The Great Italian Foodcompany

The Great Italian Food Company is in the process of wanting to improve its business and increase its profits. Previously, Joe Papa (owner)-was the person that made all the decisions and determined the future for the company. Now, his children are grown adults and will assume the responsibility of running the company and each have their personal ideas for the future of the company. I have been hired to assist with their strategic plan.

GOFC should first define their business, products and services, and customers to identify any issues. Create a vision for the organization that clearly demonstrates their decision on what they want their business to become in the future. The Italian restaurant chain can grow globally; and in 5-10 years can become the largest restaurant chain in the world. The growth and progress of the restaurant will be directly related to the quality of food served, the authenticity of ingredients used, location, and customer service. They should discuss their guiding principles or values for their business considering the topics of culture, social responsibility, and ethics i.e. The Italian restaurant will always serve fresh food. Those ingredients that are old or stale will be destroyed. Further, the Italian restaurant will strive to provide the widest variety of dishes possible for an Italian restaurant.

It is important for them to understand the strengths and weakness of the company to develop ways to reconcile them. However, while researching the data one must consider the environmental factors: location, entrants, substitution or complements, change in customers. They should examine if any of the listed factors affect the company. By performing a thorough examination it will assist with enhancing their competitive intelligence. This is another facet to consider making strong decisions and identifying any competitors that could possibly diminish their profits. They must evaluate how the organization addresses customer needs and critique how they achieve competitive advantage. The competitive advantage can be achieved through differentiation: the authenticity of the food, variety of dishes, and the restaurant expects that through the word of mouth the good food that the restaurant is serving will increase the clientele increasing the revenues and profitability.

After understanding a situational analysis of the business they should be able to generate creative solutions that will facilitate a decision from a long term perspective addressing the current profits, the only restaurant that serves Italian food, location, customer satisfaction, feasibility. We know a few proposals are: have more locations in the St. Louis area, think more broadly about the restaurant business and start other ethnic restaurant; and engage in strategic planning.

Strategic planning is the best concept to utilize for the company. Strategic research fosters great meticulous planning. All plans should lead to achieving