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When analyzed from a human resource perspective, an organization is viewed as an extended family (Bolman & Deal, 2006, p. 16).
"For the organization, the key challenge is to tailor organizations to individuals -- finding ways for people to get the job done while feeling good about themselves and their work" (Bolman & Deal, 2006, p. 16).
"Few employers invest the time and resources necessary to develop a cadre of committed, talented employees” (Bolman & Deal, 2006, p.135).
Taco Bell, however, implements a learning concept that allows employees to become sufficient in multiple aspects of the organization in order to make both vertical and lateral moves (Martinez, 2014).
Culture shapes organizations. Organizations can be viewed as small societies with their own different subcultures that reflect national or global beliefs. Organizations can replicate social experiences or they can shape their own. The “shared values,
shared beliefs, shared meaning, shared understanding and shared sense making” (Morgan, 2006, p. 118) are what shapes an organization’s culture.
Yum! University
Taking People With You
“The good-to-great leaders seem to have come from Mars. Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy-these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will” (Collins, 2001, p. 12).
“We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats-and then they figured out where to drive it” (Collins, 2001, p. 13).
“Every good-to-great company embraced what we came to call the Stockdale Paradox: You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be” (Collins, 2001, p. 13).
Presentation
Objective
To analyze the Taco Bell organization using the concepts of the course and develop a collaborative presentation that serves as a vehicle to share our key insights and learnings.
1.) Are individual commitment and motivation essential to success?
If Yes: Human Resources / Symbolic
If No: Structural / Political
2.) s the technical quality of the decision important?
If Yes: Structural
If No: Human Resource / Political
3.) Are there certain high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty?
If Yes: Political / Symbolic
If No: Structural / Human Resource
4.) Are conflict and scarce resources significant?
If Yes: Political / Symbolic
If No: Structural / Human Resource
5.) Are they working from the bottom up?
If Yes: Political
If No: Structural / Human Resource / Symbolic
Like Family
"I think we are like a family here. We all like get along. We know when someone is mad when someone is upset. We are like a family here. It is a second home here" (Martinez, 2014).
Education at
Corporate Levels
"[Yum!] always had something they could educate you on, whether it was something the department paid for or a 2-4 day class you could take to better yourself" (Nooning, 2014).
"David Novak, the CEO, wanted the “comeback attitude” where the customer would always return. This applied to customers and employees and there was a lot of stress on treating employees well and making them want to come back into work the next day." (Nooning, 2014)
- 1954 Glen Bell opened Bell’s Drive-In and Taco Tia’s in the San
Bernardino area of California
- 1962 Glen Bell Opens First Taco Bell® restaurant
- 1964 Retired policeman Kermit Becky, becomes first Taco Bell®
franchisee and opens a location in Torrance, California
-1967 Taco Bell® opens 100th location
-1970 Company goes public
- 1973 Taco Bell® is purchased by PepsiCo. Inc.
- 1989 Taco Bell® realizes marketing success by linking its fast food to
blockbuster movies.
- 1990 A low-cost value menu is introduced
- 1991 Taco Bell® Express is launched
- 1992 Taco Bell® partners with the Boy’s and Girls Clubs of America to
help at-risk teens. The program is called, TeenSupreme
- 1995 Becomes major sponsor of the ESPN X games
- 1997 Tricon (YUM! Brands) spins off to become independent from the
PepsiCo Inc. conglomerate
(Taco Bell, 2014)
Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), based in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the world’s largest restaurant companies with over 40,000 restaurants in more than 125 countries and territories. Our restaurant brands – KFC®, Pizza Hut® and Taco Bell® – are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories.
Since the spin-off from PepsiCo in 1997, Yum! Brands has become a global company going from approximately 20 percent of profits coming from outside the U.S. to almost 70 percent in 2013. They open on average over five new restaurants per day outside the U.S. in 2013.
Taco Bell®, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, is the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant serving more than 36 million customers each week in over 5,800 stores in the U.S. Since its founding by Glen Bell in 1962, Taco Bell has become the second most profitable brand in the country (Yum! Brands Rsc, 2014).
