ทำไมกลยุทธ์กาแฟใหม่ของแมคโดนัลด์จึงไม่ประสบความสำเร็จ

โดย สก็อต แอนโทนีย์ 10 มกราคม 2551

ต้นสัปดาห์นี้ แมคโดนัลด์ประกาศแผนรับสมัครคนชงกาแฟมาทำงานที่ร้านของตนนับพันสาขา ถึงแม้ปฏิกริยาจากฝ่ายต่างๆ จะแสดงให้เห็นมาทันทีว่านี่ต้องเป็นหมัดน็อคสตาร์บั๊คแน่

แต่ก็อย่าเพิ่งคิดเช่นนั้นไปหลังจากที่ได้เฝ้ามองการเติบโตแบบฉุดไม่อยู่ของกาแฟสตาร์บั๊คและดังกินโดนัทมาตลอดช่วงทศวรรษ 1990 และต้นปี 2000 แมคโดนัลด์ก็ได้ปล่อยหมัดแรกออกมา

ในปี 2006 โดยพัฒนาคุณภาพกาแฟตนเองอย่างขนาดใหญ่ ตอนนี้แมคโดนัลด์มีแผนเปิดมุมขายกาแฟในร้านของตนกว่า 14,000 แห่งทั่วสหรัฐภายในสองปีข้างหน้าลูกค้าจะซื้อกาแฟชนิดต่างๆ ได้ แมคโดนัลด์จะไม่ขายกาแฟชนิดเดียวกับสตาร์บั๊ค

และซ้ำยังจะขายถูกกว่าอีกด้วย รองประธานกรรมการรายหนึ่งของแมคโดนัลด์กล่าวว่านี่เป็นความพยายามครั้งที่ใหญ่ที่สุดนับแต่แมคโดนัลด์ได้เปิดตัวการขายอาหารเช้าเมื่อ 35

ปีที่แล้ว และทางบริษัทคาดว่าจะมีรายได้ราวหนึ่งพันล้านดอลลาร์ในบางมุม แผนของแมคโดนัลด์เป็นเรื่องปกติ ทำเลร้านค้าส่วนใหญ่จะมีลูกค้ามากมายในช่วงเวลาอาหาร

มุมขายกาแฟจึงน่าจะทำให้แมคโดนัลด์ขายลูกค้าในวันที่เงียบเหงาได้ งบการตลาดอันมหาศาลและสาขาที่มีอยู่มากมายเป็นจุดแข็งของแมคโดนัลด์ การเติบโตอย่างยิ่งใหญ่ของการขายกาแฟหมายความว่าแมคโดนัลด์สามารถทำยอดให้ได้ตามเป้าได้อย่างง่ายดายโดยที่ไม่ต้องแข่งกับสตาร์บั๊ค เหตุผลที่แมคโดนัลด์เห็นว่าการเจาะตลาดกาแฟราคาแพงเป็นเรื่องยากอย่างน่าประหลาดใจมีอยู่สองประการ

ได้แก่

1. กระบวนการชงกาแฟตามใจลูกค้าแตกต่างอย่างมากมายจากเมนูปกติของแมคโดนัลด์ การขายอาหารสองระบบในร้านเดียวกันเป็นเรื่องยาก การต่อแถวยาวๆ จะไม่ดึงดูดลุกค้าที่ต้องการอาหารขยะที่ซื้อได้อย่างรวดเร็ว

2. โมเดลแฟรนไชส์ของแมคโดนัลด์ไม่เอื้อให้มีมุมขายกาแฟได้ เจ้าของแฟรนไชส์รายย่อยต้องตัดสินใจว่าการลงทุนเปิดขายกาแฟคือผลกำไรที่งดงามที่สุด ถึงแมคโดนัลด์จะอ้างว่าการทดลองตลาดในตอนแรกให้ผลน่าพอใจ แต่ที่ปรึกษาด้านแฟรนส์ของแมคโดนัลด์กลับบอก ยูเอสเอทูเดย์ว่า นี่อาจเป็นความผิดพลาดที่เลวร้ายที่สุดในประวัติศาสตร์

