ROYAL DOCKS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LAW
Assessment Guide
MANAGING STRATEGY, OPERATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS SG7001
Summary
Word count: 2000 words
Weighting: 50%
Appendix up to: 100
Learning outcomes evidenced by this assessment:
Knowledge
1. Understand the impact of current and emerging trends on organisations.
Thinking skills
2. Demonstrate the ability to effectively analyse problems and issues employing a range of appropriate concepts, theories and approaches.
Subject-based practical skills
3. Apply the tools and techniques of strategic and operations analysis.
Skills for life and work (general skills)
4. Developing succinct business reports.
Submission procedure:
Your report should be prepared as explained in the following pages, presented as described on page 11 and uploaded to the appropriate Turnitin link. A cover page will be provided in Moodle above the Turnitin link.
Written feedback will be provided via Turnitin within 15 working days of submission.
Introduction
In this assessment you are to analyse the factors contributing to competitive advantage in Leon’s Restaurants. You should concentrate on demonstrating your ability to use the tools and techniques taught during the first part of the term. Most of the data you will require can be found on the organisation’s web pages, and you are guided towards any further research requirements. Do note the final Learning outcome being assessed. The word count is tight.
Leon’s Restaurants are fast food outlets designed to meet the desires of a health-conscious clientele as well as establishing a reputation for sustainable practice.
Individually: Prepare a report of 2000 words that:
You should take this task in steps. You are being asked to show that you can use the tools and techniques to assist with an analysis. Take the following steps one at a time. The word counts for each section should be taken as a guide and are not monitored. However, the total word count should not exceed 2000 words ±10%. If the lecturer marking your work considers the word count is too high, it will be checked, and marking will stop at the word count.
Introduction150 words
Critical evaluation of the environment of the industry in which the Leon’s Restaurant operates 600 words
The most frequent error made in this stage is to assess the organisation’s environment, not that of the industry
Necessary Research
You will have to conduct the research for this section. When doing so you will probably find PEST and/or Porters Forces analysis that have already been undertaken. However, we want you to conduct your own and the full version of both, complete with citations should be in the appendix. This should be presented in a table with your notes or findings in the left column, supported by a citation in the right hand. The word count of the left-hand column should not exceed 1000 words. If the citations prove to be inappropriate, a mark of 0 will be given for this section of your work. Only summarise key points in your report.
Critical evaluation of the strategy of Leon’s Restaurant.600 words
Using the information in the resources below:
The most frequent error made in this stage is to describe rather than evaluate, and to omit stage 4.
Critical evaluation of the operation of Leon’s Restaurant.500 words
In the above section you would have identified what Leon’s Restaurant do. In this section you would investigate how they do it. Return to the value chain and identify the elements that fall under their direct control.
The challenge: keep the description to just enough to support the analysis
Conclusion`150 words
The purpose of the conclusion is to provide a very brief overview of the main body of your work and answer the question underlying the purpose of the report.
It should not:
Resources
The first links in the resources below will provide a lot of useful information relating to the strategy and the remainder focus more on their operations. Some of the links provide good detail for both.
Referencing Requirement.
You have been asked to produce a business report. These are not referenced in the same way as academic work. You should not reference any material that is from any of the above resources, or in your appendix. Additional references should be in the form of footnotes.
Structure and presentation
To complete your submission, you should add the final elements to produce the following:
Cover sheet (in the assessment area in Moodle)
Title page containing a title for your work and your student number.
Executive summary. (No more than 100 words)
Contents page structured in the same way as in this handbook.
Introduction.
Main body using the headings in bold in the detail section.
Conclusion
Word count from the end of the contents to the end of the conclusion.
Appendices as described above.
Your work should be word processed in accordance with the following:
Font size 12, using a sans serif font such as Arial or similar
1.5 line spacing
The page orientation should be ‘portrait’ (large diagrams and tables can be in landscape orientation if that enables them to fit on fewer pages)
Margins on both sides of the page should be no less than 2 cm
Pages should be numbered
Your name should not appear on the script
Your student number should be included on every page.
