Business Oriented Literature Review

The report that has been presented here is a follow up to the first assignment which dealt with the identification of the different types of the issues that are presently being faced by the management of KFC. It also deals with the implementation of the strategic objectives of KFC. The focus was on the different problems that are faced by the management of KFC while conducting their business across the globe. There are a number of different problems that have proved to be quite problematic for the organization. The problems have been discussed in an elaborated manner in the below provided sections.

A small discussion on the organization is needed before the start of the report. In the present world, the conduction of business in different organizations have been subject to a number of difficulties and issues that is subjected to significant amount of difficulty generated through a number of reasons. The most common reason is the damage of the reputation of a company. This happens generally due to wrong implementation of strategies by the organization. KFC is one of the most famous names when it comes to the food industry (kfc.co.in, 2018). Operating a large number of stores in different countries across the globe has made it famous and easily recognizable. The organization has presently more than 20,000 employees, which stands out to be the sole example behind its grand reputation (kfc.co.in, 2018).

As said earlier, KFC like many of the companies presently operating in the food business faces a whole lot of problems. Some of the main issues being;

1. Suppliers Business Model
2. Ill Functioning Logistics
3. Absence of proper supply of the different products
4. The absence of technological advancement in the logistics and Supply chain
5. Unethical Business conduct of the Suppliers
6. Wrong Selection of the Suppliers

The following issues have been the main reason behind the closure of the organization in many parts of the globe.

Choosing Animal Friendly Suppliers has been not so important until recently. However, the criticisms from PETA and other animal rights activists have forced the organization to search for animal friendly suppliers. The choice of normal local, unskilled suppliers by the management of KFC have led to wide range of protests in different areas and also led to permanent shutdown and change of policies for the company. PETA was the first to protest against KFC in the year 2003 and their protests led to change in the policies of the company and have made them committed to the well being and humane treatment of the chickens that are provided by the suppliers (peta.org, 2018).

The organization had the tendency to choose local poultry suppliers who are again subjected to severe criticism from PETA (peta.org, 2018). This has led to portray KFC in a negative manner which has challenged its reputation. The shift in the policy of KFC has thus led the management of the Company to select PETA recognized chicken suppliers. The choice of such suppliers will help the organization to be an animal loving company and eliminate the concern of all the animal lovers across the globe.

Current Problems Exiting in KFC

The management of KFC has faced severe wrath from the different animal rights activists and other organizations. Cargill, one of its major suppliers have been accused of carrying deforestation in the Amazon rainforests to farm beans for supplying food to the chickens (peta.org, 2018). This was a breach of the ethical concepts and led to a large number of problems in the industry. The brand image of KFC was extremely damaged after the leakage of the news and customer expressed their displeasure on such an environmental concern.

Therefore the management of KFC in the present day is a lot more sensitive in selecting suppliers for different purposes. The organization has done every possible thing to ensure the success of the organization and maintaining the brand image. The following controversies can thus be extremely de-motivating for both the organization as well as the customers. Therefore the presence of different ethical suppliers can be helpful for the organization.

The management of risky supply chain processes can be completed in a number of different ways. The first one can be certification (Zhu, Anagondahalli & Zhang, 2017). Certification of the company will involve the visit of the KFC risk safety managers to visit the suppliers and check all the specifications are met or not. it will be better for a surprise visit as many of the suppliers can make temporary arrangements to pass the certification. Secondly KFC must perform an audit of the suppliers and verify their sustainability in the market as well as verify the reputation of the supplier in the market. This kind of arrangements can help the company to follow ethical practices.

Another main problem that takes a toll on the growth of the organization is the absence of relevant technology in adapting to the growing demands of the customer and thus fails to live to the expectations. According to, Shuailing & Zhi (2015) the logistics department of the company has been mostly inefficient and has least idea to tackle large-scale demands. The absence of technology also limits the flow of information between KFC and the suppliers which leads to a gap in the supply chain and thus creates a huge void. This disallows the supply and the logistics manager from keeping a tab on the preferences of the customers.

It is important for KFC to establish a secured online connectivity between the management and the suppliers in order to keep a better track of the total event. Apart from this the increased amount of communication and regular meetings between the management and the suppliers can be one of the best remedies to avoid the following situation.

Reasons behind finding animal friendly Suppliers

The use of growth hormones to increase the productivity of chickens and make them healthier has been practiced by many of the suppliers (Sgarbossa & Russo, 2017). This has led to problems as use of such medicines on chickens is dangerous as because the use of chemicals on chickens is harmful for the end consumers. The people who consume the chickens will be directly exposed to such dangerous chemicals. Apart from this antibiotics are also used which is totally against the rules.

