Market Trends - McDonalds Fast Food Outlets - Assignment Example

Marketing Student’s Name: Lecture’s Name Date: Assessment 1 Question 1: Environmental scan The paper will look at the organisation that I work in that is McDonalds Fast Food outlets. The company has been successful in many countries including Australia. The company has its share in the Australian and international market. Therefore, there is need to look at the market trends, growth rate and potential new markets. Market Trends McDonalds is one of the most successful fast food outlets in the world and it has a large market share in Australia. This market share has been reducing in the recent past because of increased competition. Customers have been moving towards fast casual restaurants which is a great threat to fast food business. Fast food business is becoming popular among the youth and teenagers because they don’t like cooking and they like snacks very much. The company has been stable because of its innovation strategies which have to ensure that the company remains profitable in the fast food industry. The industry has become so competitive and customer tastes and preferences are changing and, this calls for changes in strategies so as to maintain the customers (Baines, Fill, & Page, 2010). Potential new markets The company needs to venture in new markets as a way of increasing its sales and market share. The company needs to concentrate more on the young people especially university students and working young people who don’t like cooking from their own places (Baines, Fill, & Page, 2010). The company also needs to expand to cities where it has no outlets as well increase outlets in the cities where it has operations. The company also needs to introduce new products in their menu so as to ensure they cater for their customer needs. These are the new potential markets the company can invest. Question 2 SWOT Analysis Strengths Good reputation, the company has a great strength in that it is an international recognised company and, therefore, it is highly trusted by many people. People tend to prefer to have products of a company that is well for its high quality production. This helps the company to continue attracting customers. Good customer care, the company aims at satisfying their customers and, therefore, they give their customers the best services. The company does this by ensuring that customers are served in the shortest time possible and they get what they order at the right time. The customers has hired the best employees and equipped with the necessary skills to handle the customers. Weaknesses High operating costs, the company has been incurring a lot of cost in its operations. This has taken a large share of the company profits. This has made the company not to expand because of lack of resources. The company has failed to reinvest its profits because they have been taken away by the costs the company incurs. Salary and wage bills are very high for this company as most of its revenue is channeled towards that, and it would otherwise have been used to conduct research in order to improve the customers’ services. Universal menu, the company has been producing products which its outlets in other countries produce. This presents lack of uniqueness in the company in every county that it has operations. This hinders market penetration because the local people do not identify with the products and services the company offers. This is a great weakness and therefore, the company should produce for the local market as opposed to the international menu. Opportunities Increased number of tourists, there are so many tourists coming into the country and this is a great opportunity for the company. The company should ensure that it targets these tourists by offering their products and services. The company being an international company is well known in many countries and therefore, by targeting the tourists coming into the country it will do so much because the tourist already know about the company. Rising number of people who prefer to eat out than cook, there are a lot of people who prefer have a meal from fast food outlets than cooking at their homes. The company should ensure it attracts such people into their outlets. This people are mainly students in colleges and universities. Therefore, the company should ensure that it opens many outlets near these institutions. The youths are the majority in the society and therefore, the company should ensure it takes the largest share of this market segment. New products in the market, the company has a great opportunity in introducing new unique products in the market. The company recently introduced Chicken Bacon Onion Sandwich in the market. This product will help the company attract new customers. Therefore, the company should keep on introducing new products in the market so as to cater for customer needs as well as satisfy them. Threats Increased competition, there is a lot of competition because there are people who are preferring fast casual restaurants. This is a great threat because the company is losing their customers. The company should work to eliminate such a threat. Shortage of raw materials, increased number of competitors in the market means that the limited raw materials are being used by many companies. This is a great threat because if this continues the company will not be able produce for its market. Assessment 2 Increased number of tourists The company has an objective of serving the emerging markets and therefore, the opportunity of increased tourists in the country is in line with the objective. The company has the capabilities to handle the tourist because it is an international company which offers international menu to its customers. Therefore, it will handle the tourist needs because there are chefs well equipped with skills to produce menus from many countries. In achieving this opportunity and company’s goal and objectives is not restricted or regulated in anyway as long as the company has the required licenses to carry out its activities in the country. The cost of implementing the international menu is very high in the short run because the chefs and other employees need to know about the foreign products. The company will also require employees to study international languages so as to handle the tourists but in the long run there will be no costs involved. The risks of pursuing the opportunity are that the company might neglect the domestic market and its frequent customers. This will lead to loss of customers and it is not a very good thing to happen to a company. This can lead the company into losses and loss of market share. The benefit of pursuing this opportunity is that the company will have an extend market and increased products in the market. This can lead to the local people getting used to the new products and get to use. The company will also earn increased profits during tourism peak seasons. This is a very viable opportunity and the company should pursue. It should also have specific outlets that are serving the tourist so as to make it easy for the tourist to locate the outlets easily. The opportunity will have a great impact in the company nature of the business because it will portray the company as international tourist rescue. The reason behind this is that the tourist will access the same meals they would have taken when they are in their