Taco Bell Case
TACO BELL – CASE Study
1) Did Taco Bell’s success result from a top down or bottom-up approach to change? What situations drove this change, and what leadership approach did John Martin use? What was the old (previous) leadership style and what was its limitation?
• Taco Bell’s success resulted from a top down approach to change. Along with the new organizational structure came the job position of Market Manager. Management added this new position to send a strong signal that they wanted different behavior. They wanted people to be broader managers, good at managing P & L, to be decisive and to take ownership. The Market Managers had a lot of responsibility because management had pushed down a large deal of decision making.
• One of the situations that spurred this change is the notion of self sufficiency or the fact that a restaurant can operate by itself. John Martin knew this had to be done because there were 1500 Taco Bell restaurants and it is too much extra work to have to constantly monitor all of them. Management realized that they needed new production techniques to serve customers more efficiently. They also knew that they need new training and development methods to be more competitive and to have more uniformity in the products they were serving. Management also knew that they needed to install Operational Information Systems in all of the restaurants in order to keep up with their competitors. These are just a few of the many factors that drove the change of Taco Bell.
• John Martin introduced the democratic style of leadership to the Taco Bell chain. John Martin acted as a leader who involved his employees in the decision making process and delegated a great deal of authority to lower level positions. In addition, Martin encouraged participation in deciding work methods and goals and used feedback to coach his employees.
• The laissez-faire style of leadership that had been previously used at the Taco Bell
1) Did Taco Bell’s success result from a top down or bottom-up approach to change? What situations drove this change, and what leadership approach did John Martin use? What was the old (previous) leadership style and what was its limitation?
• Taco Bell’s success resulted from a top down approach to change. Along with the new organizational structure came the job position of Market Manager. Management added this new position to send a strong signal that they wanted different behavior. They wanted people to be broader managers, good at managing P & L, to be decisive and to take ownership. The Market Managers had a lot of responsibility because management had pushed down a large deal of decision making.
• One of the situations that spurred this change is the notion of self sufficiency or the fact that a restaurant can operate by itself. John Martin knew this had to be done because there were 1500 Taco Bell restaurants and it is too much extra work to have to constantly monitor all of them. Management realized that they needed new production techniques to serve customers more efficiently. They also knew that they need new training and development methods to be more competitive and to have more uniformity in the products they were serving. Management also knew that they needed to install Operational Information Systems in all of the restaurants in order to keep up with their competitors. These are just a few of the many factors that drove the change of Taco Bell.
• John Martin introduced the democratic style of leadership to the Taco Bell chain. John Martin acted as a leader who involved his employees in the decision making process and delegated a great deal of authority to lower level positions. In addition, Martin encouraged participation in deciding work methods and goals and used feedback to coach his employees.
• The laissez-faire style of leadership that had been previously used at the Taco Bell