KFC Competitive Advantage Essays

At KFC, A Bucketful of Trouble
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At KFC, A Bucketful of Trouble
Question 1
For any business to maximize its profits, it ought to look for ways to cut the production cost. On that note, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) had a good strategy of cutting costs by changing its supply chains. However, KFC ended up impacting its competitive advantage adversely. The primary factors that enable KFC to remain at the top in the fast-food industry include uniqueness, supply chains, high-quality, and affordable chicken products (Bediako, 2018). The company uses a localization strategy to penetrate domestic markets of various countries such as the United Kingdom (UK). On February 2018, KFC closed approximately two-thirds of its nine hundred outlets across different parts in the UK (Jasper & Pfanner, 2018). The reason behind this crisis emanated from changing the distribution system, which occurred a few weeks before the crisis. KFC dropped Bidvest food delivery services and paired with Dalsey Hillblom Lynn (DHL) and Quick Service Logistics (QSL). For this reason, it was unable to distribute fresh chicken products in the UK, leading to the closure of its outlets. Customers such as Ruari Lee were unhappy since they did not get their favorite food as usual, which made them seek services from KFC competitors. Consequently, the organization jeopardized its reputation for the few days that some of its outlets remained closed.
Question 2
When customer complaints are not addressed appropriately, they can lead to the collapse of a firm. KFC should have addressed clients’ squabbles to avoid tarnishing its reputation. The organization should have used a different approach rather than telling customers that there was no chicken. Any KFC chicken consumer would not have been satisfied when one visited the nearest outlet only to find that it is closed. One of the most vital things that KFC needed to do to solve customer complaints is effective communication (Phaswana, 2017). KFC should have searched for the most appropriate communication medium to inform its clients about the change that affected its supply chains adversely. Moreover, the company would have introduced a toll-free number where customers can ...