Chick-fil-A
Identifies analyzes important external environmental factor remote, industry, external operating environments o Identifies analyzes important internal strengths weaknesses organization: Include assessment organization's resources.
Chick-fil-A: A forward-thinking, old-fashioned restaurant
Chick-fil-A: A forward-thinking, old-fashioned restaurant
Chick-fil -- A is a rare type of fast food restaurant. Like In-and-Out Burger, it attracts the patronage of many loyal 'foodie' customers who would otherwise not darken the door of a franchise. Chick-fil -- A is known for its high standards of quality and service. Founder Truett Cathy created a sandwich made of high-quality white breast meat that was then fried in a pressure cooker with peanut oil, placed on a fluffy white bun, and seasoned with a unique blend of spices topped with a signature pickle. The company's owner has also assumed a high degree of personalized control over the evolution of the company, which is unusual in a fast food enterprise (Chick-fil-A, 2010, Company histories).
External operating factors
Remote
On a macro level, the fact that America is still widely perceived as being in shaky economic straits could prove beneficial for Chick-fil-A's future health. People are going out to eat at fancy, sit-down restaurants far less. Eating a Chick-fil -- A is an ideal opportunity for people to enjoy an 'affordable luxury' in the form of a fast food chicken sandwich. Fast food is widely regarded as 'recession proof,' and often people turn to comfort food in hard times, like fried chicken. Fast food is cheap and filling, albeit not particularly nutritious (Kordares 2009).
Industry
Within the fast food industry, since the recession there has been a renewed focus on low-cost menu items. Despite highly-publicized efforts to encourage Americans to eat more healthfully, it was Dollar Menu sales of burgers, nuggets, and fries that enabled McDonald's to register a 5.4% sales increase during the height of the credit crisis (Kordares 2009). Healthy foods tend to cost more, even at fast food restaurants, and offer more caloric bang for every buck spent. Additionally, when people are stressed, they are biologically...
McDonald's was also the focus of Super Size Me, a documentary that portrayed the filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, growing fatter and fatter on an all-McDonald's diet. While still fast food, Chick-fil -- A has never attracted the focus of anti-fast food campaign.
External
In addition to nutritional concerns, the fast food industry has been under widespread criticism for poor food, poor labor practices, and unsustainable environmental attitudes. Despite its success, Chick-fil -- A remains a big company with a 'small' company feel. Its stores do not open on Sunday, because of the spiritual convictions of its founder that people should have Sunday off to go to church and be with their families. Even today, the company holds true to the principle that workers deserve the right to have at least one day off, once a week. Chick-fil-A's focus on good food, wholesome ingredients, and its willingness to provide nutritional information on its corporate website while not offering 'mega-supersized' burgers all bode well for its sustained growth in the future.
Internal
Chick-fil -- A closely monitors its brand. When opening up a new restaurant, the company usually recruits the franchise operator from within its corporate structure and asks the franchisee to invest a relatively small sum of money vs. The usual required investment of a quarter of a million dollars (Chick-fil-A, 2010, Company histories). The company also offers six weeks of paid training, in addition to the training the operator has already received as part of his or her employment. Chick-fil -- A generously offers the franchisee a salary year, plus half of the franchisers' net profits which gives additional motivation for the operator to work hard and make the business profitable (Chick-fil-A, 2010, Company histories). This is in the company's interest, as it ensures that franchise operators will maintain high standards of quality and service, without constant…
