Analysis of Growth Strategy for Imm Thai Fusion Restaurant

A strategic pitch that is designed to assess students' understanding of application of strategy theories and the structure of arguments to the analysis of a real organization.

For the presentation, you will play a role as a group of newly graduated strategy consultants. Your manager has asked you to make a 1000 word handout. Your individual handout format should resemble a professional strategy document. It should not be written like a speaker's notes. The 1000 word limit includes everything apart from the references list at the end of the document. The layout of your handout may be based on a strategy document.

In this handout you are asked to analyze and evaluate current and future business (competitive), corporate and / or international level strategy of a real organization. The handout is based on the projects: Thai Imm Fusion Restaurant attached below.

Imm Thai Fusion Strategy

About:

Imm Thai Fusion started in August 2015 with an intention to bring authentic Thai food as well as some of our neighbor dishes, the way Thais would like it, to Wimbledon community. We hope to offer a comfortable space where people can come and relax with nice food and good drinks and enjoy our hospitality, all of these with a value for money. The founding team also looks to create a platform from which we could nurture and showcase the skills and passion of our team members that would contribute for the better of our society.

Throughout our journey, it became obvious to us that our restaurant has not only produced delicious food, we have also developed a happy team who enjoy serving and taking pride in their responsibilities. And now, not only Imm Thai Fusion wants to safeguard and improve its standard, we look to share the ownership with our staff who, in turn, share Imm Thai Fusion’s original values. This is how our Beckenham branch originated.

Why is it called “Imm Thai Fusion”? “Imm” means “full” (or not Hungry) in Thai. It is a common adjective that Thais use in conjunction with other words such as body and heart. The meaning of imm aligns with our intention for our customers to leave our restaurants full, not only in the stomach but also in their personal experience and feeling. The word “Fusion” at the end has a sense of being closely knitted. It allows us to extend our creativity into making choices of our special menus from our neighbor countries like Vietnam, Laos, or even Japan in Thai style.

Current Strategy:

At the moment, our products and price range are considered in between up and middle market. A number of our dine-in customers are regular to Patara, a high-end Thai restaurant brand. Many of our customers are also regular to large chains such as Giggling Squid and Rosa. We therefore want to differentiate ourselves from Giggling Squid and Rosa. Among many strategies put in place, one is to become net zero as we noticed a strong environmental concern amongst our customers. Therefore:

• We try to replace plastic packaging with bio-degradable products. However, this type of packaging costs more than basic plastic containers and their ability to hold liquid is less efficient.

• We hope to launch a buy-back scheme for all plastic containers that we are currently using for takeaways.

• In the kitchen, we aim to be zero food waste. We are working to control portions and, in some cases, allow for free second servings to reduce food waste.

• When our electricity contract ends, we will switch to a green energy supply.

• Next year, we will launch a price promotion for takeaway customers who bring their own containers. In fact, we are studying the feasibility of launching a scheme where we loan containers to customers (see this link as an example).

Future Strategy:

We have ideas on how to develop our business further.

Idea . Growing through a new sister brand, Imm Express, with franchise model

In a few years, we look to scale up our business through the growth of our grab and go product line. Next year, we are going to launch our sister brand, Imm Express, which will specialise in serving Thai and Asian food for ‘grab and go’ and takeaway. So, we are keen to make a strong statement that net zero is one of our main objectives and we want this to reflect in our practice. We hope to achieve a similar level as Wasabi.

Therefore, we would like ideas/ strategies of how this sister brand would be appealing for young people and young professionals, like WBS students and graduates.

We have the following questions:

1. In which locations should we start developing our kiosks?

2.How can we engage staff and customers to participate in this plan?

3. What actions/ strategies are being implemented to target this issue elsewhere?

4. How do our competitors address this issue?

5. How did other restaurants do it? What lessons can we learn from them?

6. What would be the most popular food that we can serve? Should we modify our menu for kiosks and how?

You should be mindful that most SMEs have limited resources. So, your strategy must show efficient and creative use of resources.

Further information:

• https://immthaifusion(dot)co(dot)uk/

• https://sg(dot)deliveroo(dot)news/news/deliveroo-barepack.html

• https://www(dot)gov(dot)uk/government/news/calling-all-small-businesses-to-lead-the-charge-to-net-zero

• https://www(dot)netzeronow(dot)org/restaurants

Company owner: Siriwan Hutangkabodee

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Each student needs to give advice to the business owner or company representative that will address the main questions, identified in the live project briefings. At the same time each student needs to apply theories taught in the module to demonstrate knowledge of relevant theories and engagement with the module materials.

Each student needs to suggest and analyze one business, corporate or international level strategy that the organization should follow in the future. This strategic move needs to be phrased in practical terms and identified clearly in academic terms. For example, in practical terms a strategic move could be ‘provide a unique customer service’, and in academic terms this strategy can be identified as ‘differentiation’. Once you identify the strategy you should explain in detail how exactly customer service can be different from competitors and justify why you suggest this strategy. The same logic applies to other strategic moves.

Justification of the strategy needs to be analysed through elements of SAF (suitability, acceptability and feasibility) framework. Suitability or rationale of strategy means that you need to explain the main benefits of the strategy, by referring to the external and / or internal environment analysis. Acceptability means that the strategy needs to address risks, returns and reactions of most important stakeholders. To justify feasibility you should explain how the organization can obtain necessary resources, if they do not already have them.

