The Town Kitchen, PBC

Abstract

'The Town Kitchen, PBC' (TTK) is a set of cases that may be taught alone (Case A) or in sequence (Cases A&B). Case A focuses on both structural and executional cost management actions of a new CEO who was hired to transition an entrepreneurial start up organization that was at risk of failure to a more stable, economically viable business model. TTK is a public benefit corporation, which allows students to consider how a broad set of stakeholders, each with somewhat different objectives and needs, affects cost management decisions. Case B focuses on the special case of cost management during crisis as TTK loses all of its customer orders over a few days in March when mayors in Northern California (March 16th) and then the Governor of California (March 19th), issued shelter in place directives to combat Covid-19. A Postscript to Case B describes TTK’s response, leveraging its partnerships with suppliers and customers to create TTK Provisions, a commissary delivery service to residential customers.

Keywords: Cost structure, strategic cost management, productivity, value proposition, stakeholder analysis, cash flow management, public benefit corporation (PBC), social enterprise, hospitality industry