It is important to totally mitigate the following practices by changing the policies and increasing checks and performing surprise visits to the firms of the suppliers. Though there will be a problem for the organization to get a decent supply with stringent rules in place, the policies will ensure the elimination of the concerns of the people. The management of the organization must establish a dedicated team for the surprise visit and to establish different code of conducts for the organization.

As mentioned in the earlier sections, the absence of strict regulations and stringent rules has led to the decline of the quality of supply by the suppliers to KFC. The code of conduct will be designed in such a manner that it not only focuses on the quality of the supply but also ensure ethical treatment of the chickens that are supplied by them (Sgarbossa & Russo, 2017). The total code of conduct thus needs to be changed and restructured accordingly. The organization must conduct joint meetings with PETA, other animal rights activists, along with the likes of the suppliers and other stakeholders to formulate a proper code of conduct for all the parties involved in the total process.

The management of KFC faces problems in the absence of dedicated transportation vehicles for receiving the supplies on time. There are also problems when in some cases the supplied meat is found to be stale. The absence of Air Conditioned vehicles leads to such problems. Apart from this there are also problems during the inappropriate delivery of the products and thus such problems tend to disorganize the proper functioning of the organization.

The study of Holmes et al. (2018) has recommended that KFC has to buy new vehicles for avoiding transportation problems. Buying new vehicles for transportation also reduces the cost of transportation that is incurred by the company and also helps to avoid any damage to the supply. Apart from this owning personal vehicles will help the operations department of KFC to track the supply much easily and faster. The faster tracking of the vehicles will help in the improvement of the organizational performance.

Need for Ethically Conducting Suppliers

The secondary information that has been used in the following assessment has does not lacked quality and thus there is reliability and validity in the research. The major characteristic of the secondary information provided in the research has been unique as because it has provided the realistic details and has avoided any fake news. Secondly the information provided is totally unbiased as because it has provided both the positive as well as the negative factors regarding the problems in the Company. The following characteristic has thus been the key to the success of the following research.  

There are a number of gaps in the following report. Though these gaps are small yet they are quite important going by the importance of the report. The report has failed to highlight the other issues of KFC like customer grievances, quality issues and competitive issues of the organization. The inclusion of the above mentioned points could have heightened the level of the study and made it more presentable. However, the inclusion of the main details within such limitations has been the main success for the following study.

The methodology chapter of the report will detail out the method and the different processes that were implemented to complete the following report. The following forms a critical element of a study. This is because it helps the readers and the future researchers to get an idea into the way the research was completed and will also help to identify and select the best methods for different types of the researches.

The objective of the following research is as follows;

1. To expand the awareness of KFC’s wholesome option
2. To know the current perception of KFC supply chain and logistics
3. To evaluate the perception of the consumer regarding the supply of the Company

The first and foremost objective of the company is to aware the customers about the healthy and hygienic factors of the food supplied by KFC, secondly it will also aim to provide a proper and clear perception of the supply chain and logistics of the company to the consumers (Lewis, 2015). Last but not the least the management of the company aims to evaluate the perception of the consumers and get an idea of their demands and needs which will in turn help them to supply the best healthy food to the consumers.

There are always two different kinds of research approaches that are generally chosen by the researchers in order to complete the research. The first one is the deductive research approach while the second one is the inductive research approach. Both of the processes are separated according to their method of application (Lewis, 2015). The inductive research approach involves the formulation of new theories and models while the deductive research approach involves the induction of old and used theories and models based on the topic of the research. Both of the following research approaches are chosen according to their own uses.

Need for the Flow of Information among the relevant parties involved in processing

For completing the following research on the issues of KFC, the deductive research approach is selected as it will provide a detailed and scientific description of the topic accordingly. The following research topic moreover will help the research to predict the results and recommend the solutions to the issues more accurately. The main source of information of the research will be derived from the secondary sources based on the problems of KFC in different parts of the globe.

Explanatory, Exploratory and Descriptive research designs are the three different research designs that are used in different researches (Mackey & Gass, 2015). The explanatory research design helps in the development of the relationship between the two existing variables of the research topic. The exploratory research design is capable of providing the initial stages of the study. On the other hand the descriptive design of the research provides a detailed and descriptive analysis of the topic that is concerned with the research.

To get detailed and descriptive research information on the selected research topic, it is necessary to study the problems of KFC scientifically and broadly. Therefore such an analysis will involve the selection of the descriptive research design.

The strategy or the technique implemented in each and every research helps it to move through the right path and ensure success. The research strategies can include case studies, survey methods, interview, questionnaires, focus groups and many more such procedures. Each of the different research techniques involves the application of specific methods. Survey and interview process stands out from the rest of the processes when data and other information based on research have to be collected from a large group of people. The following method is also reliable as because it collects the different views and the personal thinking of the customers as well as the managers (Lewis, 2015).

