University Case Study: Strategic Analysis of Maria's Ristorante

This case study provides a strategic analysis of Maria's Ristorante, owned by Paul Marciano, focusing on the challenges and changes implemented to improve the business. The analysis identifies issues such as low customer footfall, lack of customer satisfaction, and employee dissatisfaction. The case study explores concepts like change management, cognitive behavioral perspective, and market segmentation to understand the strategies employed by Marciano. Recommendations include diversifying the menu, improving the restaurant's ambience, and enhancing customer service through staff training and feedback. The case also discusses innovations like live music and the associated risks. The changes made in Maria’s Ristorante includes improvements in the quality of service, changes in menu descriptions, presentation, and introduction of new services like buffet systems. The study explores the product, funding mechanism, employee and customer management systems in detail.

Running head: STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF MARIA’S RISTORANTE
STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF MARIA’S RISTORANTE
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF MARIA’S RISTORANTE
Questionnaire
1. Changes made in Maria’s Ristorante:
a) Offering – Improvement in quality of service, changes in menu descriptions,
changes in presentation in terms of decoration and plating, introduction of new
services like buffet systems and expansion of business.
b) Funding Mechanism – Initial investments made by Marciano, along with financial
aids from investors.
c) Employee Management System – Targeting upper middle class individuals and
improved services to obtain larger tips, training of the staff to improve their
performance and improvement in morale and coordination among employees.
d) Customer Management System – Provision of improved quality of services,
diversification in menu and additional services like buffet systems, attractiveness
in presentation.
2. Marciano’s product is food items and customer service provided at Maria’s
Ristorante. The experience of the customers is largely dependent on the quality of
food and services as well as the ambience. Marciano has made improvements in
services to obtain increased customer satisfaction.
3. Many of Marciano’s strategies like use of color and description of menu is
psychological. However, such gimmicks may not be useful in other fields of business
like health care, where more focus is laid on the actual services provided.
4. The no-tipping policy can be implemented in Maria’s Ristorante only if the business
is able to offer the employees equal wages and a system of incentives for quality of
performance. This will help in maintaining a positive morale among them.

2STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF MARIA’S RISTORANTE
Essay
Identification of Issues
According to the details of the case provided, the restaurant owned by Paul Marciano,
Maria’s Ristorante had been facing several challenges relating to its operations. Such
challenges could be identified as a lack of reach to the potential customers resulting in a
decreased footfall in the restaurant, and the lack of customer satisfaction in a wide variety of
aspects such as service provided by the staff and even the lighting and interior decoration.
Among other issues faced by the restaurant related to the attitude of the employees and their
preference to work with the more successful competitors. Furthermore, there was also a
perceived lack of employee satisfaction as the wait-staff and cooks were not satisfied with the
amount of tips and wages they were being paid during the slower nights respectively. The
success of the restaurant further required fundamental changes in the management of the
employees, provision of products and services as well as its presentation to the customers
(Lee, Hallak & Sardeshmukh, 2016).
Associated Concepts and Theories
The concept of change management entails the implementation of transitions and
transformations in the business operations and activities of an organization, for the purpose of
inducing improved productivity and profitability so as to fulfill its objectives and goals
(Hayes, 2018). In the context of Maria’s Ristorante, a process of efficient and effective
change management was crucial in order to save the business from further deterioration and
eventual death. Such a process of change management involved not only transformations in
the internal environment of the business, in terms of the presentation and performance of the
employees, but also an extensive study on the behavior of consumers so as to obtain their
trust and loyalty on the brand. The preference of a consumer towards a brand or its product
and service depends upon their awareness and perception about it (Sharma, 2014). In this

3STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF MARIA’S RISTORANTE
aspect, the concept of cognitive behavioral perspective entails the process of a consumer
being made aware about features, advantages and disadvantages of a product offered by a
brand, or such other details, so that they may be interested to use it (Oliver, 2014). Such
cognition determines not only the preferences of the consumers but also their purchasing
behavior. In the present case, the importance of cognition among the consumers lies in their
perception of the changes made within the operational scope of the restaurant. If they
perceive the changes made in a positive manner, footfalls will increase, following an
enhanced level of trust and loyalty among them towards the brand Maria’s Ristorante (Karam
& Saydam, 2015).
Moreover, the change management process and the process of the cognition among
customers is based on an important aspect of efficiently identifying the target market of the
business. In the present case, the market segmentation of Maria’s Ristorante can be evaluated
on the basis of psychographic, demographic and behavioral aspects (Kotler, Bowen, Makens
& Baloglu, 2017). The demographic segmentation of the restaurant includes the individuals
and households belonging to upper middle and upper class, with high per capita income level.
The psychographic segmentation involves people who prefer high quality of services and
food products and seek to enjoy their time in elegance and finery. The behavioral
segmentation includes individuals who can afford to pay large amount of tips if they are
happy with the services provided to them, and would recommend the brand to their friends
and acquaintances if they are satisfied (Yan, Wang & Chau, 2015).
Strategies and Recommendations
According to the case provided, the issues faced by Maria’s Ristorante can be tackled
using a variety of strategies that pertain to the evaluation of the trends in the market and the
trends of consumer behavior and consumption. In order to obtain a competitive edge in the
market, Maria’s Ristorante may strategize to incorporate a wider variety of cuisines in the

4STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF MARIA’S RISTORANTE
menu. Such cuisines may include Asian dishes of Indonesian, Indian, Thai, Japanese and
Chinese origin. Such a variety in cuisines may add an exotic touch to the food available in the
restaurant and add to its unique selling point. In terms of evaluating the trends of the behavior
and psychology of consumers, the owners must pay attention to the presentation and
ambience of the restaurant. Such details may include changes in the lighting and décor,
including a variety of seating arrangements as per the requirements of the customers. The
staff should be trained to cater to their requirements in a polite and prompt manner so as to
induce maximum customer satisfaction.
Innovations and Risks
In order to stand out from the competitors, Maria’s Ristorante can further strategize
means to appeal to the upper middle class individuals and households, which is their target
audience. For this purpose, an assessment of their preferences and tastes can be made through
feedback forms. Furthermore, improvements can be made in making the ambience more
appealing to the target group through the incorporation of live classical music. This will not
only add to the uniqueness of services provided but can also be modified and customized as
per the requests of the customers in case of special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries,
where the musicians would play the requested songs by the audience. Such a facility would
require additional investments but in the long run, it would attract increased amount of
footfalls, thereby leading to an increased profitability.

5STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF MARIA’S RISTORANTE
References
Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Karam, A. A., & Saydam, S. (2015). An analysis study of improving brand awareness and its
impact on consumer behavior via media in North Cyprus (A case study of fast food
restaurants). International Journal of Business and Social Science, 6(1).
Kotler, P., Bowen, J. T., Makens, J., & Baloglu, S. (2017). Marketing for hospitality and
tourism.
Lee, C., Hallak, R., & Sardeshmukh, S. R. (2016). Innovation, entrepreneurship, and
restaurant performance: A higher-order structural model. Tourism Management, 53,
215-228.
Oliver, R. L. (2014). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer: A behavioral
perspective on the consumer. Routledge.
Sharma, M. K. (2014). The impact on consumer buying behaviour: Cognitive
dissonance. Global Journal of Finance and Management, 6(9), 833-840.
Yan, X., Wang, J., & Chau, M. (2015). Customer revisit intention to restaurants: Evidence
from online reviews. Information Systems Frontiers, 17(3), 645-657.