Panera Bread implements the mission of providing fresh bread products to its customers. According to Panera Bread's website, their mission statement “A Loaf of Bread in Every Arm” does not clearly describe who they are, what they do, and why they are here. It does not describe any of the elements of creating an effective mission statement. The company's vision is to create a fresh pasta specialty restaurant with a fast, upscale menu selection without the typical "fast food" experience. They strive to produce a better and healthier selection of food for a variety of customers. Their strategic goals are to become a nationally recognized brand and also to be the leading restaurant in providing fast, upscale meals. Panera creates an environment that customers would rather eat in than any other restaurant with the same casual atmosphere and environment. Their focus is on the quality of the dough to prepare the bread and the attention to detail in the selection of the food they offer. They have strategically placed their stores where there is a lot of traffic and offer a selection of foods for every time of the day, not just the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their financial goals are to open more bakery stores, gain greater market share, achieve average sales growth of 4-5%, and grow diluted earnings per share at the low end of its long-term goal of 15-20 %. They choose not to finance their franchise stores, thus reducing their long-term debt. Panera Bread is pursuing a broad differentiation strategy by differentiating itself with high-quality products, varieties of soups, salads, beverages and bread selections for a wide range of customers. Panera differs from its rivals in that...... middle of paper...... it sells fresh pasta locally and franchises its stores. Panera is also able to grow its company and maintain profits. Their core expertise in high-quality bakery products and their distinctive competencies such as store location and catering enable them to have competitive value capabilities. Panera's dinner menu offering is a weak point. Other restaurants in this market offer more hot food for dinner. Most of their advertising is done through word of mouth from their customers. Increase market share by opening more stores internationally and not just in the United States, increase market share by having stores in more suburban markets, open more “Panera Cares Community Cafés,” sell Panera bread products in grocery stores, open a sit-down restaurant with multiple dinner options, substitutes are considered low quality (Panera bread is high quality)