"Taco Bell®, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, is the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant serving more than 36 million customers each week in over 5,800 stores in the U.S. Since its founding by Glen Bell in 1962, Taco Bell has become the second most profitable brand in the country" (Yum! Brands RSC, 2014).
Lessons in Leadership: Greg Creed, Taco Bell
Culture of Customer Service
Tailoring to Individuals
"Coworkers were friendly and outgoing. All my coworkers were willing to go the extra mile to make sure our customers were happy with our service. The hardest part of the day was when I had to leave and go home. The most enjoyable part was when I knew I helped my customer feel important.”
(Taco Bell Employer Reviews (Employer Verified), 2014)
"We have like a learning zone where everybody learns on different positions and depending on how they progress that how we ask them in, ‘Hey have you thought about doing [this]?’.... So just different opportunities" (Martinez, 2014).
"They do try to help us out. It is a good company because not a lot of companies work with your school schedule. Not a lot but Taco Bell does, that is the good thing about it" (Martinez, 2014).
Whether it’s chattering-teeth trophies or an “open door” atmosphere, we’ve made sure Yum! remains an un-corporate corporation. We’re a team, yet we take a tremendous amount of pride in each individual and believe in acknowledging a job well done on every level. We don’t stop until we achieve breakthrough results, so we encourage you to master your skill set, while constantly expanding your expertise. This tried-and-true practice keeps every day dynamic and encourages long, rewarding careers.
http://www.yum.com/careers/unique.asp
Yum! Brands was recently named one of Aon Hewitt's top companies for leaders in North America based on its leadership development programs (Business Wire, 2014).
Our greatest strength is our culture and our associates in our restaurant and Restaurant Support Center. Our corporate values—How We Win Together principles—are built around a "People Capability First" philosophy and using reward and recognition to drive results.
Over his fifteen years at Yum! Brands, Novak has developed a trademarked program he calls Taking People With You.
David C. Novak is Chairman and former CEO of Yum! Brands, Inc. Prior to leading Yum! Brands, Novak was President at both KFC and Pizza Hut. He also held senior management positions at Pepsi-Cola Company.
Novak has been recognized as one of the world's "30 Best CEOs" by Barron's, one of the "Top People in Business" by FORTUNE and one of the "100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World" by Harvard Business Review (Taking People With you, 2014).
"My Primary Responsibility is to develop leaders because I believe, 'Show me a great leader and I'll Show you a great business'"(Novak , 2012).
David Novak (right) and Robert Reiss of Forbes (left)
(Taking People With You, 2014).
Controversial Past
Honestly, I was most inspired by the audio interview of Greg Creed as he talked about how he has been mentored by numerous people and how his is mentoring future leadership for the company. The CEO of YUM, David Novak, has been mentoring Greg for years to prepare him for future leadership. I thought that mentoring culture was amazing. Truly an organization dedicated to creating Level 5 Leaders!
This project drove me to value the significance of organizational structures, behaviors, and theories. These concepts hold true in organizations that generate anything from suits to tacos.
I understand the importance of flexibility in organizations in order to maneuver around or overcome obstacles. I will always ask the question: “What approach would best serve my organization and do we need to shift?”
When considering the scale and reach of Taco Bell, I was most impressed with their ability to create and maintain an organization that serves its employees as much as it does the bottom line.
Through the Human Resources Frame I can see that there is a clear interdependence between the employees and the organization. Taco Bell exists to serve the needs of its people and the people in turn provide the energy, talent and spirit that serves the needs of the organization.
The key take-away for me is the impressiveness of expanding a "human resource" frame on such a grand scale. In a smaller organization, the practicality of keeping the person in the forefront seems possible. Through Yum! Brands' instituted ideals and principles their corporation has been able to expand the consideration of the one person to all of their associated companies, including Taco Bell.
