Seleang Buth
MHR 318-06
April 3, 2011
Case 1 – Panera Bread Company 1. What do you describe as Panera’s purpose, mission, and strategy? As stated on Panera Bread official website “a loaf of bread in every arm” is its mission statement. From the mission statement, I can assume a friendly, fun and confident strategy being in use. The article mentions that Panera wants to satisfy customers, probably enough to get all customers in the store to purchase a loaf of bread! 2. How well has Ron Shaich utilized the open systems model of organizations in moving Panera Bread Company forward in its competitive environment? Ron Shaich has utilized the open systems model of organizations in moving Panera Bread forward in its competitive environment very well. Panera Bread is constantly satisfying the customers by taking it customers’ input in the product. For example, when “Panera recognized that trans fat was a growing concern to our customers and the medical community. Therefore we made it a priority to eliminate it from our menu” (p. w-38, par. 2). Panera currently have zero trans fats on the menu. 3. What are the challenges to the management process posed by Panera’s fast paced growth? What problems do you see Shaich having to resolve to continue his record of success with the firm? Some challenges to the management process posed by Panera’s company. In the future, Shaich will have to continue to “be in the know” of what the trend is and will be as time progressed. Shaich will need to change as the trend changes or remain the same, if the trend is parallel with the company. 4. Visit a Panera store near you, or a competitor. Based on your customer experience, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this business going forward? I like the way the restaurant looks itself; earthy colors make me feel warm and comfortable. I also have had a Panini sandwich, which was very delicious. There are always people on their laptops because of the free wifi, which is strength because the wifi brings customers in. A weakness of Panera Bread would be that people are studying and working on their laptops; families wouldn’t want to hang out inside because their kids might distract others. At McDonalds and Burger King, parents do not worry about this kind of thing.