Andy Central Kitchen (ACK) | Key Findings | Assignment

5.1) Strategic Management
ACK practices strategic management in managing its external environment which comprise
general environment and industry environment; and internal environment. It manages its
resources well to maximize their potential in achieving effective operations performance for
support AF-courts.
ACK manages its tangible and intangible resources such as brand names, patents, know-how,
registered designs, and legal rights. These resources are supportive of ACK to achieve operations
performance objectives in the food industry so that they can bolster the core competencies of
AF-Courts to derive competitive advantage.
5.1.1) Resources, Capabilities, Core Competencies
ACK’s resources consist of a factory with process technologies, cooking facilities, skilled chefs,
cooks and kitchen helpers. Along with this, intangible factors include ACK brand name for some
food specialties.
ACK possesses many good practices of the firm in developing the food and business logistics
suppliers. The first-tier suppliers would develop the new approach in appointing and developing
the second-tier suppliers which would improve the supply network and bring competitive
benefits in the food industry (Morden, 2016). Another significant part of resources is human
resources that include knowledge, skills, and decision-making competence of a firm. This
competency would improve food and logistics supplier-relationship, and improve the quality of
delivered food ingredients and ensure dependability and flexibility of the ingredient supplies.
The analyzes reflected the survey responses from SQ1.
In addition to this, good practices of firm capability and development of new capabilities from its
resources would derive competencies in its food processing technologies which showed superior
innovation, superior efficiency; superior customer responsiveness in preparing the food dishes;
superior quality in the vegetables, meat and fish that it ordered for its kitchen. The competences

contribute to ACK’s improved operations performance, and these core competencies when
transferred to AF-Courts would derive the competitive advantage for AF-Courts.
AF-Courts’ competitive advantages comprise low cost, and differentiation in its products or
services, leading to its cost leadership strategy or differentiation strategy which were used for
exploiting external environmental opportunities to offer greater and better value to AF-Court’s
customers who lunch and dine at their food outlets (Hitt and Ireland, 2017). As a result, through
ACK being able to market and supply its products and services at good quality and lower costs to
AF-Courts, these food courts are able to increase their competitive advantage.
5.1.2) Competitive Advantages Comprising Low Cost and Differentiation
In operating with low cost strategy, ACK has thorough knowledge regarding costs, such that it is
able to standardize its services for the primary and support activities in order to lower the
expenses and costs which will be transferred to AF-Courts to enable these food courts to gain
competitive advantage.
Moreover, ACK’s speed in responding to AF-Courts’ customers request for new food items in
the menu has made these customers wanting to visit the food outlets regularly because their food
needs and preferences have been satisfied.
ACK also shows flexibility and dependability in revising and changing the menu according to
the schedule and AF-Courts’ managers who receive feedbacks from their customers. Food
deliveries are dependable as they meet the lunch time and dinner customers, and enhance the
superior efficiency and superior customer responsiveness. This would lead to achieving AF-
courts’ competitive advantage.
Moreover, ACK develops its brand for food varieties and freshness; quality food ingredients;
transparency in logistics and distribution of food materials and cooked food for AF-Courts. This
would help AF-Courts to achieve superior quality and superior innovations, leading to AF-
courts’ competitive advantage.

5.2) Supply Chain
ACK’s food supply chain links the central kitchen with its first-tier and second-tier suppliers,
and to its customers which are the AF-Courts. The links are enabled by technology and logistics
activities consisting of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, as
well as, consumer services (Feng-Seng, 2015). This helps ACK to achieve the operations
performance in terms of quality, speed, flexibility and dependability which reduce cost.
Transferring these achievements to AF-Courts would help these food courts to achieve
competitive advantage.
5.2.1) Primary Activities
The primary activities involve inbound logistics. ACK ensures that the incoming food materials
are received with good quality checks; speed in receiving into the cold store; and the count
quantity is accurate and dependable. Flexibility in sending the materials to the Operations’
Kitchen is done so that the food can be produced and transferred to AF-Courts, using outbound
logistics help AF-Courts to achieve superior efficiency and superior customer responsiveness
that lead to competitive advantage for AF-Courts.
New dishes are regarded as product development and are prepared and tasted by the central
kitchen, before they are sold to AF-Courts by ACK’s sales, and after-sales support (Stadtler,
2015). This leads to ACK’s product quality and dependability being transferred to AF-Courts,
and helps AF-Courts to achieve superior quality and superior customer responsiveness leading to
competitive advantage for AF-Courts.
5.2.2) Support Activities
Support activities contain firm infrastructure, technology development, human resource
management, and procurement (Fosso Wamba, et. al., 2018). ACK ensures that the operations
performance of the support activities is good so that they would help to improve the competitive
advantage of AF-Courts.
a) For Firm Infrastructure: Dependability
b) For Technology Development: Flexibility
c) For Human Resource Management: Quality of staff strategy and knowledge