Luby's was founded in 1911 in Springfield, Missouri and currently (at the time Case 22 was published in 1999) has 223 locations in 11 states throughout the Midwestern, Southern and Southwestern US. Luby's is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange with no single organization owning more than 5.7 percent of its stock. Barry Parker, who is the company's president/CEO, is dealing with a falling stock price and profit margins that have been considerably shrinking over the past few years. The following S.W.O.T. analysis will try to pinpoint Luby's strategic issues or problems they are facing as well assist in providing alternative solutions and a final recommendation in handling these issues.
S.W.O.T.
Strengths:
Luby's has
…show more content…
Venturing into other geographical locations can be done one of two ways. The first would be to buy another restaurant and convert into a Luby's. This would take a chance on a possible "lemon" location; however, it would also possibly decrease competition at the same time. The other choice would be to build or lease where another restaurant does not exist and take the chance that the location can outperform its surrounding competition. If capital expenditures are an issue for Luby's, they could take into consideration lowering dividends to free up cash. This will, however, place more of a strain on Luby's stock performance, which can have positive effects, on profit margins, if the strategy for the capital projects, increases margins. If capital expenditures are not an issue, then Luby's should look into diversifying along the supply chain. By vertical integration, Luby's can possibly lower their costs and achieve insight on new menu ideas for R&D.
Recommendation:
I would recommend that Luby's use a systematic approach in solving their lowering margin issues. The first step would be to centralize purchasing for restaurant locations after they have identified which supply items would benefit from this. This is not exclusive to a cost savings standpoint. The alternative choices for centralized purchasing should not be noticeably inferior or sacrifice quality. After
Senior Management of PepsiCo is evaluating the potential acquisition of two companies – Carts of Colorado and California Pizza Kitchen – in order to expand the company’s restaurant business. If indeed PepsiCo decides to pursue the acquisition of one or both, they must decide how to align each of these business units in its historically decentralized management approach and how to forge relationships between the acquired business units and existing business units. In their evaluation, Senior Management is faced with the question of whether the necessary capital investment in order to purchase one or both of the businesses can be profitable for each of the acquired business units, but must
In order to write Giovanni and Lusanna, Gene Brucker had to rely on primary historical sources, such as notarial transcripts and Florentine catasto records, which provide information created at the time and place, rather than speculative information created later on, but were also subject to the biases of those whose testimony and information were recorded at the time.
At $7.50-8.50 per average full meal, Zaxby’s is very affordable. It is a little more expensive than some fast food chains such as McDonald’s, but is a healthier and fresher alternative. Customers are willing to pay the extra small amount for the higher quality product. The service one generally receives in the restaurant is much better than with comparable competitors. The local locations are actually decorated to suit the interest of the area surrounding it. This is what we marketers call “regionally aware”. It gives the customers a more close to home feeling when they first enter the restaurant, while they dine, and when they leave. Zaxby’s has already proven itself to developing talent with its employees and management which adds up to better customer relations and service which in turn leads to increased customer loyalty. Unfortunately, customer loyalty is one advantage that will not follow us to another country. However, customer loyalty will be achieved gradually over a period of time.
Certainly, these risks and uncertainties that may affect business operations are: competitive environment, product safety, labor relations, data, technology, indebtedness, legal proceedings, insurance, pension obligations, economic conditions, weather, and government regulations (Kroger, 2015). Indeed, the operating environment for the food retailing industry is plagued by intense price competition, aggressive expansion, increasing fragmentation of retail and online formats, entry of non-traditional competitors, and market consolidation (Kroger, 2015). Therefore, to combat the aforementioned challenges, Kroger must develop a strategic plan that provides a balanced approach to meet the needs and expectations of consumers in this challenging economic
This report examines strategic alternatives that would help owners of Livoria Sandwiches Inc. gain competitive advantage in a growing market, achieve its profitability target and maintain its strong reputation of having a high quality and unique product in the industry. This report provides an analysis of the company’s current situation, identify strategic issues and analyze strategic alternatives. These also provide recommendations as to courses of actions the brothers should adopt to reach their goal, and proposed implementation plan.
