The success of the Cheesecake Factory
Monopolistic competition is defined as differentiated types of products that are similar but not alike. The restaurant industry truly captures the monopolistic principal, and each one offers a different element of uniqueness, but all are basically competing for the same customers. Keeping this in mind this makes monopolistic competition inefficient because of product differentiation. However the inefficiency of monopolistic competition is a small price to pay for a diverse range of restaurant choices. The industry I analyzed will center on casual dining specifically “The cheese cake factory” which has restaurants in numerous areas, but my focus is the one located in a shopping town center surrounded
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Firms such as P.F. Chang’s and Applebee’s, and Olive Garden, offer’s menus that may be (more or less) good substitutes of each other, but none of them perfect substitutes. When viewed from this stand point, no one company has the market cornered. Indeed, virtually every restaurant location must compete not only against other publicly traded chains, but also a wide array of delis, pizzerias, fine dining restaurants and the economy. The Cheesecake Factory is noticeably differentiated in its bakery, and represents commodity diversity that uses this segment of the company to stand out from a large number of …show more content…
Because of this the company faces a downward-sloping demand curve, and its marginal revenue curve is a downward-sloping line that lies below the demand curve. If demand decreases, you can be sure that price will fall in the short run, with some restaurants shutting down, and exit the industry as easy as they entered. When addressing short and long run equilibrium, the short run restaurant profits depend on how many other businesses are in the industry. For example, if there is a smaller amount of restaurant’s in the industry (comparative to the long-run equilibrium amount of restaurants), then a typical restaurant in monopolistic competition will make a profit. But “too many” will dilute the industry, causing restaurants to experience a loss in the short run. Yet, regardless of the competition and economic uncertainty, the Cheesecake Factory has expanded in the domestic and international
After a long day in school and studying, every student needs a night off to just relax and enjoy a meal at a restaurant. In this modern time, some aspects of a restaurant can be the deciding choice. Many choose their restaurant of choice based on either those they are with, their personal, cultural appetite, their routine eating habits or their mood. Some of these preferences are similar yet others are the deciding differences. Two common franchise restaurants that pose differences are Applebee’s and Olive Garden. These two restaurants present their differences in environmental and food options causing a choice between them.
The fast food restaurant industry, which includes quick-service and fast-casual restaurants, is highly segmented with the top 50 companies accounting for only 25% of the industry’s sales. The $120 billion industry includes over 200,000 restaurants with 50% of those specializing in hamburger entrees. (hoovers.com 2008) The major competitors in the industry include McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, and KFC – Chick-fil-A’s major competitor in chicken sales. Chick-fil-A’s unique position in the market, specializing in chicken-based entrées, has lead to a competitive advantage which the company has been able to capitalize on. Recently, many competitors have added chicken entrees in order to compete in the market segment. Through marketing strategies and company initiatives, Chick-fil-A has tried to stay distant from competitors, offering a fresh alternative to the ordinary fast food restaurant.
So when there is a decrease in the number of workers employed, there is a decrease in output, hence both the marginal cost curve and the average variable cost curve will decrease. The results are a decrease in total cost. It can be concluded that a short-run change in a factor of production, namely the variable factor labour, decreases the costs of the SABMiller more than the level of their output, and therefore aids in maximising profits.
McDonalds. What had started as a humble family owned drive-through has become a multi-million dollar industry. Everywhere one goes, there are reminders of how amazingly widespread this company has become, whether it be seeing McDonald’s famous golden arches on a billboard or hearing the catchy “I’m Lovin’ It” tune in a commercial. But more than this, McDonalds has become part of our global identity– our McWorld.
It would be an awesome day in history if the healthcare industry could mimic restaurant chains business practice of combining quality control, cost control, and innovation. Even though it’s a great gesture from a patient’s perspective, there is no way that healthcare could even come close to such models of restaurant business practices. Why is that? Well, a restaurant is more predictable than any health care sector. First, restaurants are able to plan and coordinate their business practice to meet the needs of their customers. Secondly, they can control inventory and certify quality meals at an affordable price. Additionally, they can predict how many customers will
Despite the economically uncertainty Pret A Manger keeps on thriving in the U.S. fast food market. It’s growing fast, with huge success. Pret is proving to the world its a big threat in the sandwich industry. In 2011, U.S. sales up 40% from the year before, “the company’s overall profits grew by 37% in 2010, and annual workforce turnover is only 60%, compared to fast food industry averages of 300-400%.” (Smart Advantage)
The main challenge is to determine how Panera Bread can continue to achieve high growth rates in the future. Panera Bread is operating in an extremely high competitive restaurant market which forces the company to improve and to grow steadily for staying profitable. The company’s mission statement of putting “a loaf of bread in every arm” is just underlying Panera’s commitment for growing. They are now in a good financial situation and facing growth rates of up to 20% per year in a niche market that has a great growth potential. In the next 7 years the fast-casual market is expected to grow by 500% in sales to a total of $30 billion.
