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Benihana: A New Look at an Old Classic

This short case heavily references the " old classic " HBS case on Benihana, and is intended to be used in conjunction with a simulation that helps students gain insight into how Benihana achieved its profitability. The simulation helps bring out many key operational issues, such as how variability in demand and in processing can negatively impact profitability. The case analysis goes on to show how Benihana reduces variability, and illustrates concepts such as the product-process spectrum, the impact of a bottleneck, and the advantage of simultaneous product and process engineering.

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The Benihana Restaurants Case Study

What the case study is about.

The Benihana case study highlights the operational processes of a Japanese restaurant operating in America. Based on its operational challenges and the problems encountered by the company in expanding into new locations, the case study also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the restaurant.

In line with this analogy, the article also compares the similarities and differences between Benihana restaurant and other restaurants in the US. To do so, it explains the history and development of the restaurant, and how it has succeeded by using a Japanese restaurant management strategy to guide its operations.

Therefore, comprehensively, the case study explains the operational processes of the Benihana restaurant by highlighting its key design features and marketing strategies (Sasser, 1972).

Issues Associated with the Case Study

Some of the issues associated with the Benihana case study include the operational management efficiencies and brand success strategies of the restaurant. Other issues mentioned in the paper include training, business expansion, organization control, and advertisement strategies of the enterprise (Sasser, 1972).

Difference between the Benihana Production Process and that of a Typical Restaurant

The production process of Benihana restaurants differs with those of typical restaurants because it uses the hibachi table concept which allows the restaurant staff to prepare food in front of the customers. Rocky (the restaurant owner) introduced this concept in the 1960s after realizing that American customers often wanted to eat in exotic surroundings, but failed to order exotic foods because they did not trust foreign delicacies.

Therefore, to mitigate this problem, Rocky introduced the hibachi table concept for his clients to see how they prepare the “exotic” foods. This way, he expected the customers to trust foreign delicacies. The “gamble” paid off because the restaurant achieved tremendous success in this regard. Furthermore, it helped the restaurant managers to reduce their labor costs and maximize the business’s space productivity (Sasser, 1972).

Analysis of Production Process (Major Design Choices that Generate Efficiencies)

Benihana’s production process mainly centers on cooking through showmanship. This strategy involves the ability to cook food attractively and fast. Other restaurants are unable to adopt this production philosophy, partly because they do not have the skills and refined chefs to do so. For example, a key component of Benihana’s production process is the recruitment of skilled Japanese chefs.

The restaurant recruits them from Japan and through a free trade agreement with American authorities; they are allowed to work in the US. They have “exotic” skills for preparing Japanese foods. As seen in exhibit six of the case study, Benihana restaurants take a lot of time selecting and training these chefs (Sasser, 1972).

They have to undergo a gruesome training process that involves a 2-year apprenticeship program in Japan and a comprehensive training program at the Benihana College of Chefs in Tokyo. When the chefs complete their training programs, they come to America when they are prepared to take on the challenging task of preparing food for American clients.

Another component of Benihana’s production process is its management structure. Sitting at the helm of the operations department is Bill Susha (the vice president of the company). According to exhibit three of the case study, he oversees the operations of company franchises and company-owned units.

However, he is surrounded by a team of agile Japanese and American managers. This blend of employees provides a dynamic understanding of the restaurant management process (Sasser, 1972).

The hibachi production process has greatly contributed to Benihana’s success because its competitors are unable to match the same production standards that it provides. This assertion stems from the intense competition that Benihana experiences by operating in the competitive American hospitality industry.

In terms of production competencies, other restaurants specialize in providing specialized customer services to a dynamic clientele. Comparatively, Benihana succeeds by operating a simple production process. By using a standard production process, the restaurant almost operates like a “flow” shop. This production process makes sure it enjoys a high efficiency and low production costs.

The key to Benihana’s success is the large menu and the personalized food ordering and preparation processes. Therefore, while the average American customer orders for food and waits for chefs to prepare it in the kitchen, Benihana’s customers order food and watch professional chefs prepare it for them.

