About Chic-fil-A

The major goal of this essay is to comprehend how Truett Cathy, the man of Chic-fil-A, came up with his business plan. In order to realize the company's vision, the article tries to understand how he developed his strategies to meet the goals and objectives of the firm. The functional, corporate, and business level strategies were the main topics of the report. Information on Chic-fil-A was mostly gathered from a methodical review of the literature. The strategy creation and implementation processes utilized by the organization are identified in the study's sources. Literature review form the first section of the report and outline the how Cathy utilized management style and combined his strategies with his religious background to reach the intended goals. The most important approaches used included identification of product and suitable location of the franchises. Further, Cathy understood the important of being loyal to the customers and employees. Most importantly, the business attained a competitive advantage through excellent customer experience. Employees were used as the fundamental asset to meet the institutions' goals, mission and vision. Cathy focused on employing good people to oversee implementation of the strategies which led to the huge success realized over time. The second segment of the paper provides a discussion on steps followed during strategy formulation, implementation, and execution: development of strategic vision and mission of chic-fil-a, setting objectives, crafting the strategy used by chic-fil-a, and implementation and executing the chosen strategies effectively and efficiently. Each specifies the approach utilize leading to the current success of Chic-fil-A under Cathy's corporate governance.
Keywords: Chic-fil-A, strategy formulation, execution, corporate governance.



Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Literature Review 5
Discussion 15
Development of Strategic Vision and Mission of Chic-fil-A 15
Setting Objectives 16
Crafting the Strategy used by Chic-fil-A 16
Identification of the product. 16
Focusing on customer experience and satisfaction. 17
Establishment of strategic Location. 18
Implementation and executing the chosen strategies effectively and efficiently 20
People first. 20
Evaluating performance 22
Conclusion 24
References 26




Chic-fil-A Strategy Formulation, Execution and Governance
Introduction
Strategy formulation, execution, and corporate governance are part of the most fundamental components of managing a business enterprise. It is often a continuous managerial process that involves setting objectives, developing strategic vision, executing and implementing the selected approach as well as evaluating and analyzing internal and external situation of the company to determine performance (Gamble, Peteraf & Thompson, 2017). The step also involves identification of corrective adjustment for the achievement of the long-term objectives. Commonly, the board of directors plays a critical role in ensuring corporate governance which is a term that refers to the system of process, rules, and practices used to control and direct the executives working for the company. Therefore, it will be imperative to carry out a systematic research study to determine Chic-fil-A strategy formulation, execution, and governance (Smith, 2011). Chic-fil-A is a chain of Restaurant Company that sells chicken in the United States. The organization was started in 1946 by Truett Cathy and his brother Ben and offers a variety of products: chicken sandwich, breakfast menus, various soft drinks as well as wrap and salads among other items. At the beginning of the year 2011, approximately 1,500 Chick-fil-A restaurants had been established in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Cathy led Chick-fil-A for 43 consecutive years of annual sales increases (Smith, 2011). The annual average sales of Chick-fil-A per restaurant in 2015 were approximately $3.9 million (Smith, 2011). Cathy, who died in 2014, was able to celebrate his tremendous successes all the while keeping to his commitment to family (Smith, 2011). He was a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. Cathy applied a business strategy that largely depended on personal satisfaction and a sense of commitment to the community. Therefore, the current research aims at discovering how Truett Cathy developed his business strategy and grew the corporation into the $3 billion success it is today.
