Analisis Global marketing

Discuss the evolution of the markets that has resulted in the growth of global marketing. Also discuss the main contributory factors that have sped up these growth.' 

Evolution of the market

Global marketing is not a revolutionary shift, it is an evolutionary process. It does apply to most companies that begin as domestic-only company. There are four stages of evolution resulted to growth of global marketing, there are:

1. Domestic Marketing/ Export Marketing/ Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism – marketing a standardized product anywhere in the world because of the perceived superiority of the home-country (by management). In some cases, a company may setup an export division for international operations, as product is standardized. Examples of standardized items sold through-out the world: Chocolate and soft-drink manufacturer, Cadbury-Schweppes, Coca Cola and Nestle.

2. International Marketing / Polycentrism

Polycentrism they acknowledge by management that each country is different and a customized (adapted) marketing mix is prepared for each country. Example of customized products for the global market: McDonald’s, Starbucks Coffee Company, Club-Med (holiday resorts) and Big Apple Donut.

3. Multinational Marketing /Regiocentric

The view that distinct regions of the world are similar (e.g. Asia, South America, Africa, Europe) and an integrated strategy is developed for marketing to the nations in that region. For example, cosmetic companies such as Shiseido and Max Factor market on a regional (certain countries/regions) level because consumers have similar skin tones and complexions within particular regions.

4. Global Marketing

When company becomes global marketer, it views the world as one market and creates products that will only require week to fit into any regional marketplace. Marketing decisions are made by consulting with marketers in all countries that will be affected. The goal is to sell the same thing the same way at everywhere of the world.

The main contribute factors that have sped up these growths.

Globalization is essential in the modern world that is filled with many uncertainties. Companies globalize because of many factors that include profit motives, costs minimization, diversification of the markets, search for new opportunities, saturated domestic market etc. the globalization process of a firm involves many processes that are interlinked and the firm that wants to globalize should always take these factors into considerations. The factors include the knowledge on the market, the availability of resources, the strategies to be used and the market environment.

Before a company takes going global it should plan first. Planning will help the organization not to make mistakes in its initiative. Despite the many motives of companies to globalize and the advantages involved, there are obstacles that the company must overcome for successful globalization, such as:-

Profit: many organizations going global with the motive of increasing the profits of the company and reduce costs. This objective of an organization to globalize can be realized if the company can access a large market and utilize the opportunities in the market so that it can benefit for an economies of scale and large scale production. These economies will help the company reduce its costs and increase its revenue (Perkins, 1997).

Opportunity: there exists opportunities in some countries across the globe that have an opportunity for growth of a company due to the growing economy. The growth of the economy means that consumers in the country will have the ability to gain purchasing power with time and the products of the company will be bought at an increasing capacity. A good example is the Chinese market that has realized economic growth with the possibility of the large population acquiring purchasing power with time (Muhlbacher, Leihs, & Dahringer, 2006).

Band wagon effect: this is a situation whereby the company decides to venture into the global market because its competitors in the industry or other industries are doing it. Such kind of globalization might be good for the company if it uses the opportunity well and maximizes of the potential available. However, care should always be taken not to venture into foreign market blindly (Perkins, 1997).

Global Markets: many organizations have become aware of the potential capability of gaining much revenue from the world market. Therefore, organizations attack their competitors using revenue earned from foreign markets in order to protect the local market that is more competitive.

Shifting cost priorities: the costs of manufacturing are driven by flexibility, quality of products, responsiveness of customers, required skills and the control processes. Labor costs are no longer given much consideration in the choice of locations of an organization. Therefore, companies internationalize because of low costs experienced in other international markets apart from local market.

Technology has gone global: there are many sources of new technology across the world and there is no dominance of the U.S as the only source of technology to manufacture. There are many countries that have cheap human resource and scientific infrastructure for the development of research and development of technology. Therefore, it is easier for companies to internationalize since the costs involved with technology are low (Muhlbacher, Leihs, & Dahringer, 2006, p. 10).

