Business Plan Assessment Part 2- Pitching the Plan Threats and Challenges within the current Strategic Plan Slowing sales growth Ethical issues with FDA A tight and competitive market The company's reputation is heavily linked to supplying fresh meal items, and its marketing and branding, which is focused on "food with integrity," emphasizes obtaining ingredients from ethically oriented suppliers. Twenty years into the company’s operation, Chipotle had opened over 2000 stores across several states in the US. However, from 2008 through to 2018, the company has faced ethical blows in its operations, especially after the FDA and other medical organizations established the increasing rates of food poisoning in its operations (Thompson, 2019). This led to the closure of all Chipotle stores in 2016. 2 Executing the Strategic Initiatives The aim is to focus on maintaining the current consumers and attracting potential ones. Utilize the company’s competitive advantage strategy by focusing on differentiation that targets a narrow market. SWOT analysis Differentiation strategy Exercise corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability by the choice of natural ingredients ad sustainable process of food production. Chipotle should target a narrower market by giving its consumers variations in product choices, which is a unique way of operation compared to its competitors. Chipotle’s external and internal environments play a vital role in its strategic planning, which is evident in its SWOT analysis. As it focuses on regaining and restoring consumer trust and confidence, the company management ensures that it works hard on outdoing its competitors because they are the biggest threat to its operations. Therefore, Niccol's management has resolved on using a differentiation strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Today, consumer preferences have changed, and many people are health conscious, unlike before (Thompson, 2019). Therefore, differentiation and focusing on natural ingredients in foods will be essential. 3 Proposed Process Improvement Maintain its existing customers and do the best it can to attract more customers. Differentiation as a market development initiative in the company. Product differentiation Focused menu Great taste, reasonable prices and readily served. Awareness and respect for the environment, organic produce and unprocessed meat. Differentiation targets a narrow market, hence improving the company’s overall competitive advantage. Chipotle intends to give its customers variations of products to choose from with a target for a narrow market. This will increase the competitive advantage within the company and strengthen its overall operations in the business market. The company intends to strategically differentiate its products, with a focus on the production of food with only natural ingredients. Initially, Chipotle used to process products from both natural and synthetic materials. H ...

1. Business Plan Assessment Part 2- Pitching the Plan
Threats and Challenges within the current Strategic Plan
Slowing sales growth
Ethical issues with FDA
A tight and competitive market
The company's reputation is heavily linked to supplying fresh
meal items, and its marketing and branding, which is focused on
"food with integrity," emphasizes obtaining ingredients from
ethically oriented suppliers. Twenty years into the company’s
operation, Chipotle had opened over 2000 stores across several
states in the US. However, from 2008 through to 2018, the
company has faced ethical blows in its operations, especially
after the FDA and other medical organizations established the
increasing rates of food poisoning in its operations (Thompson,
2019). This led to the closure of all Chipotle stores in 2016.
2

2. Executing the Strategic Initiatives
The aim is to focus on maintaining the current consumers and
attracting potential ones.
Utilize the company’s competitive advantage strategy by
focusing on differentiation that targets a narrow market.
SWOT analysis
Differentiation strategy
Exercise corporate social responsibility and environmental
sustainability by the choice of natural ingredients ad sustainable
process of food production.
Chipotle should target a narrower market by giving its
consumers variations in product choices, which is a unique way
of operation compared to its competitors. Chipotle’s external
and internal environments play a vital role in its strategic
planning, which is evident in its SWOT analysis. As it focuses
on regaining and restoring consumer trust and confidence, the
company management ensures that it works hard on outdoing its
competitors because they are the biggest threat to its operations.
Therefore, Niccol's management has resolved on using a
differentiation strategy to gain a competitive advantage. Today,
consumer preferences have changed, and many people are health
conscious, unlike before (Thompson, 2019). Therefore,
differentiation and focusing on natural ingredients in foods will
be essential.
3
Proposed Process Improvement
Maintain its existing customers and do the best it can to attract
more customers.
Differentiation as a market development initiative in the
company.
Product differentiation