Literature Review
Cathy's (2002) book Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People focuses on main principles one needs to follow to achieve success. Cathy's four key principles are the following: Don't grow too fast too soon, stay focused on quality and fundamentals, faith based on corporate culture, and loyalty to employees and customers. According to the Cathy, the current era can be characterized by a need for profit rather than people as the driving power for businesses. Considering that, Cathy uses his experience to present a refreshing business management approach he used in setting Chic-fil-A based on the principle of loyalty (Cathy, 2002, Reichheld, 2001). The book focuses on customer, employee, organization loyalties and the author himself, as the founder. Cathy took his first step in the business world while he was eight years old selling Coca-Cola products door to door. Soon he bought himself a bike, started selling newspapers which helped him realize the most important component of success, taking care of the customers. He built his customer base by focusing on one person at a time and learned how to keep them. He became loyal to his clients and delivered total dedication and commitment which enabled him to acquire competitiveness over other newspaper salespeople. When he started his business in 1946, he began using the same method to develop customer loyalty as he insisted that each client is treated like the most crucial customer on the globe (Cathy, 2002). The CEO handled every person that visited the restaurant with courtesy. Cathy also received compliments owing to quality food products and services offered. Cathy expected his employees to follow the same path to oversee ultimate customer satisfaction. At the same time, Truett Cathy remained loyal to his employees. According to the book, in 1982, Chic-fil-A experienced financial crisis because two big hamburger restaurants had added chicken in their menus. Previously, Chic-fil-A was the only quick-serve restaurant that offered chicken. The huge demand for the chicken breast made supplier increase prices of their product drastically (Reichheld, 2001). Realizing the issue, Cathy decided not to take a salary to ensure prices of their products did not go high, and employees were not retrenched. Therefore, the CEO remained loyal to his employees as the founder wanted everyone to feel secure in their jobs. At the same time, he was committed to his franchises as he oversaw careful selection and recruitment of each operator. He invested in training and knowledge acquisition, and employees repaid him by being loyal and maintaining their long-term commitment to the performance of the business. According to the book, Cathy believes in putting trust in employees by motivating them to perform better. The achieved success is attributed to the loyalty given to workers. The source notes that he considered all the operators, employees and customer carefully when making primary business decisions (Cathy, 2002). The team saw the desire to grow rapidly as the most common mistake many firms and investors make. He made God a fundamental part of Chic-fil-A which can be seen in the firm's purpose (glorify Lord by being faithful stewards of all that is entrusted to us). The organization's strategic vision was developed to chart its long-term directions and core values from his religious background. The book contends that most of the opportunities seized by the institution over the years were attributed to blessings of God (Reichheld, 2001). In particular, the reference indicates that the restaurants were closed on Sundays for the families to worship God together which gave Cathy better business purpose. Further, Reichfiled (2001) confirms these details as he focuses on loyalty-based management. The author shows the importance of customer retention and its effects on company profits. There are many factors involved in improving and building relationships with customers, employees, and investors, all of which have an effect on creating sustained value. The author refers to Truett Cathy and Chick-fil-A in his book. The source is relevant to the research because it discusses business strategy formulas and good execution that led to the success of the business. It also offers method used to launch the first franchise and important business developing process will most likely lead to certain business failures (Gamble, Peteraf & Thompson, 2017). Similarly, the source offers valuable information related to various components of business strategy at all levels of management, including the board of directors. In other words, the book is relevant to the current study because it provides details about how Chic-fil-A was formed in 1946.
Blanchard (2008) work together with Cathy to bring out the four principles of entrepreneurial success. Passion entails loving what one is doing which enables an entrepreneur to work hard to be the best. According to the source, one can never be successful without loving the business. The book cites Cathy contending that he focused more on people than profits. An entrepreneur should comprehend ways of dealing with people, especially, customer and associates. The author holds that it is fundamental to realize that a business is more about what it gives than what it gets (Blanchard, 2008). Most successful people understand the importance of serving rather than being served. Cathy was a servant leader that enabled him to develop a compelling vision that told people what the business is about, where they are going and values that guide their journey. Therefore, Cathy envisioned an organization that would become the most successful quick-serve business in the United States which allowed him to establish strategic goals and focus. Blanchard (2008) notes that the moment people understand where the business owner is likely to take them and the reason behind that, this allows a person to shift to operations, and implementation ensuring the needs of people involved are met which helps employees take care of the customers. The servant aspects of leadership are the most crucial for organizational success because what individuals see daily is operational leadership that enabled them to become passionate about their duties and ways of serving customers (Blanchard, 2008). When workers are passionate, they create devoted clients. Finally, Blanchard (2008) talks about priorities where he asserts that an individual focusing on starting a business must set priorities right which enabled an entrepreneur to have it all and be successful. It is imperative to achieve such objective because it keeps one from losing perspective of the business. The source is important for this research as it presents four principles for entrepreneur success: Passion, Profits, People, and Priorities adopted by Cathy. Further, this information given in the reference is fundamental for the research because helps to correlate the core concepts of strategy formulation with Cathy's Chick-fil-A business strategy. At the same time, the book provides a definition of the direction the business was to be taken and how competitiveness was attained.
