case, there is fierce competition in virtually every industry in our country. The food service contractor industry is no exception to this fact and possibly is more competitive then most other industries. There are major players at every single level of this industry and each individual company is always looking for a slight advantage over their competitors. The fast-casual sector of this industry is rapidly growing and it is likely that we will continue to see more and more  companies vying for market share in this industry. The fact that people are spending significant dollars in fast-casual restaurants gives companies in this industry a golden opportunity for continued growth. Panera Bread has been able to carve out a niche in the fact that their dough process is not easily duplicated and nobody has been able to create products quite like Panera Bread. So, in this respect there is not a competitor that is selling the exact same thing that they are selling. However, I feel that Starbucks is a close competitor and they may have some of the same customers. When you think about a place that you can go and hang out with friends or catch up on some work or read a good book, Starbucks definitely comes to mind. In this relationship, Starbucks is definitely big brother and has far more locations around the world then Panera does so they obviously bring in more revenues yearly. Panera is trying to duplicate the atmosphere of a casual place to hang out but they are still playing catch up at this point in time. I also think Chipotle is a competitive rival but for different reasons then Starbucks. Chipotle is a fast-casual restaurant that has been able to create a product that consumers consider different and really tasty. It is a place that you can order and get your food relatively quickly and sit down and enjoy your meal with friends on the inside of the restaurant or outside. Although Chipotle definitely doesn’t have the atmosphere that Panera Bread has, it is very believable that when people are sick of fast food and are looking for a fast-casual restaurant to eat at, these two places come up. I can speak from experience that this has definitely been the case for myself on numerous occasions. Internal Analysis: SWOT & VRIO Framework SWOT Analysis Strengths A. Strong Brand Name B. Atmosphere of Restaurants C. Own Subsidiary for there main ingredient Weaknesses A. Lack of international/domestic presence in comparison to competitors Opportunities A. Expand Domestically/Internationally B. Continue to expand catering activities Threats A. Recession B. New Restaurants Strengths Panera Bread has been able to continually grow and make significant dollars year in and year out because they have many things that they do well. One of these strengths is the brand name â€Å"Panera Bread.† When people think of Panera they automatically think of a fast-casual restaurant with good food. It is somewhere that people can go and not pay significant dollars and walk away being happy with the food that they ate. This is probably the biggest strength that you can have in this industry because if your restaurant name is not associated with quality food then you have no chance of succeeding in the restaurant business. After all, nobody wants to eat food that is not enjoyable going down. Another strength that Panera has is the atmosphere and dinning experience that they provide for their customers. When people think of Panera they think of someplace that can offer relaxation for themselves as well as friends. Its just a great hang out spot where people can catch up on homework, read a good book, and hang out with friends all while enjoying some of the great products that Panera Bread offers. Panera is also able to produce its own dough, which is strength in two ways. The first is the most obvious. They can cut out significant costs when buying from their subsidiary and don’t have to worry about not being satisfied with the end product because ultimately they are producing it. Also, since dough is their main ingredient and what they are famous for they would not want outside knowledge of this trade secret. By producing the dough themselves minimizes significantly the possibility of other companies being able to capitalize on Panera’s trade secret. Weaknesses The biggest weakness that I saw in doing this case study is the fact that they have a lack of an international presence. If they are trying to compete with Starbucks with there dinning experience then they need to be everyplace that Starbucks does business so that customers can choose. This type of expansion could mean more revenues as well as continuing to increase their strong brand name. Domestically they do have a strong presence in the market but they are not at the level that Starbucks is at. Opportunities Panera has several opportunities to improve their position in the market place. One of those opportunities is to continue to have an aggressive attitude about expanding domestically and also to turn some of that energy into international endeavors. Domestically they have a strong presence but if they are going to overtake Starbucks as â€Å"The† fast-casual restaurant then they need to continue to find new