3. Focused menu
Great taste, reasonable prices and readily served.
Awareness and respect for the environment, organic produce
and unprocessed meat.
Differentiation targets a narrow market, hence improving the
company’s overall competitive advantage. Chipotle intends to
give its customers variations of products to choose from with a
target for a narrow market. This will increase the competitive
advantage within the company and strengthen its overall
operations in the business market.
The company intends to strategically differentiate its products,
with a focus on the production of food with only natural
ingredients. Initially, Chipotle used to process products from
both natural and synthetic materials. However, after the ethical
blow where many customers suffered from food poisoning, the
company has learned its lesson and resolved to focus on the
safety and health of the consumers (Thompson, 2019). The
differentiation of its food products is about having the best
quality food which will change the narrative regarding the
company’s reputation.
4
Additional Resources
Sufficient funds and enough time to support implementation
Commitment from staff
Apart from market analysis, Chipotle should ensure that there
are enough resources available to implement the strategies. The
resources include funds that will facilitate research and
development as well as staff motivation. Chipotle has a

4. performance culture based on employee development and
promotion of employees from within the company. Employees
are given a path of ascension and opportunities to advance their
employment levels and job positions. More so, the company
provides the workers with a balanced work-life and financial
incentives to the employees.
5
The Use of Resources in Application of the Strategic Plan
Update the menu
Increase the number of workforces
Improve marketing: use traditional outlets, social media and
word-of-mouth.
The resources would used to find the very best sustainable
raised ingredients and update the menu. The organization will
use the resources to prepare and cook using classical methods in
front of the customer and serve the food in an interactive format
which provides a unique dining experience. The number of
employees would also be increased, and compensation packages
included to improve their morale and work towards ensuring
that they satisfy customers needs and expectations. The resource
would also be channeled towards the marketing strategy that
includes a broad differentiation strategy. The company would
seek to differentiate its products and services from competitors
in ways that appeal to broad spectrum of consumers. Funding
the strategy would be helpful and powerful as it would enable
the company to abide to its “food with integrity” philosophy,
attain larger target markets and remain a top competitor in the
food industry.
6

5. KPI for Measuring the Strategic Plan Success
The key performance indicators at Chipotle include:
Product mix performance value, which are the frequently
ordered items on the menu
The rate of client retention; the rate of customers in house per
hour;
The online order values and reward anniversaries.
Source: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/01/11/chipotle-
mexican-grill-in-7-charts.aspx
These KPIs will help the company to have robust marketing
effort segmentation. With the product mix performance,
Chipotle would be able to assess if its updated menu has a good
response from customers in terms of the frequency of orders
they will make. The rate of client retention is also essential
since the company has restructured to focus on a narrow target
market. The retention rate will help the organization determine
if they have achieved customer loyalty and if they have
acquired new customers. Lastly, with digitalization in the food
industry, order of values and products has risen. The online
order value and reward anniversaries would be able to measure
if the strategic plan of differentiation and the use of technology
would have improved the organization’s operations.
7
Recommendations
Chipotle’s management should carry out employee training and
awareness.
The company should have a digital medium to diversify its
customer base through review.

6. Chipotle's management should conduct employee training and
awareness to ensure that they are working in accordance with
the strategic strategy, according to the recommendation. More
importantly, the business should have a digital platform to
broaden its consumer base through reviews. Training relevant
stakeholders and acquiring talents that identify with the
company's mission are the only ways to adapt to the changing
environment.
8
1
STRATEGIC PLAN IN COMPANIES
2
Strategic Plan Research
8/23/2021
Strategic Plan
Strategic plans refer to organizational game plans aimed at
attracting consumers, achieving a competitive advantage, and
increasing profitability. A company's strategic plan succeeds
due to its ability to compete differently with its competitors by
operating uniquely and innovatively compared to other ventures
within the same industry. Organizational strategic plans evolve
with time because, during operations, managers can decide to
improve on the strategy, or a company might face unanticipated
developments and market conditions that can force managers to

7. change their strategies (Plowman, 2019). Therefore, a strategic
plan must be consistent, have a durable competitive advantage
and have an outstanding performance. I will use Chipotle
Mexican Grill to analyze the strategic plan within the restaurant
or fast-food industry.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a restaurant that was founded in 1993
with the idea of serving quality food to its customers. The
company has been using high-quality ingredients, receipts, and
cooking methods in making their food. The restaurant and
Chipotle stores are uniquely designed with distinctive materials,
giving the restaurant an architectural style that is more natural
and less modern. Twenty years into the company's operation,
Chipotle had opened over 2000 stores across several states in
the US. However, from 2008 through to 2018, the company has
faced ethical blows in its operations, especially after the FDA
and other medical organizations established the increasing rates
of food poisoning in its operations (Thompson, 2019). This led
to the closure of all Chipotle stores in 2016, giving the company
a few months to rethink its strategic plan. With the negative
publicity the company had received, its reputation in the food
market became a concern. The company also lost consumer
trust, loyalty, and confidence, making it necessary to develop a
new strategic plan that will restore its previous relationship
with the consumers.
When Niccol took over the company amidst all these issues, he
focused on strategically doing all he could to win back
consumer loyalty, trust, and confidence. The company is
focused on maintaining the current consumers and attracting
potential ones. This is achievable through the company's
competitive advantage strategy, which focuses on
differentiation which targets a narrow market. Chipotle is
targeting a narrower market by giving its consumers variations
in product choices, which is a unique way of operation
compared to its competitors, such as Moe's.
Chipotle’s external and internal environments play a vital role
in its strategic planning, which is evident in its SWOT analysis.