countries. The company should also allow their customers to order the meals they want and have the meals prepared the way they want them. These special orders will help attract many tourists into the company outlets. Increased number of people willing to eat out This opportunity is in line with the company’s goals and objectives of increasing the market share by increasing number of the company customers. This opportunity is in line with the company capability and resources because the company has well laid down strategies on how to attract more customers.in this case there are no restrictions and regulation because a company cannot attract more customers without being properly registered. The costs involved in the short run include advertising and expansion costs. The reason behind this is that the company will have to invest in ways that will handle the increased number of customers. In the long run the company will incur costs of expanding their business to other areas. The risk of pursuing this opportunity is that the market might not be consistent and the company will have to reduce the level of production especially when colleges and universities go for holidays. In the short run the company will benefit from increased profits and in the long run the company will benefit from economies of scale because the company will have many branches in different areas to cater for different customers. The estimated return on investment will be gradual but it is expected to increase in the coming years. The opportunity is viable because it is in line with the company’s goals and capabilities. The company will have to plan on how to handle the increased number of customers in their outlets so as to ensure that there are no congestions that can lead to losing customers. New products in the market The opportunity is in line with the company’s goals and objectives. The company aims at satisfying their customers’ needs and this involves keeping on introducing new and unique products in the market. The company resources and capabilities will not be strained in achieving the opportunity. The company has plans and resources set aside to achieve this objective and opportunities that arise. The company should ensure that the products it introduces in the market do not contain any harmful and banned substances. This will be in line with the set policies and guidelines. The company requires to invest in research and development so as to ensure that they are aware of the customer needs and device ways to satisfy them. The risks of pursuing this opportunity is that the company can introduce products that might fail in the market and lead the company into losses and this will affect the operations of the whole company. The benefits in the short run are that the company will increase its profits and in the long run the company will increase its market share. The opportunity is very viable and the company will be pursuing one of its goals. The company should ensure that there is enough research and development so as to ensure that the products they introduce in the market cater for the customer needs and requirements. This will mean that the company does not go into losses. Opportunity ranking New products Increased number of people willing to eat out Increased number of tourists Assessment 3 Implementation plan The opportunity that the company should pursue is introduction of new products in the market. Therefore, to implement the opportunity there is need to have operational changes to ensure there are no problems that are encountered in realising the benefits of the opportunity. The company will need to have a research and development unit to give information about the customer taste and preferences. The company will be required to change its menu so as to include the new products. The company need to hire chefs who have the knowledge of developing new products. The company will need to change its advertisement strategy so as to include the new products. The company will have to ensure that their employees have the necessary skills to produce high quality products that will help the company maintain and increase number of customers. The company can set different areas for production of the new products so as to ensure that production of other products is not affected. This will mean the company will increase its products and will have a large market share because it will be preferred by many customers.The company will not need new equipment because the products to be produced can use the current equipment in the company. The company will also need to have a quality assurance department to ensure that all the products the company produces meets the required status set by the company itself and the government of quality of products. Introduction of new products will also require training of employees on how to present the new products to the customers. Stakeholder communication Let’s introduce new products to cater for growing appetite and needs of our customers. New products will increase the number of the customer for the company. MPP Assessment 1 Question 1 Background The work plan is for the marketing department of McDonald Fast Food Company. The department will have to design the marketing tool of the company. The company was founded to offer the best services in the fast food industry. The company has expanded to over 40 countries around the world. The company provides a line of most preferred fast food in many of its outlets. The company is always open meaning it operates for 24 hours in a day because their employees work in shifts to ensure all their customers are given the services when they need them. The company has a lot of staff because they work in shifts of six hours there one outlet have over a hundred employees. The organizational structure of the company is led by a manager and every department is led by a department manager who are charged with the task of overseeing those staff under them perform their duties in the best interest of the company and the interest of the customers. The task of the department is to ensure that the company continues to produce for its market. The department is also charged with the task of marketing the company products. The department should also design the company campaign tools and methods to be used by the company. The timeline of the operational plan is one to two years, after which there will be a review that will identify if there is need for extension. Objectives To provide the best services in the fast food industry so as to win the largest market share. The company operation in many countries means that it faces diverse cultures and eating habits. Therefore, the company is working to ensure they provide products and services that in line with such cultures and eating habits but not to change the status quo. This will ensure acceptability in most of the areas it sets up its operations. The company’s providing of a wide range of products to people of diverse culture means that even those who travel a lot still get the food they prefer in the countries where McDonalds operate because there is international variety. There are staff members who have expertise in different international languages to ensure that the international customers are given the services just like the local customers in case they do not understand the local languages. There is need to consult the production