Strategic Plans and Decisions for Foodies Business Expansion

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic plans and decision-making processes for the Foodies business. It explores various decision types, including planning, tactical, and operational decisions, emphasizing the importance of internal and external information sources such as financial, marketing, manufacturing, and personnel data, as well as print and internet-based information. The report identifies key stakeholders, including employees, the CEO, managers, customers, and the government, and discusses methods for developing business relationships. Furthermore, it offers recommendations for business improvements, such as monitoring plans, employee training, and utilizing new promotional techniques. The report underscores the significance of ethical business practices, customer satisfaction, and adapting to market challenges to ensure long-term success for Foodies. It emphasizes the need for proper planning, control, and effective communication within the organization to achieve its objectives.

Table of contents
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The main objectives of this assignment are to focus on the strategic plans that Foodies
will apply to run their business for a long period. There are different ways in which the
organisation will implement new decisions to face the market challenges and new plans they
will follow this are discussed in this assignment. It also focuses on improving the
communication skills also.
LO1
Implementation of different decisions that are required to commence a new
business (AC 1.1, 1.2)
Decisions are one of the most important factors that are associated with the
organisations (Khodakarami et al. 2014, p.27). If the management team fails to take right
decisions, then it will affect the organisation. There are different ranges of decisions that are
taken in framing in organisations and they are discussed below.
Planning
This one of the most important factor if the organisation wants to take any decisions
then they must take the necessary steps in the planning of the decisions. The Human resource
team implements any decisions without prior planning and it will create negative impacts in
the organisation. Similarly, due to proper planning organisations can fight with the
competitor in the market in extreme adverse market conditions.
Senior management team
The senior level management or the top-level management of the organisations are
the ones who is involved in taking the decisions in organisations and with the prior
experience of the team, they frame new decisions. Additionally, they also take the help of the
experts also. Whatever the decisions they are taking they communicate to their subordinates
in the organisation (Richter et al. 2013, p.132). This team includes the chief executive of the
organisations and other superiors.
Tactical Decision:
This tactical decision includes the medium-term planning for the organisation that
would be helpful in implementing the accurate strategies. This tactical decision includes the
marketing decision of an organisation. Levine et al. (2013, p.44) observed that while
commencing the business the top management team must have their desired goals. If they are
aware of their goals, then they will perform accordingly.
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The team will assign desired targets to the employees and they must fulfil the targets
in a speculated time. The employees can be motivated in different ways if they achieved the
target before the deadline then they will be rewarded or they will get fringe benefits from
organisations.
Operational Decision:
Operation decision aids in implementing the strategies that have been taken in tactical
decisions (Bloom et al. 2014, p.2859). In this case, Foodies can take the decision on selecting
the merchandises. Apart from this, the workers must be aware of the long-time swell as the
short-term goals and per it, they have to perform. Feedbacks from the customers must be
treated with proper care. What are the problems that are being faced by the peoples regarding
the food products they must be rectified?
Controlling
The plans that the organisations are taking they have to controlled in a better way
(Panahi et al. 2013, p.379). The task does not come to an end after framing the plans and
policies they have to implement in organisations and controlled to get the desired results.
This can be achieved by taking feedback from the employees of the organisations and in this
method, they will give their opinions what problems are being faced by them and while
knowing the problems of the employees it will be solved by the panels of expertise.
Additionally, the superiors must have a proper control on their subordinates and it is
the responsibility of the coordinators to observe that they are doing their tasks or not.
Moreover, if coordinators observe that an employee is unable to complete the task then they
have to understand the problems that are being faced by them and they have to recommend
proper solutions for their problems.
If a group of peoples are suggesting that there is a need of improvement of food then
they have to be improved and many other factors that have to be considered (Fazey et al.
2013, p.19). Foodies must provide better services to the customers so that they can retain the
customers for a long period of time. While getting better services if the customers are
satisfied then it will help in earning a large amount of profit and market shares. Additionally,
it will assist them to expand their business in the selected overseas market.
For selling high quality food, shop needs several information so hat it can accomplish
its objective significantly. Cited firm required financial information such as funds needed to
run its operations. Apart from this manager of the food restaurant has to look upon the legal
factors. It needs to take permission from the government for the shop and have to maintain
standards of food so that it can run its business ethically. In addition to this, with the help of
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advanced technologies cited firm will be able to enhance efficiency of its operations. It must
needed knowledge about buying behaviour of consumers, demands, preferences of users so
that it can serve them food as per the requirement. It will help in establishing the business
well and improving its profit. Along with this, food shop needed information about suppliers,
purchasing power of customers etc. so that it can invest the amount in producing quality food
accordingly. In addition, it is required to collect knowledge about how much human resource
company needed for running its operations so that it can sustain in the market for longer
duration.
