Author: jeffreyd30113f14

Taco Bell “Suping Up” Burritos

Posted on by jeffreyd30113f14

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As of today, October 28th, Taco Bell has launched a mobile app allowing people to order their burritos ahead after determining which location one would be ordering from.  With this new technology and the addition of thousands of new restaurants across the nation, the company has set a ten year forecast of doubling their revenue to $14 billion dollars.

This mobile app offers many new perks for both the customers and restaurants of the Taco Bell chain.  First, the mobile app offers an easier way for customers to quickly and conveniently get their food.  The accessibility this offers customers will pull people in during their on-the-go lifestyle.

The more clever way in which this app generates revenue for the company is the ability to further customize your food, in turn generating a higher check average as the add-ons will tack on extra money with every additional garnish.  The company spoke about the idea of “digital-upsell” in the Bloomberg Business Week, recognizing this trend in other fast food and delivery hubs.

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Taco Bell stated that “almost 70% of their orders are some what customized regardless as many people have some kind of special request with their order.  The company has found a way to make money off of these special requests by adding additional charges to the extra toppings that would not be seen by just ordering at the store.

With every good idea, there are always some faults to be dealt with.  The promise of a walk-in and walk-out with your food will bring in customers, but could also cause customers to become angry if their food is cold or not finished yet.  The store is attempting to combat this problem by using a button that customers can press to alert the store they have arrived.  If a customer is lazy or forgets to press this button, the whole ability of ordering online may be negated and useless.

Another issue that I found to possibly arise is a great amount of people who order food and do not show up to get it.  If the store makes all of these orders and never sees the customer or gets paid for them after they have already prepared the order could result in a great loss in product.

Taco Bell is taking a huge risk with their new mobile app program.  Risks are the only way to take a step forward, and even if it doesn’t go the way it was forecast to go, the potential that could have been would be worth the try.  I am very interested to see how this mobile app will go for the company and will surely try it out myself to see what I personally think about its functional accessibility.

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Bibliography

http://www.david-c-clark.com/62499/533147/featured/taco-bell-mobile-app

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/10/28/taco-bell-outback-starbucks-restaurants-fast-food-casual-dining-technologies/17842845/

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/02/14/metawatch-adds-step-counter-for-iphone-5s-users-taco-bell-working-on-mobile-ordering-system

 

Creating a Virtual Culture.

Posted on by jeffreyd30113f14

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I want you to think about the culture at your place of work.  Everyday you go into work, see your co-workers and form relations with the people that you work with.  Whether this interaction between co-workers is positive or negative, it creates a sense of culture and teamwork.

I read the article “How to Build a Culture Across Your Virtual Workforce,” written by David and Carrie McKeegan, the co-founders of Greenback Tax Services.  Greenback Tax Services is a global firm that prepares tax returns for expats living all over the globe.

The workforce of Greenback Tax Services employs associates stationed all over the world.  Having a staff that is completely virtual normally does not constitute the ability to offer employees a sense of culture and unity due to the fact that they do not interact in face-to-face communication processes that a normal “office experience” provides.

The McKeegan’s believe that just because their associates do not participate in the traditional work environment doesn’t mean they can’t create a sense of comradery and relationship building within their company.  They have used some interesting but practical installments to facilitate this development.

  1. One installment in Greenback Tax Service’s internal build is something that they call a “virtual water cooler.”  The company uses two online database systems, Podio and NIng, which are an intricate part of each employee’s experience.  Within these systems, personal experiences are shared between one another as daily questions and discussion boards are created for employee participation.  These databases bring everyone together and let people connect on a personal level; much like the interactions that occur within closely knit office “families.”
  2. Another issue that the McKeegan’s found and addressed was the inability for virtual employment to establish employment principles, guidelines and a code of conduct for the associates to follow.  Using feedback from their team, the two established over thirty principles in which each employee must follow.  Once a month, through their online databases, they focus on a certain principle, which keeps these ideas fresh in the employee’s heads.  Focusing on these principles ensures that employees don’t lose pride or forget the importance and professionalism of their company is.
  3. Recognition is something that every employee, no matter what industry, strives on.  The lack of face-to-face contact constrains a manager the opportunity to recognize a job well done.  The McKeegan’s have introduced two practices to recognize star employee work.  “High Five Fridays” and “Best Practice Mondays” are two systems that facilitate recognition.  “High Five Fridays” posts the names of employees that have gone above and beyond quotas and exceptional work every Friday; “Best Practice Mondays” posts a case study of someone within the office that has innovated a process or experience.  These establishments give employees the credit they deserve along with creating a sense of community within the virtual employment team.
  4. Greenback Tax Services also encourages teamwork, acknowledging that employees are in different locations, time zones and environments.  This sense of teamwork can be seen in the proxies that are instituted which allow employees to brainstorm ideas and submit them for review by other employment.  This system brings employees together on the same projects while also establishing a sense on control within the business hierarchy.

I appreciate and am very impressed with the recognition and institutions against the lack of community found within a virtual work environment.  David and Carrie McKeegan have found much success by ignoring the business norm and have institutes policies to create the teamwork that can now be seen within Greenback Tax Services.

 

McKeegan, David & Carrie. "How to Build a Culture Across Your Virtual Workforce."
     Entrepreneurship.com. Entrepreneurship, 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237813>. 


Mauro, Vanessa. "John Coates: Insights From The Virtual Community Summit #VICROMM13." 25 Mar. 2013.
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