markets to put their stores in. Currently they do not have an international sector at all. This is limiting their growth potential significantly and not really giving them a chance to be at the top of the totem pole in their sector of the restaurant business. International expansion could help Panera take their brand name to new heights. Another opportunity they have is to continue to expand their catering sector of their company. In 2004 they started to make a hard push into catering for other locations outside of the stores. By the end of 2005 they saw about 80 million dollars in sales in new sales from this catering sector. The ability to generate these types of sales in this short period of time gives Panera’s management incentive to continue to explore this opportunity. Threats The recession is a huge threat to all businesses that do not provide something that is a basic need for survival. Although Panera does provide food, which is a necessity, they still have to fight with the recession, as people do not eat out as much during tough economic times. Instead, people penny pinch and try to cut down on as many things as possible. Although they could discount their products and possibly generate more sales during this tough economic time, this strategy could make people start to associate their brand as being generic. This strategy would ultimately hurt them in  the long run. Another threat would be new restaurants coming into territory that they do business in and undercutting some of their sales. People have ever-changing taste and are always looking for the new â€Å"hot† thing. Since this is the case, new restaurants that are able to get the attention of consumers in the areas that Panera has restaurants in could pose a huge threat. VRIO Framework Sustainable competitive advantage is the key to any company’s long-term success. Are any of Panera’s strengths sustainable? Strong Brand Name  Valuable: Yes, a strong brand name in the business world is very valuable. It is especially valuable in the restaurant business because when people associate your brand name with having good food then people are automatically going to come in your place of business to get food. Also, this strong brand name gets people talking about your products and word of mouth advertising is amongst the top if not the top form of advertising. Rare: No, a strong brand name is not rare in the restaurant business. Many other restaurants in the fast-casual sector have a brand name that is associated with good food. This is the reason why there are so many of these types of restaurants out there that are able to perform well year in and year out. Although there are many restaurants that are able to build a strong brand name, there are many more t hat are not able to establish this strong brand name. Most restaurants fail within the first year because of this fact. Imitated Easily (Immutable): No developing a strong brand name is not easy. It takes years of creating quality products that people grow to love. Another way is to come up with something so innovative that people have no choice but to recognize that food product with your brand name. Both of these scenarios are extremely hard to pull off successfully. Organization: Yes, the Panera organization is very committed to continuing to build their brand name. This is especially evident in how they franchise their company out to other people. Their franchise owners have to adhere to certain rules and regulations in order to open up a Panera Bread restaurant. Atmosphere of Restaurants Valuable: Yes this is a very valuable aspect of their restaurants. The fast  casual style gives Panera bread an edge over other restaurants and makes it more then just a place that you can get great food. The amenities that are offered at Panera bread makes it a friendly place to eat as well as do various other activities such as hang out with friends or catch up on work. They opened their doors with the idea that the overall atmosphere is what was going to set them apart from others and give them a competitive advantage and that is precisely what they have been able to do. Rare: Yes and No. This overall atmosphere is available in most coffee shops around the world so from that perspective it’s not that rare. However, it is rare in the fact that they have been able to expand into one of the top brands in this sector and are really only second to Starbucks as far as atmosphere goes. They compete on a level that most coffee shops can’t. Imitated Easily (Immutable): Yes and No. Anybody can set up wireless internet and make a space conducive to hanging out and reading books. So in regard to this it is easily imitated. The part that is not easily imitated that Panera has been able to accomplish is that they are recognized by a large number of consumers as a place to go and do the activities mentioned above. Organization: Yes, the Panera Organization is committed to making their restaurant a place where people can go be in a friendly atmosphere. That was the whole basis of what they thought would create their competitive advantage when they opened their doors. Own a Subsidiary for Their Main Ingredient Valuable: Yes, the fact that they own