8. As it focuses on regaining and restoring consumer trust and
confidence, the company management ensures that it works hard
on outdoing its competitors because they are the biggest threat
to its operations. Therefore, Niccol's management has resolved
on using a differentiation strategy to gain a competitive
advantage. Today, consumer preferences have changed, and
many people are health conscious, unlike before (Thompson,
2019). Therefore, differentiation and focusing on natural
ingredients in foods will be essential. Furthermore, Chipotle's
corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability
are exercised in its choice of natural ingredients and sustainable
process of food production. The company is also focused on
producing and selling health-conscious foods to ensure the
safety of consumers across the states.
References
Plowman, S. (2019). A Strategic Audit of Chipotle Mexican
Grill, Inc.
Thompson, A. A. (2019). Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Strategy in
2018: Will the New CEO Be Able to Rebuild Customer Trust
and Revive Sales Growth?.
1
Strategic Improvement3
Business Plan Assessment: Strategic Improvement
Strategic Planning & Implementation

9. 9/6/2021
Strategic Improvement
The purpose of the strategic plan in week two assignments was
to show how Mexican Chipotle plans to work towards its
damaged reputation and earn consumer trust and confidence. As
highlighted in the assignment, Chipotle has faced ethical blows
in its operation, which led to its closure. However, after
resuming its functionality, the company had lost its positive
public image, affecting consumer trust and confidence.
Therefore, developing a great and workable strategic plan is
vital and paramount for Chipotle because it will restore its
public image and improve its competitive advantage and attract
more customers. Thus, Chipotle's strategic plan aims to attract
customers, increase the company's competitive advantage, and
increase the general productivity of the company.
The key objectives of Chipotle’s strategic plan are to maintain
its existing customers and do the best it can to attract more
customers. Such objectives can only be achieved if the company
strategically plans and approaches market development aspects.
For instance, after Niccol took over, he employed
differentiation as a market development initiative in the
company (Thompson, 2019). This is a strategy that targets a
narrow market, hence improving the company’s overall
competitive advantage. Chipotle intends to give its customers
variations of products to choose from with a target for a narrow
market. This will increase the competitive advantage within the
company and strengthen its overall operations in the business
market.
The strategic plan reveals that Chipotle is focused on improving
its processes to ensure the safety of both the people and the
environment. The company intends to strategically differentiate
its products, with a focus on the production of food with only
natural ingredients. Initially, Chipotle used to process products
from both natural and synthetic materials. However, after the
ethical blow where many customers suffered from food

10. poisoning, the company has learned its lesson and resolved to
focus on the safety and health of the consumers (Thompson,
2019). Niccol has ensured that Chipotle sources its rice, beans,
and cilantro from organic suppliers. This implies that Chipotle
is focusing on having the best food quality instead of saving
money on ingredients. This will eventually turn the company
into a healthy living entity, which will change the narrative
regarding the reputation of the company into what consumers
love.
Chipotle has a performance culture based on employee
development and promotion of employees from within the
company. Employees are given a path of ascension and
opportunities to advance their employment levels and job
positions. More so, the company provides the workers with a
balanced work-life and financial incentives to the employees.
The company has also resolved on trying things on a small scale
before transitioning to a larger scale. More so, unlike the
previous CEO, Ells, Niccol intends to give its consumers what
they ask for. For instance, most of its consumers have asked for
nachos and Quesadillas in their menu; therefore, Niccol has
asked his team to experiment with this on the menu and in the
recipes. The company has also worked on its product and
service delivery by hiding consumers' calls regarding the need
to have a loyalty program. Niccol and his team tested the
loyalty program in more than 150 locations, which ensured that
by 2019, Chipotle had digital pickup points to allow people to
pop up and picking their orders without queuing for long.
The key performance indicators at Chipotle include product mix
performance value, which are the frequently ordered items on
the menu; the rate of client retention; the rate of customers in
house per hour; and the online order values and reward
anniversaries. These KPIs will help the company to have robust
marketing effort segmentation.
I would recommend that Chipotle’s management should carry
out employee training and awareness to ensure that they work
alongside the strategic plan. More so, the company should have