Although the restaurant adopts a standard production process, customers can make special requests to the chefs and have their food prepared in an “exciting” way (Sasser, 1972). This creative production process largely explains Benihana’s success.

Benihana restaurants are also unique because they have an authentic historical value. For example, Rocky often disassembled valuable architectural installations from old Japanese houses and shipped them to the US. He used these pieces to decorate the restaurant, thereby giving it an authentic “Japanese feel” that other restaurants did not have.

Although an eatery outlined the main design component of Benihana restaurants, exhibit two shows that a bar was also a key design component of the restaurants (Sasser, 1972). The bar was not an original design feature of the enterprise because Rocky did not see it as playing an instrumental role in the restaurants’ operations.

However, over time, he started to appreciate its importance. Consequently, the floor designs of Benihana restaurants have eight seats for bar patrons (Sasser, 1972). New Benihana outlets have more spaces for the bar. Now, it is a key design feature of the restaurants.

The customer seating design is another key design feature of Benihana restaurants. The Hibachi seating design allows eight customers to sit around a table. This setting allows strangers to sit next to one another and interact in an environment that would otherwise not have permitted open interactions.

The menu is also a key design feature of Benihana restaurants because it is simple (mainly contains three components – chicken, shrimp, and steak). The selections of favorite American dishes inform this design. For example, the restaurant reduced the menu components to only three main American dishes – steak, chicken, and shrimp.

This process increased the organization’s efficiency by reducing storage costs and minimizing waste. In fact, depending on the price of meat, the restaurant enjoys cost efficiencies of up to 35% (Sasser, 1972). Furthermore, the menu comes with standard accompaniments that include rice, bean sprouts, and zucchini (among other food types) (Sasser, 1972).

How I Understand These Issues

The Benihana case study highlights issues that revolve around restaurant management processes. The operations management discipline mainly encompasses these issues. For example, it includes marketing, inventory management, employee management, customer service, public relations and such like concepts that are highlighted in the Benihana case study.

In line with this reasoning, I believe restaurants should understand that, although their operations management processes may yield positive results, customers are always right. Therefore, their strategic management concepts should show a strong customer focus. Furthermore, restaurants need to have clear goals and appreciate the need for regular updates to their menus and operations.

These principles highlight the evolving nature of operations management. If we extrapolate this finding to the Benihana case study, we find out that the Hibachi model should receive regular updates as well. Furthermore, there should be more customer involvement in the restaurant management process.

How these issues link with the Theories discussed (Concept and Experience Design)

The Benihana case study gives information about the restaurant’s production process. Its main components highlight different management jargon used to explain such production processes.

Stated differently, the operational management issues, highlighted in the case study, bring our attention to the expanded applicability of management literature, such as throughput capacity and demand variability, beyond manufacturing sectors (where they are predominantly used). Therefore, the case study shows how such concepts also apply to service-oriented industries.

Lastly, the operational management issues, highlighted in the case study, also show how concepts affect operational outcomes. For example, the case study shows how input variations affect restaurant operations. Specifically, it shows how operational management issues affect restaurant profitability.

Alternative Approach to Managing the Issues

This paper has already shown that efficiency and operations management issues outline the main focus of the Benihana case study. It also shows how the restaurant has used the hibachi food preparation system to improve these key areas. While this strategy has proved to be largely successful, an alternative approach that would provide the same outcome is the “speedy” service system.

Unlike the Hibachi system, which requires a few skilled workers to prepare food, the “speedy” service system relies on unskilled workers to perform different tasks in the food preparation process (Wilson, 2014). The workers do not need to be knowledgeable about the entire system; they only need to understand one step in this process.

This strategy hails from the assembly line process (used in the automotive industry). Instead of having one group of employees who understand all vehicle assembly processes, automotive industries require workers to specialize in only one assembly area. This approach could similarly work in the restaurant business. Besides re-organizing the food preparation process, it could also change the restaurant design and setup.

