Essay: Report On The Business Environment Of Black Beans Café.

Overview of Black Beans Café

This project requires you to apply your skills and knowledge to collect information on the internal and external business environment to develop marketing strategies and marketing plan 

You need to read the case study provided in the Additional Information at the end of this assessment document: Black Beans Café, Case Study Resources

Review the information on Black Beans Café. You are now required to develop a report of not less than 800 words on internal and external business environment. In your report you must include the following: 

a. Core activities, customer base, business values and current business direction of Black Bean Café.

b. Current and past marketing strategies and its effectiveness

c. Strengths, weaknesses and critical success points of the business

d. Current capabilities, resources and need for any specialist assistance

e. Expected market growth or decline for coffee consumption industry and risk factors

f. Projected changes to labour force, population and economic activity

g. Comparative market information

h. Customer trends and developments, including emerging technologies and invocations in coffee consumption

i. Legal, ethical and sustainability requirements for the business and its impacts

a. From the information you gathered in Task 1 and the information provided in the Background information, identify at least two marketing opportunities for the business and the innovative marketing approaches

b. For the identified opportunities develop marketing strategies consistent with the direction and values of Black Beans café

c. Discuss the strategies with the management of Black Beans Café (your assessor and colleagues can be the management) and take note of any ethical, sustainability and legal considerations. Incorporate these considerations into your marketing strategies.

a. Using the strategies developed in Task 2, you will need to prepare a marketing plan using the headings

• Executive Summary – Provide an overview of the organisation and the plan, which simply states what is to be achieved
• SWOT Analysis – Submit an overview of the organisation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (analysed in Part 1)
• Strategies – Outline the marketing opportunity selected and strategies developed in task 2. Include your reasoning for the marketing mix decisions that you made and the strategies you selected, referring to the SWOT analysis and risks
• Implementation – Priorities, responsibilities, timelines, budget, monitoring process and reporting requirements

b. Present your plan to management (your assessor) to gain approval.

Using the information gathered in Part 1 you are now going to implement marketing activities and evaluate these activities.

You are required to write your findings as a report of about 900 words and include the following: 

a. Assess the marketing performance against the objectives by undertaking performance analysis. Evaluate and report on the above marketing strategies and plan against the following criteria:

i. consistency with overall marketing direction

ii. exposure achieved

iii. penetration of target market

iv. cost-effectiveness of financial and human resources

v. completion of strategy within established timeframe

vi. recommendations for strategic responses based on evaluation

a. Indicate the business practices that need to be changed to satisfy changing customer requirements. Prepare the documents outlining these recommendations and ensure they meet the organisational policies and procedures.

b. Communicate these changes to the management (your assessor)

Overview of Black Beans Café

Black Beans Café is considered as the important coffee house in Sydney. It has been analysed from the case study that company has increased its popularity in the market by providing premium quality of products to the customers. If the current marketing strategy of the company is being analysed, this can be said that the company has decided to provide premium quality of coffee by adding different types of beverages. The company has also agreed to develop the healthy relationship with the customers. In the initial stage, the company was providing only coffee. Although at that time the company also offered the good quality of products in order to grab the attention of the customers. However. In the current situation, it has company has also decided to bring some changes in its marketing strategies for achieving its goals and objectives.  

It has been identified that the company has a large customer base and by providing good quality of products the company has gained the customers’’ loyalty. On the other hand, it has been identified that the employees are also very efficient in their work, which has helped the organization in order to provide the effective service to the customers. The major weakness of the company is due to limited budget it has not developed a strong marketing strategy. As its result, the brand image is getting affected. It has also been analysed in this study that due to lack of space in the stores, it is not able to serve a large number of customers. The company is trying to introduce innovative strategy in the market. However, it is still facing many challenges. After the impact of globalization in the business industry, the market is growing in the fastest way (Rana and Singh, 2016). Therefore, this can be said that it has brought various opportunities for the company in the business industry. On the other hand, it has been identified that due to increasing sales, it can be assumed that the, in the long run, the sales revenue of the company will be raised. Due to the impact of globalization, the business industry has got many opportunities in the market (Noori 2015). As its result, a large number of organizations have got the chance to establish their business in the market. This has created tough competition for the company.

 If the current capabilities of the company are being analysed, it will be identified that in the current scenario the company has developed its business by providing good quality of products to the customers. It has also expanded its large business market. If the competitors of the company are being analysed, it will be identified that in the current situation large numbers of competitors have increased in the market. It has also been explained that with the changing customer trends and growing interest of the customers in coffee producing industry, will be able to bring various opportunities for the company. After the introduction of globalization in the current business industry, different software and hardware have been introduced in the market (von Rosenstiel, Heuermann and Hüsig 2015). The company has also adopted various technological equipment in the manufacturing unit. On the other hand, the company has also introduced various legal policies such as Adhere to Privacy Act 1988, Competition and Consumer Act 2010, anti-discrimination policy and many more. By adding these policies in the market, the company has developed its organizational activities properly.

Marketing Strategies and Effectiveness

In the study, it has been identified that after the introduction of modern technologies in the industry, the business development is being done in the fastest way.  With the changing business trend, the demand of the customers has also changed. In this situation, the company has started providing good quality of products with the efficient service. Therefore this can be said that in the ling in this will increase the availability of customers in this field. It has also been analysed in this study that here the company has the good quality of products and introduced modern technologies in its manufacturing unit. Therefore, this can be said that in the long run, this will be helping for increasing its productivity, which will increase its popularity in the market. On the other hand, if the external environment of the company is being analysed, this can be said that Australia is the politically stable country. The government has also taken various initiatives for introducing the fair business regulations.