11. a digital medium to diversify its customer base through reviews.
The only means to adapt to the changing environment is by
training the relevant stakeholders as well as recruiting talents
that resonates with the company’s vision.
In conclusion, Chipotle is working hard to restore its reputation,
consumer trust and confidence after its 2008-2018 fallouts.
Having a great strategic plan is essential to achieving these
objectives. Therefore, Niccol, Chipotle's CEO, is strategically
doing all he can to ensure that the consumers are safe by using
organic ingredients and giving them what they love instead of
saving money.
References
Thompson, A. A. (2019). Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Strategy in
2018: Will the New CEO Be Able to Rebuild Customer Trust
and Revive Sales Growth?
1
CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL CASE STUDY
3
Chipotle Mexican Grill Case Study
Strategic Planning and Implementation
8/22/2021
Chipotle Mexican Grill Case Study

12. Chipotle Mexican Grill has been known as a successful
restaurant in the hotel industry for a longer period. The
company started in 1993 in a single location; however, by 2016,
it had over 2,000 locations alongside having a casual dining
category. The company has served its people and consumers for
over 20 years without reports of food incidences. Unfortunately,
in 2015, Chipotle faced serious incidences of notorious
diseases, including salmonella and E. coli, affecting more than
600 people across 13 states (Thompson, 2019). Based on the
directives from the medical authorities and the FDA, Chipotle
closed its stores and spent a few months under investigation by
the US health organizations such as the center for disease
control and prevention. The company also faced criminal
investigations and charges due to the illness incidences thereof.
The closure of these stores was publicized all over the country,
but in 2016, Chipotle tried to bounce back by changing food
sources and preparations to win back its customers.
Factors contributing to the loss of trust and confidence in the
brand
The company recorded a series of food-related illnesses between
2008 and 2018. After the 2015 incident, Chipotle management
and leadership tried their best to win back the confidence and
trust of the consumers. It started by shutting down all its stores
in the 13 states. The company also accepted its mistakes and
associated them with the fact that it uses fresh produce and
meat, which might be the issue (Walker & Merkley, 2017).
Therefore, the consumers lost their confidence and trust in
Chipotle Mexican Grill because of its negative publici ty due to
the food-related illness outbreaks. The customers had the right
to question the company's ethics and credibility in the
restaurant business.
Actions Taken to Regain Customer’s Trust
Since the illness outbreaks at Chipotle, the management and
leadership of the company have tried using several strategies to
win back the trust and confidence of its consumers. Under the

13. leadership of Brian Niccol, the company has focused on using
fresh, nutritious, and quality food products. The company has
also adapted to a test system where the food is analyzed before
selling. It has created a feedback app to allow customers to
order and leave a comment for reviewing purposes. These
actions have shown that the company is willing to deliver safe
and healthy food to its consumers, hence presenting a strategy
to improve consumers' trust in the company.
Strategic moves and competitive advantage
Considering Chipotle’s top competitors such as Taco Bell,
Moe’s Southwest Grill and Qdoba Mexican Eat, the company
was considered “fast-casual” which provides a more upscale
experience. Customers eat in Chipotle because they can
customize their orders themselves which one of the company’s
strengths in the restaurant business. More so, it is committed. It
has changed its preparation methods and resolved to produce
fresh and nutritious ingredients in preparing meals (Thompson,
2019). This has led to an improved and sustainable competitive
advantage in the company. That is why by 2017, the company's
sales had increased to $4 476.4 million.
Recommendations
I would recommend that Brian Niccol continues with his efforts
towards regaining consumer trust and confidence in the
company. Moreover, he can provide a variety of menus to the
consumers while maintaining food safety and quality. Staying as
health conscious as possible will help the company outdo stiff
competitors such as Moe's Southwest Grill.
Business strategy for competitive advantage
The company can opt for a product differentiation strategy in its
production of natural foods. This will help in differentiating its
food products from those of its competitors. Alongside its
efforts to safety and quality, Chipotle will maintain its
competitive advantage in the long run.
References
Thompson, A. A. (2019). Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Strategy in

14. 2018: Will the New CEO Be Able to Rebuild Customer Trust
and Revive Sales Growth?.
Walker, R., & Merkley, G. (2017). Chipotle Mexican Grill:
Food with Integrity?. Kellogg School of Management Cases.