Marking Criteria
Evaluation of the business environment 15%
Evaluation of the strategy.30%
Evaluation of the operations.20%
Recognition of the impact of mega trends 15%
Identification of vulnerabilities 10%
Presentation 10%
Assessment 2: Group presentation and reflection (50% of the module)
Learning outcomes evidenced by this assessment:
Knowledge
1.Demonstrate critical understanding of the theory and practice of strategic development and operations.
Thinking skills
1. Analyse and synthesise contextual information.
2. Think strategically and assess the impact of strategic change processes.
Subject-based practical skills
3. Influence the strategic direction of an organization.
Skills for life and work (general skills)
4. Appreciating complexity, diversity, and multiplicity of perspectives accommodated in management decisions.
Submission procedure:
Submission procedure: PowerPoint slides of each presentation uploaded to Turnitin link. Front page of presentation to contain full names and student numbers of all group members, either with a usable link to a video of the group presentation or the videos should be embedded in the presentation.
Feedback will be provided via Turnitin within 15 working days of submission.
This group assessment builds on the individual reports prepared for assessment 1. Having identified areas where Leon Restaurant is potentially vulnerable either now or in the future, you are to prepare a presentation in which you recommend future action at both a strategic and operational level. This should be accompanied by a group report reflecting on the level of complexity encountered. Each group member is expected to contribute equally to every part of the assessment and will receive equal marks. Please refer to Group work provision at the end of this assessment brief for exceptions to this condition.
In groups of 4 - 6, prepare a 30-minute presentation that:
The Presentation:
As with the first assessment, this assessment should be approached in steps.
The Report:
With reference to your experience in developing the individual and group assessments, your group is to submit a 2000 word report with a title of:
“A reflection on the need to accommodate complexity in management decisions”
Reflective work requires a different approach. The material that you are considering is an event that has already occurred. The focus you should take requires you to think through the process undertaken and the implications of the outcome. That means very little research will be required to complete this piece of work. It requires logical and analytical thought processes.
For this report you should:
Your work should be word processed in accordance with the following:
Font size 12, using a sans serif font such as Arial or similar
1.5 line spacing
The page orientation should be ‘portrait’ (large diagrams and tables can be in landscape orientation if that enables them to fit on fewer pages)
Margins on both sides of the page should be no less than 2 cm
Pages should be numbered
Your name should not appear on the script
Your student number should be included on every page.
A Reflection on the need to accommodate complexity within the managerial decisions
Introduction
Through this paper, the purpose, is to focus on theory and practice of strategic development and operations focus on the Leon’s Restaurants. The main aim is to analyze, to use the tools and techniques related to Leon’s Restaurant. As a background, of the company Leon’s Restaurants are fast food outlets that focus on the health-conscious clientele along with establishing a reputation for sustainable practice. In the subsequent section, the impact of strategic change processes, influence the strategic direction of an organization, along with having a complexity, diversity, and multiplicity of perspectives used within the management decisions. Lastly, potential vulnerability that would affect the Leon Restaurants and finally a conclusion is drawn. (Leon, 2016).
