Panera Innovation a Panera for

Panera Innovation a Panera For a company that started as a bakery in the early 1980s, Panera has definitely achieved a great deal of success despite trying economic times and major changes in its market of operations. Indeed, it is Panera's ability to respond to and even predict changes in its market and industry that has kept it successful in the long-term.

Innovation is almost always key to success in long-term business endeavors, yet Panera has truly built its profitability and its reputation on its ability to innovate above all else. Through and examination of the different areas in which Panera has a been a leading innovator in its market of operation, the importance of innovation and the enormous success that can be achieved by having the right idea at the right time despite other obstacles can be clearly observed.

Panera's attitude toward innovation can be seen just as clearly in its day-to-day operations as it can in other elements and aspects of the organization. Panera is constantly adjusting the menu offerings it provides to its customers, attempting to provide new tastes that offer the same or higher quality at reasonable prices (McKee 2009). In addition, the company continues to find new and innovative ways to source and distribute its ingredients and products as a means of sustaining this low cost high quality offering (McKee 2009).

It is this type of forward thinking an innovative attitude that has allowed Panera to weather the recent global economic recession with a great deal of continued strength and profitability; its ability to predict and respond to consumer demands and desires and the flexibility that is central to its organization structure make this company very strong (McKee 2009). Panera has also been an innovator in its overall approach to business and even as an early player in the newly emerged fast-casual dining industry (Hitt et al. 2007).

By identifying the demand for quickly available meals that were both more diverse and healthier than those offered by established fast food chains, the owners of the baking company that would be Panera showed early on their ability to innovate with the times, and in moving from simply baking to providing finished food products to consumers the company has been able to achieve an astounding amount of growth and profit generation (Hitt et al. 2007).

In the period from 2007 to 2009, which essentially covers the deepest part (if not the entirety) of the global recession, Panera grew from eight hundred locations to almost thirteen hundred locations based on its continued ability to innovate and adjust to its market as this market changes (Hitt et al. 2007; McKee 2009). Panera's innovations and its logistics and supply chain management are also a huge part of Panera's success,.