subsidiaries that make their main ingredient is a huge advantage that they have. They are able to cut down on cost as well as always knowing that their dough’s will be exactly what they are expecting. They don’t have to ever worry about negotiating with outside vendors about prices or any other terms for this key ingredient. Also, they can protect their trade secret that is the ingredients and process of creating their dough. Rare: No, they are most definitely not the first company to own a subsidiary that is apart of the value chain. Many companies vertically integrate to gain some of the benefits that I mentioned above. Imitated easily (Immutable): Yes, this is very easy to imitate. The company must have the capital investment to make this happen but gathering the money is not something that can’t be imitated. Typically what keeps companies from  doing this is that they can simply buy the materials needed at a cheaper cos t versus creating these materials themselves. Organization: Yes, Panera is obviously committed to making this subsidiary successful. They could have hired out someone else to make their dough’s but then they would risk exposure of their trade secrets and may have to pay more for the dough. The subsidiary not only cuts down on certain costs but also protects their process of making their dough’s. Strategic Cost Analysis: Value Chain Analysis Primary Activities Supply Chain Management Panera Bread uses a subsidiary to supports its supply chain management as well as other independent suppliers. They get their dough, which is their key ingredient, from their subsidiary. This dough is used to make their assortments of breads, which is obviously what they are known for. They deliver the dough to each individual restaurant and then the restaurant bakes the bread so that the bread is fresh when it reaches the consumer. However, they do receive some of its ingredients for its doughs from other suppliers. Also, sweet goods, paper goods, small ware, and coffee are bought from outside suppliers. Panera feels like it is cheaper to buy these products from various suppliers instead of producing them internally or through a subsidiary. Operations Panera prides itself on being different from the pack in the world of fast casual restaurants. They do this by providing a friendly atmosphere in their restaurants in which their customers can come and get more then just food. This operation technique gives them an advantage over your average fast food restaurant but it is still someplace that you could go to get a meal quickly. Another key aspect of their operation is the fact that they are always changing the menu to appeal to the current customers as well as attract new ones. This is something that is necessary for any restaurant and has proven to be something that Panera does well. Distribution In most major cities in the United States you can find a Panera Bread restaurant to eat at. This is the primary activity for Panera to get their  products to the customer. In this regard, they compete just like every other restaurant in country. However, they are really starting to pick up their catering sector of their company and this could lead to new customers and more revenue. Not only does catering give them another way to sale their products, but it may also expose individuals to Panera for the first time if they are at the catered event. Support Activities Word of Mouth Word of mouth is a huge support activity for pretty much every successful restaurant in the country. This is especially true for Panera Bread since they really don’t do too much to market their restaurant. They rely heavily on current customer’s positive experiences at their restaurant to spark them to tell somebody else. Through this positive word of mouth they are able to gain loyal customers, which is why they are able to sustain their company. Franchises Panera’s Franchise operations are a huge supplement for their company owned stores and they are able to generate significant revenue from their franchises. There is a significant investment required from a potential franchise owner. The franchises give Panera an opportunity to capitalize on their strong brand name. However, they must keep a close eye on each franchise so that they can maintain the Panera reputation. If they let the franchise operate under the Panera name without any rules then they are exposed to the risk of tainting their brand. Strategic Cost Analysis: Competitive Strength Assessment Panera Bread Chipotle Starbucks Key Success Factors Importance Weights Strength Score Strength Score Strength Score Brand Image 0.25 9 2.25 10 2.5 10 2.5 Restaurant Atmosphere 0.2 8 1.6 5 1 9 1.8 Word of Mouth Advertising 0.25 8 2 9 2.25 8 2 Adjusting Menu To Adapt to Consumers 0.1 9 0.9 5 0.5 6 0.6 Price 0.2 8 1.6 8 1.6 6 1.2 Total 1 42 8.35 35 7.85 39 8.1 When performing the competitive strength assessment for restaurants that are in the same strategic group as Panera Bread there were several key success factors that were important. Panera, Chipotle, and Starbucks all performed well in this assessment but with the success factors that I felt were important, Panera did just barely edge out Starbucks. Brand Image was extremely