Marketing plan and strategic options of Whitbread

Marketing plan and strategic options of Whitbread Introduction Strategic planning is the core of the work of an organisation. Without a strategic framework you dont know where you are going or why you are going there. So, then, it doesnt really matter how you get there! A strategy is an overall approach and plan. So, strategic planning is the overall planning that facilitates the good management of a process. Strategic planning takes you outside the day-to- day activities of your organisation or project. It provides you with the big picture of what you are doing and where you are going. Strategic planning gives you clarity about what you actually want to achieve and how to go about achieving it, rather than a plan of action for day-to-day operations This is all that we are going to learn from this. Task 1 About Whitbread Whitbread PLC is the UKs largest hotel and Restaurant Company operating market-leading businesses in the budget hotels and restaurant sectors. Its brands include Premier Inn, Beefeater, Table Table, Brewers Fayre, Taybarns and Costa Coffee. Whitbread PLC employs 35,000 people and serves 9 million customers every month in its 2,000 outlets across the UK. Whitbread PLC is a FTSE 100 company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is also a member of the FTSE4Good Index External Factors affecting Whitbread Whitbread is a family of brands, all of which are in the business of providing hospitality in one shape or form. The major external factors affecting the Whitbread are as below: Globalization: The main reason globalization affects hotel industry is through economy and transportation. Economically countries depend on one another; if one countries economy recesses it can in turn make many other countries economies suffer. Therefore there will be less money spent on luxury activities in both countries. Another affect of globalization on Whitbread is the many different cultures represented in cities and communities across the UK. These different cultures bring different food and recreational activities to their communities Economic conditions: In economic recession people lose jobs or tend to save their money because they do not know when things are going to get better. When people curtail spending due to an economic recession, the first thing they stop spending money on is luxury items. These items include: going out to eat at restaurants, going on trips, and basic recreation. These three activities are part of Whitbread Company; therefore, the Whitbread is one of the first industries to get hurt when the economy recesses. In economic expansion people have more money and tend to spend more money on things like vacations, going to eat at restaurants, and recreation. Political conditions: Political power can be defined as the ability to persuade lawmakers, society, or regulators to take steps that influence a firms actions or performance. For example, a politically strong customer group might influence government to enact legislation to protect its rights, or a politically strong media participant may be able to influence people to avoid certain restaurants or hotels. Weather: Weather has a major affect on hotel industry, for example a tropical resort may lose customers when it rains or is really windy, so these resorts might have a policy that states if you leave early because of weather there will be no refunded money. An example of weather affecting Whitbread is snow. This year the winter is already started with a big chill across the UK and people really dont wish to go out is such a frosty and snowy weather as there are more chances of having difficulties and injuries by slipping. Analysis of Major changes in external environment The major changes that are happening in the external environment that are going to affect the strategy are as below: Change of economic conditions: As we all know that the economy is still going down despite of the various possible alternatives tried by the UK government. There is no relief from the job redundancy and inflation which is going up every day. This is definitely having an effect on the pocket of the normal man and thus the strategy of handing a business will surely change. Political Factors: We just had a new government and is trying to bring in lot many changes in various policies like visa policy, taxes and many more. These changes will definitely bring change in the number of people visiting UK for holidays etc. And this will have a major impact on the hotel industry. Environmental factors: The environment is changing day by day with a high speed and the organizations have to change their strategy of work accordingly. Whitbread like all other organizations has to go with an environmental and energy policy that should make sure that the environment is protected and the energy is saved. Needs and Expectations of stakeholders People including employees, customers, share holders are all the stakeholders in the organization. A key part is to understand the needs and demands of the stakeholders. The stakeholders of the Whitbread have some expectations and demands from the organization and they are described as below: Focusing investment Growth in expanding sectors Outstanding performance Good quality Service Efficient Management Value for money Excellent logistics Reliability Security Task 2 Tools to analyse current business plan SWOT Analysis: In the world of business, conducting a SWOT analysis can be a useful tool when trying to assess the companys current situation as well as the surrounding marketplace. The results of a SWOT analysis often are used by companies to plan future strategies and make internal changes that are deemed necessary. Its a project or business planning tool used by companies to evaluate the feasibility of the business venture or project against competition and against external business conditions beyond their control Strengths and