...Confidential Memorandum Date: Friday September 15, 2000 To: Ms. Laurie Gannon, Public Relations Director of Taco Bell Corporation Copy: Taco Bell Corporation Senior Executives and Legal Dept. From: Dean Hegwood, V.P. Risk Management Subject: Unfavorable Media Exposure within 48 hours Taco Bell Corporation’s Director of Public Relations has in the last few hours received a phone call from the company’s Government Relations Team. The Government Relations Team has learned that a special interest group known as “Friends of the Earth” will be releasing information on Monday September 18, 2000 to the Washington Post. This press release will be implicating the Taco Bell labeled taco shells which are manufactured, distributed, and sold by Kraft Foods, Inc. as containing a genetically modified corn ingredient unapproved for human consumption. The substance is known as StarLink and is a product of Aventis. Background * On August 1, 1996, Taco Bell and Kraft Foods, Inc. entered into a licensing agreement for Kraft Foods to manufacture, distribute, and sell Taco Bell branded taco shells in the retail grocery market. * In August 1998, the EPA granted Aventis registration of protein “Cry9c” known as StarLink as a plant pesticide. * In August 1998, the EPA granted Aventis approval to use StarLink only for commercial use as animal feed. Precautions must be in place to ensure prevention of StarLink from entering the human food supply. * In April 1999, the EPA denied...
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...Case Presentation: Taco Bell Case Presentation: Taco Bell Pat Lauscher and Jesse Paprocki BUS 754: Information Systems Mgmt Spring 2003 HISTORY (EVENTS) Company Focus: John Martin joined Taco Bell in 1983 as president and CEO, having previous executive level experience with other fast food chains. He discovered that the company didn’t know what business it was in, so he quickly focused Taco Bell on the fast food industry. Process Improvements: 1983-1988: Strong growth in the 60s and 70s came to a halt in the early 1980s as the fast food industry began showing signs of maturity. To deal with the potential threat of a maturing business, Taco Bell began a series of process improvement initiatives that really changed the way it did business. These improvements included increased restaurant capacity by modernizing its restaurants to include drive through windows, increased seating capacity, electronic point of sales systems (to replace plastic order boards), and reconfigured food production areas. Taco Bell also added some new menu items during this time. 1988-1991: Continuing to feel the effects of an industry margin squeeze, Martin commissioned two studies that tuned the company in to what the customers really valued, FACT (Fast, Accurate, Clean, and Temperature). In response, the organization stopped viewing quality and price as incompatible tradeoffs. The K-minus program transformed the kitchen into a heating and assembly unit and centralized cooking...
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...I ntroduction The given case deals with the growth of a well-known chain of restaurant named Taco Bell over a period of time. During the given period the restaurant’s sales doubled and profits tripled. This was the result of a series of changes made by the management in the functioning of the restaurant. How Taco Bell Evolved PRODUCTION AND PROCESS The company, with the advent of the modern era, keeping in mind the convenience of the customers increased its POA (point of access) and re-engineered its Multilevel Management system to Team-Managed Units. The earlier system was a “commanded and controlled” organizational structure which was changed to a structure that empowered its frontline employees. This induced a sense of ownership amongst the employees and was also in line with the concept of job rotation. Thus, the work load on the Managers and the General Manager considerably reduced and they got a chance to take up other pending yet urgent responsibilities and instead of being the command and control center, they became coaches and trainers. Each crew member was trained on functions of product assembly and delivery, cash registers, dining room attendance, labor scheduling, food ordering, interviewing etc. The time limit for obtaining basic proficiency was 60 days. Amongst the crew members a team leader was selected whose performance was higher than the rest. The job of team leader was to assign work on the basis of “aces in their places” which says that during...
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...Case Analysis #1: Taco Bell MGT 3620-350 Brian Deese The 7-S Model, as shown on page 76 of our textbook, consists of seven variables that all begin with the letter “S”. The base or hard S’s include Structure, Strategy, and Systems while the soft S’s are comprised of Skills, Style, Staff, and Shared Values. In this paper, we will analyze how human resource management at Taco Bell implemented changes in each of the seven variables of the 7-S Model and how these changes impacted the net effect of Taco Bell’s overall performance. Structure- Defined as the skeleton of the organizational chart, HRM at Taco Bell implemented changes to its structure in the late 1980’s from RM’s and ARM’s (restaurant managers / assistant restaurant managers) to RGM’s as well as ARGM’s. The new title, inserting the name “General” into the existing name, was purposely modified to promote a strong signal to the organization that a different behavior was now expected. To help insure that the new RGMs could succeed, Taco Bell provided them superior support as well as a whole new training plan. A redesign of the compensation and management structures was modified to decrease turnover and active communication of the new expectations were laid out to the RGMs and their supervisors. By empowering the RGM’s and ARGM’s with these much needed resources, Taco Bell was able to eliminate several middle management layers within the organization. This action also led to the change from using district managers to...
