Search

Business Strategy For Fast Food Industry

University:

  • Unit No:
  • Level: High school
  • Pages: 14 / Words 3545
  • Paper Type: Assignment
  • Course Code:
  • Downloads: 6079

Consideration of the ‘Power of the Buyer' and ‘Threat of Substitutes' aspects of Porter's Five Forces

Strategic decision-making is considered one of the most important factors in the modern business context as the existence of businesses in the present day depends on proper strategic decision-making. In the case of industries like FMCG goods, retail industry and food retail chains, strategic decision-making could be found as the key factor behind the industries mentioned above. In this study, the researcher shall discuss the strategic decision-making aspects of the fast food industry. In the initial part of the study, the researcher shall make a discussion on the power of the buyer and its implication on the strategic decision-making of the fast food industry. The analysis shall be made on the basis of Porter's Five Forces model. In this part of the study, the researcher shall also make a discussion on the threat of substitutes in the fast food industry. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the fast food industry in the UK belongs to a perfectly competitive market as this industry has a large number of competitors and the number of customers is also considered infinite. As the fast food industry in the UK faces demand from all around the globe, the number of customers is to be taken as infinite (Mena et al. 2014).

From the above discussions, the researcher is required to mention that as the number of customers and competitors is large enough to affect the industry of fast food in the UK, strategic decisions for this industry are required to be made by considering the factors like power of buyers. On the other hand, the researcher is required to mention that the fast food industry in the country also faces competition in the market due to the reason of existence of substitutes. On the other hand, the researcher is required to mention that the power of the buyers in an industry is closely related to the threats of substitutes. As stated by Johnsen (2015), substitute goods in an industry are to be considered as the result of the effective bargaining power of the buyers. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that frequent changes in the price level or increase in the price level could result in an increase in the threat of substitutes in an industry. The detailed discussion of the impact of the “power of buyers” in the fast food industry and the effect of the “threat of substitutes” in the same industry in the UK would be as follows.

Power of Buyers in the Fast Food Industry of the UK

The researcher is required to mention that the buyers in the fast food industry are infinite in numbers as the demand for fast food products in the UK is created internationally. In this context, Aiginger and Vogel (2015) opined that fast food chains in the UK are based on the international market and most of the food products manufactured in the country are either sourced from abroad or sold in the countries of the European Union. If the researcher is to mention the impact of foreign firms in the British market, it is to mention that the firms from the US, France, and Italy also do business in the UK to meet the domestic demand. Moreover, the domestic firms in the fast food industry in the UK is also to be considered as well developed as the fast food companies in the UK make up 9% of the GDP of the country (Gross Domestic Product GDP- Office for National Statistics. 2017). In this context, if the discussion is to be made on the power of buyers in the UK fast food industry, the researcher is to mention that as the fast food industry occupies a large portion of the UK economy, the firms indulging in the fast food industry could get affected by the change in demand structure of the buyers.  

Need to Consult Directly With Our Experts?

Contact Us

Fast food companies like Five Guys, Nando's, Burger Kitchen, Domino's and KFC serve customers in the domestic market and in the international context. Therefore, the bargaining power of buyers could be considered as impactful for the manufacturers of fast foods in the country. As stated by Wu (2013), the power of buyers could be identified as the reason for product differentiation in the market of food and retail businesses. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the fast food industry could face high product differentiation and high price sensitivity along with segment-wise differentiation (Bartusková and Kresta, 2015). Therefore, the researcher is required to mention that the bargaining power of the customers of the food chains in the UK results in volatility in the price level. In other words, it could be said that if the power of the buyers enhanced in the fast food industry in the UK, customers could consider the price of the products as the base of their buying decisions. In this context, the researcher is also required to mention that the high product differentiation could also be an impactful effect of the increase in the power of the buyers. As stated by Murari and Tater (2014), management of the fast food companies are required to make proper planning in order to identify the demands of the customers to protect the company's interest from product differentiation.

Threat of substitutes

In the fast food industry, the strategic managers of the fast food companies could face the problem of the existence of threats in the market as the industry belongs to perfect competition. As opined by Blackman et al. (2013), fast food manufacturing firms offer products, which are similar to the competitive companies. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the existence of similar products in the market causes market risks to large-scaled firms in the UK. The researcher is to mention in this context that the substitution effect in an industry depends upon the quality of the products and the price of the products offered by the competitive firms. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the switching cost is also required to be considered as an important issue for making an analysis of the effect of the threat of substitutes in the fast food industry in the UK. As cited by Artiles et al. (2013), low switching cost refers to a high probability of purchasing substitute goods. Therefore, the strategic managers of the fast food manufacturing companies are required to consider the switching costs of the fast food industry to make strategic decisions.

