This paper aims to conduct a strategic analysis of the California Pizza Kitchen which is not just an authentic California-style cuisine leader but also is accredited with having a renowned consumer brand and an established loyal customer base. Having more than 250 outlets in 32 states and 9 foreign countries with flavors and tastes on a pizza from all around the world is it from Thai to Jamaican Jerk. To explore deeply the secrets and reasons of success; the mission, vision, values, goals and objectives of the company would be identified, discussed and critically analyzed.
Mission Statement California Pizza Kitchen, though a 10 year old company, is built on a set of principles as its set of values and vision statement. It does not, however, have a mission statement. Analysis of mission statement Mission statements define the purpose of an organization’s very existence. It highlights the underlying key features of the core identity and the philosophies and goals of the business (Hofstede, 2000).
Not having a mission statement, exhibits lack of planning and long term sense of direction of the company without having any basis for the incorporation of the goals of its main stakeholders.It shows the company can go in whichever direction it is led due to lack of strategic management which has the formulation of a distinct mission statement which makes the company standout in a crowd. Rather than going ahead with expansion and focusing on its values, etc the mission statement should be the first consideration for any business engaged in strategic planning or decisions which have strategic implications so that actions taken, if any, by the organization should be compatible with their identified mission.Vision statement The vision of the company is that of “creating a global brand. ” This vision was discovered in an interview of the CEO and owner of the company, Mr Rosenfield, on June 25, 2007 with Newsweek. With international CPK locations in China, Guam, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and United Arab Emirates CPK reaffirms the belief in its vision and instills its statement of “great taste knows no boundaries.
Analysis of vision statement CPK in identifying its vision has come up with a very open ended statement of creating a global brand. It does not define how this vision is aimed to be achieved taking into consideration what aspects thereby not clearly outlining a clear picture of company’s future casting 5 to 10 years from now not just for the company itself but also for its interested stakeholders(Cavusgil, 2007).For instance; having a vision statement which says “becoming a household name in cuisines for Americans and Europeans” would have been a more inspiring, purpose driven and future casting vision statement. This would not only give direction to employees concerning how they should carry out their jobs, but also signal customers upon the values built on which is the organization.Values, goals and objectives and their analysis CPK believes in the four principles of R. O.
C. K- Respect, Opportunity, Communication and Kindness which according to one of the 2 company’s CEOs, Flax, “reflects the company’s spirit. ” According to the vice President of human resources, Garry Gay, the management of CPK discovered that if they take care of their people, the people, too, will take care of them which again exhibit their belief in taking care of their customers. For a strong brand awareness, values of high quality and fast casual provision of services keeping into mind the CPK/ASAP concept are implemented.
Being very particular about quick service, CPK claims to “call them anything but late for dinner” which shows their high emphasis on service quality and provision. If a CPK customer is not pleased with their experience, CPK personnel have the empowerment to make it right by paying them off as it’s not an ethical violation (Cavusgil, 2007). These value statements identify the ethos of CPK which are inherently based on its core values and vision statement.However, these values and goals should be measurable, quantifiable and should also be expressed in terms of revenue, market share and profit for CPK as a whole. Goals and needs of stakeholders groups The audit committee of the Board of Directors at CPK keeps a check on the accountability of the responsibility of the quality and honesty of various company practices including that of auditing, accounting, financial reporting practices, etc(Hofstede, 2000)..
Moreover, this very company’s committee oversees all the financial reporting, financial controls, accounting policies, external and internal auditing which is in accordance with the communication aspect of the four R. O. C. K principles of the company. The vision of “creating a global brand” does not take into account or discuss the effect it would have on the shareholder equity, thereby spreading the shareholder base too globally or not.Conclusively, in order for an effective strategic analysis, not only should CPK work upon on having its mission statement which has no existence at the moment but should also work upon improving its vision statement which is not in accordance with the criteria’s required for a good vision statement to be developed.
Moreover, stakeholders should also be taken into account and referred to while developing various goals, objectives and values of the company.