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...Under the feature "Thank you for suing us" Taco Bell Corp. propelled an advertising defense against a claim guaranteeing its taco meat is more filling than beef. The fast-food chain, the casualty of a legal claim asserting that its taco meat is just 35 percent genuine meat, has discharged another advertisement coordinated at its informers (and also its clients, probably). In the promotion, Taco Bell denies that charges against it without naming them and pronounces that its "meat is 100% USDA inspected." not surprisingly, web-based social networking helped transform the suit into a blogosphere free for all. In any case, the chain assembled fast to respond back. It propelled into a drill that tragically turned into a standard formula for QSR...
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...For the exclusive use of M. Alshahri, 2015. W14536 TACO BELL: A MEXICAN-INSPIRED RESTAURANT IN INDIA Lubna Nafees, Ashok Bajpai, Akshay Kumar, Anoop Chand, Maryne Ann James, Bonney Luke Thomas, Jayakrishnan B. Nair, Kunal Hazari and Garima Konda wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Copyright © 2014, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2014-10-29 With four outlets of Taco Bell opened in Bangalore by December 2013, Niren Chaudhary, managing director of Yum! Restaurants India, felt eager to expand its market offerings. He pulled out the morning newspaper and impatiently ruffled through the pages until he reached the business section. He paused briefly, folded the paper and leaned forward to read better. Focusing his attention...
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...TACO BELL IN INDIA - CASE STUDY QUESTIONS: Also, please consider and discuss where the company is now, a few years later, with regard to Taco Bell in India. Have they achieved higher brand awareness, growth and profitability/success? If not, what suggestions do you have for them? What does your team suggest for Taco Bell in the future? Are there other regions for expansion? YUM! Brands, Inc. now operates in six divisions: YUM Restaurants China (China or China Division), YUM Restaurants China (YRI or International Division), Taco Bell U.S., KFC U.S., Pizza Hut U.S. and YUM Restaurants India (India or India Division). Taco Bell has 7 stores in India, which located in three cities: Bangalore (Sony World Signal, Innovation Mall, and Brookefield Mall), Mumbai (Oberoi Mall, R City, and Viviana Mall), and Delhi (Ambience Mall). According to The Economic Times (7 Jun, 2015), Taco Bell announced its expansion into New Delhi through a tie-up with Burman Hospitality, its first franchisee partner in India. Cooperated with Burman Hospitality, Taco Bell India plans to take the store count to 25 restaurants in the next 18-24 months. The General Manager of Taco Bell & Pizza Hut, Unnat Varma, said that with a strong proof concept in Bangalore and Mumbai, they are eager to increase their footprints across India, such as Punjab, Chandigarh, and Uttarakhand. He also indicated that Taco Bell is aim to provide their signature Mexican-inspired food and break-through value to the customers...
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...more than 31,800 flagship restaurants serving burgers and fries in more than 100 countries. Almost 30% of its locations are company-owned; the others are run by franchisees. Sales in 2005 were $20,460.2 million and 447,000 people were employed world wide. [i] McDonalds’ major competitors are Burger King, the number two hamburger chain, and Wendy’s, number three. McDonalds also competes with Yum Brands, Inc., “which actually is the largest fast-food operator in the world in terms of number of locations, with more than 34,000 outlets in more than 100 countries. Yum Brands restaurants include the number 1 chicken fryer, KFC (with more than 13,500 units), top pizza joint Pizza Hut (about 12,500), and quick-service Mexican leader Taco Bell (more than 6,000). Yum Brands also operates the Long John Silver’s seafood chain, along with several hundred A&W root beer and burger stands”[ii] Economic Forces McDonalds is an elastic good and has many substitutes, from the competitors mentioned above to food cooked at home. Given that it is less expensive to cook at home, people whose incomes are squeezed may decide to avoid fast food all...
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...| | |Wrench LLC v. Taco Bell Corp. | |Case 9.1: Implied-in-Fact Contract | | | | | | | |Dominica Smith | |GM597-Business Law | |Week 6 Course Project: Case Analysis | |February 12, 2012 | | ...
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...new ones to meet changing consumer needs. The development of strong brands has always been a feature of the fast food market. Utilizing on-site product recommendations on our Web site dramatically increases conversion rates, order size and as well building brand trust with your online customers. Industry-wide data shows that sites that have added product recommendations have experienced increases as great as: 90%+ increase in on recommended products; 45%+ increase in conversion rates; and 5% increase in the number of items per order. Multiple Recommendation Types: TACO BELL runs more than 20 different recommendation types allowing it to display multiple recommendation sets per page — making it easier for shoppers to discover relevant products while giving merchandisers more space for upselling and cross-selling products. Explicit Messaging: Unlike “We suggest” or “You might also like” recommendations, TACO BELL recommendations clearly explain why products are being recommended to a shopper (e.g. “People that viewed this ultimately bought” and “Top selling product for this item”) The result is an enriched shopping experience for your customer, and higher sales and brand loyalty for you. Testing is vital throughout the entire product development process. It helps to provide valuable information that can be used to fine-tune the product and minimise many of the launch risks. In...
