Wendy’s: History and Life after Dave Thomas

Introduction

In 2002, the death of Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas cast aspersions on the company’s future and the fast food industry as a whole (Malhotra, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the response of Wendy’s to the death of its founder and explore the role of research and development in the expansion of the company across the United States. According to the 2008 report, Wendy’s is the third largest fast-food chain registering $10 billion worth of sales across its10, 000 restaurants (Ibid). The company trades in fries and burgers, and also alternative items such as salads, chili, and baked potatoes. Following the death of founder, Dave Thomas, the company responded to the challenges by expanding its marketing department to include research and development. Innovation is a dynamic process, and; therefore, Wendy’s must continually conduct research. Cardinal issues in assessing customer preference for fast food restaurants include price, branding, quality, and nutrition and health information (Abdullah et al, 2012).

Research and Development

In 2006, Wendy’s established a new area of marketing targeted for innovation (Maholtra, 2010). The expansion of the company’s marketing role comprised the creation of innovation and strategy group with functions including research and development, innovation, strategic insights, and operations innovation. Wendy’s designed and implemented its growth plan for 2007 and identified 10 objectives for 2008. The focus for the 2008 objectives is, according to their slogan, “doing what is right for customers”. The foundation of the 10 objectives is Wendy’s “recipe for success”, whose goal is revitalizing the Wendy’s brand, improving and streamlining operations, strengthening franchise commitment, embracing a performance driven culture, reclaiming innovation leadership, and capturing new opportunities. Its research and development initiatives bore fruit. In 2008, the company reached out to cash strapped customers with high quality, signature sandwiches sold at 99 cents. This included products such as crispy chicken and cheeseburger. Wendy’s lead the way in terms of development of innovative products such a fruit bowls.

Assessing Consumer Preference for Fast Food Restaurants

In order to manage its innovation and stay ahead of competition, Wendy’s must conduct product surveys. The questionnaire for conducting assessment may include four cardinal items: price, branding, quality of service, and nutrition knowledge (Abdullah et al, 2012). Dimensions such as price are cardinal to the performance of the product in the market. This may involve finding out whether differentiation in prices of children and adults, special pricing in menu packages, discounts, promotional prices for new menus, reasonable prices, preparing local delicacies, and exceptional pricing for regular customers. The quality of service is the other item essential for the assessment because it influences consumer preferences. In relation to quality, issues of hygiene as relates employee practices, quick service, cleanliness of food preparation, menu knowledge, processing of orders, friendly waiters and waitresses. This involves assessing consumer taste preference, nutritional content, income levels. Nutrition knowledge is crucial to consumer preference. Consumers have greater access of health information currently than in the past. They are aware of the likely implication of consumption of different nutrients on health. Branding influence also influence consumer choice.

Training Field Workers

In a survey, it is essential to train field workers on issues of data collection, research ethics, and data handling (Ibid). Data collection through methods such consumer interviews is a technique. The various items in the questionnaires should be clear to the research assistants, in order to avoid errors in entering responses from the survey participants. The issue of consent administration is extremely vital. Participants must only participate in a study voluntarily. It is, therefore, essential train the field workers on aspects of informed consent administration. Selection of field workers depends on knowledge of aspects of food quality. The researchers must have a background of food service delivery and food quality assessment. Selecting those with research experience is recommendable.

Conclusion and Recommendation

The case highlights the significance of research and development in expanding market coverage and realizing consumer needs (Malhotra, 2010). Wendy’s produces fast food products, which is a highly volatile business. Consumer preference is sensitive to changes in prices, quality, ingredients, and packaging. In order to establish and understand customer needs, the marketing department must conduct market research. Wendy’s continued expansion in the United States is significantly due to innovation supported by research and development initiatives. Market studies rate certain items that define the consumer, in terms of the response to a fast food product. Business organization should monitor those indicators so as to reflect on their performance. Therefore, business organizations should establish a vision and values that support their strategy. This ensures continuity and helps discourage negative speculations as happened with Wendy’s due to the death of Dave Thomas. Organizations should build policies around institutions, and not individuals, in order to guarantee sustainability of business.

References

Abdullah, et al (2011). “Identifying the Dimensions of Customer Preference in the Foodservice Industry”. IPEDR, 14(1):352-357.

Malhotra, K. (2010). “Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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