The strategic managers of the fast food companies in the UK are to stabilize the impact of substitutes by considering the effective communication process as effective communication would be helpful in making proper relations with the customers. In this same context, Liao et al. (2015) stated that proper communication with the customers could help the strategic managers to aware the customers aware of the products of the company. As the fast food products industry is an example of a perfect competition market, the factor of availability of substitute products could not be ignored by the strategic managers Fuseini et al. (2017). Therefore, the strategic managers focus on the quality of the products that the firms offer to the customers.

In developing the quality of the products, the strategic managers are to focus on health-related issues as well as the cost of production. As stated by Mkude and Wimmer (2015), KFC, Domino's and Five Guys use different techniques in order to develop the quality of products, which includes the use of fresh ingredients and chemicals. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that total quality management and total quality control are required to be considered as an important factor in response to getting rid of the problem of substitutes due to the quality of the products. On the other hand, the strategic managers are also taking care of the performance of the products in the fast food companies in the country. As cited by Lang and Heasman (2015), fast food manufacturers use core competencies to create new markets and to exist in the existing market. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the companies in the fast food industry often have a certain item, which could be differentiated from the products of other countries. For example, the researcher could mention that KFC is a specialist of chicken items (Mridul, 2017). On the other hand, the researcher is also required to state that Domino's is a leader in the market of Pizza. In this context, Fuseini et al. (2017) cited that creation of products, which could not be copied or imitated, creates core competencies. This kind of products could be found as helpful in getting rid of the threat of substitutes in the market Blackman et al. (2013). Therefore, it is to mention that the strategic managers are to consider the development of differentiated products in order to minimize the threat of substitutes in the market.                              

Consideration of the ‘Competitive Rivalry' force of Porter Five Forces AND consideration of the ‘Key Drivers of Change' developed from the PESTEL analysis

In Porter's Five Forces, business strategy development has been considered as the result of five factors, which include competitive rivalry among the firms in an industry. In this context, if the discussion is to be made on the effect of competitive rivalry in the fast food industry, the researcher is to mention that the market position of fast food is required to be considered as perfectly competitive as the number of buyers and sellers is infinite. On the other hand, if the discussion is to be made on the key drivers derived from the PESTEL analysis, the researcher is to mention that the economic and social factors of the fast food industry are required to be considered with importance as these two factors have direct impact on the fast food market of the UK.

Stuck with your Assignment?

Hire our PROFESSIONAL ASSIGNMENT WRITERS and
Get 100% Original Document on any Topic to Secure A+ Grade

Get Assignment Help

Competitive Rivalry

From the above discussion made by the researcher, it could be mentioned that the firms in the competitive market like the fast food market require adopting proper strategic actions regarding the market capitalization. In the fast food industry of the UK, three factors could be seen as most impactful to the industry the factors are number of firms, the aggressiveness of firms in the industry and the switching costs (Sadhwani, 2017). In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the fast food market could be subdivided into three major parts by considering capital employment. Low capital-employed firms in the market face a high degree of competition in the market as the entry barrier in this particular industry is quite low. The medium-scaled firms also see the same type of opportunity as the small fast food manufacturers face. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that large firms like KFC, Burger King and Domino's belong to an oligopoly market as the number of large-scale manufacturers is lesser than the number of buyers in the market.

The fast food manufacturing firms of the UK consider foreign customers as one of the large sources of the demand for the products of the companies. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that large-scale fast food manufacturers develop strategies in order to reach the markets in foreign countries. As opined by Caraher et al. (2016), reaching in the markets of foreign countries results in the minimization of rivalry among the firms of fast foods. Dodds et al. (2014) opposed this by stating that the fast food manufacturers in the UK consider the foreign market as a way of becoming global and enhancing the demand for the goods. Therefore, it is required to mention that fast food manufacturers face competition in foreign markets along with the domestic market.