Complex international and political environment: the exchange rates are more flexible today than before and there are no high tariffs charged on imported products thus influencing a lot of direct foreign investments in other countries. These forces coupled with political stability have increased chances of internationalization of organizations.

Saturated home market: there are too many domestic manufacturers in a country making the domestic market saturated and too competitive for many companies. Therefore, companies globalization to compete in the foreign market that is less competitive and profitable to protect the local market operations. A good example is the Japanese departmental stores who ventured into other markets like the Chinese markets due to saturated market at the local level (Muhlbacher, Leihs, & Dahringer, 2006, p. 11).

In addition to the above, there are three decisions that the management of the organization needs to consider before going global of the firm;

v  Which market: this should be the one market that is big and more attractive to the firm and that the firm will seek a balance between costs, benefits and the risks involved.

v  When to globalization: this can be either a first mover or later entrants. First movers are those organizations that enter the market before any other organization of its kind does so. Later entrants on the other hand are those firms that enter a market after other firms of their kind have entered. First movers act as pioneers in the market and may end up experiencing high costs of entry.

v  The scale of entry: a company can enter the market as either large or small depending on the involvement that the management is willing to commit to international market. Large scale entry means the firm will invest much of its resources and will enter rapidly and start immediate involvement in resources.

References

Perkins, S 1997, Internationalization: the people’s dimension: human resource strategies for global expansion, Kogan Page.

Muhlbacher, H, Leihs, H & Dahringer, L 2006, International marketing: a global perspective, 3rd Ed. Cengage Learning EMEA.

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What is Globalisation

What is Globalisation

From general point of view, Redding (1999, p. 19) defines globalisation as the increasing integration between the markets for goods, services and capital and at the same time the breakdown of borders. Braibant (2002) says that the process of globalisation not only includes opening up of world trade, development of advanced means of communication, internationalisation of financial markets, growing importance of MNC's, population migrations and more generally increased mobility of persons, goods, capital, data and ideas but also infections, diseases and pollution.

Thus, from many point of views, it is clearly that in most of the definition, the process of globalisation is seen as to breakdown of the following elements: borders between countries, governments, the economy and communities. It might also means the increasing liberalization and openness of markets, particularly through the elimination of barriers to trade in goods and services and the development of an integrated international financial market. Thus, simplified term of globalisation is “a process of increasing connectivity, where ideas, capital, goods, services and people are transferred across country borders.” PRUS (2001).

Why is it so Important in Today’s Business?

Globalization is the buzzword of today. Economies of the world are being increasingly integrated as new technology and communication has brought people together. Globalization is important because it aids in cross border trade and investment and is aided by information technology which has dramatically transformed economic life. It is a process of interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different nations. Other reason such as:

Natural Advantages

Gaining access to markets around the world allows each country to fully leverage its own unique natural advantages. A natural advantage is an edge that allows countries in specific geographic regions to produce particular products or commodities at a lower cost or higher quality than others. Without international trade, natural advantages do not add much to the economy. For example, it wouldn't matter much to Saudi Arabia that the country sits on vast oil resources if it did not have the ability to sell and ship the oil around the world. It is the access to global trade that allows nations to accumulate wealth from all around the globe.

Trade Opportunities

The globalization of business processes and etiquette opens up new opportunities for importing and exporting products and services. A strong driver of globalization, for example, is the English language as an international business language. Using English, a businessman from Scotland can communicate clearly with a partner in China, who can communicate with a client in Africa and so on. The gradual melding of business etiquette helps to facilitate business communication as well. Issues, such as handshakes, speaking distance, body language and taboo topics of conversations, are beginning to lose their power as potential deal breakers as business people around the world study and understand each other's cultural norms.

