A Need for Speed!

Brian Chung brings up and interesting question in his blog post – what is the best way to improve efficiency? Chung disagrees with the decision of Marc Caira, CEO of Tim Horton’s, to cut down the amount of choices on the menu to increase in-store speed.


Efficiency is a key value proposition, but so is having variety. Although there is usually a danger of getting caught up between different strategies when a company tries to do everything at once, Tim Horton’s low cost and expansive menu have not been a problem in the past. Its menu has become like an icon to its customers; cutting parts of it away could indeed be devastating.

However, on one point I must disagree with Chung. He argues that Tim Horton’s should focus on better employee training to increase efficiency, but there is only so much a human being can do. A better option to increase efficiency without sacrificing menu variety would be to invest in technological and innovative practices. For example, Chili’s (a casual diner somewhat similar to Tim Horton’s) pledged to increase efficiency by renovating their kitchens and installing tablets on every table for increase ease and speed.

The rapid growth of technology is allowing businesses to expand their value propositions without sacrificing others – but only when business leaders are quick enough to spot these possibilities.

Response to UBC Blog post.

References:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/brianchung/2013/11/12/tim-hortons-reducing-menu-size/

http://www.smudailycampus.com/dollars-and-sense/the-new-face-of-chilis-whats-changed-since-1975

Pictures:

http://www.timhortons.com/ca/images/general/baked-good-landing666x209en-fr-us.jpg

http://listdose.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/better-efficiency.jpg