สตาร์บั๊คมีปัญหาของตนเองอยู่แล้ว การที่ร้านเปิดสาขาใหม่อย่างไม่หยุดยั้ง มนต์เสน่ห์ของร้านก็ลดลงตามไปด้วย ลูกค้าร้องเรียนมากขึ้น ยอดขายในสาขาหนึ่งๆ ตกต่ำลง และหุ้นของบริษัทก็ตกลงด้วยโฮเวิร์ดประกาศว่าจะกลับมาดำรงตำแหน่งซีอีโอของบริษัท เขาพยายามวางแผนลดการเติบโตการขยายสาขาในอเมริกา ปิดสาขาที่ประสบปัญหา พัฒนาความพอใจลูกค้า และเร่งขยายสาขาต่างแดน ตลาดตอบรับการกลับมาของโฮเวิร์ดอย่างมาก เพราะหุ้นของบริษัทดีดตัวกว่า 8% ในวันที่ 8 มกราคมที่ผ่านมา แต่โฮเวิร์ดยังต้องเจอกับความท้าทายที่น่าหนักใจต่อไป

เพราะเมื่อเขาตัดสินใจถูกที่ควบคุมการเติบโตอย่างไม่มีระบบ แต่การเพิ่มการแข่งขันในธุรกิจกาแฟหลักของสตาร์บั๊คหมายความว่าสตาร์บั๊คจะต้องพัฒนาความสามารถในการสร้างความเติบโตต่อไป มิเช่นนั้นหุ้นจะดิ่งลงอย่างต่อเนื่อง การรุกตลาดกาแฟของแมคโดนัลด์อาจดูเป็นไปไม่ได้ แต่อย่าประหลาดใจหากแมคโดนัลด์จะล้มลง ทำให้ โฮเวิร์ด ชูลท์ส และลูกทีมได้มีโอกาสสร้างการเติบโตของสองของสตาร์บั๊คได้

7. Using the Strategic Planning Worksheet

When using the Strategic Planning Worksheet below, note the following suggestions:

1. Relate the planning exercise to a specific company or, if diversified, to individual strategic business units.
2. Ideally the worksheet should be compiled by a multi-discipline management group, or separately by 2/3 groups and then discussed in plenary session if a large business unit is involved.
3. If working on your own, complete the worksheet and then return to it a few times over the following few days and critically review what you wrote - why, why, why etc. and ask yourself whether you have seen the "wood for trees".
4. A completed worksheet should be edited down into a 1-2 page document and reviewed by the group(s). The final form of the document need not follow the worksheet's layout provided all the matters are covered.
5. All ideas, issues etc. should be internally consistent and realistic.
6. You need a very good understanding of the market, competitors etc. in order to make a clear assessment of your SWOTs. If you haven't got this insight, suspend work on your strategic plan until you have done this basic research.
7. Allow enough time as you may find it much more difficult to write a short plan than a long one !!!!

6. Simple & Short Strategic Plans

Notwithstanding that "battles are often lost for want of nails", a company rarely succeeds or fails for minor or trivial reasons. The causes are usually substantial and are often self-evident, at least to an outsider. For example, the business was completely over-borrowed; management was weak; a major new product opportunity was identified; legislation changed; a major competitor went bust or expanded; the company never reinvested.

It should be possible in the course of a few pages to set down the main elements of a business's vision, mission, values, objectives, goals, strategies, SWOTs etc. The compilation of a short report along these lines is likely to prove much more difficult than a lengthy dissertation which mixes up details and principles, and confuses the broad picture. See a sample strategic plan - use the back button on your browser to return to this page.

Independent advisers or non-executive directors can play a valuable role in this process because they can readily adopt the role of devil's advocate and also bring external knowledge and expertise to bear. The worksheet presented below may also assist.

For further information on business planning issues, refer to other papers in this series which cover business ideas, business strategies, financial planning, cashflow forecasting and business planning.