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...home. Due to such craze, fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell, have gained a top position in the industry where customers can have a hot quick meal in a flash or we may say less than five minutes. A case study is done by a reporter who became a Taco Bell employee for a few hours so that he could analyze the queueing model on how customer order processing was done at Taco Bell. The process will review the drive-thru process as well as the process when a customer places an order inside. The purpose of this paper is to analyze, discuss and make suggestions on how Taco Bell can improve its present and future position in the Quick Service restaurant industry. Not only today has Taco Bell been focusing on quick service but ever since “1988, Taco Bell introduced six core-menu items for the reduced price of 59 cents and offered free drink refills. Taco Bell has since continued to change and innovate. Its new strategy meant restructuring the business to become more efficient and cost-effective. To do this, the company relied on an integrated set of operations, research models, including forecasting to predict customer arrivals, simulation to determine the optimum labor required to provide a desired customer service, and optimization to schedule and allocate crew members to minimize the payroll. Through 1997, these models have saved over $53 million in labor costs” (Hueter & Swart 1998). Introduction Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum Brand Incorporated, which was founded...
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...Case Analysis Chipotle Chipotle, (pronounced chi-POAT-lay) is a homerun company with Steve Ells steering the ship as CEO. Whether he turns starboard or port, he has the company heading in the right direction. His vision is “to change the way people think about and eat fast food”. His strategy is based on five key elements: 1.) Serving a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla-which is quite amazing, I’ve had them several times, they are a very healthy and delightful tasting alternative to burritos), and salads. 2.) Using high-quality raw ingredients and classic cooking methods to create great tasting, reasonably priced dishes that were ready to be served to customers minutes after they were ordered. 3.) Creating an operationally efficient restaurant with an aesthetically pleasing and distinctive interior setting. 4.) Having friendly people take care of each customer. 5.) Doing all of this with increasing awareness and respect for the environment, the use of organically grown fresh produce, and meats raised in a humane manner without hormones and antibiotics. With these core competencies Chipotle has reached the top of its industry. They maintain a focused product (strategy 1), they maintain high quality products (2), they are efficient in operations (3), customer service is a priority (4), and they are environmentally friendly (5). These are strong core components that if maintained will produce a long lasting thriving company...
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...David Zinczenko “Don’t Blame the Eater” want to inform us, as the readers, about the results of eating at fast foods such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC (p. 462). The author, Zinczenko blames fast food industries for increasing the obesity rate. The author gives us his personal experiences about how he feels about the fast food industries. He also mentioned how he escaped the dungeons of fast food industries. He considered himself as “lucky” because he went to college and joined the Navy Reserves. (463).However, if it wasn't for his involvement with the health magazine, we wouldn't have seen his perspectives on fast food. He thinks the reason why the obesity rate has increased is because “the lack of information about what, exactly, we’re consuming.” (p. 463) The reason why it lacks information is that when it comes to fast food because you would not know a number of calories you are consuming. (P. 463) Another reason why fast food industry lacks information is because they want to protect themselves. (P. 464) Therefore, Zinczenko is 100% against the fast food industry, even if they are convenient for people....
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...McDonalds: Operating in the Best Interests of Society or its own Profits? Marc Nettekoven Florida Atlantic University Professor Brenda Richey MAN 6937 December 7, 2011 Table of Contents Introduction 3 Company Changes 3 Competition 7 Consumer Protection & Regulation 8 Corporate Social Responsibility 10 Conclusion 11 Appendix 12 References 13 McDonalds: Operating in the Best Interests of Society or its own Profits? Today, there are numerous other fast food chains and similar alternatives for consumers to choose from beyond the option of McDonalds. Due to increasing levels of competition, rising concerns of food quality and increasing concern of obesity; operating in today’s globalized fast food society can deem to be a difficult task. McDonalds needs to broaden its narrow-minded focus on generating profits (expanding its location base) and adding more locations. The company needs to increase market share while building a good reputation by operating in, and contributing to, the best interest of society. When referring to society, it includes all stakeholders in the company, ranging from customers to suppliers. To realign its strategy and focus on ethicality and its responsibility as a corporation, McDonalds must involve all levels within the company, from top management to suppliers to franchise employees. Although operating in such a manner would require large levels of capital, the benefits to society as a whole would inevitably bring company...
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...Yum Brands, Inc. is a United States-based Fortune 500 corporation. This world largest fast food company owns more than 39,000 restaurants around the world in over 125 countries. Well-known brands including Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and WinG Street all belong to the Yum Brands, Inc. Yum Brands Inc.’s total sales for 2011 was more than $12 billion, and they are definitely one of the leaders in the fast food industry. Yum Brands, Inc. was actually the Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., which was renamed in 2002. Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. was founded in 1997 as an independent company from the former fast food division of PepsiCo. PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell and Pizza Hut in 1970s and Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1980s. After becoming an independent company from PepsiCo, Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. continues to grow and has acquired Long John Silver’s and A&W All American Food Restaurants. Yum Brands, Inc. is not only a strong player in the domestic market; they are also very successful in other foreign markets, such as China and Canada. With more than 1.4 million associates all over the world, Yum Brands, Inc. is confident with their position in the global market. Although the global fast food industry is very competitive, Yum Brands, Inc. is holding an advantage position. China is a good example to look at Yum Brands, Inc.’s successful expansion in the global market. Although their competitor, Mc. Donald’s also performs very strong in the Chinese...
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