The Need for Chipotle to Embrace Change
The underlying problem, according to CEO Brian Niccol’s perspective.
Chipotle is a fast-food chain that has had its good days and bad ones. Despite the rumbles it faces, it has stood firm and still clings on to its culture and ethics of service provision. Due to the hit they had on their sales, impacted by foodborne illnesses linked to their restaurants, they had to restructure and employ Brian Niccol as their new CEO. The move aims to find a solution to the three major problems that Chipotle faces. The first one being the infections brought by the food they serve. Then follows the competition from other brands which is ignited by the first problem. Finally, their menu which never changes offering tacos, burritos, salads and burrito bowls. Though, from CEO Brian Niccol’s perspective, change is the underlying problem in this case.
Chipotle’s problem is sticking to the same procedures and processes of doing things. Brian Niccol puts forward the challenge he would face in the effort to convince the senior management to change its operations. Looking at the first move of altering the menu and including other dishes; Steve Ells would not have easily part with the idea as he had once tried such a move and it fatally failed. If only it were to make a change to the menu, then would it be able to compete with other fast-food chains like Panera. Panera promises quality coupled with a variety of dishes to munch through. The main change would be on how Chipotle handles its food. Same here, Steve, the former CEO, would make it difficult to allow this path of adaptively to be core in their business plans. It’s hard for Chipotle to abandon their culture of allowing the diners view how what they would be having is prepared, to having a central distribution area for the food-chain centres.
Proactive change
Niccol would have to inspire a proactive change in Chipotle. A proactive change is planned and aimed at preventing future predicted failures. Since the food-chain industry is one that is unpredictable and ever-growing with new trends, which means the business must be flexible. This tactic will allow the business to adapt fast to the new features that pop up (Kinicki et al.,2011). A proactive change also involves the employees in the daily decision-making forums. Applying such an approach of listening to your workers would also help determine the root cause of foodborne diseases. The simple reason could be the handling of food. Brian Niccol will have an easy time running the business if it adapts a proactive change, as he would not be worrying about the senior management team turning his opinions down, at times with zero considerations.
Forces for change that exist both inside and outside Chipotle
The forces for change have the purpose of sending a signal to the business managers that change is required in their organization. As for our case, Chipotle displays both inside and outside forces. The outside forces include domestic and international competition and changing customer preferences (Kinicki et al.,2011). Leadership and participation make up internal forces. The critical force here is leadership; that comprises directives from the senior management desk. This panel makes all the decisions, despite the available suggestions, they choose what to sell and not to. The best example here is the former CEO, Steve. Panera is immensely frustrating and scattering the market ratio by also offering fresh quality dishes free of additives while making sure that their menu is parked. This kind of competition leaves Chipotle with no other alternative rather than to get up and make a change. The customer is the owner of the business; for the business to continue, you must satisfy the needs and requests of the customer. Chipotle is also failing at this.
How Niccol can inspire change at Chipotle
Stuff and associates need the inspiration to see value in a particular aspect of change. Using Lewin’s change model, Brian Niccol has first to bring the employees together to motivate them to change. Before this, he should be able to convince the managers to allow him to try to instil change among the employees. Chipotle employees should be taught and shown that it is beneficial to abandon the old ways of cooking while the audience is viewing. Then Brian would have to organize with the executives on the best methods to employ in the process of teaching the employees the new ways.
A good example is where Chipotle employees are provided with experts to teach them about coordination in one kitchen using versatile ingredients. The final stage is to make the new ways typical among employees and the management crew (Kinicki et al.,2011). The change impacted the managers can be passed down to the employees by them being the ones encouraging flexibility and innovation within the business model. Through these three processes, we can then see the once unshaken food-chain giant Chipotle rise again to the top.
References
Kinicki, A., Williams, B. K., Scott-Ladd, B. D., & Perry, M. (2011). Management: A practical introduction. McGraw-Hill Irwin.