5. SWOTs - Keys to Business Strategies

Having built up a picture of the company's past aims and achievements, the all-important SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis can commence.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths and weaknesses are essentially internal to the organization and relate to matters concerning resources, programs and organization in key areas. These include:

• Sales - marketing - distribution - promotion - support;
• Management - systems - expertise - resources;
• Operations - efficiency - capacity - processes;
• Products - services - quality - pricing - features - range - competitiveness;
• Finances - resources - performance;
• R&D - effort - direction - resources;
• Costs - productivity - purchasing;
• Systems - organization - structures.

• If a startup is being planned, the strengths and weaknesses are related mainly to the promoter(s) - their experience, expertise and management abilities - rather than to the project.

The objective is to build up a picture of the outstanding good and bad points, achievements and failures and other critical features within the company.

Threats & Opportunities

The external threats and opportunities confronting a company, can exist or develop in the following areas:

• The company's own industry where structural changes may be occurring (Size and segmentation; growth patterns and maturity; established patterns and relationships, emergence/contraction of niches; international dimensions; relative attractiveness of segments)

• The marketplace which may be altering due to economic or social factors (Customers; distribution channels; economic factors, social/demographic issues; political & environmental factors)

• Competition which may be creating new threats or opportunities (Identities, performances, market shares, likely plans, aggressiveness, strengths & weaknesses)

• New technologies which may be causing fundamental changes in products, processes, etc. (Substitute products, alternative solutions, shifting channels, cost savings etc.)

• Against an uncertain and shifting background, the objective must be to identify and prioritize the key SWOTs in a one-handed manner (Don't say "on the one hand ...........but on the other hand.........").
  Develop Business Strategies
  Once the SWOT review is complete, the future strategy may be readily apparent or, as is more likely the case, a series of strategies or combinations of tactics will suggest themselves. Use the SWOTs to help identify possible strategies as follows:
  Build on strengths
  Resolve weaknesses
  Exploit opportunities
  Avoid threats
• 
  The resulting strategies can then be filtered and moulded to form the basis of a realistic strategic plan - see also Devising Business Strategies for further insights into the development of strategies.

4. Effect not Equal to Cause when Planning Strategy

When reviewing a business it is essential to cut through the symptoms of problems and reach the underlying causes. Questions which can assist in revealing the real causes include the following:

• "What stopped the business from?"
• "What caused the cause of?"
• "Why didn't the business achieve a 25% return?"
  

By way of an example consider why this company may be unable to increase its market share:

• Because it cannot penetrate major customers because its product range is too narrow because the company doesn't have the capability to produce additional products because of shortcomings in R & D because of a lack of expertise and resource because R & D is not an immediate priority because of a lack of profits because of a high interest burden because the company is over-reliant on borrowings because the shareholders won't/can't raise additional permanent capital.

The moral in this case is that there are no major customers due to under-capitalization !
Also have a look at the discussion on causes of business failure in Devising Business Strategies.

resource : http://www.planware.org/strategicplan.htm#3

3. Use Hindsight when Strategic Planning

Statements on vision, mission, objectives, values, strategies and goals are not just elements of future planning. They also provide benchmarks for a historic review. Most managers will find it exceedingly difficult to develop a future strategy for a business without knowing its current strategies and measuring their success to date.

Assess Current Position

The starting point must be to determine a company's existing (implicit or explicit) vision, mission, objectives and strategies. Then judge these against actual performance along the following lines:

Assess Current Position

The starting point must be to determine a company's existing (implicit or explicit) vision, mission, objectives and strategies. Then judge these against actual performance along the following lines:

• Is the current vision being realized?
• How has the company's mission and objectives changed over the past say, three years?
• Why have the changes occurred or why have no changes occurred? Identify primary reasons and categorize them as either internal or external.
• Describe the actual strategies followed over the past few years in respect of products/services, operations, finance, marketing, technology, management etc.
• Critically examine each strategy statement by reference to activities and actions in key functional areas covering such matters as:
• How has the company been managed?
• How has the company been funded?
• How has the company sought to increase sales and market share?
• How have productivity/costs moved?

