Analyzing Chipotle Mexican Grill's Strategies, Competition, and Goals

This essay provides an analysis of Chipotle Mexican Grill's business strategies, competitive landscape, and performance goals. It begins by defining strategy and highlighting Chipotle's growth through expansion and innovation, including the introduction of new products and digitization of restaurants. The essay also discusses the company's use of social media for marketing and customer feedback. It contrasts Chipotle's strategies with those of competitors like McDonald's and KFC, focusing on operational management, technology adoption, and innovation. The essay further examines Chipotle's resources, such as technology and qualified employees, and outlines its short-term and long-term performance goals, including market niche ascertainment, supplier support, customer satisfaction, market share increase, cost reduction, and revenue growth. The analysis concludes by referencing various sources that support the strategic overview of Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Running Head: SWOT 1
SWOT
Name
Institution

SWOT 2
Strategy can be defined as the actions managers put in place to achieve the organizational
goals. In this case, Chipotle Mexican grill managers have adopted some measures which have
enabled them to increase in its market share and also meet their customers’ expectations.
According to Maria & Victoria (2014), Chipotle Mexican grill had opened more than 1793
branches by 2014. Although this company has been using unique strategies to attain an edge over
its competitors, it seems that some of the strategies have succeeded while others have not, and
this has been one of the reasons why its market share keeps fluctuating. The company competes
with different competitors which include McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Starbuck MTY group
Inc. among others.
One of the strategies adopted by Chipotle Mexican grill is to use innovation and
expanding its line of production to attain its growth goals. To attain this goal, the company has
decided to introduce new products and also add fresh features to the existing ones. This strategy
has made chipotle Mexican grill digitize and update its restaurants hence making them more
convenient and enjoyable to the customers (Yung-lung & Shih-chieh, 2013). The strategy has
also enabled the company to open many restaurants with great hospitality and this has made the
brand image also to grow. This has also enabled chipotle Mexican grill to modify its products to
fit the culture of the people in which they have opened a branch hence making it culturally
relevant.
According to Sjoerd (2013), Chipotle Mexican grill has also strengthened on their ways
of marketing its products. This is whereby they have adopted the use of social media for products
awareness. Since most people are addicted to the use of social media, chipotle has taken this
advantage and reached many customers hence increasing its market share. The use of social
media has also assisted in improving its quality since they are able to get feedback about their

SWOT 3
products from customers. They also use these social media platforms to sell some of their
products. This whereby they have created an application where customers can make their orders.
Once they make orders, the sales team takes the products to customers to their respective homes
or preferred places. This saves money and time for the customers.
Chipotle is in a service industry and its main competitors include McDonald's, KFC,
Burger King, Starbuck, MSWG LLG, Qdoba among others. McDonalds business strategy is to
make food fast available to its customers at a low competitive price as well as get profit by
reducing the cost of production (Angela, 2017). One of the strategies used by McDonalds is
operations management strategy. This strategy plays a very vital in in achieving organizational
goals. In McDonalds most of the operations are done by the top management and implemented in
all the branches. They are therefore distributed to all branches in a written form.
McDonalds has also adopted in the use of technology to do most of its activities. The
company has introduced stock base control database systems which prevent the management
from making unnecessary stocks which can lead to loses (Taku & Kyoichi, 2012). The system
also keeps the stocks up to date and also informs managers of which product is moving faster.
This strategy is important because it reduces some costs associated with stocks like storage costs.
It has minimized chances of providing expired products to the customers.
To compete with this company, other firms have adopted the use of unique strategies to
ensure that customers get high quality products. For example, KFC has been focusing on
innovation to ensure that its products are of high quality and makes customers to realize
satisfaction. The management in this company has also been using unique pricing strategies to
ensure that the customers get the value for their money through attaining high quality products.

SWOT 4
According to Xiamei (2014), Chipotle Mexican grill is managed by a chief executive
officer who is creative and innovative. This is why the restaurant has been termed as unique in
terms of the products they offer. Currently, Chipotle Mexican grill has many resources which
enable its growth and ability to stand out in competition. These include the use of technology,
qualified employees and having managers who are creative and innovative.
The three performance goals for Chipotle Mexican grill in the next one year are, to
ascertain least competitive market niche with substantial growth potential, to help current
supplier’s access their financial, technological/marketing capabilities and to ensure there is
customer satisfaction (Maria & Victoria, 2014). The aim of setting these goals is to be the best
restaurant offering quality products at fair prices across to the customers. The restaurant also
wants to strengthen the relationship with its customers and create brand loyalty.
Moreover, Chipotle Mexican grill has also set performance goals in the next five years.
These include increasing its market share. This goal can be achieved if the company fully meets
the needs of its customers. This is because once a customer is fully satisfied he or she would
refer others to that business. Another performance goal for chipotle is to reduce overall budget
costs by 10% (Yung-lung & Shih-chieh, 2013). This would reduce budgeting for things which
are not necessary for achieving goals. Lastly, Chipotle has decided to increase its revenue by 20
% in the next 5 years. This can be achieved by cutting some of the expenses associated with
products like storage costs.

SWOT 5
References
Angela, C. (2017). Food Fraud and Allergen Management. Perspectives in Public Health,
135(4), 9-15
Maria, T & Victoria, P. (2014). The Influence of Organizational Capabilities on
Environmental Strategies in the Restaurant Sector: SME Experience. International
Journal of Entrepreneurship, 45-50
Sjoerd, A. G. (2013). The Contextual Characteristics of Successful Small Upper Segment
Culinary Restaurant Owners and Their Potential Influence on Hospitality Management
Education. European Journal of Tourism Research, 6(2), 5-14
Taku, K & Kyoichi, K. (2012). Store Development Strategies of Mini-Box Service Retailers:
Analytical Framework and Case Study in Japanese Food Service. International Journal
of Marketing Studies, 4(4), 23-28
Xiamei, P. (2014). Politeness in Restaurants of Different Grades. Studies in Literature and
Language, 8(3), 5-12
Yung-lung, L & Shih-chieh, C. (2013). How Improving Customer Experience Quality and
Business Performance? A Case Study by Mystery Shopper Practices. International
Journal of Marketing Studies, 5(6), 10-16