CHAPTER ONE
CONCEPTUALISATION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
1. INTRODUCTION
The chapter gives an insight into the conceptualization of the research problem. It aims to briefly understand how the research will be undertaken through its aims, objectives, structure and scope. The researcher has studied the viewpoints of various authors as fundamental guidelines for the dissertation.
2. ISSUE IDENTIFICATION
Consumers are ever more demanding - expecting and getting more and more for less and less. Due to the pressure from competition the profit margins have reduced and other input costs have increased. There has been a drastic change in eating habits of society. A decade ago or so products of Starbucks or Costa were exclusivity and specialty only in the streets of UK, Sushi was only available in Japan and no where else. Today it is different. Health, provenance, localness, global cuisines and authenticity are now the priorities of restaurants. The consumer survey reveals that the families are now eating out together more. Keeping pace with these fast moving consumer trends are the different restaurateurs which offer great opportunities and exhibit fierce competition in the market (Deloitte Survey, 2007).
Restaurateurs take different strategic choices in different situations to curb competition. There are basically three different types of strategic choices i.e. corporate level strategy, business level strategy, and development directions and methods (Jhonson and Scholes, 2008).
The environment in which the restaurant operates helps to determine its success or failure. Restaurant success and failures have been attributed to economic and social factors, to competition and legal restrictions, and even to government intervention. The researcher attempts to evaluate strategies implemented in relation to the challenges faced due to competition. Some attributes of the competitive environment that can influence a restaurant’s strategy are the business’s...