The founders of a successful upscale restaurant operating with a "no tipping" policy are faced with employee defections to tipped establishments as well as difficulty in recruiting. They must decide whether to retain or jettison their policy and determine how to deal with the potential fall-out of either retention or abandonment of that policy.
Goldberg, Lena G., and Michael S. Kaufman. "Chiacchierone's Owners Chat about Tipping." Harvard Business School Case 319-078, January 2019. (Revised January 2020.)
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Goldberg, Lena G., Michael S. Kaufman, and Max Saffer. "Sonic Introduces a Blended Burger." Harvard Business School Case 319-073, December 2018.
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Lena G. Goldberg, Michael S. Kaufman, Sam Li, Ruben Ortega, Sonia Smyth and Mary Zhang
Citation:
Goldberg, Lena G., Michael S. Kaufman, Sam Li, Ruben Ortega, Sonia Smyth, and Mary Zhang. "Cushman Concepts at a Crossroads." Harvard Business School Case 319-075, December 2018.
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Andy Pforzheimer and Sasa Mahr-Batuz, co-founders of a highly successful seven-location restaurant brand, had just opened the first location of a new brand. They had mapped out future expansion for both brands but wondered if, rather than lining up an assortment of investors for each expansion location as they had in the past, this was the time to bring in an institutional investor. There were pros and cons. They could benefit by associating with an investment group with deep experience in scaling emerging restaurant chains. And it would be a relief not to have to undertake tedious fundraising for each new location. But, would they lose control of their intensely managed operations? Would the company's valuation be higher if they waited to prove the success of their brands in multiple geographies? How should they evaluate possible transactions and investors?