Procurement and Outsourcing

The opening up of global markets and improvements in intercultural communication creates a wealth of opportunities to source high-quality, low-cost materials and labor. Outsourcing is when less expensive, foreign labor is used for activities traditionally performed at home. In some countries, such as the United States, outsourcing is seen as a growing evil. In others, such as India, outsourcing brings unparalleled economic prosperity to the people. Developed nations often fail to realize that for every individual that loses a job to outsourcing, another individual -- usually in a more economically depressed situation -- gains a job.

Economic Development

Globalization provides new opportunities to underdeveloped nations by allowing them access to new markets around the world. China and India have ridden the wave of globalization throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, for example, and are rapidly becoming economic powerhouses. Even tribal groups in nations, like Brazil and Africa, can ride the wave of globalization, selling locally-made products around the world via the Internet to raise their standard of living.

Factor That Speed up the growth of Global Marketing Today.

Globalization is an umbrella term referring to the trend towards increasing economic, cultural, political and technological interdependence among national institutions and economies. Since the end of the Second World War, the world has slowly but steadily opened up to freer trade as countries have negotiated rules governing the flow of goods, services, money, people and ideas across national boundaries. Factor that speed up the growth of global marketing today such as:

Political/Regulatory

Governments have taken steps to remove barriers to trade and the movement of finance through international organizations such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor organization the World Trade Organization (WTO) and they have also set up free trade areas, customs unions, or common markets.

• Free trade area—member states agree to remove tariffs and quotas on goods from other members of the area. Members have the freedom to set the level of tariff imposed on imports of goods from non-members of the area.

• Customs union— this is a free trade area but with the addition that members agree to levy a common tariff on imports of goods from non-members.

• Common market—this is a customs union but with the addition that member states agree to allow free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor.

There have been major reductions in the barriers to movement, particularly for goods and capital brought about by liberalization. These have been brought about multilaterally through negotiations in international institutions such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor organization, the WTO, or bilaterally between individual governments. Governments help bring about increased economic and political interlinkage by signing treaties setting up regional trade areas (RTAs) such as the North Atlantic Free Trade Area (NAFTA) with the involvement of the USA, Canada, and Mexico where barriers to movement such as tariffs and quotas are abolished among the members. Other examples are, The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) incorporating 10 countries in South East Asia, and Mercosur (Mercosur Trade Centre) comprising four countries in South America such asArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Labor and Capital Migration

Increased global trade has made products more mobile. Factors of production have become more mobile, as well. As transportation costs have declined over the decades, more workers have migrated to other countries for education and work opportunities. Examples include the migration of workers from Mexico and South America to the United States, and the migration of Africans and Eastern Europeans to Western Europe.

Capital migration is another key factor in the global economy. Multinational firms, in a continued drive to expand into new markets have opened branches and production facilities around the world, going beyond the borders of the nations in which they started. One especially significant factor is the globalization of financial services.

Technological

Improvements in communications and reductions in transport costs have facilitated the movement of goods, services, capital, and people. Modern communications technology makes it easier for businesses to control far-flung empires. It further allows people to connect and interact over long distances, and with transport becoming easier and cheaper, goods and people is able to travel long distances quickly and at a relatively low cost.

Rise in Internet Penetration

There are over billion internet users in the world today. Take a look below at the phenomenal Internet penetration rates globally. This offers an ever increasing reach for businesses that use Internet Marketing to reach out to their market.

REFERENCES

Buzzle : http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-globalization/html

McMichael, Philip. 1996. Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective.

Rusdy Hartungi, (2006),"Could developing countries take the benefit of globalisation?", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 33 Iss: 11 pp. 728 – 743

Christine D. Reid, (2007) "Globalization: Encyclopedia of Trade, Labor and Politics", Reference Reviews,

Redding, S. (1999), "Globalisation", Economic Review, 1 Sept, Vol. 17 pp.16-19.

Braibant, G. (2002), "The past and future of public administration", International Review of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 68 No.3

PRUS (2001), "Globalisation and poverty", Poverty Research Unit – University of Sussex: (PRUS), No. 2, June, .

