Strategic Business of KFC - Essay Example

?Develop Organisational Marketing Objectives Table of Contents Introduction 3 Company Overview 4 Strategic Business Plan of KFC 4 Mission, Vision andValue Statement of KFC 5 Efficiency of the Business in Current Market Situation 6 Efficiency of the Marketing Plan 11 Conclusion and Recommendations 13 Work Cited 14 Introduction A marketing plan of an organisation provides a direction to its marketing activities which in turn assists it to achieve its pre-defined vision and mission. However, it entirely depends upon the research, consideration and evaluation of the marketing plan. It plays a significant role in aligning the marketing strategies developed by an organisation with its determined goals and objectives with a purpose to assist the organisation in the path of sustainable growth and development (Arizona Guide.Com, “How to Write a Marketing Plan”). With this concern, this paper will intend to identify the strategic business plan of KFC. In this regards, the mission, vision and values considered and followed by KFC in its current market trends will also be taken into account. Moreover, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of KFC in relation to its marketing plan. It will also intend to assess the efficiency of this plan in order to achieve the strategic objectives determined by the organisation. Company Overview Kentucky Fried Chicken, which is also famous as KFC is one of the most reputed fast food chain restaurants of the global market. It was established by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1930s in Southern USA as a small franchise business. Presently, it has around 13,000 restaurants in all over the world. A major proportion of the global success of KFC depends upon its three most important critical success factors, i.e. service, quality and transparency. In the year 1986 KFC was acquired by PepsiCo and has since then grown substantially worldwide preserving its title for the last 60 years being “The Chicken Experts”. Moreover, the organisation tends to preserve its social responsibilities in order to become the leader of the market through its services targeted towards the overall community development in terms of education, diversity and animal welfare as well (KFC, “About Us”). Strategic Business Plan of KFC Strategic business plan is the process through which an organisation develops as well as maintains its strategies aligned with its determined goals and objectives with due effect of changing market opportunities. With this concern, it has been observed that the strategic initiatives which are outlined in KFC’s strategic business plan deals with the development of framework intended to continue its forward momentum in increasing shareholders’ value (Kfcholdings.com, “Review of Operations”). In the similar context, it also provides its attention to the customer satisfaction introducing its product range including information related to nutrition base and health of the consumers. These strategies initiate with a purpose to enhance the competitive advantages of KFC which in turn assist the organisation in order to develop in terms of profitability as well as in terms of sustainability (KFC, “Nutrition”). In addition, with its marketing plan, KFC intends to grow its Earning per Share (EPS) by more than 10.0% annually with an aim to distribute a minimum 25% dividend payout to its shareholders, thus increasing shareholders’ value. Similarly, it performs its social responsibilities towards it stakeholders with a purpose to gain the competitive advantages in the international marketplace. In this regards, KFC has introduced different programs including social diversity, supplier code of conduct, as well as animal welfare programme. It often emphasises on implementing measures regarding packaging and the environmental aspects as it is highly conscious about hygiene, quality and health factor in its serving procedure (Kfcholdings.com, “Review of Operations”). Furthermore, KFC intends to reduce its energy consumption concerning the environmental opportunities along with the considerable cost benefits. With due consideration to this, KFC is observed to be engaged with Carbon Trust, a governmental body, which assists the organisation to manage its carbon emission. It also uses varieties of energy conservation technologies in its business process so as to achieve its ultimate objective of reducing production cost. Furthermore, KFC uses new technologies such as Light-Emitting Diode (LED) in its operational activities which in turn assists the organisation to achieve its ultimate objectives (Yum! Brands RSC “Energy Efficiency and Reduction”). Mission, Vision and Value Statement of KFC The mission statement of KFC indicates that employee welfare as well as customer satisfaction is the key factor in terms of sustainable growth and development in the international marketplace. According to the organisation, these two important aspects can increase the profitability ratio in the overall business culture. In addition, it often leads to improve shareholders value in its internal business environment. With regards to this, it has been observed that KFC focuses on implementing the rewards and recognition processes in its business environment in order to motivate its employees