department so as to know the products they would want to be advertised. There is also need to consult with the finance department so as to know the budget that should work for the operation plan. The board should be consulted so as to decide the best strategies to be undertaken by the department. Question 2 The team will require about seven employees but to start with the department will recruit only four. The team will comprise of a secretary, two designers and one printer. Secretary Job requirement A diploma in secretarial studies Good computer skills Good organizational skills Good public relations Keen to details able to meet deadlines Responsibilities The secretary will be responsible for setting up the department appointments and taking minutes in all the meeting involving the department. The secretary will also be responsible for sending the department emails to other departments and stakeholders. This will ensure that there is a direct communication channel of the department. The secretary will also keep all the department records and will be in charge of retrieving them. Designers Job requirements A degree or a diploma in market design Creative and innovative Capability of making decisions on their own Able to meet deadlines Roles of designers Research about the most appealing methods to use in the company campaign. The designers will also be responsible for coming with the designs of the campaign tools of the company. They will also determine when the tools are to be released to the general public. This will be after testing them and ensuring that they will have the target impact. They will also measure the results of given tools so as to identify what needs to improved. Printer Job requirement A diploma in printing services Able to meet deadlines Keen to details Roles of the printer The role of the printer will be to manage the company’s printer so as to ensure that the departments’ tools of the campaign are produced in the best time possible. The printer will also make the tools available to other team members for testing and realize to the general public. This department and roles will reduce the company spending on expensive advertisement campaigns. The reason behind this is that the department will be able to come up with tools to do the advertisements. This is a cost effective method and it will save the company a lot of funds. In designing the tools the company will be utilizing the department to its full potential. Question 3 Key performance indicators Expected outcome When to measure How to measure Increased number of customers Customer satisfaction Increase number of customers Offer best service in the industry After every six months after launching an advertisement campaign Increase in number of sales Customer satisfaction Maintain current customers Every six months Number of returning customer Employee promotion and satisfaction Excellency in their work At the end of employee 2 year contracts General performance of an employee Question 4 There are risks that are involved during the performance agreement and they include that the employees might fail to meet their set goals, the employees might quit employment, they can ask for salary increments before the end of the 12 months, the employees can ask for promotions in the company or the department. This calls for complete understanding of the company policies on the rules and regulation on employment and performance agreement. The company will take action on any employee who quits employment before the end of the contract. The reason behind this is that the employees will be in breach because the performance agreement states that every task taken will end after every 12 months. There is also need to ensure that all employees are aware of the consequences that result from failure of performing their tasks are stipulated in their performance agreements. There is also need to understand that the company has a way of promoting employees and increasing their salaries. Employees have no right to ask for promotion but should ensure that they perform their duties in the best way possible as stipulated in their performance agreement. The reason behind this is that the company has a way of increasing the salaries of their employees. MPP Assessment 2 Performance Management Plan Executive summary There is need to have a performance management plan so as to ensure the performance of the employees is reviewed after a given time. This will help the organization realize its goals and objectives. This helps the company to identify the areas it has a short fall and how these problems can be solved. Introduction Performance management plan will the company to evaluate and monitor that all the company goals and objectives are being met by employees. This plan will help employees align their working rate to achieve the objectives of the company. The performance management plan ensures that every job is planned for. Every task performed in the company is monitored. The ability of employees to perform different tasks is measured. Employee performance is rated and presented in a summary. This enables the company to reward best performers. The scope The scope of the plan is all the company departments and all the employees of the company will be involved. Performance management should be continuous. Body The objectives of the plan are to ensure that every employee is performing their duties as their contracts states. To eliminate employees who are no longer productive and help improve the skills of the employees. There will be a tool which will be similar for all the employees where the person reviewing an employee will enter their feedback. The best way to inform the employees of the expected performance is through their department heads because they are their immediate leaders. The tool will be easy to understand and therefore, those carrying out performance management will not have to undergo deep training but they will require only a brief. There is need to involve all the department heads about the intended performance management plan. This will help in explaining to other employees the importance of the process. The timeline for the process should be two to four weeks because it will be continuous. The failure to perform the assigned duties will mean that the employees have breached their contract and this will result to dismissal. The company will need to have a staff development policy that will ensure that there is on job training so as to equip employees with the necessary skills. The information will be recorded in the company computers and the hard copies will also be available. The company should have a way of letting their employees air their grievances without victimization. Conclusion A performance management plan ensures that every employee performance is monitored. This helps the company to know the areas that require improvement. This will help employees to improve their skills. The employee rewarding after evaluation helps in motivating other employees. MPP Assessment 3 Question 1 Informal and formal feedbacks that are given to the employees help a great deal in helping the employees improve on how they perform their duties. The employees see that the organization needs and wants them to perform their duties as required. There is need to inform the human resource manager that there is an employee who needs cautioning the reason behind this is that