Operations

Management
Case Study: Benihana
Benihana’s effective operating system supported the hibachi-style dining concept; their model enabled the

restaurant chain to focus its cost structure to exploit their competitive advantage over many typical

merican restaurants!

Rocky oki designed a lean and effective operating system that allo$ed customers to %come in&

 be seated& have dinner& and be on his or her $ay out in 4( minutes) *Sasser& pp!+,! o allo$ that to

happen& Benihana $as particular $ith their food selection& buying only steak& chicken& and shrimp as

available entree options! he limited food offerings reduced the amount of inventory& making it easier to

manage! s a result& there $as a decreased amount of food $astage! fter the food $as procured& it $as

 pre-prepped in the kitchen to expedite food preparation and reduce customer $ait time! he $orkers in

the kitchen purposely left a tiny amount of fat to allo$ the chef to display sho$manship by removing and

discarding the fat in front of the customer!

In addition to the food selections& another important part of the /Benihana Concept’ $as the

hibachi table seating! he layout for hibachi seating featured the chef cooking directly in front of 

customers& thereby reducing the necessity of a large kitchen in the back of the restaurant! he hibachi

dining style also increased attention to customers’ needs by providing direct interaction $ith the chef! he

hibachi table arrangement also gave chefs the ability to remove merican skepticism on the preparation

of exotic foods by preparing the food in front of the customers& fostering customer comfort!

he Benihana model cannot be described in its entirety $ithout discussing the emphasis Rocky

oki placed on the bar and lounge area! he bar0lounge operations $orked simultaneously to

the traditional Benihana model& $here the emphasis $as placed on food and customer experience! he

lounge area $as a place $here people could be entertained and relax!

Rocky oki’s innovative& trend-setting restaurant concept $as highly successful due to many

factors& including its optimal operational decisions! One principal reason for the prosperity of Benihana

$as its superior cost structure compared to traditional restaurants inefficient cost structure! In addition&

Benihana had a bar or lounge in many of its properties& $hich on average accounted for +1 percent of 

total sales *Sasser& pp!2,! 3hile Benihana did employ many tactics that $ere atypical of most merican
restaurants& they did have a bar0lounge for the purpose of bolstering revenues and profit! his strategy

aligned $ith the operations of many merican businesses and conse4uently demonstrates that even

though Benihana $as cutting-edge in many facets& they also employed techni4ues utili5ed by many other 

restaurants!

By employing a hibachi-style restaurant in $hich a ma6ority of food production is done in front of 

customers& the need for a traditional kitchen& and thus extra s4uare footage& is reduced! Maximi5ing

room to seat diners $hile minimi5ing back-house s4uare footage increased sales per-s4uare-foot and profit

margins!

lso& by restricting menu offerings& the amount of $asted food $as reduced $hich lead to

decreased food costs $hereas typical restaurants have the expenditure of discarded food! Steak& chicken&

and shrimp $ere the main items on the menu! Contrarily& many merican businesses offered numerous

other items to its customers! Benihana’s limited selection substantially reduced their inventory costs; this

$as a competitive advantage over other restaurants that had to carry more inventories to support their

complicated menus! o demonstrate this point& Mr! oki stated he $as able to reduce food costs by +1-

+(7 by follo$ing the approach of $asted food reduction *Sasser& pp!2,!

8inally& other competitive advantages for Benihana included: imported authentic restaurant

design details *$hich created a uni4ue dining atmosphere,& extensive chef and employee training from

9apanese employees *$hich correlated to superior service,& commitment to employee $ell-being *$hich

reduced turnover as $ell as hiring and training costs,& and creative advertising in non-traditional

mediums *to reach a $ide spectrum of untapped customers,!

Mr! oki’s relentless pursuit of offering his customers a uni4ue& authentic 9apanese dining cuisine

experience $as Benihana’s competitive advantage! o$ever& one could also argue that Mr! oki’s

meticulous standard also hinders the restaurant’s future gro$th! 3e recommend Mr! oki to focus more

of its operational resources to some of the restaurant’s bottlenecks: chefs brought from 9apan& carpenter

team capacity& authentic design and uni4ue employee trainings!