When tough times hit, lots of companies curl up inside a shell and slash spending on things like research & development and expansion thinking that doing so will be the way to survive. Often, though, companies would be better served to pursue strategic plans that focus on growth rather than merely survival during economic downturns. Companies with access to cash and with strong strategic plans have more options with regard to location and competitors that are weak will not be in a position to respond during periods of recession.

Panera Bread Company is a great example of a company that didn’t just survive — it thrived — during the recession. 

Panera has, for a very long time, played for the long term and stayed consistent. Going into the recession, we said, “This is a time to continue with our strategy.”Almost every single one of our competitors said, “We need to pull costs out.” As a consumer, if you walk into their restaurants, the lines are longer, the waits are longer. You have a table next to you with dirty dishes. That is the effect of increasing labor productivity. It has to come out of somewhere.

We’ve continued to invest in labor in our cafés and the quality of our people. We’ve invested in the quality of the food. When everybody pulled back and we did more, the difference between us and our competitors went up.

And we’ve been taking market share. We had near double-digit [same-store sales] for over a year now. The stock has tripled in the recession.

BusinessWeek has the rest of the interview with Panera Executive Chairman and founder Ronald Shaich on its website: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2010/pi2010118_183529.htm