Entrepreneurship, Innovation and New Ventures - A Case Study of Eagle Boys Pizza

This report describes the value of innovation and entrepreneurship skills on the overall growth and sustainability of new ventures through the case study of Eagle Boys Pizza. It identifies different issues faced by the company and links them with standard entrepreneurship actions. The report also provides argumentative explanations of the way lack of innovation and change in the entrepreneurship business model can reduce business growth. It ends with recommendations for research and development on innovative franchising models to regain past value, market share and brand competitiveness.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP, INNOVATION AND NEW VENTURES
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Executive summary:
The present report describes the value of innovation and entrepreneurship skills on the overall
growth and sustainability of new ventures. This report also describes different issues experienced
by Eagle Boys Pizza while conducting business in Australian fast food industry. The identified
issues are also interlinked with the standard entrepreneurship actions stated in the past literature.
On the other hand, the report also provides argumentative explanations of the way lack of
innovation and change in the entrepreneurship business model can reduce the business growth.
Finally, this report ends with recommendations such as research and development on innovative
franchising model to regain the past value, market share and the brand competitiveness of Eagle
Boys Pizza in the Australian market.
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction:..............................................................................................................................4
2.0 Theoretical concepts relevant to the issues of Eagle Boys Pizza:.............................................5
2.1 Different issues:.....................................................................................................................5
a) Entrepreneurship:.................................................................................................................5
b) Recognizing opportunities and innovation:.........................................................................5
c) Marketing and branding:......................................................................................................5
d) Intellectual property and franchise management:................................................................6
e) Growth challenges:...............................................................................................................6
2.2 Linking the issues with the theoretical perspective:..............................................................7
3.0 The knowledge, qualities and skills necessary for successful entrepreneurship:......................8
3.1 Identified knowledge:............................................................................................................8
3.2 Identified qualities:................................................................................................................8
3.3 Identified skills:......................................................................................................................8
3.4 Contribution of skills and knowledge to the business success or failure:..............................8
4.0 Argument on the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in relation to the issues:...............10
4.1 Contribution of entrepreneurship and innovation to the success of the business:...............10
4.2 Other factors contributed to the success or failure of the business:.....................................11
4.3 Recommendations:...............................................................................................................11
5.0 Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................13
References:....................................................................................................................................14
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1.0 Introduction:
The present business report tries to link theoretical elements of entrepreneurship related to varied
business issues and policies, as it helps to meet future challenges in a competitive business
environment. The case study of Eagle Boys Pizza, Australia has been chosen in the present
context. A varied range of entrepreneurial skills and qualities are also shown in this report. Based
on the success and failure parameters, the report provides a few strategic recommendations to
improve the business sustainability along with the identified challenges and threats.
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2.0 Theoretical concepts relevant to the issues of Eagle Boys Pizza:
2.1 Different issues:
a) Entrepreneurship:
At the foundation of the business, Tom Potter started with a limited amount of capital. Due to the
lack of capital base, Tom Potter had to secure his mother Barbara, as a partner in the start-up
business venture. On top of that, the expertise was in the domain of bakery, which was another
constraint while forming the whole set up for Pizza production (Ibrahim & Mas’ud, 2016).
b) Recognizing opportunities and innovation:
After the inauguration of Eagle Boys Pizza, the entrepreneur conducted unique market research
to open new pizza stores across Australia and meeting consumer demand in varied regions. In
this context, Kautonen et al (2013) stated that extensive market research of Tom Potter helped to
identify business opportunities in different locations and provided a pathway to get involved in
the innovation process. A highly competitive market and lack of adequate expertise were the
main issues faced by the company.
c) Marketing and branding:
In order to enjoy high brand recognition and loyalty, the company conducted extensive market
research and advertising campaigns. However, Langlois (2007) stated that maintaining a higher
brand exposure was another challenge for the company. In order to increase the brand awareness,
the company changed the telephone number to get more customer attention towards. In addition,
in the highly competitive business market, continuous exercise on branding and marketing were
also found a significant challenge to the company.
