Case Background


The fast food business focusing on Café De Coral is more global than ever and international fast-food consumption continues to increase in popularity in the market as loyal customers form perceptions of fast-food outlets through communication, exposure to promotion from fast-food restaurants, past personal experience and some sources. It is accepted that fast-food marketing strategies should have a sound understanding of consumers’ perceptions and preferences for fast-food outlets and how they differ across cultures.


The understanding can be helpful in targeting cultures to promote fast food and improving or amending their restaurants’ perceptions so that customer demand can be increased for a fast-food restaurant, promotional campaigns tailored to individual countries as it was called as whether Café De Coral as best fast-food restaurants are perceived across Hong Kong and other countries and whether its positioning can be improved and changed through careful and selective promotion within such diversity of fast-food restaurants as reflected in market strategies in Hong Kong’s Cafe de Coral. Café’ de Coral serves a wide variety of fast food, most of which is served sizzling on a single serving personal iron skillet. Cafe de Coral restaurant is in many ways a fast-food version of a traditional Chinese favorite served at most restaurants and reveals some interesting points about choices of foods made by a certain people, understanding what customers want is important in order for a restaurant to enhance their marketing strategies.


Current Issues / Problems


Café De Coral has problems in adhering to the fast phasing of market demands of fast moving goods and services as evident in the fast changes of competition environment within the focus of business and market value as substantial costs may result to as put into full operation in other markets. Failure of market entry and expanding business could be a fact for Café De Coral as some feasibility study could give inaccurate information in order to expand the production capacity without losing its discipline of some business control that may affect negatively with the process of branding power of Café de Coral and their continuous effort to upgrade the quality and standard of food and services, to protect the profit margin of our fast food operations from rising costs.


Plans of Improvement


In giving emphasis in providing useful recommendations of Café De Coral’s marketing operations and strategies, it is essential for the café to adopt to some useful shifts in enhancing food service packaging as the customers would want it in order to get fast food a much quicker in the phase of marketing process in operations and strategies. Café De Coral must adapt a possible option to make it bigger in the market scene like providing TV ads in pushing their product explaining how it’s bigger, has more ingredients and is more filling. The café should continue to have useful innovation that they should try and make their products look more attractive by packaging it individually and using bright colors – things that people don’t immediately look for but their subconscious does find more appealing. One good marketing strategy that Café De Coral can use is through getting their customers to start out at a young age and are offering kids toys with meals, especially toys that are part of a collection so that the children will insist on keep going back to the restaurant to get more toys and in turn – buy more food.


Café De Coral must also live their business principles in relation to their critical success factors in terms of their advertising and promotion to maintain a competitive edge in the industry and in advertising. There are different kinds of gimmicks like the café could have a discounted food items if a customer will purchase two items, free gift items, raffle draws and a lot more. For a possible investment, franchising is a good way to start. With franchising, there is already product identification. Café De Coral need have to acquire a well-managed logistics support system to run several business operations to make a strong impact as good marketing strategies mean having sufficient capital to support the marketing campaign. Café de Coral needs to upgrade its current system and implement a Business Management System in 199 outlets in Southern China to streamline business processes, improve productivity and enhance customer satisfaction. 


 


 


 


Statement of the Problem


            It is said that there are several positive and negative issues concerning the consulting in small businesses. Hence, the rationale of these positive and negative issues must be investigated and lessons must be learned and derived from this study.


Purpose of the Study


This study will be conducted in order to identify the positive and negative issues concerning the consulting in small businesses, and provide meaningful lessons such as learning their effective consultancy strategies.


            This study will also aim to increase the awareness and provide a better understanding of the issues and problems concerning the consulting in small businesses in order to contribute an effective approach in addressing their problems.


Significance of the Study


If the positive and negative issues concerning the consulting in small businesses will be determined, this study will be a benefit to other small businesses experiencing problems gaining ground in their operations. Also, if effectiveness is supported, this study will be significant in developing underachieving small businesses as productive and effective entities in the future.


Research Questions


Specifically this study will address the following questions:


1.    What significant positive and negative issues concerning the consulting in small businesses were determined?


2.    What specific alternatives or measures can be done to help improve the performance of underachieving small businesses?


Assumptions


The research will be based on the following assumptions: (a) all participants will be utilizing the correct procedures as outlined in the guidelines for the specific methodology employed, and (b) all participants will answer questions honestly to the best of their ability.


Limitations


Time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which could hinder long-term outcome objectives. Environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, will not be controlled, and this could create many variables within the research. As this study will utilize a small sample of respondents, the results may not effectively represent the general population.  


 


 


Conceptual Framework



 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 



 


METHODOLOGY


 


            This study will be conducted in order to determine the positive and negative issues concerning the consulting in small businesses. In this study, the interview method of data gathering will be utilized, with a combined total of 50 consultancy experts as participants.


Methods of Research to be Used


 


            For this study, the descriptive method will be utilized. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study will use the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study.  To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) guided the researcher.


