Mba 502 Kudler Strategy Assignment

Running head: STRATEGY

Strategy

Peter Clark

University of Phoenix

Kudler's founder wanted to create a company that provides a high level of service to customers searching for exotic foods to enjoy. Originally there was one store that served the community but as time progressed more stores were added. Management could see that Kudler was a success and expanding. As Kudler expanded the day to day operations became more complex and the necessity to streamline the operation and to become more efficient cam with the territory. In order to maintain the high level of performance that customers had come to expect Kudler needed to adopt some technological advancements. A relational data base serves to organize information and to track pertinent information become important within a growing organization. The ability to collect, combine, and retrieve the information becomes crucial in order to react to the changing market in a timely fashion. Knowing the exact position of the company in relation to the vendors and suppliers allows Kudler to assess the company's buying power and place orders with the highest buying power possible. Knowing and understanding the needs, whims, and wants of customers places Kudler in a position of power. The information gathered lets Kudler customize the products and produce sold in each of the stores. Special promotions and rewards can be offered to customers to breed loyalty and to excite the customer about what Kudler offers. Kudler can customize orders to have the necessary produce on hand without having a great deal of excess. By having the amount of produce that is typically sold Kudler would avoid having to mark products down and lower the amount of produce that is lost to spoilage. Being able to get the customers to use a preferred shopper's card would give Kudler the information needed to track shopping habits and create a relational data base allowing Kudler to retrieve the information more efficiently.

Just as important as the technology that is used to give Kudler an advantage in the industry is having a strategy to achieve management's goals. Kudler's model for success follows the concentration strategy closely. The concentration strategy states that Kudler is a "simple business operating in a single industry segment" (Gomez-Mejia & Balkin, p 172). Even though Kudler has multiple locations the company's main source of income is achieved from the retail sale of produce and food items. Kudler is attempting to expand the company's business model by introducing a catering line but that is still in the developing stages and no income is being achieved. Kudler is classified as a simple business because "95 percent or more of its total sales come from" (Gomez-Mejia & Balkin, p 173) the company's core operations. By concentrating the company's resources to a single business plan, Kudler is working on maintaining a high level of service for the customer and assuring customer loyalty over the longterm.

Kudler's plan is to concentrate on becoming the best within the industry, by keeping the customers who regularly visit existing stores while simultaneously adding more customers. Kudler can use several tactics to achieve the goals set; including differentiation, focus and innovation strategies. The focus strategy refers to the customers Kudler would seek to attract. By focusing on a niche market consisting of middle and upper class customers interested in high quality food with less concern for cost, Kudler can customize the stores to satisfy the customers' needs. Many stores try to maintain a wide customer base and offer general items. Although having a variety of products is important, customizing those products to a narrow market allows Kudler to concentrate resources and to maintain and grow. Kudler can simultaneously use the differentiation strategy and innovation strategy to stand out of the crowd. Kudler currently offers high quality produce and hard to find items in each of the locations but other stores offer similar products. In order to stand out Kudler will open a catering service that will maintain the same level of quality and uniqueness as the core business. Kudler will be offering evening cooking classes to teach customers how to use the products offer as well as building a sense of community.

Internal changes are also required to continue the growth and customer satisfaction that Kudler has enjoyed. The internal efficiency strategy states that by "improving the manner in which business processes are executed" (Turban, Rainer & Potter, p 614) both customers and employees are happier.