weaknesses of Whitbread business strategy Strengths Big Chain of Hospitality industry Globally diverse Tourists visiting UK Demand supply gap of rooms due to Olympics in 2012 Cultural Diversity Increase in Market Share Eco friendly Good Together Programme Brand Name Weaknesses Susceptible to Political Conditions Position of Whitbread in Market Marketplace covers a wide range of consumer and business issues. For Whitbread, the key areas include healthier lifestyles, food safety, environment, sustainability, outlet accessibility for all customers, listening to their customers needs and developing mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers and contractors. Whitbread are extremely proud of the high operational standards they set, but they are never complacent and are always looking for new ways to improve their business offer. Recent successes include: Big Tick Award for its Skills for Life Programme Bronze Award in Business in the Communitys 7th Corporate Responsibility Index Hotel Report Awards 2009 Alan Parker Named Individual of the Year PubChef Food Excellence Awards, Food Operator of the Year (branded) Top 20 Most Admired Companies 2008 [Whitbread, Dec 2010] Task 3 Modelling Tool to develop strategic options SWOT or TOWS analysis helps you get a better understanding of the strategic choices that you face. (Remember that strategy is the art of determining how youll win in business and life.) It helps you ask, and answer, the following questions: How do you: Make the most of your strengths? Circumvent your weaknesses? Capitalize on your opportunities? Manage your threats? A next step of analysis, usually associated with the externally-focused TOWS Matrix, helps you think about the options that you could pursue. To do this you match external opportunities and threats with your internal strengths and weaknesses, as illustrated in the matrix below: This helps you identify strategic alternatives that address the following additional questions: Strengths and Opportunities (SO) How can you use your strengths to take advantage of the opportunities? Strengths and Threats (ST) How can you take advantage of your strengths to avoid real and potential threats? Weaknesses and Opportunities (WO) How can you use your opportunities to overcome the weaknesses you are experiencing? Weaknesses and Threats (WT) How can you minimize your weaknesses and avoid threats? The options you identify are your strategic alternatives, and these can be listed in the appropriate quadrant of the TOWS worksheet. [Mind tools, Dec 2010] Understanding of activity in Market Whitbread Group, the UKs largest hospitality firm, is undergoing an IT-enabled transformation program to drive international expansion and operational improvements. Over the past few years, the firm sold many non-core businesses, which has brought a fundamental change in the technology function. The new plan means that Whitbreads IT is more focused on making the firm competitive than it was five years ago, when the main concern was cost and managing complexity. Few roles have also changed, taking on responsibility for IT and international business. IT is crucial to Whitbreads hotel business, through applications such as room inventory, as well as revenue management and self-service kiosks. Whitbreads IT programme, dubbed Simply Better, aims to make applications and infrastructure simpler to use and cheaper to operate, so the firm uses mainly off-the-shelf software apart from in areas such as the web. Driving the adoption of tech investment is probably the hardest part of the job. Their aim is to achieve simpler use and have people understand the purpose of the innovation -Â ­ for the guest, profitability and guest experience [Computing, Dec 2010] Future Organizational strategy Whitbreads aim is to build the best large-scale hospitality brands in the world by becoming the most customer focused organisation there is. Anywhere. Theyll do this by providing outstanding value and making everyday experiences feel special so that their customers come back time and time again. Whitbread should have high standards of corporate governance to have good relations with share holders. Target employee turnover and stability in order to gain competitive edge over its rival companies They should have commitment to food safety Good partnership with suppliers Respecting the law and treating workforce fairly Healthier life styles and eating as well Better environment and energy saving First class service to customers Committed and genuine service Task 4 Strategy Plan to ensure Stakeholders Participation In the past years, Whitbread has carried out a detailed evaluation of its corporate responsibility strategy in order to attain the maximum engagement from its stakeholders. The stakeholders have a high level of awareness and concern for environmental issues with most of them are making lifestyle changes as a result of their concerns. For the stakeholders, the primary drivers of choice are still quality, service, and value for money and convenience. However, these are closely followed by corporate responsibility drivers, such as healthy eating and the environment. The stakeholders think that it is important to care about the environment and the majority agreed that Whitbreads environmental performance mattered to them. Following are the issues that are important to these stakeholders and appropriate to Whitbread, namely: Energy efficiency; Recycling; Water management; Takeaway packaging; and Sustainable buildings. The views from their stakeholders should be used to develop their new corporate responsibility strategy. The key focus areas of the new strategy should be as below: People Culture and Values; Environment; Community Charity; Governance, International Standards; Supply Chain; Health Well Being; and Guest Perceptions and brand. Criteria for reviewing potential options Whitbread has been reviewing its corporate responsibility strategy and found