At the center of their strengths, the chain has is the ability to support their global brand with a unique, branded dining experience (Fair Disclosure Wire, 2010). Creating the integration between a restaurant's global brand and having the dining experience support and accentuate the brand's messaging and value is elusive and yet very profitable (McCaw, 2009). This is the greatest strength that California Pizza Kitchen has been able to attain in its history including its growth across geographies. The second greatest strength of the company is its ability to continually create unique food entrees and continually keep the in-restaurant dining experience new and exciting even for the most loyal customers. This ability to create a continual new series of entrees that fuel a new dining experience is a competitive strength that California Pizza Kitchen continues to pursue and succeed at (Fair Disclosure Wire, 2010). Often the most challenging aspect of any branding effort is fulfilling the commitments the brands make (Ziobro, 2010). By continually investing in new product and service development, California does not need to resort to price competition or bundling of entrees its competitions have often resorted to over time (Hanefors, Mossberg, 2003).

The third competitive strength of the company is the ability to consistently deliver an exceptional and memorable in-restaurant experience. The ability to set and achieve expectations on behalf of customers is one of the most critical areas of making a brand stronger and expand from the conceptual to the concrete through service delivery (McCaw, 2009).

The weaknesses of the company are limiting its growth in an immediate and significant way. The concentration on the U.S. And regions of the world that are...

The lack of aggressive global growth is slowing down the growth the company could attain with a stronger focus on expansion plans. The second major weaknesses are the flat lining of gross margins after depreciation. This is also symptomatic of the lack of more aggressive build-out of the chain as well. Gross margins after depreciation are down from 6.2% in 2004 to 3.9% in 2009, which also indicates how slowly assets are being amortized.
Conclusion

The future of California Pizza Kitchen is exceptionally promising regardless of the current economic condition that is slowing the growth of its competitors. The strengths of being able to quickly roll out new restaurants in the U.S. needs to be extended to a global level however. The new product development process needs to also be scaled globally so that gross margins before depreciation are more effectively managed. The brand strength of the company is exceptional and every effort needs to ensure the in-restaurant experience continues to accentuate and strengthen global brand awareness and preference.