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Assignment Marketing Global Marketing

Why International Researches are Important to Global Marketing?

Market research is the vital link between the organization and its customers. The objective of sound market research is to interpret consumer behavior and translate the perspective of key customers into actionable marketing strategies. Without this open dialog with customers, companies are unable to keep in touch with vital consumer behavior trends and the many influences that affect the customers of an organization. In today's consumer environment of over-choice and over-communication, growth can only be realized by organizations that are very skilled at crafting well-targeted strategies directed at specific micro-niches of the larger macro market. Companies that go to market without first uncovering specific segment needs and perceptions risk facing the monumental cost of marketing failure.

As more organizations pursue global business strategies, they will require and demand international sources of market information. In order to compete effectively in the 21st century, these businesses will need specialized, targeted information about buyers in dispersed international markets. Connell (2002) argues that, in the business-to-business market, there is ample justification for conducting international market research in support of the design, execution, and interpretation of a wide variety of global marketing strategies.

What would be the problem in conducting these researches referring to primary and secondary researches?

Primary research refers to research that is done from scratch. In other words, researchers are in the field gathering information for the first time, raw data. Secondary research consists of mining and analyzing existing research in the form of reports, articles, literature and other sources to find data to support a specific goal. The two forms of research are different and pose different challenges.

Problem with Secondary Data Research

In the global market scene, some of the information sought by market researches does not exist. When data are missing, the researcher needs to infer the data by using proxy variables or values from previous periods. Even if the datasets are complete, the researcher will usually encounter many problems:

Accuracy of Data

The accuracy of secondary data is often questionable for various reasons. The quality of information may also be compromised by the mechanisms that were used to collect it. Due to lack of resources and skills, many developing countries have to rely on rather primitive mechanisms to collect data.

Age of Data

The desired information may be available but outdated. Many countries collect economic activity information on a far less frequent basis than the United States. The frequency of census-taking also varies for country to country. In many developed countries such as Malaysia, Italy, Spain a census is carried out every ten years.

Reliability over time

Often companies are interested in historical patterns of certain variables to spot underlying trend. To track trend researcher has to know to what degree the data are measured consistently over time. Juggling with economic variable measures is especially likely for variables that have political ramifications, such as unemployment and inflation statistics. For instance, government authorities may adjust the basket of goods used to measures inflation to produce more favorable number.

Problem with Primary Global Marketing Research

 Cultural challenges

Conducting market research in an international market requires a great deal of new learning. The effect of culture is multifaceted in the sense that cultural values that are important to one group of people may mean little to another. Cultural differences deeply affect adoption of products and services and other forms of market behavior. Clearly, cultural forces have taken on strategic importance that cannot be ignored when marketing new and/or existing products and services. Social factors embody a culture's fundamental organization, including its groups and institutions,

Language

Now that market research is being conducted around the globe, researchers must take language and cultural factors into account when designing questionnaires. Language represents the most obvious factor that makes international market research so challenging. While many middle and upper management executives worldwide have some command of the English language that does not mean that English must be employed in conducting all research. To make matters even more complicated, variations within the same language may exist. For example, English speakers in the U.K. and America have long complained that they are separated by a common language.

 Measurement Issues

In international market research, it is critical to establish the equivalence of scales and measures used to obtain data from different countries (Han, Lee, & Ro, 1994). One of the significant issues that must be dealt with early in the international market research process is the equivalence of data (Kumar, 2000). This involves three considerations. First, it has to be ascertained whether the constructs being studied are equivalent. In other words, are the same phenomena being studied in both countries? Second, the equivalence of the measures of the concepts under study has to be determined. This means that the phenomena are being measured consistently in each country. Finally, the equivalence of the sample being studied in each country or culture must be considered. The issue here is that the samples used in each country are equivalent to each other (Kumar, 2000). These considerations involve substantial measurement issues that are increasingly critical in an international environment. The concepts of reliability, defined as consistency over time, and validity, which is concerned with what the instrument is actually measuring, are important to any market research effort, especially those that cross national boundaries.