Further, the book by Blanchard and Cathy (2010) focuses on the joy of generosity, relationships, and service. The authors create a parable that demonstrates such virtue where they provide a scenario of a lad who starts over at the lower positions in the corporate and has found a channel for generating money by investing in technology. He is determined to be successful and reads articles about most successful company CEO who claim to have greater joy in his ability to give to others. He thinks he can get and sustain competitiveness and the young man is impressed by the executive office building he found when he goes to meet the CEO (Blanchard & Cathy, 2010). His world views are different from everybody else's as he continues to converse with the CEO who informs him about the key principles that form his life. The CEO goes on to describe the strategy he utilized to enable him to achieve the current state and tremendous pleasure which he refers to as generosity factor, a means to offer talent, time, touch and treasure to the people in need. The pieces of advice the young person gets and the strong link he establishes with the CEO provide a unique and excellent twist about what it entails to be successful (Blanchard & Cathy, 2010). The source is critical for this research study because it provides indicate the development of the purpose statement that guided the organization. At the same time, it offers insight into the methods used to implement and execute the selected business strategy. The source informs the study as it denotes the principle applied to gain customer experience throughout the year at the restaurants ensuring each receives remarkable experience. Additionally, the details were given about how Chic-fil-A strived to get an increased level of performance which is innumerable to the parable. Finally, the book is relevant to the study as it offers the practices that the organization used to attain competitiveness, differentiation and market share in the industry.
Allot (2015) provides details of the principles used by Chic-fil-A to attain success in the article Truett Cathy Built Chic-fil-A on Principles. According to the source, Cathy used prudent investing and was anxious about the corporate plan of doubling the restaurants in two years. To achieve the goal, he reflects on why he was in the restaurant business in the first place rather than focusing on cutting cost. Cathy together with his team articulated the Chic-fil-A mission statement to glorifying God (Allotm 2015, p. 1). The source indicates that the simple act worked and this made Cathy more confident about the future. His organization grew by approximately 29% in the years that followed and went on until the firm became one of the largest companies in the U.S. Cathy then began to invest in others through charity and activities that improved lives of several people in the country. Similarly, Allot (2015) asserts that Cathy performed constant experiments on all the variations on the customers to gauge how they would react to the products and services the business offered. After a while, Cathy was able to create the brand Chic-fil-A begun offering client chicken sandwich in entire southern part of the U.S. The restaurant was different from the rest in different ways. First, it was a place that served fast-food, boneless chicken and first to operate in shopping malls (Allot, 2015). These strategies saw Cathy's immediate success in the industry. Over several decades, the organization spread to over one thousand and eight hundred locations in the U.S contributed by Eat Mor Chikin campaign (Allot, 2015). The most important factor that led to the massive and instant success is that Cathy understood the importance of growing slowly and never went into debt. He did not allow the company to go public and was accountable to God and his customers. He built the organization culture based on his Christian faith most seen in the policy of closing on Sundays where employees spent time with God and family. Finally, Cathy knew the importance of pleasing customers something that was achieved through tasteful loyalty (Allot, 2015). The source has been used in this research because it gives information about how the founders of Chic-fil-A translated the strategy into action. In other words, the article is relevant as it provides the details about how strategies were designed and elements of operation that led to achievement and sustenance of the business mission and core value.