For example, several students might suggest that the company follows a differentiation strategy, but this differentiation strategy can be explained by several strategic moves. These strategic moves could be for example:

• Providing unique customer service, loyalty points

• Improving the quality of product ingredients, halal food, vegan options, different cuisines.

• Improving reputation or developing brand image, promoting on social media, digital marketing

Differentiation strategy mentioned above is only an example. The list of strategy theories that you can apply include:

Business or Competitive Level Strategy

Differentiation Strategy

Red/Blue Ocean Strategy (Porter’s strategies)

Cost Leadership Strategy

It is a strategy of SBU (Strategic Business Unit) Based on three main questions:

Who are our customers? (target groups, segmentation)

Which are their needs? (how is the product differentiated)

Which core competences should be developed? (higher quality, faster response to customer needs etc.)

The goal is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Stability Corporate Strategies

Growth corporate strategies- vertical integration, horizontal integration, Ansoff Matrix (penetration, market and product development, related or unrelated diversification)

Turnaround corporate strategies - retrenchment, divestiture, captivity, liquidation

International Strategies

Global integration

Local responsiveness

Global Strategy

Multi Domestic Strategy

Transitional Strategy

In order to demonstrate engagement with the module materials you need to use only those theories that are mentioned above. Please do not use other theories, especially SWOT and other simpler theories, that are not covered in this module. You do not need to explain a theory separately and in detail. However, you do need to briefly explain why you are applying a particular theory, and why it is relevant in your analysis. In other words, theory application needs to be clearly justified. Please discuss your particular part with the seminar leader or ask questions during the lectures.

Theories need to be used as a lens of analysis or framework for the analysis. The main focus of your advice should be on a future strategy. However, since strategy formation is a specific process, which we explain in this module, you may want to start by analyzing what aspects of current strategy work well now. And then link it to the analysis of the future strategy.

Another way of structuring your arguments, is to start with the analysis of the main aspects of the external or internal environment, and then suggest a completely new strategy that would address external opportunities and risks and use core competencies of the organization.

Every argument you make needs to be specific. Please avoid giving generic advice. For example, if you think that the company needs to improve their customer service, please do not simply suggest that they obtain feedback from customers. Such advice is obvious and does not demonstrate any research or analysis on your part. In this example you will need to do research yourself and provide detailed advice on how the customer service can be improved. All of your arguments need to be supported by evidence. This could be statistical data, qualitative research findings, such as those that can be found in the government reports or in other reputable sources.

Please ensure that you reference the main theories in your analysis. Please do not use Internet sources to reference theories. Use only academic journal articles or academic books to reference theories.

It is expected that you will do additional research that will support your arguments. Please use any sources with caution and assess their reliability before referencing them. Websites such as Statista, Mintel etc. are examples of reliable practical websites. Other examples include business reports and information written and published on government websites. Certain sources are clearly unreliable, and you should not reference them. These include Wikipedia, UKessays, Businessballs, personal blogs and other similar sources.

You need to have a balance between theoretical references and practical references. Balance does not mean a 50% / 50% ratio of theoretical and practical sources. It means that you need to reference all theories that you have used in your analysis and to support your arguments with practical sources. For example, if you used only three theories in your analysis you might have only three references of these theories. At the same time, you might have 10 – 20 practical sources that support your arguments.

Use in-text citations in written handout and create a reference list following Harvard referencing style in the handout. Reference list should be in a single list in alphabetical order. Do not keep web references separate, do not forget the access dates for the latter. Do not use bullet points and numbering in the reference list.

Handout quality and structure

• Handout is a summary of the important points rather than all the notes from your presentation.

• Handout is not speakers notes.

• Markers should be able to skim read your handout and identify most important information.

• Use elements of report structure.

• Include table of content.

• Include a short introduction to the document.

• Include a brief conclusion summarising the key pints of your analysis.

• You may include pictures, figures and tables if you want, these are included in the word count.

• Use headings and subheadings to show different levels of information (main points, supporting points, examples).

• Headings need to be specific. Avoid generic theoretical headings such as ‘differentiation strategy’ or ‘SAF’.

• You need to give enough time to create a professionally looking handout, that is proofread.

• 1.5-line spacing, 12-point text size Arial, Times New Roman or similar font, standard margins.

• Include a clear title page that explains:

- your analysis of the presentation, for example ‘Analysis of future diversification strategy of [the company]’

- Word count

- Include in-text citations when you refer to an academic theory and a reference list at the end of the handout.

- Include page numbers.

- Do not write long sentences.

- Do not write long paragraphs. Structure of paragraphs needs to be clear.

- Do not write essays with headings.

The layout of your handout has to be based on a strategy document. Please check these strategy documents for inspiration:

University of Oxford Strategic Plan 2018-23:

https://www(dot)ox(dot)ac(dot)uk/sites/files/oxford/field/field_document/Strategic%20Plan%202018-23.pdf

LSE 2030 (strategy document):

https://www(dot)lse(dot)ac(dot)uk/2030/assets/pdf/LSE-2030-booklet.pdf