Strategy in the Global Marketplace

This report analyzes the business strategy of Nando’s, a global restaurant chain, and explores strategic options, implementation, sustainability, and innovation strategies in the global marketplace.

Strategy in the global
marketplace

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
1. Strategic Option for Nando’s and its Evaluation using SAF Model....................................3
2. Implementation of the Strategic Plan at Nando’s.................................................................5
3. Sustainability Strategy at Nando’s........................................................................................9
4. Promotion of Innovation at Nando’s..................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
For a business organisation to operate successfully within the consumer markets and
operational industries, it is immensely essential for the business organisation to create and
implement a business strategic plan that is able to increase the operational and financial
performance of the business organisation while also providing it with a sustained competitive
advantage against its competing business organisations (Riku and Setyohadi, 2017). This report
analyses the business strategy of Nando’s, which is a global restaurant chain that operates in the
global hospitality industry. Nando’s was founded in 1987, 33 years ago in South Africa and
currently operates from its organisational headquarters in Johannesburg. Nando’s restaurant
chain business organisation specialises in selling African Portuguese styled chicken fast food and
casual dining cuisines. Nando’s operates more than 1000 distinct restaurant chain establishments
across 35 different countries around the world. This report makes use of various models and
frameworks in order to analyse the strategic plan of Nando’s.
MAIN BODY
1. Strategic Option for Nando’s and its Evaluation using SAF Model
The most optimum strategy that allows for the future growth and development of
Nando’s within the hospitality industry and also allows for the business organisation to gain a
sustained competitive edge against their numerous competitors within the hospitality industry
relates to differentiation strategy. Through the differentiation strategic plan, Nando’s is required
to differentiate the goods and products that it sells to its customers within the hospitality industry
from the goods and products that are readily available to the consumers in the external markets
through the operations of Nando’s competition business organisations. As the number of
business organisations operating within the food and dining hospitality industry of UK is
relatively high, differentiating the goods and products of Nando’s from their competitor’s is a
viable strategic plan (Galli, 2020). This strategy is justified to be the best strategic option
available to Nando’s as through the differentiation strategy, Nando’s can effectively provide
their distinguished and differentiated goods and services to their customers within the hospitality

industry the likes of which are not available to the in the hospitality markets of UK, which allows
for the business to effectively satisfy and provide value to their customers through their
distinguished and differentiated goods and products. The differentiation strategy is further
justified as through this strategy, Nando’s can effectively acquire new customers from the
hospitality industry, which contributes effectively towards their increased customer base and
market share parameters. This strategy also allows for Nando’s to gain a competitive advantage
against their competitors, allowing for Nando’s to grow and expand their business operations
effectively.
A strategic management model that can be used to evaluate the strategic plan of a
business organisation such as Nando’s, allowing for the business organisation to choose and
formulate most optimum business strategy is the SAF framework. Through the SAF framework,
there are 3 main factors that can influence the success or failure of a business strategy at
Nando’s, which are as follows:
Suitability: This metric analyses whether the formulated business strategy is suitable for the
business organisation or not, by analysing the micro environment of the business organisation.
The differentiation strategic plan is highly suitable for Nando’s as it already possesses highly
skilled and experienced chefs and managers within the business organisation who can effectively
differentiate the goods and products of Nando’s from their competitors, thus providing increased
value to Nando’s customers.
Feasibility: This metric of the SAF framework analyses the internal weaknesses and strengths of
the business organisation in order to evaluate whether the formulated strategic plan is feasible for
the business organisation or not (Zazueta Salido, Lagarda‐Leyva and Lozoya Díaz, 2019).
Differentiation strategy is also feasible for Nando’s as it possesses highly skilled and
experienced human resources within the organisation who are capable of effectively innovating
and differentiating the manufactured good and products of Nando’s from that of their
competitors.
Acceptability: This metric analyses the financial aspects of the proposed strategic plan in order to
evaluate whether the strategic plan is acceptable for the business or not. Differentiation strategy s
also highly acceptable to Nando’s, as though the strategy carries risks, it also has the potential to