The different types of analysis and sources of information
While doing an individual assignments 2 I have used several frameworks for effective utilization of the study. I have accumulated the information from credible secondary sources for adding rigidity to the selected topic. I have taken into consideration the application of VRIN, Porter's Five Forces and Pestle Analysis during this context of the study (Hamerman, 2018). I have gathered pertinent information from peer-reviewed journals available in google scholar. I have also used governmental websites and other forms of credible sources during the study. The Pestle analysis gave me an overview of the Macro environmental factors which could impact the business of Leon restaurant in the competitive market. I have selected my host destination as the UK and I have critically analyzed the political, economic, legal, technological, social and environmental aspects and how it will be having an impact on the business operation of Leon. While conducting the Pestle analysis, I have identified that the political and economical aspect of the UK is hurting the business operations of Leon restaurant owing to the Brexit matter. The identification of the external environment allows a company to understand the rate of success that could be perceived by the company while operating in the host nation. The restaurant fared well in the aspect of environmental impact because the organization mainly produces sustainable products that do not have much of a negative environmental impact. Information about GDP and the inflation rate of the UK were accumulated from trading websites and I also took the assistance of the Guardian newspaper for evaluating the impact of technological aspects on Leon restaurant (Lu, 2019). From the Pestle analysis, it could be estimated that if the factors work in favor of the company, then the organization could make productive outputs, however, if the host nation is struggling due to legal, social, political or other types of issues then it might hurt the overall business of Leon Restaurant (Park, 2016). The porters five forces gave an overview of the industrial factors that might have an impact on the business acquisitions of Leon restaurant. By using this framework, I understood it is a perfect tool for analyzing the competitiveness of the business environment in regards to the competitive rivalry, new market entry, supplier power, buyer power and substitution of products. It is an essential tool for determining the forces that assist in shaping competition within the industry. It is a useful tool for adjusting the strategy that will be suiting the competitive environment and enhance the potentiality of profit margin. In this regard, I got an overview of how the specific business will help in dictating terms in the competitive market. The aspect of buyer and supplier power plays a crucial part in understanding how Leon restaurant will be dealing with business activities. I have also used the VRIN framework for evaluating the competency level of the Leon restaurant. I came to know that VRIN is a framework of business analysis which takes active participation in forming large aspect of the strategic schemes of the company. The position of the company in the competitive market is determined by to what extent the initiatives of the firm are valuable, imitable and rare. While using the above-mentioned frameworks, I have successfully addressed the strategic positions of the Leon restaurant. I also analyzed the megatrends of the hospitality sector and aligned it with the company's strategic goals. Then I utilized various sources which gave me a prompt overview regarding the application of the framework within the course of the business (Moran, 2018).
The issues, which has been realized is the sudden change in the consumer behavior as they follow a specific trend, taste and also have a preference. The focus should be on provision of the healthy meals as per the customer requirements, ensuring a good hygiene and includes safety standards. And the other issue identifies is to provide a customized meals, based on the customer requirements. It can be a lengthy process, but it would be helpful to serve the customers in a long term. Such as pastas for the Italian people who are in Australia.
Analysis
The restaurant ensures a healthy meals, which the company always focuses to renovate and able to subsidy and relate with the number of dishes, food meals and also including the number of good experiences in food serving tactics (Ringim, 2018). I also found, during my research, that the restaurant can create a mark, through the ways it is handling the food in a hygienic manner. Through my research and constant comparison, it was identified, how the restaurant, access and ensure that the conditions to provide customized meals and to follow the changing customer needs, following trends and having a set preferences, are adhered with the safety standards the restaurant in comparison to the competitors. The restaurants reviews, considers the feedback of customers and include surveys, in order to handle all the protocols, policies, procedures in a better manner. Also, ensuring that it keeps its employees well informed of the changing trends and helps to train them by providing a minimized risks of injury and adhering to OHS protocols.. It was also important to challenge the appropriate methods in order to deal with food processing, preparation, and storage.
The company also focused on customized strategizes, and be able to fill the gaps in between the derived food consumptions and nutritional food values. It was also one of the health benefits that have adequately been rested with the foods and health concerning the individuals and communities.
The choices and includes a process of experimenting with the different food methods, choices, and includes a key factors, and includes influencing eating habits. It was also important to derive the information that could relate to the variety of the sources, goals and the objectives per the derived benefits (A person, 2018).
It was also important to how the restaurant uses the medium of communication that could help to deliver, broadcast their new ideas and invention in food items. The company used to research well in their marketing, public relations tactics and substantially would be fruitful in examining the appropriate medium of the media technology(Thompson, 2015). It was important to understand the relevancy of the employing the appropriate technique, substantial ways of the equipment processing and can be able to handle the food-specific resources the restaurant also ensures, to use the derived social and the psychological benefit derived through building a relationship between food, technology, and society.
It was also how there would be a substantial impact that could channelize with the impact of activities related to food on the individual, society and the environment. The restaurant also ensures, it can deliver as per the planning, preparation to match the dates and authenticity of the customers and ensures a good presentation of the food items and also being able to evaluate the food solutions for specific purposes. At the same time, the growing scenario of the food representation and also be serving with the ideas of the special occasions would be important to use it accurately to present the customers.
