The Best Restaurant in Australia - Case Study Example

Marketing University Student Id Course Date Introduction Royal Mail Hotel offers restaurant services to the customers of diverse cultural backgrounds. It is located in Australia, and it has been among the best restaurants where in the year 2012 it won an award as an excellent food guide. Royal Mail Hotel is in a small town known as Dunkeld in Victoria that is surrounded by beautiful scenery comprised of Grampian ranges. It offers healthy and high-quality food to its customers where it makes use of organic ingredients that are produced from the gardens of the restaurant. The restaurant embraces the use of technology in its operations with the aim of offering the best services that are in line with the market demands. The local business environment has been good for the operations of the company. The Australian regulations are geared towards promoting the business operations. The economic conditions in Australia are favorable as the economy is stable hence assisting in improving the financial performance. The technological environment in Australia has allowed the company to be in a position to adopt the technological advancements that help in delivering services and products to the customers. The Royal Mail Hotel has utilized technology in achieving efficiency and effectiveness in operations making it able to adopt competitive pricing strategy. The foreign market that was chosen for the company to expand its operations is Austria. The Austria has numerous factors that can affect the operations of Royal Mail Hotel. The knowledge concerning the business environment in Austria is crucial to the success of Royal Mail Hotel in the foreign market (Kaufmann and Tödtling, 2002). The report explores the business environment in the Austria market where the various factors that affect the operations of Royal Mail Hotel are discussed. The different business environments are analyzed with the aim of selecting the best strategy to be employed in the process of entering the Austria foreign market. The targeted customers The Royal Mail Hotel is targeting the travelers and tourists who are looking for restaurant services and accommodation. The fact that the company offers products of diverse cuisines makes it able to meet the needs of customers coming from different regions globally. The ability of the company to provide products that meet the diverse needs of the customers is an advantage to the success of the enterprise. The targeted customers in the foreign market are from different cultural backgrounds hence being able to offer products that are aligned with their cultural orientation is crucial (Collins, Buhalis, and Peters, 2003). Therefore, the targeted customers are likely to be satisfied considering the human resources available that have the international skills in the hospitality industry. Factors in Austria market that affect Royal Mail Hotel The organizations entering the foreign markets are usually faced with numerous challenges due to the changes in the business environment. There is the need for the organizations to conduct a market research in the process of assessing the success of the organization in the foreign market. The knowledge is crucial in making sure that the operations are aligned with the market environment (Abimbola and Vallaster, 2007). Failing to consider the business environment can result in business failure where the organization's operations might fail to consider the various factors affect the organization success. The foreign market is usually very different from the local market hence the company might be required to take the necessary time to make adjustments to the new business environment. The way the management of the organization aligns the operations of the company with the new environment determines the success. The Royal Mail Hotel has to consider the new business environment where the strategies formulated need to be in line with the Austria market. The strategies that are aligned with the business environment can achieve the set objectives. Royal Mail Hotel has to consider the various ways that the business environment in Austria can affect its operations. As a result, the company has to make sure that the strategies adopted are competitive where assessing the opportunities availed in the market is crucial in determining the company competitiveness. For instance, the assessment of the business environment helps an organization to know the level of competition (Baumgartner, 2009). The knowledge of the competition level can then be crucial in making sure that the strategies formulated can make the company achieve competitive advantages. Royal Mail Hotel need to study the Austria market and the possible competition facing its operations. The company can then come up with the necessary strategies that can help it in achieving competitive advantages. Royal Mail Hotel to achieve competitive advantages has to make sure that the strategies adopted can assist in meeting the needs of the customers in unique ways. For instance, the company can come up with products that can best meet the demand of the consumers. It is the uniqueness of the products and ability to meet the needs of the customers that have not been met that can make the organization competitive (Hankinson, 2005). Therefore, it can be of significant benefits for the Royal Mail Hotel to study the market with the aim of establishing the gap that has been existing. Royal Mail Hotel realized the need for the services in Austria market and ventured the market. After research, the management realized the culture of the people in Austria was the greatest challenge to the success of the company but ensured that they are enlightened concerning the need for the services. Therefore, knowing the cultural orientation of the targeted customers is important in making sure that the set objectives are met (Kessler and Frank, 2009). Besides, considering the needs of the customers and their preferences can be crucial in coming up with the strategies that can make the organization the best in the industry. The competitiveness of the strategies of the Royal Mail Hotel can then be greatly affected by the business environment in Austria. The resources required by the company expanding its operations to foreign market can be realized through conducting environmental scanning. It is through the environmental scanning that the organization expanding its operations to the international market can assess the resources