The following research is typically based on the viewpoint of the customers of the company and the concern of the people who have a love for animals and criticize strongly over inhumane treatment of animals. The research will also involve the analysis of the situation by the managers of the company. Therefore the particular research will implement the survey method as well as the interview of the managers to find out the results.

A sample size of 50 peoples will be selected for the research.

The sampling designs that are generally used are probability and non probability sampling techniques. The simple sampling technique can be used to gain a better understanding of the topic. For the same purpose, 50 samples survey have been conducted among the customers of Woolworths and 3 managers of the company have been interviewed by the researcher.

Reduction in the usage of the growth hormones and Antibiotics

The data for the following research will be collected by means of both primary as well as secondary ways. The primary data collection method will involve data collection by means of survey on the customers and the interview of 3 managers employed at KFC. The secondary data will be collected largely from the first part of the assignment. Other secondary sources involved will see the likes of different kinds of journals, magazines, articles, earlier researches, online sources and many more as such.

Data analysis has been completed in the form of different chart and tables for greater understanding of the derived figures while the quantitative data will be evaluated by means of pie charts, graphs and tables. On the other hand qualitative data will be evaluated by means of proper interview transcript of the managers.

1. How can KFC shrug off the label of non-animal friendly brand?
2. How can KFC manage ethics in its business?
3. Recommend a proper recovery strategy for KFC.

The project schedule will show the time limit and the designing of the strategic changes to be implemented in the organization. The task starts from the 3^rd of December, 2018 and ends at 25^th of April,, 2019. In total it takes 104 days to complete the total task. The table has been provided below.

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
Project New	104 days	Mon 12/3/18	Thu 4/25/19
Identify Target Customers	20 days	Mon 12/3/18	Fri 12/28/18
Selection of the final customers	5 days	Mon 12/31/18	Fri 1/4/19
Develop Draft Questionnaire	10 days	Mon 1/7/19	Fri 1/18/19
Pilot Test Questionnaire	5 days	Mon 1/21/19	Fri 1/25/19
Review Comments and Finalize Questionnaire	10 days	Mon 1/28/19	Fri 2/8/19
Prepare Mailing Levels	5 days	Mon 2/11/19	Fri 2/15/19
Questionnaire Providing	2 days	Mon 2/18/19	Tue 2/19/19
Final Selection of Interview Questions	5 days	Wed 2/20/19	Tue 2/26/19
Select Interview Date	1 day	Wed 2/27/19	Wed 2/27/19
Conduct Interview	5 days	Thu 2/28/19	Wed 3/6/19
Provide Questionnaire	5 days	Thu 3/7/19	Wed 3/13/19
Receive Questionnaire Responses	4 days	Thu 3/14/19	Tue 3/19/19
Input Response Data	15 days	Wed 3/20/19	Tue 4/9/19
Data Analysis	10 days	Wed 4/10/19	Tue 4/23/19
Report Publishing	1 day	Wed 4/24/19	Wed 4/24/19
Submission of Report	1 day	Thu 4/25/19	Thu 4/25/19

Figure 1: Gantt chart

Source: (As created by the Author)

References

Das, A. S., & Narayan, A. V. (2016). Settling the Debate of Animal Welfare, Public Morals and Trade: In the Light of the EC-Seal Products Case. Global Trade and Customs Journal, 11(6), 267-279.

Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. Sage.  (doi.org/10.1177/1077800415583296)

Holmes, M. R., Dodds, R., Deen, G., Lubana, A., Munson, J., & Quigley, S. (2018). Local and organic food on wheels: exploring the use of local and organic food in the food truck industry. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 1-18.

Lewis, S. (2015). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), 473-475.  (https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839915580941)

Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge.  

Online.kfc.co.in. (2018). Order KFC Online -? Its Finger Lickin Good -? Official Website. [online] Available at: https://online.kfc.co.in/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018].

PETA. (2018). International Landing Page | PETA. [online] Available at: https://www.peta.org/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018].

Sgarbossa, F., & Russo, I. (2017). A proactive model in sustainable food supply chain: Insight from a case study. International Journal of Production Economics, 183, 596-606.

Shuailing, L. I., & Zhi, Y. U. (2015). KFC development in Chinese market–based on the social responsibility and ethics. International Business and Management, 10(3), 142-146.

Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.

Zhu, L., Anagondahalli, D., & Zhang, A. (2017). Social media and culture in crisis communication: McDonald’s and KFC crises management in China. Public Relations Review, 43(3), 487-492