and thus encouraging them to put their best efforts in their working activities. Moreover, KFC focuses on serving delicious as well as hygienic food items in a relaxing environment in order to satisfy its customers in the best possible ways (EquineKingdom.com, “Mission Statement”). In the similar context, the vision statement of KFC sates that the organisation wishes to become the leading integrated food services group in the Asia Pacific region in terms of consistent quality products as well as exceptional customer-focused services (KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd, “Vision & Mission”). Similarly, the organisational values for KFC are to satisfy its employees as well as customers’ needs in order to achieve its determined vision and mission. In addition, ethical consideration is another valuable aspect for KFC in order to sustain for long-term period in the marketplace. The ethical consideration of KFC encompasses with serving quality products and/or services among its wide range of customers in all over the world (Malaysia) Bhd, “Vision & Mission”). Efficiency of the Business in Current Market Situation The food and beverages industry is one of the major contributors to the money supply within an economy. The current market scenario apparently indicates the industry to be growing at a rapid pace which in turn is expected to influence the global market to a certain extent in relation to the monetary supply trends. This certain fact also indicates that economic factors have a substantial impact over the organisational operations of KFC. In other words, fluctuations in the economic factors are quite likely to affect the food and beverage industry to a large extent which in turn can influence the business efficiency perceived by KFC. For instance, the recent global economic downturn created an adverse impact on most of the industries including the global food & beverages industry. In lieu to this, the major difficulties which are faced by the particular industry are growing food prices, rising transportation costs due to an increase in oil prices and demur in consumer expenditure among others (Deloitte Development LLC, “Food and Beverage 2012 Ingredients for success in volatile markets”). With regards to this, the current market situation faced by KFC and its developed strategies of marketing plan can be illustrated with the assistance of Ansoff’s Product/Market Expansion Grid. Figure 1: Product/Market Expansion Grid Source: (University of Maryland University College, “Three Intensive Growth Strategies: Ansoff’s Product/Market Expansion Grid”) Market Penetration Market penetration is the strategy through which an organisation can increase its sales volume in its current market segment taking the virtues of customer satisfaction. A product and service can be offered to a market with a purpose to satisfy the want and/or needs of a consumer and simultaneously, in order to survive in the marketplace for the long-term period. In this regards, KFC sells its stuffs according to the perceived values and preferences of the customers in its target market. The organisation tends to segment its targeted market on the basis of geographic, demographic and psychographic factors to a significant extent. For instance, in China KFC sells much spicier chicken in its coastal region while in other places the taste and presentation of the food items differ according to the customers’ preferences. Similarly, on the basis of demographic segmentation, KFC divides its market into multiple concentrated groups taking into account the aspects of age, gender, family size, income, occupation, religion, race and nationality among others. Furthermore, in terms of psychographic segmentation, KFC focuses upon the aspects such as social class, lifestyle habits and/or personality characteristics of its target customers (Scribd Inc, “Kentucky Fried Chicken”). Product Development KFC is known in the global marketplace for its fried chicken. One of the major attributes that can be observed to contribute to the success of this brand is the consistent usage of superior quality ingredients through extensive research and development processes. With this concern, KFC concentrates on introducing its product range rendering adequate information related to nutrition base and health of the consumers towards the targeted market. These strategies initiate with a purpose to enhance the competitive advantages of KFC which in turn assists the organisation to develop in terms of profitability as well as in terms of sustainability for the longer term period (Scribd Inc, “Kentucky Fried Chicken”). Market Development Market development strategy deals with introducing new product range in the marketplace. With this concern, KFC has applied its market development strategies in the Asian market that includes expansion of distribution channel as well as identification of the target market. It has also been observed that KFC specially targets the young age group as the market segment is very fond of snacks and beverages. In addition, KFC implemented the “free home delivery” strategy for the offices as well as homes in order to gain the competitive advantage in the Asian marketplace which is indeed one of the most impressive innovative strategies adopted by the organisation (Scribd