Explaining the internal as well as external sources of information that are
required (AC 1.3)
Internal Sources of information
a) Financial information
Finance is one of a backbone of the organisation (Serenko et al. 2013, p.307). With
the help of finance, organisations can commence their business and this finance is the capital
of the organisations. The organisations that are having a huge capital they can run their
business while purchasing of the new and innovative machines. The new machines will help
in increase in the production of the goods. Foodies must plan accordingly what will be the
cost of the operating expenses, how much they will pay for the workers and many other
expenses that are directly or indirectly related to the organisation.
b) Marketing information
It focuses on the sales figures, revenues and the shares that Foodies will capture while
commencing their business and they will also take the new methods how to promote their
organisations. They can take the help of the drone and the balloon advertisements and this
will give them better results. Similarly, there must be the compliance department in an
organisation who will be handling the complaints of the customers.
c) Manufacturing information
This information is the ones which are required by the firm in determining the cost
that will be required in the production of the goods and services, their maintenance cost of
the machinery of the firms and other direct and indirect cost. So, the finance team must
prepare the budgets accordingly.
d) Personal information
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Apart from the above information this the most vital information that is the
information regarding the employees of Foodies her the management committee must take
proper decisions regarding the storage of the data at any cost it must not be given to third
parties. They can also take the help of the electronic ways in maintaining the data.
External information
a) Print information
Information that is gathered from the books and other journals and magazines will
assist the management team to be aware of the facts that are necessary to run the organisation
(Hwang et al. 2013, p.272).
b) Information from the internet.
As it is the time of modern world information can be achieved with the help of the
electronic means it can be from the internet’s and while searching information they will get
the up to date information and this will help in getting the goals.
Recommendation of any improvements that are required to set up a
business (AC 1.4)
There are few recommendations that can be drawn in order to improve the business
that is proper monitoring of the plans have to be done by the panel of experts to find out the
loopholes that are being faced by the employees while serving the organisation and if their
problems are solved then they will be motivated to do more work in an effective way.
Additionally, it will help in retaining the employees.
Another point that can be pointed out that proper training must be given to the
employees who will be working in Foodies and they must be given proper knowledge how to
use the machinery to produce better quality food. If they produce better quality foods, then
they will satisfy the customers by serving them in new and newer methods.
Foodies must take the help of the new promotional techniques that are the use of the
balloon advertising and drone advertisement. This is the two-new means of advertisement
and it is cost saving also.
When they will communicate the message then they must keep few things in their
mind and they are proper language must be used in communication, have a positive attitude
to do the task.
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LO2
List of the stakeholders whose actions may influence the decisions of the
business (AC 2.1)
Greco et al. (2013, p.55) observe that the stakeholders are the one who is associated
with the organisations. They are having the rights to take decisions in organisations and this
can be classified in two parts they are the internal and the external stakeholders of the
organisations. This is discussed in this paragraph.
Internal stakeholders
Employees
Employees are considered as the internal stakeholders and they give the valuable
feedback to their superiors. They also play a major role in taking the decisions of the
management and few organisations are applying participative leadership styles to take
decisions.
Chief executive officer
They are the owners of the organisations and they are having the rights to frame any
type decisions in an organisation. The decisions that they are taking it must create a positive
or the negative impacts.
Managers
Managers of different posts have the authority to take any decisions they also have
the rights to frame any new policies in organisations and they can employ new employees in
the organisations. The managers of Foodies must have an experience how to manage the
conflicts which are related to the organisation.
External stakeholders
Customers
They are the one who must be satisfied at any cost and if they are not satisfied then
they will move from one brand to another brand and it will adversely affect the organisation.
The main goals of the organisations are not to earn profit they should earn the profit by
satisfying those (Rosemann et al. 2015, p.105). A proper and reasonable price of the products
must be kept so that the group of peoples who are having the capability to purchase they can
avail from Foodies.
Government
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There are different rules that are framed by the government and they must follow the
rules that are imposed by UK government. While failing to follow the rules, they will be
penalised accordingly.