For me the key take away is the power of the human resources frame - specifically that the purpose of a company is to nurture, mentor, encourage and ultimately empower employees. If this is done well, then people can derive a sense of satisfaction and meaning regardless of industry!
I have seen several hospital systems where everyone from physicians to nurses aides feel more dehumanized than Taco Bell employees. This fact quite frankly astounds me. How is it that people making Tacos can have more sense of accomplishment than people saving lives? Answer: Human Resources Frame!
From the interview with Nooning, this is true down to the corporate employee level as well as the Yum! University offered accredited courses to employees and stressed quotas every year to attend a certain number of classes for employee enrichment, growth and development.
I was so surprised at how much Taco Bell valued their employees. I had always assumed it was a typical "fast food joint job" that you tried for while in school.
It is refreshing to see that a great organization can be successful while valuing its employees. While I'm sure there other frames fit for Taco Bell, the Human Resource frame and its value of culture truly shined through.
Taco bell has faced and overcome notorious negative publicity in the past:
1996, Starlink Corn, Controversial genetically modified corn ingredients
2006, E-Coli Outbreak
2010, Salmonella Outbreak
2011, Law suit over beef content of meat
(Walker, 2014).
Chairman and former Taco Bell CEO David Novak advised the adverse impact from the 2011 law suit “‘lingered longer than anticipated’”. He then confidently advised that Taco Bell was “‘working on other solutions’” to produce a sales rebound. Novak then advised, “‘we’re optimistic that we will be able to get the business turned around, but we’ve got some work to do’ ”. (Schreiner, 2011) Taco Bell recovered by introducing innovative products such as the Doritos Locos Taco (Post Staff Report, 2012) and the Steak Quesadilla (Patton, 2013).
About Us Taco Bell. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.tacobell.com/Company
Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2006). Reframing organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership (5th ed., p. 16,135, 317). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap--and others don't (p. 12,13). New York, NY: HarperBusiness.
Creed, G. (2014, September 29). Lessons in Leadership: Greg Creed, Taco Bell. (D. Fox, Interviewer)
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from Restaurant News http://nrn.com/quick-service/lessons-leadership-greg-creed-taco-bell
Functional Excellence. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://yu.yum.com/functional.asp
Martinez, Jackie. Personal Interview. 24 November 2014
Meet David Novak. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.takingpeoplewithyou.com/meet-david.asp
Morgan, G. (2006). Images of Organization. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Nooning, Janine. Phone Interview. 3 December 2014
Our People. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.yumcsr.com/people/
Patton, L. (2013, March 14). Steak Quesadillas Seen Lifting Yum’s Taco Bell Rebound. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-14/steak-quesadillas-seen-lifting-yum-s-taco-bell-rebound.html
People Capability First. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.yum.com/investors/annualreport/99annualreport/htm/pcf1.htm
Post Staff Report. (2012, April 19). Doritos Tacos Spur Rebound in Taco Bell Sales. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from NY Post:http://nypost.com/2012/04/19/doritos-tacos-spur-rebound-in-taco-bell-sales/
Reiss, R. (2012, March 5). Driving a Global Corporate Culture of 1.4 Million Employees. Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertreiss/2012/03/05/driving-a-global-corporate-culture-of-1-4-million-employees/
Schreiner, B. (2011, April 21). Yum execs: Lawsuit still hurting Taco Bell sales. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from USA Today: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-04-21-taco-bell-yum-brands.htm
Taco Bell. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.yum.com/brands/tb.asp
Taco Bell Corporation. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/St-Th/Taco-Bell-Corporation.html
Taco Bell. (2014, January 12). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_Bell
Taco Bell Employer Reviews (Employer Verified). (2014). Retrieved December 1, 2014 from indeed: http://www.indeed.com/cmp/Taco-Bell/reviews
Walker, R. (2014). Strategic Management Communication for Leaders. Samford: Cengage Learning.
Yum! Brands Named One of the Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders in North America. (2014, November 12). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20141112006158/en/Yum!-Brands-Named-Aon-Hewitt-Top-Companies#.VIJxdTHF-ao