• Take each element and quantify by reference to actual performance. Ask of each "why not"?, "why only"?, or "why so"? and locate the reasons for differences between the actual and desired performance.

Resouurce : http://www.planware.org/strategicplan.htm#3

2. Key Steps towards a Strategic Plan

The preparation of a strategic plan is a multi-step process covering vision, mission, objectives, values, strategies, goals and programs. These are discussed below.

The Vision

The first step is to develop a realistic Vision for the business. This should be presented as a pen picture of the business in three or more years time in terms of its likely physical appearance, size, activities etc. Answer the question: "if someone from Mars visited the business, what would they see (or sense)?" Consider its future products, markets, customers, processes, location, staffing etc. Here is a great example of a vision:
I will come to America, which is the country for me. Once there, I will become the greatest bodybuilder in history.......... I will go into movies as an actor, producer and eventually director. By the time I am 30 I will have starred in first movie and I will be a millionaire...... I will collect houses, art and automobiles. I will marry a glamorous and intelligent wife. By 32, I will have been invited to the White House. Attributed to Arnold Schwarzenegger who was elected Governor of the State of California in 2003.

The Mission

The nature of a business is often expressed in terms of its Mission which indicates the purposes of the business, for example, "to design, develop, manufacture and market specific product lines for sale on the basis of certain features to meet the identified needs of specified customer groups via certain distribution channels in particular geographic areas". A statement along these lines indicates what the business is about and is infinitely clearer than saying, for instance, "we're in electronics" or worse still, "we are in business to make money" (assuming that the business is not a mint !). Also, some people confuse mission statements with value statements (see below) - the former should be very hard-nosed while the latter can deal with 'softer' issues surrounding the business. The following table contrasts hard and soft mission statements.

Intel's original plan, written on the back of a menu (view copy), is an excellent example of a hard statement:

The company will engage in research, development, and manufacture and sales of integrated electronic structures to fulfill the needs of electronic systems manufacturers. This will include thin films, thick films, semiconductor devices, and ......... A variety of processes will be established, both at a laboratory and production level ...... as well as the development and manufacture of special processing and test equipment required to carry out these processes. Products may include dioded transistors ....... Principal customers for these products are expected to be the manufacturers of advanced electronic systems ..... It is anticipated that many of these customers will be located outside California.

If you'd prefer a soft statement, use the Dilbert Mission Statement Generator.

The Values

The next element is to address the Values governing the operation of the business and its conduct or relationships with society at large, customers, suppliers, employees, local community and other stakeholders.

The Objectives

The third key element is to explicitly state the business's Objectives in terms of the results it needs/wants to achieve in the medium/long term. Aside from presumably indicating a necessity to achieve regular profits (expressed as return on shareholders' funds), objectives should relate to the expectations and requirements of all the major stakeholders, including employees, and should reflect the underlying reasons for running the business. These objectives could cover growth, profitability, technology, offerings and markets.

The Strategies

Next are the Strategies - the rules and guidelines by which the mission, objectives etc. may be achieved. They can cover the business as a whole including such matters as diversification, organic growth, or acquisition plans, or they can relate to primary matters in key functional areas, for example:
The company's internal cash flow will fund all future growth.
New products will progressively replace existing ones over the next 3 years.
All assembly work will be contracted out to lower the company's break-even point.

Use SWOTs to help identify possible strategies by building on strengths, resolving weaknesses, exploiting opportunities and avoiding threats.
For further discussion on strategies, refer to the paper on Devising Business Strategies as well as these items below: Use Hindsight when Strategic Planning, Effect not Equal to Cause when Planning Strategy and SWOTs - Keys to Business Strategies.

The Goals

Next come the Goals. These are specific interim or ultimate time-based measurements to be achieved by implementing strategies in pursuit of the company's objectives, for example, to achieve sales of $3m in three years time. Goals should be quantifiable, consistent, realistic and achievable. They can relate to factors like market (sizes and shares), products, finances, profitability, utilization, efficiency.