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d) Intellectual property and franchise management:
The power of the competitor was very high in the selected industry. On top of that, the scope of
losing the brand uniqueness was also significantly higher (Sicoli, 2018). Thus, in order to protect
the brand identity, the company created an intellectual property (IP) strategy. However, Park &
Kim (2017) stated that premature public disclosure derailed the success of a franchise business,
which destroyed the brand reputation of many leading Australian fast food brands. Considering
the challenge, the brand had to work on educating the employees and franchisees so that the IP
values do not get compromised.
e) Growth challenges:
Since the simple franchising model was the key success factor behind the business expansion,
the company faced issues in managing all busy stores in terms of meeting optimum service
quality. At the same time, due to the lesser return on investment from the franchising model, the
company faced issues to build new stores (Stokvik et al 2017). However, Wiktor (2014)
mentioned that the enormous R&D had enabled the company to understand the growth
challenges through franchising business and the company managed to retain its growth.
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Existing knowledge
process
Risk and
uncertainty
New Start-up
2.2 Linking the issues with the theoretical perspective:
All the above mentioned issues and challenges can be interlinked with the basic theory of
“Entrepreneurial Actions”, which states that knowledge procession and risk & uncertainty are the
key success factors of new value creation. The overall R&D and innovation along with the
market analysis conducted by the firm led to the key success and significant business growth.
However, the company did some different actions, which was ‘avoiding the risk and
uncertainty’, through enormous effort and mathematical calculation. It has helped the firm
ensuring a nominal risk zone against the existing market competition. It was found completely
different approach during the operation of Eagle Boys Pizza (Uygur & Kim, 2017).
On top of that the prime element of entrepreneurial action ‘Knowledge process’ was missing in
this area, as the owner had a different working background. This approach also found completely
distinct from the conventional theory of Entrepreneurial Actions.
Figure 1: Framework for Entrepreneurial Actions
(Source: Created by author)
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3.0 The knowledge, qualities and skills necessary for successful entrepreneurship:
From the case study, identified knowledge, qualities and skills that drove the business success of
Eagle Boys Pizza, are as follows:
3.1 Identified knowledge:
 Ability to assess customer insight
 Business research to assess potential customers
 Learning from the interaction
 Intellectual property management
 Open-mindedness to continuously bring change
3.2 Identified qualities:
 Action driven behaviour
 Confidence
 Optimism
 Self-disciplined
 Creativity and competitiveness
3.3 Identified skills:
 Bakery production efficacy
 Optimum productivity
 Ability to identify the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat
 Future insight
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3.4 Contribution of skills and knowledge to the business success or failure:
The use of powerful franchising model is the key factor for Eagle Boys to attain a huge business
success in the operating area. It was known to the management of Eagle Boys that it is a
challenging factor to control and maintain the several stores operating across the country
(www.franchisebusiness.com.au, 2018). Thus, a lucrative franchise system with trained people is
required to execute the business process. As per the given case, the management of the chosen
firm thus developed a cost-effective franchise model which has helped to execute the store
operations more effectively. Supporting the prior statement, Chavan & Agrawal (2002)
mentioned that in order to enhance the skills and knowledge of the staff, a franchise training
system has been developed along with an assistance program, to train the selected team. A day-
to-day guidance process has increased the employee’s skill, knowledge and expertise level to
extend the operational aptitude of Eagle Boys ((Blewitt, 2012). In addition, Berkhout et al.
(2011) asserted that a consistent observing approach by the franchise business managers has also
helped the firm to improve its employee effectiveness, sales and overall profitability. Moreover,
strong marketing policy, dynamic product offerings and promotional skill have increased its
buying power support in the dependable market of Australia.
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4.0 Argument on the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in relation to the issues:
4.1 Contribution of entrepreneurship and innovation to the success of the business:
From the very beginning the founder of Eagle Boys, Mr. Potter has understood the worth of
Intellectual Property (IP) and securing IP rights (IPRs). The innovative designed used for pizza
delivering has helped the firm to grab the attention of the target mass (Eftekhari & Bogers,
2015). Supporting the current context McGrath & O’Toole (2016) cited that a unique two-tiered
pizza box design was the patent application of its brand innovativeness. On the other hand, the
logo and slogan of the firm like ‘Eagle Boys Ready When You Are’ and ‘Eagle Boys Bigger.