offer significant rewards to Nando’s if the business is able to effectively implement the
differentiation strategy into tis operations and functions.
2. Implementation of the Strategic Plan at Nando’s
Effective implementation of the differentiation strategic plan at Nando’s requires the
business organisation to thoroughly conduct market research about the kinds of products and
goods that are readily available to the consumers within the hospitality industry of UK through
the operations of their competitor business organisations. This can allow for Nando’s to gain
insights into the how many of their products and goods manufactured are highly similar,
alternative or substitutable by the goods and products available to consumers in the external
markets (Uzarski and Broome, 2019). Through this market analysis, the chefs and managers of
Nando’s can come up with new and unique goods and products which are highly differentiated
from the kinds of products that are readily available to their customers in the hospitality markets
of UK, allowing for Nando’s to effectively satisfy the needs and requirements of their customers
through highly differentiated goods which are not available to the consumers anywhere else. This
strategic plan would require Nando’s to implement some organisational changes within the
business organisation such as eliminating the menu cuisines and dishes which are highly similar
and substitutable by the goods and products manufactured by their competitors, creating new and
unique cuisines and dishes, incorporating the highly differentiated dishes and cuisines into their
new menu and training the restaurant staff and chefs towards being able to prepare the new
dishes and cuisines up to the standards expected of Nando’s.
McKinsey’s 7s Model:
The McKinsey’s 7s model is a strategical framework that can be used to effectively
analyse the effects of changes within Nando’s business organisation through the implementation
of differentiation strategic plan. As per this model, there are 7 elements that are under the direct
control of Nando’s management and evaluate the internal components of Nando’s as follows:
 Strategy: Nando’s leadership and senior management have decided to implement and
incorporate the differentiation strategy into their operaitons and functions towards
effectively differentiating the goods and products of Nando’s from their competitors. This

strategy allows for Nando’s to gain a sustained competitive advantage in the hospitality
industry of UK. Structure: Nando’s operates on a hierarchical functional organisational structure which
allows for the business organisation to carry out diverse operational roles and
responsibilities through the individual operations of its various departments such as
kitchens, management, finance, marketing etc. Systems: Nando’s makes use of various traditional and digital systems to ensure that the
operations of its various employees are conducted in an effective manner that maintains
their operational performance and efficiency levels (Beiko and et.al., 2018). Through its
organisational systems, Nando’s ensures that candidates of right skills and experience is
available at the appropriate organisational position. Style: Nando’s leadership operates using the directive leadership style as this approach
allows for the leaders of Nando’s to effectively delegate roles and responsibilities
amongst the employees in order to ensure smooth operations of Nando’s. Staff: Nando’s also possesses a dedicated human resource management department that
takes care of all the staffing needs of Nando’s through their strategic recruitment and
selection operations. Skills: Nando’s possesses highly skilled, talented and experienced employees at various
operational positions within its hierarchical organisational structure, which allows for
Nando’s to operate successfully within the hospitality markets of UK. Shared Values: Nando’s also maintains to the code of conducts, code of ethics and
engages in organisational practices that are highly ethical and moral, which effectively
contributes to Nando’s enjoying high brand awareness and reputation amongst its
competitors within the hospitality industry.
Type of Change:
The type of organisational change that is proposed by the implementation of
differentiation strategy at Nando’s relates to the planned transformational organisational change.
Transformational change refers to the change that occurs to the organisational strategy of a
business organisation such as Nando’s. The transformational change within Nando’s is planned
by its leadership and senior management with the intention to enable the business organisation to