 Currency fluctuations

Doing business around the world always involves the risk of changes in a particular country's currency. Market research firms are also impacted by these fluctuations because of the numerous field services that are usually hired to complete a research assignment. To finish a given project, several countries might be involved. For example, each spring and fall, IBM conducts a brand tracking study in 14 languages in 27 countries. At any time, one or more of these countries will experience unstable currency conditions, affecting the lead research supplier (Iyer, 1997).

 Legal issues

Legal and privacy restrictions pose unique challenges in the international research arena. European countries with strict privacy regulations can potentially shut down marketing activities that profile or collect personal information. Gaining access to specific respondents can also be problematic in certain countries. Furthermore, the Chinese are monitoring questionnaire construction and even the approval of the final data. This is in direct conflict with the American approach of non-disclosure of proprietary client results (Meijer, 1999).

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Partnership

The Pros statement

secret Receipe successfully transformed a small business into a market leader within a short period of time. Secret Recipe has established a firm presence in Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Pakistan. A large variety of cakes and fusion of foods that people love to enjoy it . In a period of seven years, Secret Recipe has expanded by over 100 cafes throughout the region. Secret Recipe has won numerous awards across the region for its authentic food recipes and fine quality cakes including:

•“Best Cheesecake Award”

• “Most Original Chocolate Award”

• “Best Lamb Stew Award”

• “Malaysia’s Best Local Restaurant Chain”

• “Indonesian’s Best Restaurant Award”

• “Singapore’s Excellent Food Award”

• “Best Brand Food & Beverage Café – The Brand Laureate Asia Pacific”

• “Best Restaurant Award – Philippines Talter”

• “Best Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year – Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards”

Secret Recipe offers customers a warm and friendly ambiance in a trend setting environment. In line with Secret Recipe’s lifestyle café concept, the cafe features the theme of fresh and simplicity chic interior. The interior also presents an interlude of vibrant splashes of dramatic colours with plush sofas and arty seats that liven up the ambiance and adding on to the cosmopolitan characteristics of the cafe. Customers may look forward to a pleasant dining experience in a modern in-trend set up. The café concept provides a location for birthday and celebration parties, private functions or business lunch functions.

Vision

Secret Recipe brand and engrave a good brand impression in the hearts of Selangor population, they strive to adhere to strict self regulation and control on the food and service standards and quality that provided to customers.

QUALITY

It is everything they do. Quality is a word they used to describe their food and service. It is a philosophy that everything they do. It is always the result of high standards, sincere effort and skilful execution.

DEDICATION

They are dedicated to maximize the level of performance and productivity in all areas of or business. To drive success of the company, they have set aggressive goals, focus on results and an obligation to earn a profit in order to remain in the business and growth.

CONCEPT

It is a differentiated and verified concept with broad consumer appeal. This uncommon positioning and strong brand image remain part of our strongest competitive advantage.

SERVICE

It is an effort secret recipe put in building positive customer relationship, transcend ingenuity, hard work and passion for service excellence.

RESULT ORIENTED

It is the managing performance within the company and through customer feedback is sparingly important to measure the growth of the company. We continuously measure our performance and set targets by benchmarking to stay competitive and to move ahead for growth.

The Cons statement

Partnerships do come with their share of disadvantages as well. Working with another individual who has control of the bakery can cause unnecessary stresses and conflicts when determining the bakery's future. Some differences between partners can become so severe that it destroys the business relationship and even the bakery itself. Other disadvantages to partnerships include:

Conflict with partners. While collaborating with partners can be a great advantage to a small business owner, having to actually run a business from day to day with one or more partners can be a nightmare. First of all, we have to give up absolute control of the business and learn to compromise. And when big decisions have to be made, such as whether and how to expand the business, partners often disagree on the best course and are left with a potentially explosive situation. The best way to deal with such predicaments is to anticipate them by drawing up a partnership agreement that details how such disagreements will be dealt with.