Inc, “Kentucky Fried Chicken”). Diversification In KFC’s traditional marketing plan it fundamentally used to focus on the chicken segment. However, in modern era, it has begun emphasising on the virtues of customer satisfaction and accordingly it has diversified its product range in various sections that includes vegetarian section as well. In the similar context, the pricing strategies of KFC are changed according to the variety of factors including demographic, economic and geographic aspects which tend to have a substantial impact over the preferences of the targeted customers. KFC also tends to implement its promotional strategies with the assistance of different promotional methods including advertising, sales promotion, public relation, events and experience among them (Scribd Inc, “Kentucky Fried Chicken”). Efficiency of the Marketing Plan The effectiveness of the marketing plan can be measured by evaluating the performance of an organisation over a period of time. With due consideration to this, the marketing plan of KFC is effectual as well as competent as it tends to assist the organisation in achieving its vision, mission, and organisational goal. The main objective of KFC is to satisfy the needs of its customers in terms of establishing a strong position in the marketplace so as to gain sustainable competitive advantages. With this concern, the organisation intends to maintain its three most important success factors, i.e. service, quality and transparency among others by focusing on its marketing plan (SlideShare Inc, “Case Study: Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Global Fast-Food Industry”). In the similar context, it also provides adequate significance to the aspect customer satisfaction by introducing its new product range at frequent intervals. For instance, with this aim, KFC introduced three different ranges of product including ‘chicken original recipe’ (pressure cooked), ‘extra crispy’ (fried) and ‘tender roast’ (roasted). Hence, it can be regarded as one of the significant aspects for the organisational strategic decision which in turn assists the organisation to enhance the perceived customer loyalty and satisfaction level in its international marketplace (KFC, “Nutrition”). Furthermore, in its business operations, KFC intends to continuously preserve its social responsibilities towards it stakeholder with the help of different events and programmes which in turn can be regarded as beneficial for the organisation in order to create an impressive brand image in its targeted marketplace. In addition, the strategies of KFC regarding reduction of energy with the help of new and advanced technologies also plays a major role in indicating a direction towards the overall organisational development in order to incur cost benefits as well as environmental opportunities (KFC, “About Us”). On the contrary, KFC also possess a few weaknesses relating to its strategic decision as can be observed from its developed marketing plan. For instance, the market segmentation process of KFC can often create complexities in terms of management procedures. For instance, KFC often needs to face challenges in terms of cross-cultural differences as it deals with the food & beverage industry which largely depends on the largely varied taste and preference of the customer in the worldwide marketplace. In addition, the franchisee business may create difficulties for the brand image of KFC as the franchisee owner might not be able to maintain the quality and service aspects of the organisation to a sustainable extent (SlideShare Inc, “Case Study: Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Global Fast-Food Industry”). Conclusion and Recommendations The objective of this paper was to illustrate the marketing plan of KFC that provides a direction to its marketing activities in order to gain competitive advantages in the targeted marketplace. This in turn tends to assist the organisation in achieving its determined organisational objectives with due significance to the vision, mission and values of its. It is worth mentioning in this context that KFC has built its strategic business plan with a purpose to align its strategic decision with its ultimate organisational goals and objectives which again varies with the changing marketing situation. However, it can be observed that KFC is efficiently achieving its marketing objectives in the path of sustainable growth and development. However, KFC also possess a number of lacunas in its operational activities. For instance, as it is well known fact that the food and beverages industry is entirely depends upon the customer satisfaction, KFC should provide a diversified menu to its customers with excellent service, quality food as well as cleanliness in order to survive in the market for long term period. Similarly, it should pay attention towards the new trends in its target market in order to soundly satisfy the consumer demand and respond to industry competition. Work Cited Arizona Guide.Com. “How to Write a Marketing Plan”. March 20, 2012. What is a Marketing Plan, 2012. Deloitte Development LLC. “Food and Beverage 2012 Ingredients for success in volatile markets”. March 20, 2012. Food beverage, 2012. EquineKingdom.com. “Mission Statement”. March 20, 2012. KFC, 2012. Read More