The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.


To come up with pertinent findings and provide credible recommendations, this study will utilize two sources of research: primary and secondary.  Primary research data will be obtained through this new research study. Questionnaire survey and in-depth interview will be conducted. On the other hand, the secondary research data will be obtained from previous studies on the same topic. 


The Research Design


In order to come up with the most suitable research approaches and strategies for this study, the research process “onion” will be undertaken. This is because conducting a research is like peeling the back layers of an onion—in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be applied in the study.


Instruments to be used

A self-administered questionnaire, or the type of questionnaire that is usually completed by respondents (Saunders et al, 2003), had been constructed by the researcher to gather the needed data. To further enhance the study on the customer satisfaction, the researcher prepared a survey-questionnaire wherein the respondents graded each statement


            The decision was made to use a questionnaire for the data collection for this project due to the sensitivity of the information being obtained.  It is important for the respondents to be open and honest in their responses. The use of the questionnaire provides the researcher with the ability to test the views and attitudes of the patients.


            The survey-questionnaires also will use open-ended questions to obtain as much information as possible about how the interviewee feels about the research topic.  Interviews will take between one and two hours. The questions that will be used during the interview will be based on the research questions for this project; they have been reviewed, refined and approved by the project supervisor. The researcher designed a semi-structured interview. Here, the researcher will encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements and to further elaborate on brief comments. The interviewer did not share his/her own beliefs and opinions.


Outputs achieved


 


 


The results of the interview among the 50 consultancy experts resulted in the following observations:


1)    Consulting in small businesses regarding financial issues will be very impractical. This is because in terms of financing resources, it seems that small businesses are on the disadvantage. The consultancy experts reported that smaller businesses finance a lower proportion of their investment externally, particularly because they make use of bank finance to lesser extent. Compared to large businesses, small businesses use significantly more informal finance. Furthermore, small businesses do not use disproportionately more leasing or trade finance compared to larger firms. Small businesses also finance their investment significantly less from government sources or development banks despite the fact that such programs are often politically justified as increasing financing for small firms.


2)    The consultancy experts stated that among the weaknesses of small businesses is their difficulty in financing and using of external knowledge resources. That particular task is stronger in large firms. However, small businesses can be consulted on flexibility issues. It is their flexibility which allows them to react immediately to changing environments. Flexibility is basically what is lacking most of the large businesses.


3)    The consultancy experts agreed that the current management trends can be associated with small businesses and therefore they can be consulted regarding this issue. The consultancy experts stated that strategic management is becoming more and more important to small businesses. Then, they also stressed that the characteristics of strategies in small businesses include: generally more informal, unstructured, irregular, and incomprehensive; have very often a tacit character and are incorporated by the entrepreneur and are not documented in strategic plans.


4)    On the other hand, the consultancy experts also confirmed that small businesses can also be consulted with regards to knowledge management. According to them, in order for small businesses to be successful in managing the knowledge they learn and experience along the way, they should have a sound strategic knowledge management practice. According to them, small businesses should manage knowledge intentionally and establish a formal knowledge system to become successful.


5)    The consultancy experts also stated that small businesses cannot be consulted with Information Technology issues. One of the reasons why small businesses are not using information technology is because of lack of financial of resources to sustain the cost of investment. The consultancy experts said that to be able to gain or achieve the benefits of information technology, an industry must be able to use the most improved and innovative information technology.  In this manner, the company must also have enough financial resources to invest in the high cost of information technology. Since small businesses have small capital compared to larger enterprises, some could not afford to invest on new business related operations like using information technology.  For them, the amount of investing in IT is a great risk because they still do not know whether such investment will succeed.  In addition, softwares, computers, and other IT related activities and services also need adequate funding for sustainability and maintenance.  Hence, because of the cost of investment, most of the small businesses do not use information technology.    


6)    The consultancy experts stated that small businesses usually thrive in a changing environment, although it must not be unduly complex in terms of the number of variables involved or the speed of their changes. It is further suggested by the consultancy experts that the nimbleness of small businesses in response to change is due in part to the fact that senior managers or owners formulate strategies that are closely connected with the work of the organization and with other workers and managers. Control and tactical decision making is not separated and distanced from ownership or senior management. In other words, such firms tend to be task continuous; there is a close link between management, planning and the work activity. Larger firms on the other hand are task discontinuous; there tends to be a separate and discrete planning and management structure.


7)    The consultancy experts agreed that specialization requires a degree of stability so that the same task can be performed repeatedly and skills can be perfected. However, the strength of small businesses is in seeking new opportunities, as such specialist skills can quickly become redundant and the more flexible and adaptive generalist becomes more valuable. The small businesses reside in a changeable environment has a small output and is a flexible and responsive generalist organization. These firms are ideally suited to providing a variety of customized product and service combinations in response to constantly changing customer needs. Small businesses have less sophisticated, flexible and organic structures. They tend to adopt what is being described as ‘flexible specialization’.


 


 


 



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