The Programs

The final elements are the Programs which set out the implementation plans for the key strategies. These should cover resources, objectives, time-scales, deadlines, budgets and performance targets.

Developing a Strategic Plan

1. Introduction to Strategic Planning


If you don't know where your business is going, any road will get you there.

What is a Strategic Plan?

Entrepeneurs and business managers are often so preoccupied with immediate issues that they lose sight of their ultimate objectives. That's why a business review or preparation of a strategic plan is a virtual necessity. This may not be a recipe for success, but without it a business is much more likely to fail. A sound plan should:

Serve as a framework for decisions or for securing support/approval.
Provide a basis for more detailed planning.

Explain the business to others in order to inform, motivate & involve.

Assist benchmarking & performance monitoring.

Stimulate change and become building block for next plan.

For inspiration (and a few smiles), have a look at some of the quotations and examples of bad advice included in other pages!

A strategic plan should not be confused with a business plan. The former is likely to be a (very) short document whereas a business plan is usually a much more substantial and detailed document. A strategic plan can provide the foundation and frame work for a business plan. For more information about business plans, refer to Writing a Business Plan, Insights into Business Planning and Free-Plan: Business Plan Guide & Template.

A strategic plan is not the same thing as an operational plan. The former should be visionary, conceptual and directional in contrast to an operational plan which is likely to be shorter term, tactical, focused, implementable and measurable. As an example, compare the process of planning a vacation (where, when, duration, budget, who goes, how travel are all strategic issues) with the final preparations (tasks, deadlines, funding, weather, packing, transport and so on are all operational matters).

A satisfactory strategic plan must be realistic and attainable so as to allow managers and entrepreneurs to think strategically and act operationally - see Devising Business Strategies for further insights.


Basic Approach to Strategic Planning



Basic Approach to Strategic PlanningA critical review of past performance by the owners and management of a business and the preparation of a plan beyond normal budgetary horizons require a certain attitude of mind and predisposition. Some essential points which should to be observed during the review and planning process include the following:

• Relate to the medium term i.e. 2/4 years
• Be undertaken by owners/directors
• Focus on matters of strategic importance
• Be separated from day-to-day work
• Be realistic, detached and critical
• Distinguish between cause and effect
• Be reviewed periodically
• Be written down.

As the precursor to developing a strategic plan, it is desirable to clearly identify the current status, objectives and strategies of an existing business or the latest thinking in respect of a new venture. Correctly defined, these can be used as the basis for a critical examination to probe existing or perceived Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities. This then leads to strategy development covering the following issues discussed in more detail below:

• Vision
• Mission
• Values
• Objectives
• Strategies
• Goals Programs
  

From : http://www.planware.org/strategicplan.htm#1

Investing in Indonesian bloc rubber industry

Sri Trang first took the plunge to invest in Indonesia four years ago by forming a venture to produce block rubber, a more constant-viscosity product that is largely used in many industries including vehicle tyres, replacing ribbed smoked rubber sheets (RSS).

Sri Trang is the fourth largest Thai investor in the country after the agro-industry conglomerate CP Group, the coal miner Banpu, and the cement, paper and petrochemical giant SCG Group.

"We have employed about 500 local workers and they get along well with our 10 Thai-Muslim staff from our companies in the Muslim southern provinces of Thailand," said Mr Kitichai.

http://www.readbangkokpost.com/business

Thai foreign direct investment in Indonesia's rubber industry

Thailand's rubber companies are starting to expand into Indonesia, the number two rubber producer in the world, right behind Thailand.

Thai foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indonesian rubber industry not only puts these companies closer to an important and growing supply of rubber, Indonesia is quickly becoming "the world's largest production hub for block rubber, a product with an upward price trend that could influence the global market

http://www.readbangkokpost.com/business

IELTS Preparation- More on essay planning

Before doing an essay for Task 2 of the writing test in Ielts (International English Language Testing System), you must plan your answer. I'll use this question to show how.