The above discussion suggests that due to the large number of buyers in the domestic and foreign markets, the number of suppliers has increased. Therefore, the competition level has also increased. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the high number of competitors in the fast food industry creates a strong force that is required to be adjusted by the strategic management teams of the fast food manufacturers. As stated by Nestle (2013), the fast food market in the UK also faces the problem of a variety of firms due to the recent change in the demand structure of customers around the globe. This force of a high variety of firms in the fast food market could be considered as another strong force of competitive rivalry. In this context, the researcher is to mention that the low switching cost is an important feature of the fast food market as the market does not possess any kind of expenses for taking substitute products. In this context, Mkude and Wimmer (2015) stated that low switching cost is also required to be considered as a strong force that affects the fast food manufacturers in the UK as this factor forces the customers to move from one firm to another one.

The views of strategic managers in this regard are required to be analyzed to make discussion on the process of mitigating these factors or strong forces. The fast food industries in the developed economies is required to be considered as an important contributor of national income and therefore strategic development in terms of the competitive rivalry among the firms is required to be made by the strategic management of the industry players.

Key Drivers of Change' developed from the PESTEL analysis

The research on the business environments of the fast food industry in the UK is required to be analyzed by considering the PESTEL as this tool of strategic analysis helps the researcher to focus on the most impactful factors in an economy. The researcher is to mention in this regard that the PESTEL analysis for the fast food industry in the UK is not possible without the consideration of the factors that face the business managers to adopt change. In this regard, it is to mention that the economic factors of the fast food industry are required to be considered as important as this factor influences the economic structure of the country. Moreover, the researcher is required to mention that the economic activity of the fast food industry is related to the social view as the demand structure of an industry depends on the societal view of the industry product. In this context, the researcher is to mention that in the present context, the health-related issues affect the fast food industry to grow at a higher rate.

Political factors

· Ban over ingredients,

· Brexit,

Economical factors

· Decline in GDP,

· High growth of the fast food industry.

Social factors

· Obesity,

· Downward trend of allover demand for fast food,

· Improved product differential skills among the customers.

Technological factors

· Use of sophisticated technologies in operation and product designing.

Environmental factors

· Ideal environment for tourism,

· Helpful for farming the ingredients of the fast food industry.

Legal factors

· Change in tax structure due to Brexit,

· Deporting of employees.

The political factor regarding the fast food industry in the UK is required to be considered less influential as there are no such political barriers that could affect the fast food industry in the country. In this context, the researcher is required to mention that the government of the UK has banned some of the spices as per the regulations of the WHO. Therefore, the fast food manufacturers could not prepare the core fast food items as per the requirements. In this context, the researcher is also required to mention that Brexit has also impacted the fast food industry in the country as the staff belonging to other countries are now required to be removed from the operation. Therefore, the new staff needs to be trained to make the operations.

The PESTEL analysis made by the above table reflects that the GDP of the UK has a negative trend whereas the growth rate in the fast food industry has been seen as steady and improving (). Therefore the researcher could mention that the economy could be boosted by the fast food industry growth in the country. In this context, it is required to mention that as the economic environment of the country is dependent on the fast food industry to some extent, strategic change could be found as important. As the fast food industry is in a growing stage, the management of the fast food manufacturers is required to make changes to achieve the expected growth in the industry. Therefore, the economic factor is required to be considered as a key driver of change in the industry of fast food.

The recent trend of obesity in the UK forces the manufacturers of fast foods in a strong manner. Therefore, the use of banned ingredients or ingredients, which cause obesity, is required to be obsolete in the fast food industry. The researcher therefore is required to consider the health-related issue as another key factor that forces the management of the fast food manufacturing houses to change plans. In this context, the researcher could ignore the environmental factors as these factors affect the firms in a positive way.

The researcher mentioned that the legal framework of the company could force the fast food companies to make strategic changes at the internal organization level as Brexit results in a change in the legal framework of the company. In this context, Mkude and Wimmer (2015) stated that due to Brexit, the business firms in the UK are required to make modifications to the legal frameworks. Moreover, the tax structure of the country has also been seen as changing due to Brexit. Nevertheless, the requirement of deportation in the companies could also be considered an important key towards making change. The non-British staff are required to be removed from the companies and therefore the management is to give training to the new employees. Hence, deportation is to be considered as a crucial factor that drives towards change in the management process.

Need Personalised Assistance from Our Experts?

Share Your Requirements via Whatsapp!

