BUS508

Competitive Strategies

Corporate culture is seen in an organization’s behavior and its structure (Moore). When a company is formed it is generally formed with a plan which was founded based on a particular set of ideas of how the organization will operate. This plan is probably based on the founder’s ideas and/or the values that the founder holds to be important. These ideologies are often the foundation of the company. And from these foundational ideologies a corporate culture of a company is formed. This is why each company’s culture has its own unique attitudes, ideas and attributes that often times enhances the competitors culture which is not always a negative since both companies corporate cultures have shown to support a successful business.
1.Determine how each corporate culture differs from the other.
In the fast food industry the corporate cultures can be as different as night and day. While one company may believe that training is time and money well spent another may believe that training, whether it be cross training or promotional training, is a waste of time and money and that most employees will better serve the company by cooking more food. In other words better the bottom line not the employee. However the above mentioned “bottom line” mentality is not part of the culture at Chipotle or Chick fil A. Both of these companies hire with the mindset of hiring to promote and grow that employee. “The key to our success there is the strength of our people culture,” Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold wrote in an e-mail (Melnick, 2011). These two companies share this idea of growing the employee and promoting from within but their corporate cultures have other traits that distinguish them from one another. For example Chick fil A endorses and promotes a Christian attitude in their everyday business operations. This attitude is reiterated thru the practice of being closed on Sundays. This is done because a Christian believes that Sunday is a day of worship and rest. This belief is further exhibited in a statement made on the Catheys’ blog. We exist “To glorify God by being good stewards of all that is entrusted to us, and to make a positive impact on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A (Cathey & 2013). Another value that sets these two every successful companies apart is the fact that Chipotle is always looking for responsible ways of doing business. It’s our promise to run our business in a way that doesn’t exploit animals, people or the environment (Ells). This is a philosophy the Steve Ells, the founder, has always promoted and he does this by looking for ways to buy the freshest ingredients while buying top quality meats that have not been fed steroids. This is all a part of healthy eating says Mr. Ells.
2. Analyze three (3) ways that each unique culture has benefited by the other’s competition.
During the sixty plus years that Chick fil A has been in business it has given in excess of $100 million dollars to various charities and organizations while serving their communities in numerous other ways. This spirit of giving is further proof of the corporate culture of this company. We believe that the consistency of our corporate purpose, goals and values has created a culture at Chick-fil-A that not only makes promises, but continues to keep those promises each and every day. From the people we hire to the products we sell (Cathey &, 2013). This history of giving and giving back has surely been a trait that Chick fil A and some others have tried to imitate. This has been notified by competitors. Since the inception of Chipotle Mr. Ells’s theory of “Food with Integrity” has prompted many of the producers in the fast food industry to take notice and move towards initiating this practice of healthier eating which has also led to these producer being more environmentally conscience of who and where they are buying their products from. Some companies are now taking their responsibilities a little more serious and taking that extra step of investigating the practices of their suppliers.
3. Speculate how each would continue to thrive if its current corporate culture would need to change in the near future. Be sure to state what change(s) you are speculating on and what led you to identify that possibility.
In Chipotle’s current hiring model they hire a new employee with the intent of developing and growing that employee. If in the future the company’s growth were to suddenly stop or change, due to economic conditions, then the need for more managers and more employees would change. This would cause the internal growth rate of current employees to stall and promotions and hiring would level off or decline. This would then create a stall of promotions that the current culture values. This would mean the Indians would have to remain Indians until some openings for Chiefs became available within the stores that Chipotle currently has. This change in human capital needs would mean that the hiring model may have to be tweaked as economics change and we all know that economies change cynically. However this change probably would not hinder Chipotle’s success because all things change and as long as management plans for any anticipated changes in the economy then this type of change would probably not very much of an impact.

References
Cathey, D., & , (2013, 0006 13). A great brand is a promise kept. .Retrieved from http://www.cathyfamily.com/dan/blog/a-great-brand-is-a-promise-kept.aspx
Ells, S. (n.d.). Letter from Steve. Retrieved from http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/chipotle_story/steves_story/steves_story.aspx
Melnick, J. (2011, 11 01). More than MinimumWage. QSR, Retrieved from http://www.qsrmagazine.com/human-resources/more-minimum-wage?
Moore, E. Corporate Culture. Financial Times. Retrieved from http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=corporate-culture

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