Using information technology to grow a small business as applied to The Broadway Café
Kristy Dobbins
Strayer University
Instructor: Amir Afzal D. SC
CIS 500
Business Driven Information Systems
Fall 2010
Abstract
I recently inherited my grandfather’s coffee shop, The Broadway Café located in the heart of Harmony, NC. Since 1952 this shop has been the local hotspot for both locals and visitors. My grandfather has run this shop for years without modernized technology and has been successful in his management. Currently the café is struggling to compete with the current updated businesses of the 21st century. This paper will show how I use modernize information technology to update the business operations while maintaining the
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The Broadway Café can use this as a personal advantage because there is no threat of rivalry among existing competitors because their not any.
Michael Porter’s Three Generic Strategies’ Applied Making the decision to leave the atmosphere of the café as is and focusing on up grading business operations from relaying on memory and notepads to run the business. Now, I must develop a strategy for a full turn around for the business to become successful. In doing so, I can use Porter’s Three Generic Strategies (Baltzan & Phillips, CIS 500 Business Driven Information Systems, 2009). The strategies consist of broad cost leadership, broad differentiation, and focused strategy.
Of the three I pick focus strategy which includes both cost leadership and differentiation (Baltzan & Phillips, CIS 500 Business Driven Information Systems, 2009). The café is a small business and special attention will be geared to marketing towards the residents of Harmony. My plan is to add on new services and possible products will attract new customers as well as maintain old ones. Some of the services and products include:
• Catering Service
• Delivery Service
•Product Sell which includes bakery goods, teas, and coffees
E-business Developing the café into an e-business will allow the café to remain to survive in a competitive business field. The benefits of an e-business
Therefore, by launching an e-business, Broadway Café will have an opportunity to leverage it current assets, its customers. To follow in this opportunity will be the employees, technology infrastructure, and information to gain and maintain market share.
Obviously, the threat of new entrants would be high. The cafe’s low supplier power and other new comers would also have to deal with
4.1.3 How can an E-Business strategy help The Broadway Café attract customers and increase sales?
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The partners of Beyond the Bean want to combine a traditional coffee shop with table/ board game rentals, where customers can socialize, in a relaxing environment. Our case analysis will demonstrate the appropriate decisions Beyond the Bean should apply to their business plan in order to achieve their goals. The report clearly identifies the problems within the case, and what choices the business should make to in order to be successful in the given area during a time of rescission. We explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Beyond the Bean’s business structure, identifying vital decisions that the business should
Use the following sections to guide your development of your integrated IT plan for your chosen business strategy. Part 2 IT Enablers Opportunity You are interested in introducing several information technology solutions as enablers to deal with some of your new coffee shop issues. Background Given your new strategic focus for your grandfathers coffee shop, what specific IT Enablers will help you with your business strategy implementation and thereby realize your value proposition for the future Example IT Enabler opportunities may include, but are not limited to, the areas of order management, inventory management, marketing and customer outreach, web site implementation and wi-fi. Be certain that you are creative in choosing your IT Enablers so your IT Enabler Opportunity is a very strong value proposition for your new coffee shop and customers. Your value proposition should include value creation activities to enhance productivity, maximize convenience, and improve communications. Task Document the IT Enablers investment which your grandfathers coffee shop could use to increase revenue, reduce costs, and thereby create value. A few questions you might want to address in your documentation for your team report include What IT Enablers would you deploy at your coffee shop and how will your business strategy benefit from the
In order for our business, The Broadway Café, to become more competitive in this environment, I deem it necessary to build a collaboration tool that will stimulate contact, knowledge, information, and events among employees, customers, suppliers, and all others who are interested in the business.
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In 1952, The Broadway Café opened its doors for business. Located in downtown Saratoga Springs, the café specializes in a wide variety of coffees, teas, homemade sandwiches and soups and also offers a full service bakery. For quite some time the Café was the local hotspot. However for the last five years business has been steadily declining. My grandfather who owned the shop up until now has been running it the same way since its inception. The lack of information technology has been the driving force behind the Café’s decline. In order to bring the Café up to date with the 21st century, a detailed analysis using Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model will be implemented.
In the premium foods and coffees industry, there are substitute products. According to Mary Coulter, the best way to evaluate this threat is to ask whether other industries can satisfy the customer need that this industry is satisfying (Coulter). Other beverage industries can satisfy the customer's need for a drink, and other food industries can satisfy the customer's need to eat. There are obviously good substitutes to Broadway products and the threat is high. This is why it is very important for Broadway Cafe, to innovate and differentiate. By providing free Wi-Fi in the Cafe and marketing signature food products from the famous old recipes of Grandfather, Broadway Cafe can create different image than its competitors.
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With the way in which today’s technology and business industries are changing many consumers and potential target audiences look to give their attention to whomever is willing to provide the best and better services. During this era of highly competitive e-commerce, business must do whatever is necessary to remain above their competitors. At this point all industries, are competing to see who has what it takes to be on top in the present as well as their future plans to better attract more clients; during the process of trying to be number one, many business industries examine all the risk factors that they are willing to explore in order to push their companies in succeeding. Each industry wishes to leap into business world carefully with a predetermined business plan that emphasizes a course of action for economic success plan out a way for their industries to prevail as supreme; but what are the pros? What are the cons? The three major industry realms which will be explored will be the Lodging, Restaurant, and Music industry.