Methods used in developing the relationships in business (AC 2.2)
As Foodies, will commence their business in the food market they have to take care
of the services that they will provide to their new customers. At a point of time, they must
emphasise the taste and preference of the customers. Additionally, the management group of
Foodies will try to see that there does not arise a conflict between the stakeholders. For that,
the organisations must abide the legislations that have been framed by UK government.
They can collect the feedbacks from the different stakeholders and while collecting
this it will help in achieving the goals of Foodies. Another help that Foodies will get how the
customers are being served by the employees. Meetings can be conducted with the
employees and they will be asked to give their valuable feedback regarding Foodies.
The government can also help in commencing the business that is subsidies can be
granted for the organisation to flourish their business and make Foodies recognise to the
mass. The human resources team must also recruit the eligible candidates for the jobs.
Managers of the organisations must listen to the problems of the employees and try to
mitigate the problems. This will help in increase in coordination and communication within
the stakeholders.
Involving the peoples in implementing decisions of the business (AC 2.3)
Greco et al. (2013, p.55) observed that price and promotions are the most important
tools that are related to commencing the business. The marketers should select the proper
place where the business will be commenced and if there is a wrong selection of the place
then there will be a high risk that the business will not commence for a long period.
Additionally, Foodies must be opened in a crowded place where people frequently move. The
government is one of the external stakeholders of the organisation and while opening the
outlet's permission must be taken from the government.
Additionally, the price of the products must be kept reasonable and if the prices are
kept high then most of the customers will not purchase the goods from the stores of Foodies.
To satisfy the customer's reasonable prices must be fixed. As customers are the one who can
boost the sales of the organisation.
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The suppliers are also one of the external stakeholders of the organisations and they
are supplying the raw materials at the time of need as this store will be opened in a
marketplace so it will be helpful for them to give the delivery of the products.
Future scopes of the plans (AC 2.4)
The plans that are discussed above if they are being followed then there will be a
huge chance of growth for Foodies and they are proper coordination will be built among the
stakeholders who are linked with organisations. While keeping the low price of the products
will help in gaining large market shares, large revenue and trust of customers. While
conducting meetings, employees will give a sense to the employees that they are not being
neglected in an organisation.
Proper selection of the right employees in Foodies by the human resource managers
will help in increase in the production of the goods and proper training to them can increase
the chance of using of innovative technologies.
Task 2
LO3
Different methods of communications and finding the best one out of it (AC
3.1, 3.2)
As communication is the backbone of the organisations and without proper
communication, a business cannot grow. There are different parameters that are elaborated
here.
Make a better team
Proper communication can build a better team (Serenko et al. 2013, p.307). Due to
the better team, there will be a strong communication among them. Additionally, it will build
a group cohesion among the employees. Moreover, proper communication in the team will
also help in increasing the morale of the employees.
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Better management of employees
When the leaders of the organisations are the best communicators they are the ones
who can give accurate information to the co-workers. Proper communication among the
group helps in collecting feedback. Additionally, frequent internal communication can lead in
managing the team to get their desired objectives.
Maintaining a transparency
When frequent communications are conducted internally and externally then a
transparency is being maintained in an organisation and this increase a trust in the brand on
which the organisation is running their business. Proper trust must be maintained among the
top and the lower level management.
As it has been discussed in the case study that the owner of the coffee shop wants to
sell his shop so to expand the business this information will be communicated to the
employees and their opinion will be given prior importance.
Communication is the essential process which supports in exchanging views.
As food shop wants to source in the European countries, it is necessary for the organization
to make effective coordination with customers and employees so that it can serve quality
food in the other cities. Communication process is discussed as below: Planning: In this stage food company needs to develop an idea related to product
promotion, development etc. With the help of sound business planning cited firm will
be able to accomplish its objective soon. Encoding: After planning, managers convert the idea into coded form so that people
can understand the message. Developing the message: In this stage message is developed by the sender so that
receiver can understand it without any confusion. Choose medium and transmit message: In this phase manager has to select a medium
that can help in transmitting message. Message received: In this stage receiver receive the message and understand it.
 Feedback: Once the message receive by the receiver, managers or sender have to take
feedback about the idea so that drawback can be identified and company can improve
it.
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Comparing various ways of communications and identifying how it differs
from existing one (AC 3.3)
Communications for the start-up businesses must be an effective one (Greco et al.
