Income Through Planning

Running head: INCOME THROUGH PLANNING Income Through Planning Dorraine Cooper-Rooney June 6, 2015 1 INCOME THROUGH PLANNING 2 Abstract In this paper will be looked at an article from Woods (1994) that looks at the strategic planning of the restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday. This chain is owned by Morrison Company and is driven by long standing protocols. With this work being over ten years old, both past and what was then future can be observed. Income through Planning The article by Wood (1994) states more about the process of strategic planning being carried out and how it raises client perceived value. The Ruby Tuesday Group is part of the Morrison Company, the longest food service company on the NY stock exchange. At the time of the article there were two hundred locations, currently there are over eight hundred stores- this is a gain of over 600 stores (Wood, 1994: Ruby Tuesday Inc., 2015). This shows over fifty four stores a year or one store every seven days opens, this is faster than the projection of 1994 by more than four stores a month (Ruby Tuesday Inc., 2015: Wood, 1994). They have also grown from a United States company at the time of the article to an international company in over ten countries. It can be observed that this companies transparent strategic operations are worth paying attention to. Strategic management is the set of choices that get implemented and evaluated to reach the end goal of the organization (Teece, Pisano & Shuen, 1997). The process of planning is one of the first protocols to be implemented. Morrison used a dynamic technique to build this division’s framework. By having a parent company, Ruby Tuesday Group was able to take advantage of having ‘outsiders’ aid in organizational strategic planning (Robinson, 1982). INCOME THROUGH PLANNING 3 Part of the parent companies planning, Morrison implements a strategic plan for itself and a developed plan for each division (Wood, 1994). This dictates how the company as a whole should work. A chain of command with a productive end. Though the article looks at one moment in time, the author notes that Ruby Tuesday Group is ever evolving with strategy planning unto itself and will change with the environment present. The Ruby Tuesday Group team begins strategic planning by overviewing a SWOT analysis (Wood, 1994). This allows the company the ability to see what is productive and or counterproductive. Observations on such things as: capabilities and knowledge, things that will require company focus, opportunities to meet goals give the organization a chance to look in and raise itself up. It also gives the firm to look at all threats in the professional environment. Most of the SWOT analysis for Ruby Tuesday Group comes from market research (Wood, 1994). The firm hires market researchers to gather and evaluate data within the industry and within the company. Methods used by said researchers would be surveys, focus groups and market analysis among others. These results are compiled and analyzed. Those results are only the start of the show (Wood, 1994). The next thing is to ask the managers about what they think effects them at their store and how what the store or franchise can do to make the brand in a better situation with better opportunities. The Ruby Tuesday Group values the considered opinions of their employees. An outside firm also handles this research (Robinson, 1982). From the CEO down to store managers will be interviewed (Wood, 1994). INCOME THROUGH PLANNING 4 From this point all data results are compiled to give the planning team a place to begin (Wood, 1994). This data is augmented by the knowledge of the researchers and planning team to aid in analytics. This companies values a mixed methods design by implementing convergent concept with triangulation reasoning (Teddlie & Tashakkori.2009). The facilitator or lead of the meeting will the go over different issues that were already introduced. It is then that issues are ranked (Wood, 1994). One of the critical developments that arises from this is support of the mission statement- exceed expectations, develop all levels of the company and reward shareholders. The Morrison practice of ‘Quality and Value in Management’ shows clearly through the data not only in production. This principal guides the process. Conclusion The article by Wood (1994) does go on but, really is not the point of this class. The best part of the article is how in-depth it goes into the collection and analysis of data and the company’s intended use for the data to pin point strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in such a way as to optimize the organization (Alreck & Settle, 2004). I find the strength of this article is not just monetary growth but, also growth and optimization for Ruby Tuesday Group employees (Wood, 1994). It is through careful planning that all are made possible. Such planning would not be half as effective without use of mixed method research (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). All in all, it speaks to reasons for data collection other than medical or academic, it is neat to witness real world application. INCOME THROUGH PLANNING 5 Week 5 Addendum- Looking at the Research This will look at the direct research in the Woods (1994) article. As a researcher he faced certain variables reflecting uncertainty (labor supply, finance opportunities, competitive advantage) and complexity (industry sales, competitive units, customers) and needed to account for this. He uses archival data throughout the paper to add knowledge and validity (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). The SWOT analysis requested by Ruby Tuesday Group is done by an independent research company (Woods, 1994). Data collection methods used are: surveys, focus groups (with non-customers and customers), secondary sources and market analysis (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). These are only the first data set of answers. The strategic planning team, 24 high management officials and an outside consultant (who acts as the facilitator) analyze the first set of data (Woods, 1994). At this point the team collects data from store and district managers- this is an open-end internal survey. They were questioned for their thoughts on: the menu, the value, marketing, human resources, etc. and the questions were ordered to make their brain focus (Alreck & Settle, 2004). One of the first objectives of the team is to synthesize the data (Woods, 1994). The facilitator brings compiled data and leads the discussion. Each issue is given discussion, ranked and recorded as to the threat or aid to the company. This is long process (in 1992 it lasted for two days) and the end of the research leads to the company having a firm plan (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). INCOME THROUGH PLANNING 6 References Alreck, P. L., & Settle, R. B. (2004). The survey research handbook. New York, NY: McGrawHill Companies, Inc. Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Robinson, R. B. (1982). The importance of “outsiders” in small firm strategic planning. Academy of management journal, 25(1), 80-93. 06 June 2015. Retrievedhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/256025?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (2015). Our Profile. 06 June 2015. Retrievedhttp://www.rubytuesday.com/our-story/profile Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (Eds.). (2009). Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences. Sage Publications Inc. Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. 06 June 2015. Retrievedhttp://iic.wiki.fgv.br/file/view/dynamic%20capabilities%20and%20strategic%20manage ment.pdf Woods, R. H. (1994). Strategic planning: A look at Ruby Tuesday. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 35(3), 41. 06 June 2015. Retrieved fromhttp://search.proquest.com/docview/209724351?accountid=35796 INCOME THROUGH PLANNING 7