Better.’ has enhanced its marketing campaign to get success from the business
(www.franchisebusiness.com.au, 2018). Adding to this, Burgelman & Hitt (2007) professed that
another band innovativeness symbol called ‘pink glow’ is registered as its company trademark
with the Intellectual Property (IP) office of the Australian Government. Furthermore, the public
relations approach taken by the firm has empowered its success towards achieving a strong
entrepreneurship in the Australian market (Blewitt, 2012). Therefore, considering these factors, it
could be stated that the entrepreneurship and innovation were the only things that supported the
Eagle Boys to build a successful business empire.
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Figure 2: The patent application for Eagle Boys' unique two-tiered pizza box (IP Australia
Patent No. 741897)
(Source: www.franchisebusiness.com.au, 2018)
4.2 Other factors contributed to the success or failure of the business:
A varied range of store factors represented the root of the business model and helped to meet the
requirements of the target people coming from urban and provincial areas (Eftekhari & Bogers,
2015). However, although the decision of selling out Eagle Boys Pizza was found potential for
establishing next business line that is gourmet bakery and coffee house, the structural changes
made by the new owner of Eagle Boys Pizza failed to extend the franchise operated outlets. The
number of franchising outlets also got reduced by 33.5% by the end of FY 2016 as compared to
FY 2008. Moreover, after merging with the Pizza Hut in the FY 2016, the overall share value
drastically fallen and the brand became fourth largest pizza chain in Australia (Davidsson et al.
2018).
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.4.3 Recommendations:
In order to expand its market opportunities more differently, Eagle Boys requires focusing on
balancing the local customization with the network consistency system (McGrath & O’Toole,
2016). The operational playbook of its franchising model must command for more using its
brand and trademark so that the more execution of the commercial activities could outline an
indispensable practice where its every store must imitate to be a part of its single network.
However, it is also guided by Berkhout et al. (2011), that every store of Eagle Boys would need
to be independent to be accustomed to its local requirements, local customers’ inclinations to
determine the brand success. The marketing solution of the firm requires functioning in an
equivalent way by allowing the franchise team to control, monitor and influence the staffs as per
consumer needs (Davidsson et al. 2018). Moreover, the business model should need to be
flexible enough to permit each store adopting the settings according to the market demands.
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5.0 Conclusion:
After evaluating the case of Eagle Boys, it has been perceived that the entrepreneurs of such
franchisee business organization need to be adaptive as per its market trend and industry
standard. The switching intention of its founder is the main reason to bring this kind of drastic
change in the business model of Eagle Boys. Therefore, before selling the trademark, the
management must incorporate some innovative ideas into its franchising model for improving its
structural design and foundational principles. It is expected that the innovative research and
devolvement (R&D) approach secured through IP rights may help Eagle Boys to continue its
growth and well-respected brand position in the Australian pizza market.
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References:
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innovation. International Journal Of Entrepreneurship And Innovation Management, 14(1),
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Blewitt, J. (2012). Environmental issues: the role of institutions and firm strategy. International
Journal Of Social Entrepreneurship And Innovation, 1(4), 351. doi:
10.1504/ijsei.2012.051472
BOYS, E. (2018). EAGLE BOYS. Retrieved from
http://www.franchisebusiness.com.au/brands/eagle-boys
Burgelman, R., & Hitt, M. (2007). Entrepreneurial actions, innovation, and
appropriability. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 1(3-4), 349-352. doi: 10.1002/sej.28
Chavan, M., & Agrawal, R. (2002). The Changing Role of Ethnic Entrepreneurs in
Australia. The International Journal Of Entrepreneurship And Innovation, 3(3), 175-182.
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Davidsson, P., Recker, J., & von Briel, F. (2018). External Enablement of New Venture
Creation: A Framework. Academy Of Management Perspectives, 5(8), 56-77. doi:
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Eftekhari, N., & Bogers, M. (2015). Open for Entrepreneurship: How Open Innovation Can
Foster New Venture Creation. Creativity And Innovation Management, 24(4), 574-584. doi:
10.1111/caim.12136
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Ibrahim, N., & Mas’ud, A. (2016). Moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the
relationship between entrepreneurial skills, environmental factors and entrepreneurial
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10.5267/j.msl.2016.1.005
Kautonen, T., van Gelderen, M., & Fink, M. (2013). Robustness of the Theory of Planned
Behavior in Predicting Entrepreneurial Intentions and Actions. Entrepreneurship Theory
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