Trader Joe’s is a leading firm that is taking over the supermarket industry. The company completely altered the idea of a traditional supermarket and turned it into a whole new experience for consumers. Through Trader Joe’s strategic planning, they’ve paved a way for consumers to have high-quality products while paying low prices. Trader Joe’s provides fewer products that are health-conscious, unique and privately labeled. Trader Joe’s has utilized this, secrecy, employee job satisfaction, culture and starting trends to its advantage. Within its industry companies are divided into different strategic groups. Aldi, similar Trader Joe’s strategic planning, is apart of the cultured-discount neighborhood market. This firm continues the low-stock, less-waste, small store, and low price method. A Walmart express used a hybrid strategy that made it a cross between a grocery, pharmacy, and convenience store. Tesco is the third that falls with small neighborhood markets strategy and focused on organic products, similar to Trader Joe’s. As the company grows and expands, there is caution in change of Trader Joe’s processes. With growth, there comes new management and employees which can alter the way a specific store is ran and there is worry of change in the stores normal procedures. Change that doesn’t follow the process could ultimately result in a downfall, so this can be considered a key challenge to watch in the future. Increased bureaucracy is additionally a
Trader Joe 's sells gourmet foods to its customers with a low cost business model, which may seem very difficult to maintain, due to the rising costs in the international markets and the United States. However, with Trader Joe 's long term experience in operations and limited variety of products, this enables the company to reduce costs and transfer those savings to their customers. Furthermore, Trader Joe’s has a very efficient management process that allows keeping the product costs down to keep their customers satisfied. The management process is very significant for Trader Joe 's in which they have planned marvelously to carry certain products which is obtained at a discounted price from their suppliers. Additionally, Trader Joe’s keep costs down to a minimum by choosing non-prime store locations. For
Industry Analysis – Threat of New Entrants: High. In a fierce, clustered environment, the casual dining restaurant industry is open to a high level of new entrants. With its closing of 130 stores by the end of 2018, Applebee’s has to make drastic decisions in order to stay in competition much greater stay in business. Power of Buyers: High. Consumers who dine in at one of Applebee’s location across the country ultimately have high bargaining power. Switching cost are at a low when considering where to dine because of all the options offered throughout a city. Another idea to consider is the demand for the product and service offered by Applebee’s is weak. As trends in food and eating habits change, Applebee’s has failed to deliver the
This leads to lots of opportunities for the company. Chick-fil-A could bring a plan to expand into the foreign markets. Chick-fil-A is such a strong company; they would not have a problem with a huge movement out of the country like this. Chick-fil-A could start by expanding into more airports around the world. This is the least risky way for a fast food joint to expand globally because the company can still take sales from the same customers that are travelling. Also the company would first want to enter into the European countries because their food likings are most similar to the United States. Some of the African and Asian food likings are quite a bit different if you compare them to the United States. Also Chick-fil-A was going to expand they could expand more in the current nation they are in. In the United States most of the Chick-fil-As re in the southern part of country. Chick-fil-A was founded in the south and expanded mostly in this part. People all over the United States eat chicken, so if Chick-fil-A were to expand into the northern part, they could capture more customers. Chick-fil-A was having lots of financial backing for this expansion though more franchise owners. All of these opportunities would greatly benefit the company as a whole, leading to more
Li & Fung is a long-standing Hong Kong based company that that has evolved from an export trading company to a coordinator of value-added services across the entire supply chain in a global, open manufacturing environment. They assess the clients’ product and delivery needs and orchestrate supply, manufacture and delivery in a very tailored and specialized way (Claremont Conversation Online, 2008). In the prevailing business environment, it has not been cost effective to trade with SMEs since production orders were below the factory minimums. Through the implementation of an internet portal, they have secured their position with the SME market while maintaining economies of scale.
Our mission is to serve delicious, reasonably priced meals with an emphasis on local sources for food, craft beer, and wine, along with second mile hospitality and operational excellence. Our hospitality and food quality training is heavily influenced by the 16 months the owner worked with Chick-fil-A in Fort Lauderdale and as a Grand Opening Trainer.
A strength in a SWOT analysis is something beneficial to the company while being an internal factor that they control. Two strengths of Bed Bath & Beyond are their registry service and personalized products. Bed Bath & Beyond offers their customers wedding, commitment ceremonies, baby, housewarming, anniversary, college, and birthday registry services. A registry is a listing of items, or a “wish-list”, of specific products that other people can purchase for you. An advantage of a registry is that it can be done electronically and is efficient for both the buyer and receiver. It is efficient because it is one central location people can go to purchase specific desired items. Bed Bath & Beyond’s most popular registry service is its wedding registry. It is regarded as the best registry by Kristi Kellog, in her article, “Where to Register: The 50 Best Wedding Registry Sites & Stores”. Kellog states, “When it comes to one-stop shopping convenience, few retailers can beat Bed Bath & Beyond. It’s the perfect place to scan all of your essentials, like housewares, linens, and appliances. And since they offer tons of different brands, you can select must-haves at a range of different price points. Plus, with free announcement cards to tell friends and family where you’ve registered, expert consultant to help you decide which items to pick, and a competition program that lets you purchase your remaining gifts at a discounted price after the big day, the retailer is a
SWOT AnalysisStrengthsIt is clear that the major strength for Zoës Kitchen is its people. First, John Cassismus himself is an asset worth discussing. John built the company from a single, family run restaurant into the existing 16 location operation. Dear to his heart, John fostered the business which was inspired from the kitchen of his very own mother, Zoë. He was described as being optimistic, sales oriented, an entrepreneur, a visionary and hard-working. Two previous successful ventures gave John the knowledge and experience he would require. Zoës Kitchen's growth may even be linked to the effect of a learning/experience curve (Thompson et. al, 53). While John's experiences didn't necessarily provide large economies of scale (for cost cutting purposes), his knowledge did allow him to recognize the importance of excellent human resource management, a clearly defined strategy, building brand loyalty and strong business systems. Second, John built a healthy workforce with well-trained employees. Stores had very little turnover; many of the employees had been with
TCBY has been a frozen treats product innovator from the day its first shop opened in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1981. The great-tasting, low-fat frozen yogurt concept received an enthusiastic response from an increasingly health-conscious public. Its trendy new product propelled the company to the forefront of franchising, and was the ‘first in a long line of ground-breaking menu items that anticipated consumer preferences and continually refreshed the TCBY concept’ (Conlin 2001, p. 133). But TCBY products are just one of the reasons that thousands of operators have concluded that a TCBY franchise is the preferred opportunity in branded frozen treats, and a dynamic partner in any co-branded concept. However, TCBY is facing
Home Chef has been looking for methods not only to expand its footprint nationwide, but also to build a distinct brand image to increase market share in the competitive environment. The company delivers a weekly culinary experience to the customers, which is completed with fresh ingredients and step-by-step recipes. The purpose of this report is to offer Home Chef with the threats it might face in the future in regard of their competitors.