Business case for your new strategy
To ensure a new strategy, it should be consistent to the line of marketing, sales and company key objectives. The customized food items, would have to match with the customers' requirements, it has be adequately matched with. The restaurant ensures to deep-dive into the customer authenticity, and includes a variety of the food items and ingredients to match with the preferences of the customers. The company, after applying their business strategy scouts and recruits the workforce to have on the similar intention on the basis of potential job roles, responsibilities in order to develop a realistic picture.
While conducting the PESTLE and the SWOT analysis, it was important to understand how the restaurant was able to relate with the customer's experiences, such as if there is a festival season, the restaurant ensures to integrate a mix of the four seasons and also provides all sort special dishes. At the same time, the resultant also spends extra amounts, in maintaining its properties and to give a beautiful experience to the people around. At no point, the restaurant compromises on the quality, quantity to fill in the gaps. The restaurant can create a significant mark, by including the special 75 main curses dishes and also introducing the variety of the 14 desserts, 8 snacks, and 30 varieties of drinks to deliver as per the people's experience. It was also how important it was to derive the importance of keeping the customers busy with their options. It was also important, how the chefs would introduce some of the surprise food elements, some latest food fags and also keep on experiencing
The restaurant, if by including a customized customer preferences and focusing on following the changing trends of food items, would help the company to build good relations with customers. It would improve branding, help in overcoming its competitors and make restaurants to follow an unique identity. I was able to identify the restaurant uniqueness and estimates if the strategy works in favor of the company, then the organization could make productive outputs, however, if the restaurant is struggling due to legal, social, political or other types of issues then it might hurt the overall business of Leon Restaurant. The restaurant also focuses on the external and the internal forces gave an overview of the industrial factors that might have an impact on the business acquisitions of Leon restaurant. Another thing, which the restaurant ensures that they focus on minimized food wastages, provides variety and the leftover food can be donated to the needy people (Wang, 2016).
Proposed strategy would affect different stakeholder groups an include the reason for the impact.
The restaurant also ensured, that they never compromise on the quality of the customer services, to match the standards. The customer service, staff, would be in the tidy uniform, would always be courteous to greet and be presentable with cheerful gratitude. This would ensure, employees and their customers, the most important stakeholders to have a good relationship.
The restaurant also included some of the food certifications in order to provide the authenticity of the food items such as the Halal certification, which was achieved by clearing a proper exam. Similarly, the restaurant also invested in the quality of the food items, presentation and also be responsible for their timely devotion and investment (Thompson, 2015). The Leon restaurant is known for its unique customer's attributes, and serving the community with the left ever food, instead of wasting it. Every day, they do charity and also provide the excess leftovers food to the needy and the poor people. It helps in keeping the management and community, in which the restaurant exists to serve in a better manner.
The competitiveness of the business environment in regards to the competitive rivalry, new market entry, supplier power, buyer power and substitution of products. It is an essential tool for determining the forces that assist in shaping competition within the industry. It is a useful tool for adjusting the strategy that will be suiting the competitive environment and enhance the potentiality of profit margin. Through this, it would help to overcome the competitors, who are vital stakeholders.
Conclusion
In the end to conclude, through my research on the restaurant, the restaurant, is competing and has been growing leaps and bounds, but dome of the problems it face is the changing consumer behavior, and including a customized services. It is a useful tool for adjusting the strategy that will be suiting the competitive environment and enhance the potentiality of profit margin. It was also important to relate, how the company focuses to strengthen its position in the competitive market and is determined by to what extent the initiatives of the firm are valuable, imitable and rare. While using the above-mentioned frameworks, it was an important element to successfully address the strategic positions of the Leon restaurant.. Through the research conducted, the overview derived was on the specific business will help in dictating terms in the competitive market. The aspect of buyer and supplier power plays a crucial part in understanding how Leon restaurant will be dealing with business activities (Weckman, 2020)
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Pages: 4
Words: 890