high on the pedestal in the key success factors because in the restaurant business, how the public perceives you will either make or break your restaurant. All three companies performed well in this category but I felt that Starbucks International presence gave them a slight edge over Panera and Chipotle. I rated the restaurant atmosphere as a .2 because I felt like it was a very important factor by not quite as important as brand image. Chipotle struggles with their restaurant atmosphere in comparison to the other two places however; they are still able to succeed in this industry. They have not put as much importance on their dining experience; where as Panera and Starbucks whole method for differentiating themselves from other fast-casual  establishments are creating that warm dinning experience. However, Starbucks also wins this category by a small margin. Word of mouth advertising is a .25 because this is how you grow as a company. When you are able to get your loyal customers to get prospective customers to try out their products then restaurants give themselves a great opportunity to retain new customers. I thought that all of these places do a good job with generating this type of advertising but based on my experiences, Chipotle gets a little more of this type of advertising then the other two, especially from college students. The only one of these three that really makes a true effort to change up their menu is Panera Bread. They are constantly introducing new things to appeal to their customers. However, I didn’t feel as if this was nearly as important as some of the other key success factors. Chipotle and Starbucks have been able to create a menu that their customers like and are not likely to grow bored of eating which is why they are still successful. Since they don’t put an emphasis on changing their menu much, Panera takes this category relatively easy. Price is important within the restaurant business especially during these rough economic times. People are much more cognizant of where their money is spent. Chipotle and Panera offer quality products at decent prices even in these tough times. On the contrary, Starbucks would be on the pricier side especially when it comes to their food selection. They don’t offer big portions and individuals would likely still be hungry shortly after leaving the restaurant. Panera and Chipotle tied in this category as both of them offer good prices for valuable menu items. Financial Analysis The following are some basic income statements for Panera Bread and Chipotle as well as some financial Ratios. I chose these 2 because they are similar in size and are both considered fast-casual restaurants although they do serve different menu items. I do feel that Starbucks is a competitor of Panera Bread as well but they are a much larger company and there statements would make for a very good comparison. Panera Bread Statement of Operations (% of revenue) 2007 2006 Revenue 100% 100% Total Cost and Expenses 92% 89% Operating Profit 8% 11% Income before taxes 8% 11% Net Income 5% 7% Panera Bread Statement of Operations ($ in thousands) 2007 2006 Revenue 1,066,691 828,971 Total Cost and Expenses 977,801 736,295 Operating Profit 88,890 92,676 Income before taxes 88,890 92,676 Net Income 57,456 58,849 Chipotle Statement of Operations (% of revenue) 2007 2006 Revenue 100% 100% Total Costs and Expenses 89.5% 92% Operating Profit 10.5% 8% Income before taxes 10.5% 8% Net Income 6% 5% Chipotle Statement of Operations ($ in thousands) 2007 2006 Revenue 1,085,782 822,930 Total Cost and Expenses 971,780 754,675 Operating Profit 114,002 68,255 Income before taxes 114,002 68,255 Net Income 70,563 41,423 Ratio Gross Profit Margin Net Profit Margin Operating Profit Margin Panera 2007 .74 .05 .08 Panera 2006 .76 .07 .11 Chipotle 2007 .68 .06 .10 Chipotle 2006 .69 .05 .075 Return on Assets Current Ratio Return on S/E Equity Panera 2007 .08 1.17 .13 Panera 2006 .11 1.19 .15 Chipotle 2007 .105 2.75 .126 Chipotle 2006 .08 2.92 .087 As you can see both of these companies are doing well and have been able to turn a nice size profit for these past 2 years. However, Chipotle has been able to grow from 2006 to 2007 as their net profit margin went up by 1% whereas Panera Breads has dropped 2%. I think the newness of Chipotle has given them an advantage in these early years but I don’t think it will be sustainable once people get use to the menu. The recession has hurt Panera more then Chipotle but due to the low liabilities that Panera has, they are still able to make a profit in 2007 that is not much lower then the profit from 2006. I believe that the overall dinning experience and the variety of the Panera menu will prove to be a sustainable competitive advantage going forward over many of its rivals and will provide them financial well-being. Business Strategy Analysis: Porter’s Generic Strategy Panera Bread’s goal is to create the greatest amount of value for the customers when they walk into one of their restaurants. The generic strategy that most closely resembles what they are trying to accomplish is Best-Cost Provider Strategy. This is providing quality products at a cheaper price then what you can get