Stevens (2014) focuses on Chic-fil-A brand positioning and hold that this is one of the most critical aspects of modern marketing. He defines the term as an act that involves the creation of an appealing image of the organization and offering to occupy a unique place in the mind of the target customers. It is an approach that assists a business to maximize profits by creating customer awareness as well as guiding marketing strategy. The author notes that the Chic-fil-A strategic vision and mission are based on glorifying God and guides their business decisions (Stevens, 2014). The firm strives to provide the customer with centric dining experience as well as healthier food alternative as compared to hamburger franchises. The restaurants serve high-quality chicken and their core business practices are designed to maximize interactions with customers such as being attentive, appreciative and enhancing experience of clients which reinforce their brand positioning (Stevens, 2014). As an outcome, the approach has offered the organization a competitive advantage that other restaurants have found hard to match. As a result, Chic-fil-A has seen remarkable growth each year since 1946 due to increase expansion, profits, and loyal customer base (Stevens, 2014). More specifically, the organization has been able to achieve the objective by tapping into the clients' emotional response. Steven's source is critical for the study because it details the method used to place Chic-fil-A products into the market. Further, it gives a concise summary of the demographic and attitudinal description of the brand about the customers. Similarly, it offers examples of positioning actions taken to ensure the products offered dominated the market. In other words, the article provides useful details on Chic-fil-A marketing tactic that led to the creation of good customer perception. As such, the source has been used to explore and understand some of the strategies used to place the products in the market.
Moreover, Cathy (2007) focuses on what he did to achieve success as the CEO and founder of Chic-fil-A. He contends that is main goal in life was to be successful enough to take care of his family. Along the way, he created one of the quick-service restaurants in the U.S. In his book, How Did You Do It, Truett? He covers his idea of success and how he achieved it. Cathy, from the beginning, used a method of promotion of offering free products to attract customers and create brand loyalty. This book suffices in explaining Cathy's approach to business and leadership. The book holds that Chic-fil-A has leveraged its superior customer services and capitalized on emotional branding concepts (Cathy, 2007). Further, the author notes that it is imperative to focus on identifying the product which required taking special care of the Chic-fil-A known as Drawf House at the time. The source details various problems encountered which were solved by listening to the customer. The author notes that Cathy offered his customer some of the products and asked for their opinions which resulted in a constant change of recipe to ensure the product fit the clients' preferences and taste. The scholars indicate that development of the product followed the establishment of right name and came up with Chic-fil-A and continue to focus on production of high-quality products that customer identified with (Cathy, 2007). The restaurant sustained competitiveness as Cathy understood the importance of using a simple process to make perfect products. As an outcome, the book states that the restaurant employees qualified employees, a strategy that translated into increased sales as well as profits. The researchers also suggest that Cathy knew the importance of courtesy to customers as the strategy would pay dividends. As indicated by other authors above, the source holds that Chic-fil-A buyers became the center of focus as being kind to the client was perceived as the key to success. Additionally, Chic-fil-A CEO understood the importance of putting people first in his business. He hired good people that worked at the restaurant since the beginning in 1946 who continued to be loyal because Cathy understood the importance of employee management as well as establishing a long-lasting and strong link with operators who motivated others and knew how to run the organization. They met with the customer and sold the sandwiches. At the same time, the organization strived to support people that did that work. The strategy was coupled with the establishment of the right locations. Cathy selects a strategically placed location, for example, Dwarf House stood at a place where Ford Motors Company was developing a new plant for assembly which provides a base of regular customers. For the first years of business, the restaurant gained from the constructors and continued fed Ford Motor employees after the assembly was completed. Customer perceives the organization to be socially responsible, genuine and authentic. Therefore, the company has crafted a brand positioning that clients identify with which has resulted in the establishment of a mutually beneficial relationship between them the customers. In particular, the author confirms Cathy's (2002) views that the company has continued relied on Christian views and beliefs that have served as guidance to their business strategy and relationship between the employees and clients. The book is one of the most relevant sources for the current research study because it is a step by step guide that provides information about how Dwarf House began which is the first franchise started in 1946. It has been used to comprehend the strategies and challenges encountered by the organization during the start up period. Additionally, it gives a clear picture of how Cathy grew his business which turn allows the reader to understand the strategies used to formulate the business as well as methods utilized to achieve its, business objective and goals as well as mission and vision.