that stakeholders e.g. customers, employees and all other interested want that despite being adding new things for the stakeholders we still need to review our strategy in order to give the best. Whitbread should involve and hire some external sources that could do some survey with their customers, team members, directors and board members. The Whitbread should also go for a comprehensive peer and market analysis to understand the consumer and macro trends relating to the sustainability that would be relevant for their business and their customers. The potential options for reviewing strategy plan should be as below: Environmental changes Greener choices Social values Guest engagement Healthier food Agreed Strategy The agreed strategy of the Whitbread should have the following key points that include resource implications: Environment: The Whitbread should continuously work together to improve its environmental foot print and promote good environmental practices. People: Whitbread should at all times respect fundamental human rights of all people. Whitbread would create employment opportunity, facilitate learning and development opportunities for its employees and engage employees in the agree strategy and the Whitbread Way Forward Sourcing: Whitbread will source its goods and services and do business with other organisations in a way that supports sustainable development. It will engage its suppliers and business partners in the agreed strategy. Brand: When dealing with consumers, Whitbread will act in accordance with honest business, marketing and advertising practices and take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety and quality of the goods or services it provides. Whitbread will engage its customers in the new strategy and sustainable business issues Health: Whitbread will enable its customers to make informed choices about how they eat and drink Community: Whitbread will work to be a positive part of the communities in which it operates. Whitbread will also energetically support its chosen charities Task 5 Core Organizational values The core values of Whitbread are: Genuine really caring about customers Confident striving to be the best at what we do Committed working hard for each other Social values Whitbread has been actively involved in the community for over 30 years. Through this time weve initiated, joined, funded or supported a huge range of leading and award winning programs. Whitbreads current community program focuses on delivering initiatives that engage our team members and impact the communities in which they live and work. By investing in our people we can unlock the potential of thousands of team members and encourage them to make a real difference in their local communities Business Values Their aim is to build the best large-scale hospitality brands in the world by becoming the most customer focused organisation there is. Anywhere. They plan to do this by providing outstanding value and making everyday experiences feel special so that their customers come back time and time again Ethical Values Whitbread is very much aware of the importance of the rights of its employees and its responsibilities for good citizenship and high ethical conduct. Accordingly, they aim to ensure that all of its employees are treated fairly and with dignity throughout employment. They similarly expect their suppliers, wherever they are located, to respect and support these principles. If at any time an issue arises that their employees believe may go against these principles, they would raise it initially with their line manager and then if the matter cannot be resolved, raise a formal grievance under the Companys internal procedures Environmental Values Their approach to the environment is guided by their Environment policy and their Energy policy, which contain a number of principles with which all Whitbread businesses are required to comply Vision and Mission Statements of Whitbread Vision Statement To become the leading independent 4* hotel in London providing excellent products and services at reasonable prices to every customer, every time Mission Statement Our customers are our priority and we will provide them with a quality experience which is second to none. We recognize the importance of our employees in achieving this and we will create a positive working environment which encourages their loyalty, commitment and hard work. We strive to be excellent leaders and will undertake all our business activities in an honest and ethical manner to provide a fair return on our investment Future Management Strategy Whitbread aims to be a leader in sustainable hospitality in UK market sector. To realise this vision, it has developed its Good Together Commitments that define its overall approach to corporate responsibility and provides with a vision for the Good Together programme. Operational responsibility for driving forward the Good Together elements is allocated at Operational Director level with in the Business Units within the relevant functions, including commercial, property, HR, marketing, food and beverage and operations. Cross-functional and cross-Business Unit Working groups are set up as needed to project manage and implement the programs and to make sure that there is appropriate coordination and shared insight between different parts of the business in cross-cutting issues and projects. It is the role of the Corporate Responsibility Director to coordinate activity across the business, support the CR Steering Committee in its purpose and to provide technical expertise and support to the working groups and project leaders. All their Good Together Steering Committee Members have set personal objectives related to the delivery of Good Together. In 2010/11 all their operational Directors (the top 40 leaders in the business) and Heads of Department will also be required to set personal objectives relating to delivery of Good Together as part of