assignment on value chain Essay

Introduction to Information Systems – BU1113

Assignment 2

Name: Jaspreet Kaur

Student ID: 201806219

Due date: November 5, 2019 11pm

Description:

In this assignment you are to select business you are familiar with, such as a food outlet in a nearby food court or an online business. Discuss the value chain of this business and the potential systems that support it.

Support your work with the information in the lecture notes. You are free to use any relevant information from the internet that you may have researched.

Use appropriate headings and sub-heading where necessary and submit your work as a Word document. Use this description as the cover page for your assignment. Your write-up should be at least 2-3 pages in length.

Value Chain of A&W Canada

Introduction to the topic:

The business management concept of the value chain was introduced and described by Michael Porter in his popular book Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance in 1985. A value chain is a set of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product (i.

e., good and/or service) for the market.

Businesses aim at enhancing their margins and thus work to create input into an output which is of greater value. The logic behind it is simple: The more value a company creates, the more profitable it is. The enhanced value is passed on to the customers and thus further helps in consolidating a company’s competitive edge.

In porter’s value chains, Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing and Sales and Service are categorised as primary activities. Secondary activities include Procurement, Human Resource management, Technological Development and Infrastructure. The primary activities are directly related to the creation of a good or service, while the support activities help in enhancing the efficiency and work to obtain a competitive advantage among peers.

Introduction to A&W:

A&W Food Services of Canada, Inc. is a Canadian fast food restaurant chain. The chain was originally part of the U.S.- based A&W Restaurants chain, but was sold to Unilever in 1972, and then bought by its, management in1995. It no longer has any corporate connection to A&W operations outside of Canada. In December 2013, A&W was Canada’s second- largest quick service restaurant burger chain with 850 outlets after McDonald’s with 1400 outlets.

Value Chain Activities:

Primary Activities:

Inbound Logistics:

This multi- stakeholder organisation is focused on advancing sustainability efforts within the Canadian beef industry. It’s ranchers only use antibiotics when medically necessary to ensure the health of the animal. All their cattle are fed a fully vegetarian diet. Typically, the cattle enjoys a mix of different grains and grass. Its 100% Pure Beef Guarantee means that all of their beef is raised without any artificial hormones or steroids. It only use 100% beef for it’s patties and add absolutely nothing else. No additives. No preservatives. Just beef.

It audit all the facilities that handle its beef and they are also audited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency or equivalent regulatory agencies. At A&W, they have developed their own animal welfare programs that meet the National Farm and Animal Care Council requirements, adding additional requirements from their own research. This means they also audit their supplies using third-party auditors accredited by the Professional Animal Auditors Certification organization to ensure all their requirements are met.

Operations:

The first A&W drive-in restaurant opened in Winnipeg in 1965. An instant hit, A&W expanded to build restaurants across Canada. It has proudly served great-tasting burgers, hand-crafted onion rings and frosted mugs of famous A&W Root Bear to millions of happy customers.

A&W changed with the times, as its innovative franchisees pioneered locations in food court malls, drive-thrus and freestanding restaurants. Today, there are over 900 A&W restaurants from coast to coast and they are still growing fast.

Outbound Logistics:

A&W Restaurant, Inc. is a chain of fast-food restaurants distinguished by its draft root bear, root beer floats and burgers. The company became famous for its “frosty mugs”, where the mugs would be kept in the freezer and eventually get filled with A&W Root Beer before they were served to customers.

Evolving into a franchise in 1926,the company today has locations throughout much of the world with each serving a typical fast-food menu of hamburgers, French fries and hot dogs. A number of outlets serve as drive-in restaurants that have carhops.

Marketing and Sales:

Sales at A&W restaurants grew 13% in the fourth quarter as the expanding burger chain continued to target the nostalgic baby boom generation, , many of whom are turning to lower-cost meals in the recession. The company not only gears its television advertisements towards that generation, but has a so-called “Cruisin’ the Dub” program, which features car hops, hot rods and classic car events at various restaurants across the country.

A&W also launched the “uncle burger’ in September, the first new member of its “burger family’ in four decades, which it said is growing in popularity.

Service:

In 2013, they embarked on a journey to source simple, great-tasting ingredients, farmed with care. They are proud to have high standards when it comes to their food and customers can taste it in everything they serve. They are the first national burger chain to serve beef raised without the use of hormones or steroids and chicken and pork raised without the use of antibiotics. These positive changes are part of the reason they are increasing their market share every single month.

Support Activities:

Infrastructure:

Across Canada, these vibrant and charming restaurants are a place to call home. The mant who comes there choose to write their own stories and follow their own path to success. They have designed a less stressful environment where customers can feel comfortable and refreshing.

Human Resource Management:

The committed workforce is considered as a keyhole in the company’s success and growth over the years. A&W employees are motivated through various benefits and incentives. The company is also known for taking good care of its employees, a major reason for the lower turnover of employees, which describes great human resource management. There are many training programs conducted for employees in a setting of a work culture which keeps its staff motivated and efficient.

Technology Development:

A&W Restaurants has selected to deploy Task Retail Technology’s (TRT) xchangexec suite of software across all its corporate locations. A&W’s current technology infrastructure has many vendors interfaced together. Xchangexec harnesses the power of the internet to provide real time sales data, centralised POS terminal and data management and innovative technology integration such as digital menu boards, mobile applications and SMS. It integrates with Microsoft Office applications connecting data with people, adding value and functionality and driving increased productivity.

Conclusion:

The concept of value chain helps to understand and segregate the productive and wasteful activities accompanying each step during the product development process. It also defines that if during each step the value is being added then it leads to the overall enhanced value of the product which will help in achieving greater profit margins.