This paper has already shown that Benihana restaurants do not have a kitchen because the food preparation process occurs on the client’s table. The “speedy” service system would require a kitchen, but unlike conventional restaurants, it would have few, but large, types of equipment for every step of the food preparation process.

For example, restaurants that prepare burgers could have only one grill for this purpose. Similarly, the same restaurant could have only one condiment for adding one ingredient in the food preparation process. Many fast-food restaurants have used this food preparation model, successfully. For example, McDonald’s popularity stems from this alternative food preparation approach (Wilson, 2014).

Impact of Alternative Approach

Unlike the Hibachi strategy, where customers make special requirements to chefs during the food preparation process, the “speedy” model does not accommodate customized food processes. Workers prepare food in a standard way and all customers get the same quality of food.

Compared to Benihana’s Hibachi strategy, this food preparation model shortens the food preparation process and avails it to customers in a relatively shorter time than Benihana restaurants do.

Sasser, E. (1972). Benihana of Tokyo . Web.

Wilson, T. (2014). How Fast Food Works . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2019, July 10). The Benihana Restaurants. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-benihana-restaurants/

"The Benihana Restaurants." IvyPanda , 10 July 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/the-benihana-restaurants/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'The Benihana Restaurants'. 10 July.

IvyPanda . 2019. "The Benihana Restaurants." July 10, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-benihana-restaurants/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Benihana Restaurants." July 10, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-benihana-restaurants/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Benihana Restaurants." July 10, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-benihana-restaurants/.

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Benihana of Tokyo

• Format: Print
• | Language: English
• | Pages: 17

About The Author

W. Earl Sasser

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• Material Detail: Benihana case study

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Benihana case study.

At the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University,students' appetites are whetted for Operations Management by beginning the core courses with the Benihana case study (HBS 9-673-057). Although originally written in 1972, Benihana remains one of the most popular Harvard Business School cases. The case captivates students because it brings operations to life in a familiar setting; that of a teppanyaki-style restaurant. The Benihana...

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At the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University,students' appetites are whetted for Operations Management by beginning the core courses with the Benihana case study (HBS 9-673-057). Although originally written in 1972, Benihana remains one of the most popular Harvard Business School cases. The case captivates students because it brings operations to life in a familiar setting; that of a teppanyaki-style restaurant. The Benihana simulation models an evening at Benihana's West 52nd Street restaurant. The restaurant opens at 6 p.m. to light demand, experiences a rush hour from 7 to 8 p.m. and continues to seat new arrivals until 9 p.m. In addition to emulating customer flow patterns and dinner choices, the model incorporates a sensitivity analysis feature that enables the user to examine the impact of altering the restaurant's capacity, and the bar capacity.

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The Benihana Case Study

Segmenting the Market for Benihana

According to Sharma et al. (2021), segmentation includes breaking down the market into homogenous groups based on customer preferences and needs. Benihana can use market segmentation to increase competitive advantage by focusing on its existing and potential customers’ behavioral, geographic, demographic, and psychological attributes. For example, the restaurant can segment the market based on demographics, such as income, by setting prices based on customers’ income levels. Also, the restaurant can utilize behavioral and psychographic criteria by considering customers’ dietary preferences and purchasing behaviors, such as dine-in and takeaway purchases. Additionally, Benihana can use geographic segmentation by opening restaurants in geographical areas with many customers.

The target markets that the restaurants would have based on the suggested demographic, behavioral, geographic, and psychographic segmentation criteria include middle-income people living around urban centers, individuals with a preference for fresh steak and Japanese cuisine, and individuals with the assumption that they will get the best Japanese steak house from a restaurant with a Japanese steakhouse. Customers with this assumption may prefer purchasing the steak from Benihana because of the authentic Japanese farmhouse interior.

Benihana’s Positioning Approach

Benihana uses the differentiation positioning approach. According to Kostelijk & Alsem (2020), differentiation positioning includes differentiating a service or product from competitors by conveying its unique qualities. Benihana’s differentiation approach includes creating an interior that features a Japanese farmhouse, entertaining the guests with fire shows and knife skills, and combining groups of up to eight customers in every serving area to share the activities in the food preparation process.