Using animals to test the safety of drugs used for medical reasons or to test the safety of cosmetics is never acceptable. To what extent do you agree with this statement?


Understand the question
Use the following four brainstorming questions to analyse the exam question.

1. Are there any background facts? Essay questions may include some background, factual information about a topic. If so, it's always in the first one or two sentences. The sample question, however, doesn't have any background facts.

2. Are there any opinions? Essay questions often have the opinions of some people on a social issue or problem. If present, the opinions always follow background facts that may also be given. Our sample question includes an opinion about animal testing: "Using animals to test the safety of drugs used for medical reasons or to test the safety of cosmetics is never acceptable."

3. What's the task? A "task" is a piece of work or a job to be done. In Ielts, the task that you have to do is given either as a question to be answered or as an instruction to be followed. You'll find the task right at the end of the essay question. Each of the three Ielts essay types states the task differently.

The first Ielts essay type usually includes some people's opinion about a social issue or problem. The task that follows is often worded like, "To what extent do you agree?" or "What is your opinion?" I call essays with a task like this a Type 1 essay (discuss one opinion or view on an issue). The sample essay question is Type 1, as the task asks you to give your opinion about one viewpoint - that animal testing is never acceptable.

In the next essay type, you're given two opposing views (in two separate essays) on a matter. The task may be an instruction like "Discuss both these views." The two essays are Type 2 essays (discuss opposing opinions or views on an issue).

With the third essay type (Type 3 - discuss a social problem or issue), you're asked a question on a social problem. You may also be asked to suggest solutions.

4. What are the focus questions? You can't write a totally relevant and complete answer unless you know the focus of an essay question, that is, its main or central point.
With Type 1 essays, make the focus question by turning the opinion into a question. Omit words like "To what extent do you agree with ..." Use simpler words to facilitate understanding, but never change the meaning. The focus question for the sample is: "Is using animals to test the safety of drugs/cosmetics ever acceptable?"
Develop ideas
An easy way to find ideas and examples for your essay is to quickly answer several brainstorming questions.
First, think about the words used in the essay question. Do you understand exactly what each term means? The sample question doesn't have any terms that make it difficult to understand what the question-writer means.

Now, think about the focus question. To consider the merits of the view that animal testing is never acceptable, you need to return to the basics. Why do we have testing? Thinking about this is an important part of properly analysing the merits of the belief that animal testing is "never acceptable". Therefore, my first brainstorming question is: "Why are tests conducted?"

Another approach is to consider why someone would have a particular view. If you can see a problem from another person's position, you're better able to present arguments in support of their view.
On the other hand, understanding their position might also allow you to identify reasons why their view is unacceptable. Here, then, is my second brainstorming question: "Why is using animals 'never acceptable'?"
You can also consider the implications of an opinion in order to identify its weaknesses or strengths. My final two brainstorming questions are therefore: "What would happen if we stopped testing?" and "What are the alternatives to animal testing?"

Organise ideas

After quickly answering the brainstorming questions, ask yourself the focus question again. Then, look at your answers to the brainstorming questions to decide what your broad answer to the focus question is. For the sample essay, your broad answer could be something like "Using animals in medical experiments is essential".
The broad answer will become your "position" (the main idea) in the essay. Make it the introduction's last sentence if you decide to use a thesis-led essay structure (which is what I recommend for the sample question). However, if you choose an argument-led essay structure, it will be given for the first time in your essay's closing paragraph.

In the next planning step, skim through the answers to your brainstorming questions to select the ideas and examples you can use to "prove" your position. You may need to do more work on the original brainstorming answers to develop the details of some ideas or examples.
Finally, prepare a brief outline of the main ideas and examples for each paragraph. Now, write the essay.

Write to me at david.park@idp.com if you need any help preparing for Ielts. I'd be happy to answer your questions.

David Park designs and teaches Ielts courses, and is involved with Ielts testing at IDP. To register for Ielts, contact http://www.idp.com/thailand . Ielts is owned by Cambridge Esol, the British Council and IDP: Ielts Australia.