Peterson, H. (2017) details how Chic-fil-A was started through franchising. Start-up costs are typically very high for fast food chain restaurants. In this web article from Business Insider, Chick-Fil-A is described as one of the lowest start-up cost opportunities. However, there are significant differences in start-up expectations in comparison to other chains such as McDonald's (Peterson, 2017). The organization receives more than twenty thousand inquiries from franchise candidate each year, and the management selects 75 to 80 new franchisees from that numbers annually after a thorough selection procedure, and the chosen individuals undergo multiple training programs before being allowed to open and operate the restaurant (Peterson, 2017). Franchising was a well thought out idea by Truett Cathy, and this article helps to support his philosophy on this particular subject of his business. Peterson's article is considerably important for the study because it provides a clear picture of the startup costs. At the same time, it offers details about the marketing concept and method used to distribute services and products to customers. As such, it is crucial for the study as it provides details about the business method used by Cathy to enter the market while at the same time giving advantaged to Chic-fil-A in relation its geographical location.
Additionally, Redman and Sankar (2013) confirms details provided by Cathy (2002) regarding employee loyalty and Stevens (2014) about brand positioning and customer satisfaction. The article holds that Chic-fil-A job applicants endured though vetting procedure that included series of interviews. Some of the individuals seat up to seven interviews and fail to get the job. Continue growth of the company is further attributed to the leadership education program that enabled people to learn their pace and according to their requirement. The programs were and are meant to take people and the organization where they have not been. Cathy understands the importance of offering employees the right content taking into account their stage of development to fosters customer satisfaction and enhance brand positioning through services provided to the clients (Redman & Sankar, 2013). As such, Chic-fil-A has for a long time been committed to employee improvement enabling them to reinvent the system constantly. By doing this, the company has been able to put together a vision of what would be scalable with the growth of the each person. Cathy looked at the firm's offering and started to think ways of providing people with training and choice of how they can access information and communicate with each other as well as enhance their expertise (Redman & Sankar, 2013). The executive the Chic-fil-A feel that the strategy aligns well with the corporate goals allowing them and employees share Cathy's vision. Yohn (2014) also argue in favor of this contention by describing seven brand- building principles that have been proven to elevate a brand to icon status based on employee education. In her professional opinion, a brand is much more than a company's name, logo, and image or even its personality, attitude or reputation. She notes that brand is what the company does and how the management did it. According to Yohn, Chick-fil-A has emerged as the most successful organization because of commitment to the employees who always respond to the customers' requests (Yohn, 2014, p. 231). Redman and Sankar provide an important source for this study as it gives information about the method used to execute the business strategies adopted by the management.
Also, the book by McChesney, Covey, and Huling (2012) emphasizes how to stay focused in implementing disciplines to a successful business, all while dealing with the normal "whirlwind" of everyday business activity. It describes in detail how to identify and then install the four main disciplines as described by authors Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling. They begin with establishing Wildly Important Goals (WIG's), creating and acting on Lead Measures, scorecards, and accountability (McChesney, Covey & Huling, 2012). Since Truett Cathy identifies with scorecards in his business process and believes that good life principles lead to good business practices, this book has a crossover in his business strategies. According to the researchers, an important component of success realized by Chic-fil-A regard its corporate governance. A stable management team runs the organization. The scholars state that while most of the organization management individuals' changes frequently, a vast number of members serving Chic-fil-A have been working for the firm for more than twenty years (McChesney, Covey & Huling, 2012). The Board of Directors are stewards of the philosophy put forward by Cathy and strives to embody his vision in carrying out their responsibilities. The book is critical for the study because it goes into detail of how to "install" or implement business disciplines through the process of staying focused on the goal and not allowing the whirlwind to become the focus. Further, the last part of the book includes a 6-step process to roll out the disciplines, some failure points to watch for and the possibilities of using these disciplines to improve our personal lives.
