Benihana vs Broadway Pizza

Characteristics and Issues | Benihana of Tokyo | Broadway Pizza | Conflicts & Lessons | Competitive Advantage | * Low cost (competitor) * Labor cost * Strategic Marketing * Low waste * Lower overhead | * Use of technology * Family oriented | Rocky Aoki was able to keep labor, food, beverage and facility costs lower than traditional restaurant design using hibachi grills, a new service innovation. This service innovation however, did require higher marketing costs, as the American public had never experienced this dining model. Broadway Pizza viewed their competitive advantage as their ability to combine family oriented robot entertainment and dining under one roof. This turned out not be a competitive advantage as the breakeven costs was too high. | Order Qualifier/ Winners | * Food prepared in front of customer * Community dinning * Cooking was entertainment | * Quality food * Child focused atmosphere * Interactive * Multiple dining locations | The order winners for Benihana are their community dining style, chefs cooking in front of and providing entertainment to patrons. This showed that enjoy eating and being entertained at the same time. This same idea of being entertained while eating defined Broadway Pizza’s order winners as their family focused robotic entertainment drew in patrons. | Competitive Priorities | * Innovative * Cost * Time * Quality (chefs) | * Innovative * Flexibility * Quality * Cost | The competitive priorities for Benihana were to increase efficiency in the traditional restaurant model by using innovation to cut costs i.e. Hibachi and Umbrella drinks and using highly trained skilled labor to ensure customer service. Broadway Pizza also placed competitive priority on innovation by adding robotic entertainment to a family restaurant, however the lesson to be learned is that Broadway pizza innovated for the sake of innovation there was no benefit to the shareholders. Benihana