Chat Now

References

  • Aiginger, K. and Vogel, J., (2015). Competitiveness: from a misleading concept to a strategy supporting Beyond GDP goals. Competitiveness Review25(5), pp.497-523.
  • Artiles, M., Beaulieu, C., Carey, S., Danza, M., Gatian, A., Gavin, A., Greco, A.N., Jameson, A., McWilliams, A., Samuelson, K. and Wharton, R.M., (2013). The impact of e-readers and e-books on the Library of Congress and the US Copyright Office. Journal of Scholarly Publishing45(1), pp.1-34.
  • Bartusková, T. and Kresta, A., (2015). Application of AHP Method in External Strategic Analysis of the Selected Organization. Procedia Economics and Finance30, pp.146-154.
  • Blackman, C., Forge, S. and Horvitz, R., (2013). Liberating Europe's radio spectrum through shared access. info15(2), pp.91-101.
  • Caraher, M., Lloyd, S., Mansfield, M., Alp, C., Brewster, Z. and Gresham, J., (2016). Secondary school pupils' food choices around schools in a London borough: Fast food and walls of crisps. Appetite103, pp.208-220.
  • Dodds, P., Wolfenden, L., Chapman, K., Wellard, L., Hughes, C. and Wiggers, J., (2014). The effect of energy and traffic light labelling on parent and child fast food selection: a randomised controlled trial. Appetite73, pp.23-30.

 

Business Skills

Business Project - A Comparative Analysis of the Companies

Evaluating The Approaches Used To Solve Business Problem

Business Plan

Download Full Sample
Cite This Work To export references to this Sample, select the desired referencing style below:
Assignment Desk.(2024) Business Strategy For Fast Food Industry Retrieved from: https://www.assignmentdesk.co.uk/free-samples/business-assignment-help/business-strategy-for-fast-food-industry-sample
Copy to Clipboard
Copy to Clipboard
Assignment Desk (2024) Business Strategy For Fast Food Industry[Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.assignmentdesk.co.uk/free-samples/business-assignment-help/business-strategy-for-fast-food-industry-sample
Copy to Clipboard
Assignment Desk Business Strategy For Fast Food Industry. (Assignment Desk, 2024) https://www.assignmentdesk.co.uk/free-samples/business-assignment-help/business-strategy-for-fast-food-industry-sample
Copy to Clipboard
Assignment Desk Business Strategy For Fast Food Industry. [Internet]. Assignment Desk.(2024), Retrieved from: https://www.assignmentdesk.co.uk/free-samples/business-assignment-help/business-strategy-for-fast-food-industry-sample
Copy to Clipboard
Struggling with writing assignments? Take our academic writing services to resolve your problems. We not only provide online assignment help but also various other services like thesis, dissertation, and essay writing services. If you have any doubts about our experts, then we suggest you check our “Samples” before seeking master dissertation help from us. Our experts can ease the complexity of your work. All you have to do is ask, “Can you do my assignment?”
Boost Grades & Leave Stress

Share Your Requirements Now for Customized Solutions.

Lowest Price
USD 6.27

    Delivered on-time or your money back

    100+ Qualified Writers

    For Best Business Assignment Help

    View All Writers
    FREE Tools

    To Make Your Work Original

    • tools Paraphrasing Tool

      Check your work against paraphrasing & get a free Plagiarism report!

      Check Paraphrasing
    • tools Plagiarism Checker

      Check your work against plagiarism & get a free Plagiarism report!

      Check Plagiarism
    • tools Dissertation Outline Generator

      Quick and Simple Tool to Generate Dissertation Outline Instantly

      Dissertation Outline Generator
    • tools Grammar Checker Tool

      Make your content free of errors in just a few clicks for free!

      Grammar Checker
    • tools Essay Typer

      Generate plagiarism-free essays as per your topic’s requirement!

      Essay Typer
    • tools Thesis Statement Generator

      Generate a Compelling Thesis Statement and Impress Your Professor

      Try Thesis Generator Tool

    Professional Academic Help at Pocket-Friendly Prices!

    Captcha Code refresh

        Estimated Price

        USD 6.6 25% OFF
        Total Price USD 6.27
        182532+Delivered Orders 4500+PhD Writers 4.8/5Client Rating

         
        AD whatsapp

        Limited Time Offer

        Exclusive Library Membership + FREE Wallet Balance