In the above opportunities, it has been clearly mentioned that the company has developed various technological equipment in the manufacturing unit, therefore by using this, the Black Beans Café will be able to build its quality of products. On the other hand as the external environment if the company is in favourable condition, therefore thus can be said that it can focus on developing the customer base by maintaining friendly service.

 After discussing the strategies with the management and employees, it has been identified that the in order to develop the plan the company needs to focus on maintaining the customer service regarding rules and regulations properly.  On the other hand, it has also been analysed that in order to develop the effective marketing strategy, Black Beans Café should focus on an agreement with the local channels and stakeholders for managing the process in the proper ethical manner. 

 It has been identified in this study that the company named Black Beans Café is going to develop its business strategies in the market for grabbing a large number of customers' attention. After analysing both the external and internal environment of the company, it has been identified that the company named Black Beans Café has various opportunities in the market. However due to increasing number of competitors the company is dealing with the challenges. Depending on the occasions the company has decided to introduce good quality of products in the market for garbing the attention of the customers. It has also been analysed that for increasing the brand popularity in the market the company has decided to provide good quality of service by maintaining the friendly relationship. By discussing the strategies with the management, all the legal formalities are being kept in the organization.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis of Black Beans Café

                                                                                                  Source: created by author

In order to implement the marketing strategies of Black Beans Café, the company needs to focus on clarifying the responsibilities of them in the company, so that they will be able to understand the company objectives. On the other hand, the company needs to focus on the bringing the changes in the budgeting process. The finance team of the company can take the active step regarding this. By recruiting decent human resource management team, the performance of the employees should be monitored. Through this process, the company will be able to analyse the performance skill of the employees. These practices are very important for the understanding of the employees in the organization are satisfied with their job or not. Depending on the needs and demands of the employees the company will be able to fulfil their requirements. On the other hand research and development is being considered as the important process, by following which the position of the competitors and demands of the customers can be analysed. In order to develop the plan, the company has set 1-year planning. In the current situation, people have become very choosy, which is creating the challenges for the company. Therefore dealing with the situation the company has decided to bring above changes in the workplace.

Presentation of the plan

                                                                                                  Figure: Gantt chart

                                                                                             Source: created by author

In order to achieve the mission and vision the company has given active effort. For maintaining the rate of profitability it has started developing the effective manufacturing unit. By using homemade sauces, organic vegetable and fruits and good quality of products, it has started to grab the attention of the customers. In order to improve its services it has started increasing loyalty of the clients by showing the loyal customers. If the market direction of the coffee industry is being analysed, it will be identified that demand of the customers are gradually increasing. With the increasing rate of customers’ demand, large number of people have chosen this field as their occupation.  As per the market growth it has been identified that the company named Black Beans Café growing 5% in every year. In the year 2011, the growth rate was 13%. The company has aimed to set the double-digit growth rate. For increasing its popularity in the market it has used the social media and TV channels. It has also focused on developing its supply chain. In order to implement the product development process, it has started bringing changes in its menu. Due to improper location, the transport cost has increased. In order to deal with the situation, different cost-effective ideas have been introduced. The company has decided to invest more in the marketing plan. It has invested in both the direct and indirect campaigning.

In this study, it has been identified that with the hanging customers' needs, the company is dealing with various challenges. Therefore in order to deal with the situation, it should focus on bringing the changes in its menu. On the other hand, by providing different discount offers, the company will be able to make this process more exciting. The transportation issue can be reduced by introducing the other stores. This can be able to make the supply chain process easier. 

Reference list and bibliography

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Chari, S., Katsikeas, C.S., Balabanis, G. and Robson, M.J., 2014. Emergent marketing strategies and performance: The effects of market uncertainty and strategic feedback systems. British Journal of Management, 25(2), pp.145-165.

Knox, A., 2016. Coffee nation: an analysis of jobs in Australia's café industry. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 54(3), pp.369-387.

Noori, M. and Tatari, O., 2016. Development of an agent-based model for regional market penetration projections of electric vehicles in the United States. Energy, 96, pp.215-230.

Noori, M., 2015. Development of Regional Optimization and Market Penetration Models for Electric Vehicles in the United States.

Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, pp.62-73.

Rana, R. and Singh, S.B., 2016. Automotive Steels: Design, Metallurgy, Processing and Applications. Woodhead Publishing.

Sunny.org. 2018. BLACK BEAN CAFE | Hollywood, FL 33023. [online] Available at: https://www.sunny.org/listings/black-bean-cafe/3847/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2018].

von Rosenstiel, D.P., Heuermann, D.F. and Hüsig, S., 2015. Why has the introduction of natural gas vehicles failed in Germany?—Lessons on the role of market failure in markets for alternative fuel vehicles. Energy Policy, 78, pp.91-101.

Wiener, R.S., Gould, M.K., Arenberg, D.A., Au, D.H., Fennig, K., Lamb, C.R., Mazzone, P.J., Midthun, D.E., Napoli, M., Ost, D.E. and Powell, C.A., 2015. An official American Thoracic Society/American College of Chest Physicians policy statement: implementation of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening programs in clinical practice. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 192(7), pp.881-891.

Yu, F.L.T. and Hu, M.W., 2015. Strategic Entrepreneurship in Taiwan’s Food and Catering Industries: The Case of 85° C Café Shop. Global Business Review, 16(5), pp.891-902.