{"id":6874,"date":"2015-12-09T22:31:15","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T03:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/chipotle-its-not-the-burrito-its-the-operating-model\/"},"modified":"2015-12-09T22:31:15","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T03:31:15","slug":"chipotle-its-not-the-burrito-its-the-operating-model","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/chipotle-its-not-the-burrito-its-the-operating-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Chipotle: It’s not the burrito – it’s the operating model"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Chipotle, the popular Mexican restaurant chain, is a great example of effective alignment between business model and operating model. “It works because of our system,” says the founder Steve Ells [1], and I think he is absolutely right. We can see the alignment reflected in the way the company designs and manages each of its stores, as well as in the strategic decisions that they took for the restaurant chain as a whole.<\/p>\n

As the company website stated [2], Chipotle is in \u201cthe business of good food\u201d, with the emphasis on “good”. Their core business model relies on the creation of an enhanced fast food experience in all of their stores. Chipotle combines elements of fine dining with the convenience of quick-service restaurants, creating value for the customers by offering quality food, clean dining environment and efficient service. Such hybrid dining experience, as FastCompany magazines calls “Fast Casual” [3], really resonates with middle class consumers and made the Chipotle brand stand out from the competition.<\/p>\n

Chipotle’s business philosophy is reflected in many features of the restaurant’s operating model, both on the “fast” and the “high quality” perspectives, and a lot of those features run against conventional wisdom in the fast food industry.<\/p>\n