grow and develop its business operations towards increased success in the hospitality markets of
UK. Transformational changes within a business organisation such as Nando’s completely alter
their how the business conducts their daily operations and have a significant impact on the
process, technological solutions used and people of the business organisation (Rubens and et.al.,
2018). Implementing and incorporating differentiation strategic plan at Nando’s will require a
complete change to the business’s operational model and management which is a key
characteristic of transformational changes within a business organisation.
Difficulties of implementing change:
As implementing organisational change within a business organisation is a difficult and
complex process, Nando’s can face several challenges and barriers towards being able to
effectively implement organisational change to their operations and functions as follows:
Organisational Resistance: The most significant challenge and difficulty that the leadership and
senior management of Nando’s can face when implementing organisational change within the
business organisation relates the other employees and management of the business organisation
resisting to the effective implementation of the proposed organisational change. This is a natural
reaction of the Nando’s employees and management as change is hard to implement into a
business organisation and many of its employees actively try to avoid or ignore the proposed
organisational change.
Decreased Motivation: Implementing organisational change within Nando’s will inevitable
require the leadership and senior management of Nando’s to alter or update the individual roles
and responsibilities of many of their employees and workforce. This alterations and changes to
their daily job roles and responsibilities which the employees have become accustomed to up
until now can result in the employees feeling less motivated to conduct their new operations and
feeling decreasingly satisfied with their jobs, which is a major challenge for Nando’s as they
require their employees and workforce to be able to operate at optimum levels of efficiency and
performance which can only happen when the employees are highly motivated and job satisfied.
Change Management Model:

Change management refers to the process of effectively managing the transitions or
changes within a business organisation with respect to the business, its processes, employees,
strategy, objectives, vision etc. Change management process requires the application of various
structured frameworks which have been planned and assessed by the leadership of the business
organisation so that the business can be steered into the preferred and desired direction once the
proposed change has been implemented within the business organisation. Kotter’s change
management model is a strategical management framework, through which the organisational
changes at Nando’s can be effectively managed (Business, 2016). There are 8 stages of the
Kotter’s change management model, which are as follows:
 Urgency: The senior management of Nando’s is required to create a sense of urgency
amongst the Nando’s employees with the intention to motivate them towards
accomplishing organisational objectives.
 Team Building: This phase requires Nando’s to effectively build organisational teams
by mixing employees of right skills and experiences with each other.
 Vision: This stage requires Nando’s leadership to design relevant and valid long term
vision for the business organisation that takes into account the organisational strategy,
employee skills, creativity and innovation of the business organisation.
 Communication: This is an immensely important stage and requires Nando’s to
effectively communicate to its various employees about the organisational changes that
are about to be implemented at the business organisation.
 Movement: This phase encourages the leadership and senior management of Nando’s to
provide all the necessary support to their employees and removing any organisational
roadblocks towards the proposed change.
 Short Term Goals: This phase requires senior management of Nando’s to place
increased focus on short term objectives within the business organisation as these are a
good method of achieving success.
 Persistence: The is also another essential stage of the change management model and
encourages the leadership and senior management of Kotter to persevere through their
implementation of the organisational change, irrespective of the issues and challenges
that they might face (Baginski and et.al., 2017).

 Incorporation of Change: Final stage, which requires Nando’s to reinforce the
organisational change and make it part of the daily operations of its employees and the
organisational culture at Nando’s.
Risk of Associated Strategy:
The main risks associated with the differentiation strategy at Nando’s relates to the
changes in customer demands, needs, requirements and preferences, changes in industry trends
and the imitation of the differentiated goods and products created by Nando’s by their competitor
business organisations.
3. Sustainability Strategy at Nando’s
For the operations of Nando’s to be successful within the hospitality industry of UK in
the long term, Nando’s requires creation and implementation of a dedicated sustainability
strategy that makes its current operations and success sustainable for the future as well. In order
to make the current operations of Nando’s sustainable, the business organisation is recommended
to exclusively adopt moral and ethical operational practices and processes. In addition, the most
important element as part of their sustainability strategy relates to Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) of Nando’s. CSR is defined as the self regulation process through which a
business organisation places increased focus and emphasis on the welfare and improvement of
the human life within the business organisation and in the external society as a direct impact of
the operations conducted by the business organisation (Williams Jr and et.al., 2018). The CSR
responsibilities of Nando’s as part of their sustainable strategy are required to combine the moral
and legal obligations of the business organisation.
Nando’s can effectively implement CSR within the business organisation by making use
of the Carroll’s pyramid model of CSR, which is a strategic model that details how a business
organisation is responsible towards 4 main components of the external society, which are as
follows:
Economic Responsibility: The CSR of Nando’s makes it responsible to the external society for
manufacturing goods and products that provide to their customers increased levels of value,
while being able to effectively satisfy the needs and demands of their customers within the

