A research report on two comparative business rivals
KFCand
McDonald's. i have attached question in detail. check the attached files.ECO600 Economics and Finance for Business Research report on Australian businesses (35%) An industry or market analysis A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS The relevant topics: · Week 5: market structure – what is the state of competition in this industry? · Week 6: growth strategies – how can I expand my business’s customer base in the long-term? · Week 6: pricing and non-price strategies – how can I use these to give my business an edge over my rivals in the short-term? The title of the report: · ‘Industry analysis: the competition between KFC and McDonald's their growth, pricing and other strategies’ on the first page. The output you need to produce and word count: · A research report of 2,500 words, with a lower limit of 2,000 words and an upper limit of 3,000 words · The ideas in it may be complex, but state them as briefly as possible: brevity and clarity are beautiful (read this). They help you demonstrate that you know what you are talking about. Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher, said that “unexplained, obscure matters are regarded as more important than explained, clear ones” – a bad habit in today’s world. Albert Einstein remarked that “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. Formatting: - Black-and-white (photos, colour if possible) - 1.15 spacing throughout - Font size: 12 points - - - Font type: Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman Page numbering at the bottom Use ‘1.’, ‘2.’ and so on for heading Structure: · Student declaration sheet · No table of contents required · An abstract · The introduction section, the body, the conclusion section (word count applies only to these sections) · A section labelled ‘References’ at the end to list all the sources you cited in the report · No appendices: all relevant information should be in the body of the report B. THE TASK 1. Select two nearby businesses in the same industry that are considered competitors. Location: Manly or in the city, preferably in the CBD area. · I have selected KFC and McDonald's,manly Suggestions: two leading cafes (e.g., Starbucks and Max Brenner), restaurants (e.g., Thai or Japanese, poke-bowl shops, Hungry Jacks and McDonalds, Hugos and The Bavarian), organic food stores, big clothing retailers (e.g., Uniqlo and H&M), pharmacies etc. 2. Carry out two types of research: primary research (field research) and secondary research (read this). Field research is to be carried out as groups: collect, through observation, information about the pricing of the product or services offered (in menus and/or the price boards) and the non-price strategies used (refer to Week 6, Reading #4). Optional: you may speak to store owners, managers or knowledgeable employees to inquire further about pricing, non-price and growth strategies and so on. Share information with the team. Secondary research is to be done individually: find other information about the companies you investigated (or the same type of companies, whether located in Australia or internationally) to learn about the state of competition in their industries, how they try to grow their businesses, and how they might compete on price- and non-price bases. The sources of information: reputable newspaper articles; books, journal articles or working papers; company, government or industry reports. Avoid blogs. 3. Using the information you gathered, write a report that addresses the questions below. C. THE QUESTIONS (FOR THE BODY OF YOUR REPORT) 1. Market structure (Week 5) · What is the state of competition (market structure) in the industry? Who are the competitors? Are there new entrants? What are the barriers to entry, in your opinion? · What market share (roughly) might each of the competitors have? Can you generate a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, using your own judgement and estimates? · How is competition unfolding in this industry (either in the case you selected in Manly or the city, or in general – across the country or worldwide). In other words, what are some interesting stories or developments that have happened in this industry in terms of competition? Roughly 700 words. Use secondary research. Also, refer to Week 5’s readings if needed. 2. Growth strategies (Week 6) · Is the business focusing on its ‘core competencies’? Or are they also branching out to provide other products or services? · Do you think that this business should grow or expand? If yes, in what way? Organic growth, horizontal growth, vertical growth, or differentiation? How, specifically? Roughly 500 words. Use primary and secondary research. Refer to Week 6, Readings #1 and 2. 3. Pricing and non-price strategies (Week 6) - What strategies the two businesses using? - How are their strategies different (or the same)? Why might they be different (or the same)? What might be their goal of using a certain strategy rather than another, in relation to the one their rival is using? - If you were a new business intent on competing with them (or if you were one of the two businesses), how would you use pricing and non-pricing strategies or modify existing ones to give your business an edge over rivals? Justify your answer (that is, discuss why) Roughly 700 words. The primary research component (use photographs from the shops you investigated). You may also use secondary data to support your recommendations (e.g., to show that others elsewhere also use similar strategies, or that this type of strategy is a good one for your situation). Refer also to Week 6, Readings #3 and 4. 3 ECO600 Economics and Finance for Business D. THE OTHER SECTIONS 1. Abstract · Comes before the introduction section · 200 words or less · States what you investigated, how you did it, and what your key findings are · Purpose: a reader can quickly acquire the gist of your report by scanning it 2. Introduction · Roughly 300 words long · Introduces the reader to (i) what the report is about (ii) what are the subjects of its investigation (which companies) and perhaps some information about them (iii) how you carried out your investigation or did you report (methodology) (iv) what your report covers (e.g., “Section 2 will provide an overview of the state of competition in this industry in general… . Section 3 examines what growth strategies this business might already be using and what it could do to expand its business further. Next, Section 4 will analyse the pricing and non-price strategies employed by these two businesses, and how these could be better used to boost sales and capture market share. Finally, the report concludes by considering/looking at/reviewing/discussing what we found so far…”). 3. Conclusion · Roughly 300 words long · Summarises what you’ve discovered · Discusses why what you found is important or interesting, or what else could be examined to improve this market or industry analysis 4. References · Contains a list of all the reference material (or sources of information) that you cited in the body of your report · Should be listed in alphabetical order · Keep the referencing style consistent · Alternatively, follow the referencing guidelines that your lecturer will provide you · Plagiarism: this is important. Properly paraphrase and cite the sources you use in your report and avoid plagiarism. The penalties for plagiarism are severe and include an automatic fail. Learn here how to properly paraphrase and avoid plagiarism How many parts will the report have? The report will have three key parts sandwiched by other sections: (i) Abstract (ii) The introduction (iii) A literature review (an overview) of the state of competition in the industry in recent times, and developments that have and might occur in it (iv) Write about how the companies are trying to grow their business. Recommend growth strategies. (v) Evaluate the pricing and non-pricing strategies used by the businesses (based on your observations). You may support these observations by citing published works that speak about similar used elsewhere (news articles, books, reports, journal papers). Recommend strategies. (vi) Conclusion (vii) References · Critical analysis is important to get good marks · Use critical analysis widely in your report. · Critical analysis means demonstrate you have analysed your observations in an intelligent and creative way to unearth and identify patterns, motives or some interesting insight. · Compare. Contrast. Evaluate. Argue. Support with secondary sources. · Analysis is more than just describing what you saw. · It is not merely saying, “I saw this… I saw that”. · It is about “I saw Company A do this…, but this was not done by Company B. I noticed that because Company A had less staff, they could not do that. Also, I observed that Company A priced certain products like this… but the other company prices them differently, like this..., possibly because...”. · What reference material should be used? · Make use of a combination of academic literature (books, journal papers), credible news articles (e.g., online news), magazines or reports (e.g., from the Internet). · When citing published works, use credible, reputable Internet articles and/or books, journals and government, industry or other reports to support and enrich their findings. Do not cite blogs written by people who are not authorities in the subject. Do not cite a Facebook page. · It is alright if you cannot find enough journal papers. Credible news articles and online reports are also acceptable. · Your sources of information must be appropriately cited in the text and referenced in the ‘References’ section of their report. · The report should have at least five relevant references to qualify for a pass grade. 4