elsewhere. Full meals at Panera can be bought for very reasonable prices and there various bread selections give them an advantage over other fast-casual establishments. So on the basis of taste their products can be considered a bang for your buck. Also, they provide an atmosphere known as â€Å"Panera Warmth† which is something that is not provided  at many other places. Between the reasonable prices for the quality products and the customer friendly environment, they are able to provide more value for their customers then most other fast-casual restaurants. Corporate Strategies: Diversification Diversification in Panera Bread has been an important aspect since they have been open for business. Starting as a company called Au Bon Pain in the 80s, they would eventually change to the Panera name once it took off. This was a move that allowed them to really expand their brand in the 90s and into the 2000s. Another thing that they did to diversify their company was purchasing majority of Paradise Bakery and Cafà © in 2007. Paradise had 70 locations, which gave Panera more restaurants as well as some other knowledge that came along with the purchase. Panera has a very aggressive growth strategy and plan to have 2000 stores open by the en of 2010 in the United States. This type of growth strategy has the potential allow Panera to continue to climb the ladder to being one of the top fast-casual restaurants. Issue 1 A big issue that I see with Panera bread at this point in time is their untapped markets not only domestically but also internationally. They have several major cities that do not have Panera Bread in the city at all which is not allowing them to maximize their earning potential. Also, they have no international presence at all. These cafà © style restaurants would likely catch on well internationally considering the success that Starbucks has had with their international establishments. Recommendation Panera Bread should continue with their aggressive growth strategy. They must make sure that they tap into some of the major city markets that they have yet to such as New York City, Washington D.C., and New Orleans. Panera needs to have several locations in these cities and should make it a goal to have at least 20 in these cities by 2012. Also, they should continue to add restaurants in places like Miami and Seattle where they only have 2 and 5 establishments respectively. In competitive markets in the United States, Starbucks has more then 8 times as many locations as Panera. This is a huge problem is if they ever want to be on the same level as Starbucks.  Internationally, they should pick a few countries where cafes are popular and try to tap into those markets. However, internationally I think that they should take their time instead of implementing the fast growth strategy that they have in the United States. I think they should try to have 100 restaurants internationally by 2012. They have to tap into the international market if they ever want to truly compete with Starbucks and they are in a good position financially now to expand slowly in the international market. Issue 2 Another big issue that is lingering with not only Panera Bread but also every single restaurant is the recession. This recession has hit many Americans hard financially and they have not been eating out as much. This decreases the amount of possible business that fast-casual restaurants can get and this includes Panera Bread. They must figure out a way to continue to grow despite the tough economic times. Recommendation 2 There are a number of things that Panera Bread can do to offset this rough economic stretch that we are in. One of those things is to offer discounts on certain menu items but only make this discount good for a certain period of time. This makes people feel like they are getting a deal on Panera’s products and be more likely to pull in during lunch as oppose to packing their lunch. The limited time on the discounts ensures that your products don’t become generic which is also important for when the recession is over. Another thing that they can do if offer free food to customers after they have purchased so many products from the menu. This gives customers incentive to eat out at Panera even in the midst of a recession. Works Cited Panera Bread. â€Å"Www.panerabread.com.† Panera Bread †º Company Overview †º Our History. 2012. Panera Bread. 06 May 2013 . Securities and Exchange Commissions, U.S. (2008). â€Å"Filed by Bowne Pure Compliance.† Filed by Bowne Pure Compliance. 2008. Annual Report Chipotle. 06 May 2013 . Securities and Exchange Commissions, U.S. (2008). â€Å"Form 10-K.† Form 10-K. 2008. Annual Report Panera Bread. 06 May 2013 . Thompson, Arthur A., A. J. Strickland, and John Gamble. Crafting and executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage : Concepts and cases. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2008. United States Census Bureau. â€Å"Industry Statistics Sampler.† : NAICS 722310- Food service contractors. 2007. United States Census Beaura. 06 May 2013 . United States Census Bureau. â€Å"Industry Statistics Sampler.† : NAICS 722310- Food service contractors. 2007. United States Census Bureau. 06 May 2013 .