all employees are under the human resources department. The department heads should also be informed about any action being taken on employees under them. A manager should give constructive criticism to employees as opposed to destructive criticism. The managers can give constructive criticism by performing the tasks with the employees or by showing them how the tasks should be performed. Destructive criticism will demotivate the employees and they will not improve but instead they will reduce on how they perform their duties. It is important to give the correct feedback to employees because it will help them improve and know the areas they need to ask for help. In appropriate feedback is when a manager shows and tells an employee that everything is fine and yet it is not. Keeping records of all the evaluations and performance feedback is important because the management will keep on assisting the employees to improve on the issues identified during the performance management. Follow up after giving feedback is very important because it helps the organization identify the employees who are willing to improve and those who need help in improving. There is need for one to consider the culture and religion of every employee before giving feedback on their performance. There are times some religions fast and it is not right to give serious news and information during the fasting time because the employees are taken to be weak during such times. The cultures of some people also prevent them from doing some things and these calls for consideration before giving feedback. This calls for alternative methods and ways of giving feedback to employees from certain cultures. The company should protect the rights of their employees including religion and culture and no employee should be discriminated as a result of their religion or culture. It is important to get own feedback from the people you report to or those who report to you. It is important to make those above you evaluate your performance and give you the feedback in the best way possible. The people who report to me might fear to give negative feedback and in this case there is need to have them deliver notes without their identity. This will help me improve my performance in the organization and in my department. This will help the growth of good working relationship. Question 2 There is need to give feedback to employees who do not perform their duties accordingly. Joe and Steve are not performing as per assigned duties and I will offer to have a one on one with them. This will help improve how they perform their duties. The best way to provide feedback to Joe and Steve would be to be informal way of giving feedback. The reason behind this is that formal feedback feels like a punishment to the one being given the feedback. There is no policy that I would need to consult because improving other employees’ performance is in accordance with the company goals and objectives. There is need to have refresher courses and training for the employees. Steve will need to attend report writing classes so as to improve on how he writes his reports. Joe will need to work on his overall performance. MPP Assessment 4 Question 1 Guiding fellow employees in realizing their goals and objectives is my work statement. It is important for any team to meet it deadlines and therefore, this will be one of the ways to measure the performance of the team. Working as a team is very important and therefore, tasks will be completed collectively. There is need to have high management skills so as to handle all the team issues. There are no gaps in my skills but there is need to have refresher causes from time to time. BSBINN502A Assessment 1 There is need for a company to invest in innovation. Innovation is used to ensure the companies moves towards product development and towards organisational innovation. Innovation provide the stakeholders with the necessary tools that will help them develop goals and processes that can be achieved by use of innovation. This allows managers and other stakeholders to react to external and internal challenges and opportunities that may arise in their industry of operation. This will enable the mangers to come with creative ways of fight any pressure either from internal or external so as to maintain their current customers or even increase their customers’ base by introducing new products and new ideas so as to gain competitive advantage. Innovation involves all the stakeholders including employees at every level so as to allow them to come up with creative ways to develop their company brand in manufacturing and marketing. This will ensure continuous development of the company products. Therefore, innovation involves more than research and development but a close working relationship of all the workers in a company. Innovation is a continuous process that involves evolution association of all the company department and use of technology to coordinate the production activities of the company. Innovation management involves invention of new ideas and technology so as to direct the technology towards profitability of the company. These processes also works towards solving customer problems by ensuring all their needs are met by developing ideas to solve the identified customer problems. Innovation calls for improved quality with the highest level of efficiency. BSBINN502A Assessment 2 The company should invest in innovation. The company should use open innovation where it engage with small companies that have innovative ideas. The small companies will sell or even partner with my company so as to produce products from the innovative ideas owned by the small companies. The reason behind this is that small companies do not have financial resources to allow them grow internally or even pursue their innovative ideas into developing products. Therefore, the small companies’ partner with big companies that will provide the funds required in developing such products. This creates a win-win situation for these companies because the small companies get paid for their innovative ideas and my company will benefit from producing the products and placing them in the market. This allows the company to maintain their customers and even widen its market base. This approach helps the company not to invest so much in research and development and therefore, directs the funds which would have been used to partner with small companies. This safes time in production of a product because innovation should be aimed at shortening the value chain so as to maximise the company gains. Therefore, the company should use the market model because it observes the current situation in the market and decides which small company to engage with so as to continue producing for the market. The company ensures that the marketing department is well financed so as to partner with small companies for innovative ideas. This means that the marketing department identifies the gaps that exist in the market and works towards breaching those gaps. The company then finds the most suitable small company with the most innovative idea that will help the company breach the gap in the market. References. Baines, P., Fill, C., & Page, K., (2010). Marketing. New York: Oxford University Press. Bilton, C. (2007) Management and Creativity: From Creative Industries to Creative Management. London: WileyBlackwell. Read More