Read “Case 12: Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Strategy in 2018: Will the New CEO Be Able to Rebuild Customer Trust and Revive Sales Growth?” in your Connect textbook.
Write a 350- to 700-word response and answer each question below:
What factors contributed to the loss of confidence in the Chipotle brand? Do the current actions present a strategy that would improve consumer trust? Why or why not? Consider its competitors. How does Chipotle’s internal environment compare to the internal environment of one of its competitors? Based on this analysis, what is the probability that the strategic moves implemented by Chipotle would lead to a sustainable competitive advantage? Explain. What additional recommendations would you make for Chipotle to gain consumer trust and reclaim a leadership role in the fast-food industry? Provide justification for your response. Based on the information presented in this case study, what kind of business strategy would you suggest to help Chipotle achieve a competitive advantage?
)factors that contributed to the loss of confidence in the Chipotle brand
a) Salmonella outbreak which was linked to contaminated tomatoes served at the restaurant.
b)report of 80 customers and 18 employees suffering from gastrointestinal symptoms that were linked to norovirus which is normally a result of eating contaminated food and improper hygiene
c) the negative publicity it received from the media as they did extensive reports on the three incidents which had a negative impact on the customer’s traffic to its branches
2) Do the actions taken to date present a strategy that would improve consumer trust? Why or why not?
Actions taken unfortunately are not likely to guarantee improved consumer trust in Chipotle. Looking at the scenario from the first infection as a result of food contamination, it is clear that even Chipotle themselves have not found the reason for all those food contamination-related sicknesses and hence can not authoritatively say that their restaurants are free from such; even after those strategies put in place, the illness is still being witnessed in other branches hence lowering consumer trust. This is why after the first case was reported in Southern California, the affected employees stayed off duty till they were cleared but that did not prevent another case in another branch; Portland ended up eroding the consumers’ trust further. This is a clear indication of the ineffectiveness of the approaches taken by Chipotle hence not improving the customer’s trust in their products and services.
3 . Chipotle’s internal environment marred with all these allegations of illness associated with food illness leaves it at the mercy of the competitors as the latter would really capitalize in the lack or lowered consumer confidence and the negative publicity the organization has received. This would definitely leave it vulnerable to other firms as much as competition is concerned. The probability of the strategic moves by Chipotle leading to sustainable competitive advantage is totally not guaranteed. This is because for a firm to fair well in this competitive business environment, the customer’s confidence is key. but unfortunately, although Chipotle had tried every strategy to regain confidence, ranging from the closure of affected stores to working closely with the federal government to ensure food safety, still some of their branches had these food poisoning-related illnesses. This is a clear indication that the strategies in place are not effective and hence cannot be banked on to deliver a turnaround as far as consumer confidence is concerned. The latter plays a vital part in ensuring that a company has an edge over its competitors. Chipotle needs to first identify the cause, and address it to win the confidence back. Unfortunately, the strategies laid out, don’t seem to address this fully.
4) for Chipotle to gain consumer trust and reclaim a leadership role in the fast food industry they should first identify the real cause of those illnesses associated with food poisoning before embarking on improvement and cure strategies. How would one treat something you don’t know the cause? Chipotle should have a vigorous internal audit and close its doors first to ensure that the root cause of all these illnesses is fully addressed. This should not be done on branch to branch basis but in all its branches at the same time. In the past, they had started by closing down the branch in Southern California only for the same to be reported in Portland. In order for Chipotle to gain consumer trust, they should close all their branches, work on them and make them contaminated free then review all their supplies. This involves setting of high standards coupled with vigorous testing to ensure that all the supply that goes into their stores are free from contamination. Additionally, they should heavily invest in capacity building to train their employees on better ways of handling food to reduce contamination-related illness.
5) Chipotle should consider an Operational effective strategy in trying to regain the customer’s confidence. This is because according to the first paragraph, it was doing tremendously well before the cases of illness skyrocketed in its various branches,” future looked rosy as sales were at record-setting levels” Hence it would be imperative to find a solution to the contamination menace and continue providing their services at the very best level; as they did before the cases. By doing this, slowly but steadily, customers’ confidence would be definitely restored. This will end up giving them the necessary heads tart in competition