PepsiCo can potentially acquire California Pizza Kitchen and integrate it in the company’s decentralized management approach. Since PepsiCo executives have experience in the quick service food industry, it should not be a reach for the company to successfully run this casual dining restaurant. For this venture to be successful, it is imperative that management cut down the operating costs at California Pizza Kitchen through the PepsiCo Food Systems distribution network and improve on the 3.1% operating margin that California Pizza Kitchen is currently operating at.
This company is known to be a monopolistically competitive, because there are still many firms and consumers, just as in perfect competition, but they still have control over what price they charge in their company, because Ben and Jerry's ice cream is differentiated from the other ice cream companies and they provide a lot of non price competition which will be mentioned later in the paper.
Demand for Panera franchising opportunities was very high, which allowed Panera to be picky about where and with whom they would do business. Panera determined where bakery-café locations could be. The franchisees bore the cost of opening new locations, and were required to obtain their ingredients from the home company. Expansion using the franchise model provided many upside benefits for Panera, while limiting the downside r...
The second market structure is a monopolistic competition. The conditions of this market are similar as for perfect competition except the product is not homogenous it is differentiated; thus having control over its price. (Nellis and Parker, 1997). There are many firms and freedom of entry into the industry, firms are price makers and are faced with a downward sloping demand curve as well as profit maximizers. Examples include; restaurant businesses, hotels and pubs, specialist retailing (builders) and consumer services (Sloman, 2013).
The Perceived Demand Curve for a Perfect Competitor and Monopolist (Principle of Microeconomics, 2016). A perfectly competitive firm (a) has multiple firms competing against it, making the same product. Therefore the market sets the equilibrium price and the firm must accept it. The firm can produce as many products as it can afford to at the equilibrium price. However, a monopolist firm (b) can either cut or raise production to influence the price of their products or service. Therefore, giving it the ability to make substantial products at the cost of the consumers. However, not all monopolies are bad and some are even supported by the
Not having to answer to a corporate boss is the dream of many and the flexibility that owning a business franchise creates provides this option. Success is not reached by simply creating a business, however. The level of success is measured by the size and efficiency of the business. Business growth is the driving force of the economy. The additional jobs and revenues created when a business expands allow the economy to grow at exponential rates. One of the fastest and most popular ways to increase the size of a business is to turn it into a franchise, which can then be purchased by individuals. Franchising provides opportunities that are beneficial to both the parent company and the purchaser. The company that owns the business can expand without having to pay such a large initial cost to open a new store since the franchise purchaser pays a cost to open the business. As well, the company can regulate many of the business activities so that there is a sense of consistency throughout all of the locations. The purchaser is allowed to use the trademarks and goods of the franchise which already have a large market presence. As well, they are provided with training and work standards by the company to help their business run smoothly (Kalnins & Lafontaine, 2004, p.761). Looking at the business model of the world’s largest food retailer, McDonald’s, provides great insight into franchising and business growth in general as well a better understanding of a global business that utilizes the franchising technique.
Burger King’s core competency is fast food restaurant franchises specializing in made to order, flame-broiled hamburger sandwiches, particularly the “Whopper”. Using the strategy of industrial organization to capture market share Burger King offers a similar product (hamburgers) in a different way (flame-broiled). This strategy of product differentiation is part of the firm conduct category that Burger King uses to set itself apart from its competitors. In order to compete with its fast food competitors Burger King accentuates its core competencies in its marketing and product strategies, thereby leveraging market share.
Each fast food restaurant is now aware of the problem that each nation is currently encountering. Indeed, there is a growing tendency to consume healthy products with low level of acid fats and cholesterol. Therefore, the leading fast food industries, such as McDonalds, Subway, and Jack in the Box adhere to the new international standards to gain a competitive advantage. Although fast food is not out of fashion, people are still striving to buy fast-prepared, but healthy breakfast because of the peculiarities of leading a business life. At this point, all the restaurant start paying attention to the quality of food, healthy dieting, and nutrition to face the problem of obesity and excess weight. In order to understand the difference and similarities between the identified ventures, the attention should be given to such aspects as quality of food, service delivery, and cost of price. Hence, a quick glance at the restaurant policy reveals that all the ventures pay attention to the policy of healthy dieting by promoting nutrition plans, and taking care of the clients’ calorie in-take. However, the difference lies in their pricing policies and service delivery.