Benihama Restaurant of Tokyo Case Study Paper Please find the Benihana Case Study online and write a one page paper about the things that the company did w
Benihama Restaurant of Tokyo Case Study Paper Please find the Benihana Case Study online and write a one page paper about the things that the company did well vs the things that they did wrong in terms of costs AND services.The attached file will help you with the paper. Benihana of Tokyo
Current Situation:
Benihana Tokyo is a very successful Japanese restaurant. The first Benihana unit was opened in
1964 in Manhattan New York. Rocky, the owner of the restaurant, when he first arrived to the
united states he wanted to enter the restaurant business just like his father. He worked in several
jobs before he was able to achieve his dream and open Benihana. The restaurant employs only
Japanese chiefs and imports all of its decor from Japan to make the place authentic. Moreover,
the restaurant has a unique method of cooking. The chiefs usually cooks on a table in front of the
customer. This approach has helped the restaurant to save costs and also made it unique.
Although the restaurant was successful, it suffered from one important problem which is
expansion. The restaurant was having an issue in expansion because it had problems with
franchising, labor availability and increasing costs. Franchising was one of the most important
problems that faced the restaurant for several reasons including american investors were not
capable of connecting with the Japanese staff. Another one is the difficulty of finding Japanese
workers who will come and work in the united states. The final problem was the various costs of
the restaurant. For example, the decor of the restaurant cost a lot of money because it is imported
from Japan.
Analysis:
Benihana Differentiation:
Benihana is different than any other restaurant by many things. As I have mentioned before the
restaurant imports the chefs and the decor directly from Japan which makes the restaurant very
authentic. The restaurant also uses a unique method by cooking on the Hibatchi table which
usually saves the restaurant from 10-12% of the costs. In addition, 22% of Benihana is a back of
the house area while a typical restaurant kitchen takes about 30% of the restaurant area. The
menu is as well different in Benihana, it has limited choices of entrees which have contributed
significantly to the reduction of overhead costs of the restaurant. While in a typical restaurant the
overhead costs is a problem.
The advertising policy of the restaurants is also unique. The management doesnt place an ad for
the restaurant in the newspapers without it being different. For example, one of its ads didnt
contain the word restaurant. Moreover, the ads of the restaurant focus on outstanding visuals. All
of these strategies that Benihana implements make the restaurant unique.
1. Examine the production system in detail. What are the major design choices which
generate operating efficiencies?
These are some of the major design choices that generate operational efficiencies. First,
we have the location. When creating a location plan, companies should consider supply chain
and how the said area will be receiving supplies. They should also look at the movement of
goods and services both internally and to target customers and also the roles marketing and
public relations play in the location chosen (Athanassopoulos, 1997).
Another choice is looking for ways on how consistency can be implemented in costs,
quality and resources in all the business divisions when it comes to goods and services. Also,
companies need to be clear when it comes to customers demands and how these expectations
can be met. Organizations should take advantage of market research and use it to determine
customer needs and consignment quality assurance testing during the production of goods and
services. Also, companies should have good supply chain management. This means that they
should determine the best policies and make them more efficient, cost-effective, and use them to
cultivate reliable partners (Sherman, 1985).
Also, organizations should have design plans that support all production objectives. This
should include technology and resources. A value stream map can assist in determining what
procedures are important and how to keep them going efficiently. Layout design and strategy is
also important. Arrangements of desks, workstations, and the delivery and usage of materials
should be done with a lot of consideration. Maintenance of machines, processes, and people
should be reliable and stable. Companies should also make sure that there are continuous
improvement programs with consistent reports. Also, there should be ongoing training for staff
and workforce gratification programs should be implemented to achieve victory in different areas
(Schmenner, 1998).
Recommendations:
There are many things that can be recommended to Benihana to further improve their
performance in todays market. One option they have is to expand in wealthy suburban areas as
this would allow them to expand and gain new clientele. Another way they could in improve is
by going for joint ventures instead of franchising. Through a joint venture they can work with
another business, like a hotel chain or resorts in order to access customers with reduced costs.
One thing that can be noted from the case is that Benihana never truly had problems regarding
their cash-flows when they began so by acquiring capital from banks through loans they can
speed up their expansion process and start targeting new areas sooner. To gain more consumers,
Benihana could invest in increasing the speeds of their services in order to appeal to younger
consumers or invest in diversify the types of foods they can provide to appeal to more tastes.
Another option they have is including a business that sells Japanese merchandise to foreign
customers. There are many options Benihana still has to explore which is why it can be such an
exciting business to research, these however, were just a few of routes they could take.
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