Customer experience management (CEM) in a positive has emerged one of the most important area business organizations aim to achieve in order to ensure prolonged customer lifecycle as well as perpetual business generation. Tan, Oriade and Fallon (2014) define customer experience management as the amalgamation of processes which companies use to monitor every customer interaction in order to ensure long customer relationship. Maintaining a large base of loyal customers is one of the competitive advantages which all business companies aim to achieve but it is often challenging for the multinational companies to achieve it. The paper would explore this intense problem of CEM through the lenses of KFC, the American fast food giant. The background of the paper would be set against a problem which KFC is facing in the area of CEM which is complaints regarding food products and service quality. The aim of the paper would be recommending ways to the management of KFC to manage the experiences of its customers. The two social media handles of KFC namely Facebook and Twitter would provide evidence to the problem (Appendices 1 and 2).
The primary of the research is to improve customer experience so to generate perpetual business. The secondary objective of the research is to explore the factors responsible for the issue and making recommendations to improve the factors.
KFC is a American fast food chain owned by Yum Brands which operates globally following the franchisee business expansion model, one of the most common models followed in the fast food industry. IBIS World reports that global fast industry led by MNC restaurant chains have grown by three and a half percept and generated a revenue $ 668 billion in 2018 alone. The name of businesses in the fast food industry has grown by a percent while employment generated has risen by 2.4 percent (Ibisworld.com, 2018) (Appendix 3). As far as the position of KFC is concerned in 2018, the fast food chain holds the fourth position behind MacDonald’s, Star Bucks and Subway (Statista.com, 2018) (Appendix 4).
The main markets of KFC are North America, Asia, South America, Europe and some parts of Africa. The maximum number of branches are located in the US and China. The fast food chain controls around a tenth of the outlets directly while around ninety percent of the outlets are operated by franchisees.
Primary research-online survey:
KFC as shown by the Facebook and Twitter comments is facing serious CEM issues and requires forming an online survey to dig into the root of the problem. The primary research plan would take the form of an interview using a predetermined online questionnaire which would be designed to gain feedback from customers regarding the products as well as services at KFC. The feedback would enable the management to point out that variance between the customer satisfaction level which KFC seeks to achieve and the actual degree of customer satisfaction where the difference would point out that CEM gap for the management to take appropriate steps (Appendix 5).
Recruitment of interviewee and conducting of survey:
The interviewees would be recruited as per the target customer segments of KFC consisting of customers from diverse attributes like age, cultural background, income brackets and even profession. The management of KFC should aim to get at least ten complete surveys to reach the root cause of increasing negative CEM among KFC customers.
Conducting secondary research:
KFC operates in the global markets through a network of franchisees spread all across the world. Antia, Mani and Wathne (2017) point out that franchisees are often not financially strong and do not maintain consistent goods and services quality, thus ultimately hampering the market image of the principle or the franchisor (KFC). KFC is not able to control its immense chain of franchisees spread across the world which in turn gives opportunities to the franchisees violate the quality parameters set by the fast food giant (Khan, 2014). The franchisees do not maintain services and products protocol (BBC.com, 2018). Similarly, there have been reports franchisees not maintaining sufficient stock of raw materials (Horton, 2018). These slack customer services which franchisees offer to customers ultimately create customer perception about KFC (Kfc.com, 2018).
Primary research method:
The primary research method would consist of online interview of customers of KFC and would be planned to present a questionnaire to the interview. The questionnaire would be designed to gain in depth knowledge about the respondents and their customer patterns pertaining to KFC. The interview would implemented across all the markets of KFC and would be available across different platforms like the official websites of KFC, both global as well as regional websites and on Facebook. The questionnaire would be compatible to a number of devices like laptops, tablets and smart phones.
Secondary research method:
The secondary research method includes study of a wide variety of sources like articles, newspapers and internet. The official website of KFC also provided with valuable information.
Summary of the results:
The results of the secondary and primary research would point out that root causes of the issues recognised above. It can be summarised that the unethical franchisees of KFC are largely responsible to the former for the lowering product and services standards in KFC outlets, thus creating low customer satisfaction.
Main service experience problem of KFC using CEM concepts:
The main service experience problems in KFC outlets are inability of KFC to control its immense franchisee network. The second problem is that the franchisee lack CEM skills and often provide substandard products and services to the customers, thus ultimately hampering the market image of KFC. They are responsible for low customer satisfaction and short customer lifecycle of KFC.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that KFC should exercise more stringent control over its franchisees and provide them training or financial support, if required. The fast food chain must ensure its franchisees comply with its global quality standards.
References:
Antia, K. D., Mani, S., & Wathne, K. H. (2017). Franchisor–Franchisee Bankruptcy and the Efficacy of Franchisee Governance. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(6), 952-967. (© 2017, American Marketing Association Journal of Marketing Research PrePrint, Unedited All rights reserved. Cannot be reprinted without the express permission of the American Marketing Association.)
BBC.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-19893520
Horton, H. (2018). The Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/20/kfc-chicken-shortage-causes-chaos-police-tell-customers-stop/
Ibisworld.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-trends/global-industry-reports/hotels-restaurants/fast-food-restaurants.html
Kfc.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.kfc.com/
Khan, M. A. (2014). Restaurant franchising: Concepts, regulations and practices. Apple Academic Press. (© 2015 by Apple Academic Press, Inc. Exclusive worldwide distribution by CRC Press an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20140924 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4822-2349-1 (eBook – PDF)
Statista.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/273057/value-of-the-most-valuable-fast-food-brands-worldwide/
Tan, Q., Oriade, A., & Fallon, P. (2014). Service quality and customer satisfaction in Chinese fast food sector: A proposal for CFFRSERV. Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Research (AHTR), 2(1), 30-53.(DOI: Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Research (AHTR), 2(1): 30-53, 2014 An International Journal of Akdeniz University Tourism Faculty ISSN: 2147-9100)
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