Business Strategy for
the Food &
Hospitality Industries
Andrew Boer
Analytical Tools Workshop
• Covered:
– Market / customer analysis
– Competitive analysis
– Financial analysis
– Portfolio analysis
– Resource analysis
– Operational analysis
– Strategic group analysis etc……..
Analytical Tools Workshop
• Tools are often ineffective when used in
isolation / individually
• Tools do not always need to be 100%
accurate (higher % the better, but no
need to ensure 100%)
• Tools can be interpreted in different ways
by different people
Analytical Tools Workshop
• Application of tools also varies, even
given the same criteria…hence no such
thing as a ‘right’ answer
• Complexity of tools and texts : often
better to utilise simple solutions
• Tools of analysis not only there to
develop insight and analysis but also as
tools of communication
Analysis of the Business
Environment
• The Remote Environment
– those issues which may affect the operating
environment but which the business cannot
significantly influence
• The Operating Environment
– the environment and factors which most
immediately concern the business (ie those
issues which have impact on the business, its
markets and direct competitors)
Analysis of the Business
Environment
• PEST / PESTE analysis
• Critique of PEST / PESTE
– Limited in scope & parameters due to the
recognition of an increasingly diverse environment
and the increased likelihood of environmental
issues impinging on the organisation
(e.g IT ; Globalisation etc)
Demographics
Economic
Ecological
Political
The
Enterprise
Legal
Information
Socio cultural
Technological
Examples of environmental influences : DEEPLIST
Analysis of the Business
Environment
• DEEPLIST Critique
– Perspective dependent on the ‘timeframes’ in
which the organisation is working.
– ‘Miscategorisation’ of interrelated factors which
could be included under more than one heading
– May only be indicative of ‘effects’ not ‘causes’
– Not an exhausive / finite listing of categories and
may lead to focus on wrong issues
– Only as good as the people compiling it !
– Simplistic ? Too detailed ?
DEEPLIST Analysis
• Demographic
– Characteristics of human populations
• Economic
– Structural shifts in economies as well as the
nature of economic activity (GDP; taxation;
inflation; exchange rates; consumption levels etc)
• Ecological
– Consequences of environmental change
DEEPLIST Analysis
• Political
– Policies of governments regarding the
infrastructure and trade environment
• Legal
– Policies regarding the legislative infrastructure and
environment
• Informational
– Nature and availability of new sources and types
of information
DEEPLIST Analysis
• Social / Sociological / Sociocultural
– Characteristics reflecting lifestyles and social
expectations and aspirations
• Technological
– Impact of technological change on the production
process, the customer or the nature of the
products or services
Predictive Models
• Need to consider the dynamics and
turbulence of the environment to put
predictive models into context.
• Changeability
– Degree to which the market is likely to change
• Predicatbility
– Degree with which such changes can be predicted
Environmental Dynamics
and Turbulence
Low
High
Changeability Changeability
Low
Predictability
Responsive
Environment
High
Predictability
Low
Turbulence
Environment
High
Turbulence
Environment
Proactive
Environment
Predictive Models
• If turbulence is low may be possible to predict
the future with confidence
(Prescriptive strategies?)
• If turbulence is high, the future is more
difficult to predict and the organisation needs
to be structured to reflect this
(Emergent strategies?)
Predictive Models
• In a reflexive environment, the organisation
will need to ensure it has flexibility of both
resources and systems
• In a proactive environment, the organisation
can develop an infrastructure to support
continuous development
• BUT..can you really tell the future??