Authority of partners. When one partner signs a contract, each of the other partners is legally bound to fulfill it. Even if a clause in the partnership agreement dictates that each partner must inform the other partners before any such deals are made, all of the partners are still responsible if the other party in the contract was not aware of such a stipulation in the partnership agreement.

Unlimited liability . Because of the way partnerships are filed, all liabilities fall on the shoulders of the partners. So if the business fails, we have the potential to lose it all. . The primary reason many businesses choose to incorporate or form limited liability companies is to protect the owners from the unlimited liability that is the main drawback of partnerships or sole proprietorships.

Changing partners or the partner agreement can be difficult, A partnership is generally a convenient way for two or more entrepreneurs start a bakery. For those without much start-up capital or equity, or who are concerned with overhead costs, a partnership may be a good option. However, starting a business is a stressful process, and individuals need to realize that although working with others can relieve stress, it can also create stress. Potential bakery owners should deeply consider whether or not they will be able to work with other individuals closely before entering into a partnership.

  

         

   External Environment

            The external uncontrollable factors of Secret Recipe or the current conditions of the food-service retail industry in Malaysia. Due to the fact that the performance is the primary objective of the company, and application of IT is the primary strategy, it is commonly accepted that the structure and the process of the decision-making is affected by different environmental complexities and volatilities.  Thus, the alignment of the different strategies of organizations with the requirements of their given environment helps to do better than those organizations that fail to get the said alignment. This is because of the fact that environmental scanning helps an organization to discover more regarding the different opportunities for taking competitive advantage as well as threats to its overall survival.

            The process of environmental scanning focuses on the thorough and comprehensive study of the international, macro as well as market environment, but focuses more on the relationship between the structural and dynamic characteristics of each of the environmental factors.

            In order to analyze the macro-environment aspects of factors that are considered as uncontrollable and inevitable for Secret Recipe, including political changes, demographics, economic status as well as social and technological changes that has an impact to the plan of the company to apply new technology, PEST analysis is used. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technological.    The consumer food service industry in Malaysia is considered as one of the most successful industries, the following are the different factors that had affected the entire performance of the industry:

·         Political

Political factors can have a direct or indirect effect on the way certain operates. This is because of the fact that the decisions that are being made by the government affect the operations of units of the company.  First is the action or policy of the government towards investing in the country, primarily by foreign Multinational companies. In 2003, 100% of the foreign equity holding is allowed for all investments in new projects and investments regarding the process of expansion or diversification of project by the existing company. The said supportive effort of action of the government enables many players in the food-service industry to develop and grow.

In addition, the government also assertively launches its Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign in order to improve its tourism industry. The said action was important because of the fact that food service is dependent in tourism, because tourism will help to increase the number of people in the country, thus increasing the target market for Secret Recipe.

·         Economic

All businesses, regardless of which industry they belong, are affected by different changes and trends in the national and international economy. The improving economy of Malaysia offers opportunity for all of the businesses in the country; this is because it can affect the entire buying behavior of the citizens. Malaysia is considered as one of the most affluent nations in Asia, it had reported a GDP per-capita of about US$6,807 in 2007. As a result, the country is already considered as an upper middle income country, and ranked by the World Bank as the 8^th wealthiest nation in the East Asia. In 2007, the economy of the country grew by 6.3%, 5% in 2008, and expected to rise to 3.4% to 4% this 2009 (US Government, 2009).