necessary for the success in the market. The company can then be able to acquire the needed resources in preparation of venturing in the international market to achieve competitive advantages (Meyer and Skak, 2002). For instance, the skills of the human resources required by the organization to be competitive in the market can be realized after screening the international market. The regulations governing the human resources management in Austria affect the company operations making it necessary for adjusting to the government policies. The regulations can involve the level of remunerations and the general management of the human resources. As a result, the knowledge of the regulations can be important in making sure that the company complies with the law (Bevan and Estrin, 2004). Also, the strategies adopted determines the resources needed, where ensuring that the necessary resources are in place can be crucial in making sure the organization objectives are achieved. Most of the firms that have entered the international market fail as they do not get the necessary resources for achieving their set objectives in the industry. The opportunities for Royal Mail Hotel can be realized through assessing how the competitors in the market have been offering their products. For instance, the company can consider the kind of food being offered by the rivals in the market and assessing how better the service delivery can be improved (Hall and Kirkpatrick, 2005). The management can be able to realize the areas that the rivals have failed in providing the customers with the products needed for collecting information for the customers. Trade environment The trading environment in Austria can be challenging for the companies that enter the market without conducting the necessary screening of the business environment. The business environment that Royal Mail Hotel faces in Austria affects the entire operations of the company where adjusting to the new business environment can be crucial to the success of the firm (Grilo and Irigoyen, 2006). It is the trade environment that determines the way operations in the organization are conducted as the policies governing business in Austria need to be followed. Besides, the trade environment differs from one country to the other hence Royal Mail Hotel has to be aware of the Austria trade environment before commencing its operations. Besides, the customers in the Austria market can be the best source of information concerning the nature of the services and products that are needed. They can provide the necessary information for the management of Royal Mail Hotel to realize the best products and services that can best meet the needs of the customers. The preferences of the customers can easily be realized making the management tailor the company products to meet the changes taking place in the industry. The operations of the company need to keep pace with shifts taking place in the market concerning the products and services offered in the foreign market (Andrews and Higson, 2008). The preferences of the customers might constantly change hence the need for continuous adjustments of the company operations with the aim to remain relevant in the industry. Meeting the market demands in Austria can be challenging due to the cultural orientation of the targeted customers. However, Royal Mail Hotel can ensure that the customers are engaged in the process of developing the products with the aim of making sure that the products can meet the market needs. Involving the customers in the process of designing the products can be important in coming up with the products that can meet the market demands (Ketels and Memedovic, 2008). Therefore, the customers can be actively engaged with the aim of designing the necessary product features that can guarantee the success of the organization. Besides, it is through the engagement that the customers can assist the product development team in coming up with the necessary services and products that can make the customers satisfied. The success of Royal Mail Hotel in the Austrian market entirely is determined by the way the management considers the different business environments. It is through the proper consideration of the business environment that the Royal Mail Hotel can stand high chances of achieving competitive advantages (Steurer, et al. 2005). Considering the fact that the Austrian market is a new business environment for the Royal Mail Hotel it can be important to make sure that the strategies adopted considers the various factors in the foreign market. For instance, the pricing strategy adopted by the company need to consider the product prices of the competitors in the market. Economic environment The economic factors that affect business can include the exchange rate, inflation rate, the economic stability of the country, availability of factors of production, and interest rate. Besides, the financial resources related factors such as fiscal and monetary policies and banking policies forms part of the economic environment that affects the progress of business. The economic environment in Austria has significant impacts on the success of the Royal Mail Hotel. For instance, the cost of production is affected by the availability of the essential factors of production. Austria has experienced continued economic growth where the GDP of the country has shown constant growth over the last years (Tyteca, et al. 2002). The improvement in the economy of the country has led to increased power of purchasing among the consumers. Royal Mail Hotel is likely to be successful in the Austrian market because the targeted customers has a high purchasing power hence able to afford the services and products of the company. Besides, Austria has been experiencing economic stability that is likely to positively affect the performance of the company in the market (Scholtens and Dam, 2007). However, the interest rates in Austria has increased leading to inflation that has great influence on the costs of production where the costs of production are likely to increase due to the high prices for the production factors. The interest rates have increased five times making acquisition of loans expensive hence the costs of capital in Austria is high due to the rates of interest that have been increasing. Social and cultural environment The social environment entails the analysis of the demographic changes that are taking place in the society. In Austria, the population growth has been