2013, p.55). When a business is going to commence then the marketers must spend a large
amount of money in promoting their products in the market and they also play an important
role in making the services recognisable by customers. Proper market surveys can be
conducted by the marketing team and information can be collected regarding the taste and
preferences of customers.
On the other hand, when the business has started then there is a low requirement of
the promotional cost. At that point, they must hold the quality of the product and the service
that are being offered by the organisation.
To ensure the effective communication with different departments, food shop
needs to use LAN and internet. By this way information will be circulated among all
employees and there will not create a situation like data leakage. After that company can
conduct face to face meeting with the workers so that their confusion can be resolved.
Informal information can be shared via email. By this way management will be able to make
speed communication with the employees.
Cited firm need to take feedback with its staff members so that there issues
can be identified and miscommunication can be minimized. For taking feedback, managers
can send formal email to staff members through LAN connection and then they can conduct
formal meeting too.
Plans for improving the communication skills (AC 3.4)
There are different ways in which the communication plans can be improved that are
discussed in this portion and they are elaborated below
Treating everyone equally
Roth et al. (2014, p.175) observed each employee of the organisation must be treated
equally. Here I will treat each employee of the organisation equally and there will be no
biases. If an employee is doing something wrong, then I will take utmost responsibility to
rectify them. Therefore time-saving method will be adopted by me and it can help in framing
a better decision.
The employee who is working in the organisation whether one may belong from the
top management or the bottom management level, if they are committing any mistakes then
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both the parties will get equal punishment. While adopting these methods no one in the
organisation will comment that the management is favouring others. Additionally, it helps in
gaining respect and confidence. Confidentiality must be followed while communicating the
message.
Keeping a positive atmosphere in the workplace
Positivity must be maintained in the organisation and it will boost the self-confidence
and morale among the employee who is working there (Golob et al. 2013, p.176). The
managers must clearly focus on the environment if they observe that the employee is not
working well they must take different steps in maintaining a positivity in the organisation.
Motivating employee by counselling is one of the methods to maintain a better environment
in the organisation (Rimkuniene et al. 2014, p.899).
When the activities are not going on the right track then employee have to be cheered
and this will focus on the increase in the productivity of the goods and services that the
organisation is manufacturing. I will see that the service providers are not demotivated while
rendering services.
Learn how to minimise the conflict
Tandazo et al. (2016, p.211) stated that a management can run successfully if proper
ways are taken to minimise the conflict. Conflict is the major issues in the business and they
must mitigate as quick as possible. Additionally, organisations who are failing to reduce the
conflict among the employee are not considered to be having a better human resource team.
Here I will take training on how the conflict in the organisation will stop for a long period.
LO4
Focusing on the approaches for collection, formatting and storage as well
as dissemination of the knowledge and information (AC 4.1)
Apart from this, there are different methods that are used in collection, storage and
formatting of the data that are highlighted below.
Methods of gathering information
Methods Example Comment
Observation In observation methods, data are collected While visiting customers on
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by the observer while observing and
surveying on the field. This helps in
gathering approx data of the facts.
the complaints that are
raised by the consumers and
assisting them.
Survey This method is also tactful in collecting
information from customers and it can be
done with the help of distributing the
questionnaires to the peoples and they will
give responses accordingly.
Survey scan is conducted on
the different basis that is
opinion polls, a survey in a
market and many other
ways.
Table 1 Different ways of gathering information
Data can be stored in the electronic form and the firms must initiate in taking different
ways to store the data in electronic forms and if they are stored in this form then data can be
retrieved in the time of needs and they can be used in making future decisions of the
organisation. Most organisations are adopting this method are also helpful.
Another way of spreading information is disseminating the data that have been gathered from
the earlier stages and they are as
Disseminating by awareness
When an organisation is implementing any plans then that plan must be informed to
the peoples of the organisations and they must be aware of the fact and the principles
(McKenna et al. 2015, p.280). But, it might be helpful for the peoples that they are being
informed about what will be the results.
Disseminating with the help of understanding
A Proper understanding can lead to the achievement of the goals. First and foremost,
the plans that are framed by management bodies have to be clear to among the groups and it
must also highlight that how the groups will be benefited and proper explanation have to be
given.
Jumping to the formatting of the data, that can be categorised in different ways and
they are practical information, bibliographic information and many another different type of
data and they can be formatted according to the needs of the organisation to get a better
result.
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