their development plan. Measures to Evaluate Strategy Plan There could be many different measures that can be sued to evaluate the strategy plan but few important ones of them are mentioned as below: Market Performance of the organization Costs involved Profits generated Brand Standards Health and Safety Team turnover Customer recommendation Energy Saving Sales growth Team engagement Keeping all this in mind, the Whitbread uses a balance card approach named as WINcard to measure their performance across all key performance indicators. The WINcard measures their performance around their key stakeholders: the customers, the people, the shareholders and a more recent stakeholder addition, the community which is better known as their Good Together strategy. The WINcard aligns the day-to-day activities to the overall vision and strategy of the Company and helps to measure the progress. The WINcard has enabled a performance culture to thrive across all levels of the organization and mobilizes their people to act around shared goals. The WINcard measures are used as key indicators in personal development planning, for recognizing excellent performance, in coaching and performance management, supporting talent management and succession planning. It is a core component of their incentive framework at all levels. The WINcard educates, motivates and engages their leaders and teams across the business to focus, prioritize and deliver what is required to achieve success [Whitbread, Dec 2010] Task 6 Schedule for implementing strategy plan Strategic planning implementation is at the heart of how to make change of any kind happen in your organization. Keys to Strategic Planning Implementation Success These are the keys to effective strategic planning implementation for your business. Full and active executive support, Effective communication, Employee involvement, Thorough organizational planning and competitive analysis, and Widespread perceived need for the strategic planning. Time table for implementation The strategy that is being agreed upon is achievable but not in short span of time. Proper planning has to be done for this and a scheduled has to be prepared. Phase 1 Value enhancement Cost Reduction Operational Effectiveness July 2011 Phase 2 Growth opportunities Customer satisfaction Value added services Dec 2011 Phase 3 End to End Services Execute in emerging markets Strengthen the capital Dec 2012 Dissemination processes Activities designed to ensure that the results of the organization and its predecessors are appropriately recognised, demonstrated and implemented on a wide scale. Dissemination is also often described as a process that involves a share of results and experiences with the aim of influencing the way other people think and act, or of making them aware of a new idea, product or service. Following are some key points that should be achieved: Raise awareness in the intended target group Generate understanding and obtain the support of others in disseminating information Involve others outside your own organisation Bring about a change in attitudes and ways of thinking Bring about a change in attitudes towards customers visitors, suppliers or team members. New patterns of conduct in the target group the end users of the strategy To gain the commitment of stakeholders, the following processes need to be followed: Consider stakeholders First No matter how beneficial the change, it will take your stakeholders to implement it. Helping them understands the change and, further, gaining their support for the change will be the key. First, identify all key groups of people or individuals who will be impacted Stakeholders who feel they have helped plan the change will be more likely to help make the change because they understand how and why it will occur. Identify ways you can involve stakeholders in the implementation process. Ask them to share with the organization in full staff meeting or via a company intranet how they have successfully implemented the change. Show Upper-level Commitment Stakeholders will not support a change they feel is not fully supported by upper management. Instead, they will wait out the change, knowing that it will eventually go away to be replaced by the next change [suite101, Dec 2010] Monitoring and Evaluation systems The strategic plan document should specify who is responsible for the overall implementation of the plan, and also who is responsible for achieving each goal and objective. The following questions need to be asked while monitoring the implementation: 1. Are goals and objectives being achieved or not? If they are, then acknowledge, reward and communicate the progress. If not, then consider the following questions. 2. Will the goals be achieved according to the timelines specified in the plan? If not, then why? 3. Should the deadlines for completion be changed (be careful about making these changes know why efforts are behind schedule before times are changed)? 4. Do personnel have adequate resources (money, equipment, facilities, training, etc.) to achieve the goals? 5. Are the goals and objectives still realistic? 6. Should priorities be changed to put more focus on achieving the goals? 7. Should the goals be changed (be careful about making these changes know why efforts are not achieving the goals before changing the goals)? 8. What can be learned from our monitoring and evaluation in order to improve future planning activities and also to improve future monitoring and evaluation efforts? The frequency of reviews depends on the nature of the organization and the environment in which its operating. Organizations experiencing rapid change from inside and/or outside the organization may want to monitor implementation of the plan at least on a monthly basis. Boards of directors should see status of implementation at least on a quarterly basis. Chief executives should see status at least on a monthly basis [Management help, Dec 2010]