Taco Bell was experiencing reduced productivity and negative growth compared to its competitors. An analysis identified outdated management practices and a top-down structure that did not focus on customers as the underlying issues. Taco Bell reengineered its operations by reorganizing human resources, redesigning processes, eliminating management levels, and focusing on customer value. This included limiting kitchen space, increasing customer space, introducing new systems like K-Minus to cook food off-site and TACO for computerized operations. After reengineering, Taco Bell's performance improved and it became the market leader through a customer-centric approach.

1. Case Study

5. Company Profile…cont’d Taco Bell in itself, is a subsidiary of Yum Brands, a Fortune 500 company, which boasts other renowned franchises like Pizza Hut, KFC etc. Yum! Brands' global system sales totaled more than $22 billion in the year 2001.

7. Problem Definition…cont’d Having identified some of the key areas that needed improvement, Taco Bell started reengineering itself out of troubled waters. It started to concentrate more upon its customers and what they wanted. The more they listened, the more they found out that what the customers wanted was really very simple…good food, served fast and hot, in a clean environment and at a price they could afford!!!!!

12. Reengineered Solution…cont’d K-Minus:- K-Minus means kitchen less restaurant, based on nature of the company. All of their food was cooked outside the restaurant at central locations. This stemmed from the concept that food should be retailed instead of being manufactured. TACO (Total Automation of Company Operations):- It provides each restaurant with an MIS facility and empowered the employees with computer know-how. It eliminated paper work and allowed more time to be spent on the customers. Such programs serve as agents of change for more innovative ideas like new and varied points of distribution (like street corners, concession stands etc)