hospitality industry. Only be adhering to their economic responsibility can the operations of
Nando’s become sustainable for the future.
Legal Responsibility: This component relates to the obligation of Nando’s towards adhering to
all the legally mandated legislations and regulations, in order to ensure that the operations of
Nando’s are sustainable for the future.
Ethical Responsibility: This component of Nando’s CSR relates to the business organisation
eliminating any immoral or unethical operational practise from the business organisation which
fails to meet the moral expectations of the external society (Ward, 2016). The operations of
Nando’s can only be sustainable if its organisational practices are ethical.
Philanthropic Responsibility: Final responsibility of the Nando’s CSR is to satisfy the needs of
their community being giving out and providing donations, community service to the
underprivileged sections of the society, which effectively contributes towards making the
operations of Nando’s sustainable for the future.
4. Promotion of Innovation at Nando’s
Innovation relates to the process of applying new technological solutions or ideas to a
technology or product that is already available in the external markets with the intention to
increasing the overall value of these products provide to the customers. Nando’s can promote
innovation within their own business organisation by placing increased emphasis on the 4 Ps of
innovation. The 4 Ps of innovation are a strategic framework through which Nando’s can
promote innovation within their own business organisation as follows:
Product: In order for Nando’s to promote innovation within the business organisation, its
leadership and senior management are required to place increased focus on the innovation of the
goods and products that Nando’s sells to the consumers within the hospitality industry. The
products of Nando’s include the various cuisines and dishes that it sells to the customers at its
various hospitality establishments (Cunningham, Harney and Fitzgerald, 2020). Nando’s needs
to place increased focus on innovating its menu dishes and cuisines using new and advanced
cooking techniques, which would allow for the business organisation to promote innovation.

Process: These relate to the various operational processes of Nando’s that are required for its
business operations to be successful within the hospitality industry. Nando’s is recommended to
place increased emphasis on innovating its various operational processes such as human
resources, cooking, management, marketing, supply chain etc., in order for the business
organisation to be able to operate in the hospitality industry with increased operational and
financial performance.
Position: Position refers to the alterations that Nando’s can make towards effectively introducing
their newly manufactured goods and products into the consumer markets. Nando’s are required
to position their operations appropriate in order for their new introduced goods and products to
be able to effectively satisfy the needs, requirements and demands of their customers (Barbosa,
Castañeda-Ayarza and Ferreira, 2020). This can allow for Nando’s to effectively increase their
overall customer base and operate in for new customer segments which can increase the
operational and financial performance of Nando’s.
Paradigm: This relates to how, where and why the customers of Nando’s within the hospitality
industry choose to avail the services of the business organisation and consume their
manufactured goods and products. This includes the values, beliefs and reputation of Nando’s
within the hospitality markets of UK. Paradigm innovations can be radical in nature and can have
extreme influence on the operational success or failure of Nando’s within the hospitality markets
of UK.
CONCLUSION
Through this report’s findings, it is concluded that the successful operations of a business
organisation such as Nando’s is highly depended upon the strategic plan implemented within the
business organisation and the capability of the strategic plan to allow for the business
organisation to gain a competitive edge against their competitors within the operational
industries. This report analyses strategic plan for Nando’s using the SAF framework. Then the
report makes use of various models such as McKinsey 7s, change management models to
analyse how Nando’s can efficiently implement their strategic plan into the business’s
operations. Further the report evaluates the sustainability strategy that is required to be
implemented into the operations and functions of Nando’s. Finally, the report assesses how

Nando’s can promote innovation within their business organisation in order to increase and
enhance the operational and financial performance of Nando’s within the hospitality industry.

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