California Pizza Kitchen and Strategic Choices - Essay Example

California Pizza Kitchen and Strategic Choices California Pizza Kitchen and Strategic Choices The California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) has employed the strategy of competitive intelligence advantage. Competitors are the most difficult for companies to acknowledge, let alone pay attention to. In short, these competitors are referred to as substitute competitors. Substitute competition is any other business that can fulfill the customer’s needs or solve their problems using a problem that is not the actual company’s product (Smith and Flanagan, 2006). The CPK has looked at their customers and how they behave. This has truly enabled them to determine what its competitors are pursuing. This strategy may or may not fit to be part of a company’s vision. While the strategy of competitive intelligence may work for some companies, and for a limited amount of time, CPK, the original innovator is continuing to forge ahead and is already working on newer and better markets (Smith and Flanagan, 2006). An alternative strategy is to strive for differentiation through innovation. Most of the products or services that business ventures claim to be innovative of are really just improvements. The CPK’s purpose for innovation is to provide something of value to its customers, not simply to create something totally new for its own sake. At CPK, there are several true innovations; that is, completely new products, services, features, strategies or marketing approaches (Brown, 2000). Customer value at the CPK is the main reason behind its new customers and additional sales. Competitive intelligence advantage together with innovation endows the existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth. At the CPK, the management has outlined seven sources of innovation to help them in providing the best services to their customers. Such innovations are revealed in their excellent competitive intelligence, industry and market changes, unexpected occurrences, incongruities, process needs, demographic changes, changes in perception and new knowledge. The easiest source of innovation opportunity is the unexpected; this is what CPK continues to offer in the market place. The past several decades in CPK existence have been of constant surprise and unpredictability during which what has been taking place is unexpected. This is one area in which competitive intelligence really proves its advantage for those executives who are open to hearing, considering, analyzing, and understanding the changes as well as surprises. As a best practice strategy, the CPK executives have been listening for, observing or looking for the unexpected day in and day out, month in and moth out. Competitive intelligence, when employed by a given business venture, ensures that there is a systematic review of the businesses competitiveness and relative position concerning such areas as product positions, market shares and alliance. The strategy also ensures that a given business finds out more a bout major customer of the competitor. This enables the business to make wise choices concerning customer likes and dislikes (Pike, 2008). Further, it is useful in determining the market segments, customer involvement methods, marketing campaigns and pricing policies. Other strengths of the competitive intelligence are that the business is able to monitor closely the competitors moves and that the competitive intelligence can also be decentralized to various units across the business venture. It is important to not that competitive intelligence ensure that a given business spends more time with its customers (Brown, 2000). Weaknesses often arise in the use of competitive intelligence. Several business, new to business, often feel too excited a bout their strategy. They feel motivated by a perceived opening in the market which then leads to their underestimation of the actual magnitude of the competition. They then fail to adequately assess the impact of the competition to their respective businesses (Sharp, 2009). Further, competitive intelligence analysis that are incomplete or are dependent on misleading data can cause faulty business strategies. Competitive analysis has also become time consuming, since many companies deal with a wide range of goods and services; therefore, it is difficult to determine the competitive advantage of another competitor (Sharp, 2009). In order to build on its strengths and shore up its weaknesses, CPK should provide a casual, upscale, family restaurant, with good food as the cornerstone of the enterprise. The CPK has also ensured that its kitchens are out in the open so that the customers can actually see the process of preparing the pizzas. The company (CPK) should also ensure that their pizzas are backed in wood burning ovens. These ovens are often imported from Italy, and their designs have been improved to perfection over the years. In the process of preparing the pizzas, the oven should be fired to approximately eight hundred degrees. This ensures that the pizza is cooked in a relatively shorter period of about three minutes in order to sear the ingredients. All these processes lead to a tastier and healthier pizza. The addition of pasta, salads, soft drinks, liquor and desserts to the CPK’s menu will also lead to its strength as a market winner. The CPK mission statement is to be a leader in authentic California style cuisine and to provide creative dishes while its vision is to create a global pizza kitchen. The mission and the vision of the CPK have been reconfirmed through the competitive intelligence strategy advantage employed by the management. The business venture has ensured that it creates the demand rather than fight over demand by other competitors and has created a new niche within an existing industry from within the competition environment (California pizza kitchen Inc, 2010). Conclusion Suggestions to revise the business strategy, mission or vision should be done only when there is a decrease in the sales. The CPK’s strategy, mission and vision are currently working to the company’s advantage since they provide a greater opportunity for profit and growth. The management of CPK has been able to study the customers and have seen what appeals to them and then determine what other competitors are not providing. With this s strategy (competitive intelligence), the kitchen can create new competitive space in the same industry. After all, why go up against direct competitors when you can have a piece of that market all for yourself? References California pizza kitchen Inc (2010). Retrieved on January 10, 2011 from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/Ca-Ch/California-Pizza-Kitchen-Inc.html Jaynie L. Smith and William G. Flanagan (2006). Creating competitive advantage: give customers a reason to choose you over your competitors. New York, Currency/Doubleday. Michael E. Brown (2000). America’s strategic choices. Washington, MIT Press. Pp28-36. Seena Sharp (2009). Competitive intelligence Advantage: how to minimize risk, avoid surprises, and grow your business in a changing world. New York, John Wiley and Sons. Pp 75-76. Steven Pike (2008). Destination Marketing: an integrated marketing communication approach. New York, Butterworth-Heinemann. Pp 128-130. Read More