Creating a Restaurant That Would Compete With Benihana

Benihana creates stiff competition for other restaurants because of its unique features and differentiation strategy. Therefore, if I were to create a restaurant competing with Benihana, I would begin by ensuring that my products and services are unique. The product would be Japanese cuisine prepared by Japanese chefs. The physical restaurant would blend modern elements and traditional Japanese design. For instance, I would place Japanese art on the walls and use modern furniture and artificial plants to enhance the ambience. The menu would be written in English and Japanese to accommodate customers from different backgrounds.

Gaining a competitive advantage over Benihana would require marketing my restaurant to reach more customers and increase market share. As such, I would combine digital and traditional marketing. On the one hand, digital marketing strategies focus on creating experiences with a brand (Clow & Baack, 2022). Therefore, I would use digital platforms to interact with potential customers and share information about the restaurant. For example, I would post photos of the restaurant and its interior on social media platforms and short videos explaining the products and services offered at the restaurant and special offers such as discounts and loyalty programs. Regarding traditional marketing, I would also distribute flyers around the restaurant’s location to inform customers about the products and services offered at the restaurant and their prices.

Using Advertising to Enhance Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

According to Clow & Baack (2022), integrated marketing communication involves integrating and coordinating all marketing communications sources, avenues, and tools in a company into an efficient program to maximize the impact on stakeholders and customers. My new restaurant and Benihana can use advertising to enhance integrated marketing communications within the restaurants’ marketing programs by using various marketing channels that complement each other. For example, the two restaurants can use social media marketing to complement radio and television advertising. Restaurants can also use multiple communication channels to coordinate their marketing mix. For instance, they can share information about their products, prices, and distribution channels on social media platforms.

Considering the Business-to-Business (B2B) Aspect

My new restaurant and Benihana can use advertising to enhance the concept of integrated marketing communications within their marketing programs that would be aimed at business-to-business marketing by using emails to market their products and services to a shopping mall’s management so that they can be given a space in the shopping mall to open the restaurant. The restaurants can focus on sharing information about how opening the restaurants at the shopping mall will attract more customers, leading to more purchases from other stores in the mall due to impulse buying.

Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2022). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing Communications (8th ed.) Pearson Education (US).

Kostelijk, E., & Alsem, K. J. (2020). Brand positioning and brand architecture. Brand Positioning , 194–209. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429285820-13

Sharma, R. R., Kaur, T., & Syan, A. S. (2021). Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Sustainability Marketing , 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-244-720211009

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Unit III Case Study Assignment Content

For this assignment, read Case 1 that is titled “The Japanese Steakhouse Experience,” which can be found on pages 118-119 of your textbook. Once you have read and reviewed the case scenario, respond to the following questions with thorough explanations and well-supported rationales:

Thinking about the segmentation process that could utilize demographic, behavioral, geographic, and psychographic criteria, explain how you would segment the market for Benihana. Taking this one step further, apply the segmentation strategies you just examined, and describe the target market(s).

Explain the positioning approach used by Benihana. Assuming you are interested in creating a restaurant that would compete with Benihana, describe your restaurant, beginning with the product, the style of the physical restaurant, and the types of marketing communications (specifically the advertisements) that you might utilize to reach the target market. Explain how Benihana and your new restaurant use advertising to enhance the concept of integrated marketing communication (IMC) within the restaurants’ marketing programs. Within your explanation, include a look at the theoretical aspects of IMC. Thinking about the business-to-business (B2B) aspect, explain how Benihana and your new restaurant could use advertising to enhance the concept of IMC within the restaurants’ marketing programs that would be aimed at the B2B market. This might entail marketing to a shopping mall’s management staff in order to be able to open a Benihana in those locations.

Your response should be a minimum of two, double-spaced pages. References should include your textbook and a minimum of one additional, credible source. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations and be cited per APA Style guidelines. Make certain to include a title page and a references page.

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