Due to the said economic growth, together with the effort of the government to open its policy for foreign investors, expansion of different shopping malls and supermarkets or hypermarkets in the country is observable (2008). In addition, major retail outlets have seen a tremendous growth since 1980s, and there are about 400 such outlets in the country which include big players such as Dairy Farm Giant Retail, Jaya Jusco, Makro, Parkson, Carrefour and Tesco. Aside from that, after their debut in the 1990s, foreign-owned hypermarkets are gaining its popularity in Malaysia which attracts customers. As a result, in 2003 alone, there were 32 foreign-owned hypermarket outlets in the country. Thus, it creates an intensive competition.

The employment rate has a great impact on the buying behavior of the consumer. In the country, in 2003, the total unemployment rate was just 3.5%, or showing an almost full employment. The said event was due to improve labor market conditions. It also resulted to stronger purchasing power of the customer as well as higher standard of living, that’s why eating away from home is considered as part of life of Malaysian, which contributed to the greater competitive edge for the consumer foodservice market.

·         Social

Social factor plays a very important factor in the decision of the consumers regarding what, where and when to buy something. Due to the improvement of the economy of Malaysia, the standard of living also heightened. This had affected the eating habit of the citizens. Eating is considered as an obsession for many Malaysians regardless of their races. It can be observe that eating out with family or friends are done much more regular by Malaysian than the Western countries.

Aside from that, due to the continuing expansion of shopping malls and supermarkets or hypermarkets in the country, consumers are spending more time in different retail outlets; thus, create opportunities for the food-service retail industry.

In terms of demographic, it is important to consider that Malaysia has a multi-racial population; most of them are multi-lingual that speaks two languages fluently, primarily English that is widely used in the business field. This is important because it can affect the decision of the company in hiring its employee that will serve the customers. Furthermore, it must also consider on the different products that they are offering.

As of now, more and more women are entering the global labor force, this has an impact to the food-service industry. In Malaysia, since 1995, the employment rate for women is 80.06%.

In Malaysia, 60% of the entire population is Muslim, that’s why the demand for halal foods by Malaysian consumers is high. The Malaysian halal standards are recognized as stricter than those of other Islamic countries.

Another important aspect that is affecting different businesses in the food-service industry is the growing demand of the people for Wi-Fi. This is because of the changing lifestyles of the people, primarily those people who are busy in their work, and who wish to work, even while they are eating or in break.

·         Technological

Food-service industry is not only about the menu or the taste of the products or services, but it is also belong to the business groups that are in great need of fast, efficient and good quality service. Based on the different factors that have mentioned in the first part of the paper, it can be observed that the main challenges for the Secret Recipe focuses on maintaining the interests and loyalty of their customers despite of the massive number of competitors in the market. Thus, it also focus on maintaining competitive advantage which focuses on how the company will handle time pressure and will prevent any errors in the transactions that will drive the customers away.

Currently, we are now living in the world where in information is already considered as an important resource for a company or organization. Thus, integration of the different systems inside the organization is a vital aspect. Application of properly planned, implemented and maintained IT and IS in the entire process of any business, can help managers in the process of decision making. This is because the data that were gathered from the different transactions or in-flow or out-flow of data can be used in order to analyse the current performance of the company, and from that use it as a tool to decide regarding different matters or issues such as the products to be offered, the market that must be targeted. In general, it has a great influence in the process of developing the entire strategy of the company. Another important aspect is that IT or IS can help to improve the customer relationship, because it will help to improve the customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction depends greatly on the accuracy and comprehensiveness of given or detailed information which concerns on their demand, preferences and tastes.

Another important aspect to consider is the growing popularity of the different wireless connections such as Wi-Fi and mobile Internet. This can help the company in the process of connecting to their consumers. First is that it will be important to offer their customers, primarily business customers an access to a free Wi-Fi connection that will serve as an additional attraction or marketing. Above all, due to the growing popularity of mobile Internet, it is a must for the company to establish a website that is compatible in the said technology.

For Internet sources:

www.secretrecipe.com.my

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/customer-service-articles/secret-recipe-in-malaysia-5066674.html

Partnership - advantage, benefits, Advantages of forming a  partnership  http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small

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