Discussion
Development of Strategic Vision and Mission of Chic-fil-A
Cathy made God a fundamental part of Chic-fil-A which can be seen in the firm's corporate purpose (glorify God by being faithful stewards of all that is entrusted to us). He developed his strategic vision that chart's the organization's long-term directions and core values from his religious background. Cathy developed a compelling vision that told people what the business is about, where they are going and values that guide their journey. Therefore, Cathy envisioned an organization that would become the most successful quick-serve business in the United States which allowed him to establish strategic goals (Peterson, 2017). The vision and mission statement severed as the primary determinant of the company's direction until 2013 when it was changed. It has constantly being used to remind the team why the organization existed and based on the above analysis is attributed to be one of the components that led to Chic-fil-A's success. As identified earlier, mission statement of the firm is "Be America's Best Quick-Service Restaurant." The statement was developed when the company started and communicated to the people the preferred future of Chic-fil-A and formed the basis of guideline for the development of the product, handling customer, and general business strategy developed by Cathy. Therefore, the mission statement charted the long-term direction of the organization because it shaped the strategy and facilitated continue improvement on the products and services offered to the customers (Peterson, 2017). The mission and visions statement also led to the establishment of core values which were identified through a set of principles: personal excellence, placing the customer first, striving to ensure continued improvement, stewardship and working together as a team. The strict adherence to the corporate purpose as well as core valued significantly contributed to the creation of Chic-fil-A culture.
Setting Objectives
Setting objectives refers to measures that can be used to estimate the performance of the organization as well as tracking its progress to ensure it is moving the intended long-term directions. Chic-fil-A priority was to help people, a strategy that helped Cathy and his teams to maintain focus. The next other objective was to make a profit which helped the firm to survive. The entire process of establishing the firm was to make profits. At the same time, their overriding goal was to please God which is why their corporate purpose is to glorify God through faithful stewardship.
Crafting the Strategy used by Chic-fil-A
Crafting the strategy entails the total approaches taken into action by the executive to meet the corporate and business objectives. The practice advances the organization along the path of vision developed by the management to ensure achievement of the set goals (Gamble, Peteraf & Thompson, 2017). There are several strategies that can be deduced from the above literature reviews adopted by Chic-fil-A management that led to the observed success.
Identification of the product. The most important business strategy employed by Cathy and his team was the identification of what the business needed to offer to the market. There was an opportunity for chicken product by the time Chic-fil-A started. However, it was imperative to ensure that the products were of high quality. Therefore, it was fundamental to ensure products were properly cooked. Since the first day the restaurant was opened in 1946, Cathy led to the teams toward ensuring continued improvement relying on the customer for an opinion about their preferences. As Cathy (2007) indicates, it was crucial to listen to the customers who sometimes called for a need to offer samples and ask them for their opinions. Their clients gave a response on how they liked the product and what they thought might change to make it better. Over the years, Cathy developed a unique flavor and product quality that turned difficult for the competitors to copy. Further, it was critical to understanding the ingredient, oil as well as method used to cook the make the sandwiches (King, 2013, Cathy, 2007). Product identification is an important component of strategy formulation because an entrepreneur must ensure there is demand and need in the market which in turn drives the business. As Cathy (2002) notes about people and principles attributed to Chic-fil-A, Cathy's four key success factors include: ensuring that one does not grow too fast too soon, staying focused on quality and fundamentals, developing faith based corporate culture, and being loyal to employees and customers (Cathy, 2007). As indicated before, Cathy developed his product over time based on the idea that smart decisions require time (Cathy, 2007). The company was deliberate when introducing products to the market.
Focusing on customer experience and satisfaction. For Chic-fil-A to become the best quick-service restaurant in America, Cathy focused on meeting customer satisfaction. He built strong client pool focusing on the individual at a time. He became loyal to his clients and delivered total dedication and commitment which enabled him to acquire competitiv...