increasing leading to a large number of people where the birth rate is said to be high. The high population has some benefits to Royal Mail Hotel as it forms an important source of cheap labor and market for the products of the company. The labor supply in Austrian market is higher than the demand for labor making it cheap hence playing a crucial role in lowering the costs of operations (Lambsdorff, 2007). The knowledge of the social business environment helps in understanding the consumer lifestyles hence helping the company in tailoring its products to meet the needs of the consumers. The lifestyle of the consumers determines the kind of products they are likely to purchase according to their social class. Therefore, understanding the Austrian social environment can help the Royal Mail Hotel in segmenting the market for purposes of deciding the pricing strategy to adopt. Besides, the social business environment entails knowing the age group that is targeted hence crucial in deciding the kind of products to offer to the targeted market. Besides, the religion forms part of the social environment that helps in formulating strategies especially the marketing strategies to make sure that the do not contradict with the religious faith of the targeted customers (Esty and Porter, 2005). The social environment in Austria also involves the increased use of the social media platforms where organizations entering the market are can make use of social media in marketing their products. The online shopping industry has grown in Austria where more 420 million people use the internet where they spend one billion hours daily on the internet (Schwarz, et al. 2009). Therefore, Royal Mail Hotel can make use of the social media platforms in the process of marketing the company products. Making use of the internet can be crucial in the process of achieving efficiency and effectiveness in the marketing of the company products. The knowledge concerning the social environment is very important in offering the services and products that can meet the needs of the consumers as the profile of the customers can be known. The cultural environment is critical for any businesses venturing in the Austrian market. The Austrian people have unique business cultures that need to be followed in the business transactions. For instance, Austrian businesses require face to face contact for purposes of building trust that is essential in creating a business environment necessary for business success. The knowledge of these business cultures is important for Royal Mail Hotel to follow when making transactions in Austria or when organization for business meetings (Scholtens and Dam, 2007). The success of any organization entirely depends on the ability of the business to come up with the necessary business strategies that consider the cultural environment. Legal and regulatory environment The legal environment determines how the international laws governing global businesses are implemented. There are regulations that are established to control the way business is done in the international market. The international community saw the need for having standard rules set to control business at the global level. For instance, the fair and equitable treatment was established with the aim of making sure that foreign investors are protected (Fresner and Engelhardt, 2004). The legal framework that is adopted in a country is crucial in determining the success of business operations. The Austrian legal framework recognizes the need for fair and equitable treatment of the foreign firms but the implementation has failed. The foreign investors in Austria are not treated the same way as the local investors leading to unfairness. Besides, the issue of intellectual property has failed to be addressed as the intellectual property rights have not been protected. The problem can be associated with the regulatory bodies that are responsible for ensuring fair competition and provision of a good business environment for foreign corporations (Kearney and Policy, 2004). The Austrian legal and regulatory systems have failed to meet the e-commerce needs leading to challenges for the businesses adopting online shopping. Therefore, it can be crucial for Royal Mail Hotel to research on the legal and regulatory climate before making any business venture. Political environment The factors that determine the political environment include the political stability that determines the regulations governing the businesses in a country. In Austria, the political climate is stable making Austria a good business environment where businesses are assured of security. A country that has unstable politics affects the security of the invested funds where the investors can lose their business in case of political challenges (Frank, Kessler, and Fink, 2010). Austria in the past has not been facing political challenges hence providing the necessary environment that can guarantee foreign investors success. The political environment affects the business policies like taxation where politics can discourage foreign businesses through influencing the business rules established. Entry mode into the Austrian market Foreign direct investment is the best strategy that can be employed by Royal Mail Hotel to enter the Austrian market. It involves the direct ownership the necessary business facilities in Austria with the aim of offering products and services to the targeted customers. Royal Mail Hotel can transfer its resources that include technology, capital, and personnel. The foreign direct investment can be made by establishing a new business in Austria (Esty and Porter, 2005). Royal Mail Hotel can then be in a better position to come up with its business strategies that it intends to use in the process of achieving competitive advantages in the market. The foreign direct investment can help in making sure that Royal Mail Hotel has enough control over the business hence making it the best entry strategy to the Austrian market. Besides, Royal Mail Hotel can have enough control of the business operations hence improving its ability to know the consumers and achieving competitive advantages. Therefore, Royal Mail Hotel can make use of the FDI strategy to ensure that it is competitive as it has direct control of the market. However, the foreign direct entry is one of the market entries that require commitment and many resources. References Abimbola, T. and Vallaster, C., 2007. 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