Panera Brean Case Study

Ron Shaich has been an exemplary CEO for Panera Bread and has made decisions that have allowed the company to grow steadily, even through difficult economic times. When Shaich founded Panera Bread, his main goal was to provide nourishing food at a fast food pace in a sit down setting. Now, with more than 700 stores, he has created an extremely loyal following across the country. I will discuss two main points made by Shaich in the mini-documentary on Panera which I believe to be the most relevant and have contributed to his success. “ People work for people, not companies”, is a statement made be Shaich that I believe reflects his level of emotional intelligence and human understanding. He has used superb local support, local hiring, and local franchisees and operators to make sure each location has roots in the community where it is located and will thrive.

The second topic of management that Shaich as done well with is growth. In the video he makes a point to explain how many people who begin to experience some type of success in the restaurant industry end up chocking on their own opportunity for growth. They either “bite off more than they can chew” and commit to more locations than their infrastructure can handle, make poor decisions on the real estate end, or enter into poor partnerships and/or joint ventures. As a business owner and someone who follows the markets, I must say that this same mistake is something that seems to happen just about every industry, and too much success to fast can often be the kiss of death for a growing company. However, Shaich clearly has a concrete, thorough growth policy and mentioned that Panera will always be “disciplined” when it comes to these types of decisions. In my opinion, the combination of strong local support, sound growth policies, and an amazing product, is a recipe for success in the restaurant industry. It certainly seems to be working for Panera Bread under the guidance of Ron Shaich.

Reference:

Panera bread’ ron shaich. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lindoo.com/Nova 5014/panera.mp4