Burger King Core Competency
It is hardly a secret that Burger King’s core competency is flame broiled burgers. The American public has been inundated with commercials of the burger on a grill with the fire darting through. Burger King, as most big corporations do a very good job of advertising their product to the masses as well as revealing their core competency. The uniqueness of the way they prepare their burgers absolutely sets them apart from the saturated burger market.
Franchising is the Burger King’s key value chain activity. Being the largest and arguably the best known flame broiled burger restaurant in the World has allowed BK to expand upon their brand by way of franchising. As previously stated, marketing gives BK the biggest bang for their buck. Constantly highlighting what makes them unique and even better than their competitors if you will has served Burger King extremely well in recent history.
Choosing to enter into a Global Market absolutely has it’s pros and cons especially when you choose to make that switch much later that your competitors. According to Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan (2011), choosing to enter a market late can be an enormous disadvantage particularly in very tiny markets as sufficient suppliers may be few and far between. On the other hand, tardy entrance into a robust market can yield positive dividends because your competitors have already laid the foundation and created a demand. Nevertheless, Global expansion is risky business and choosing the right time and the right location is absolutely the key to hitting the Global expansion nail on the head.
It is extremely difficult for American businesses to compete internationally with the local businesses. Americans typically do not adapt well to their foreign surroundings and this tradition can certainly carry over into the business world as well. From being a Soldier and having had the pleasure to visit and even live in several countries around the world, the constant that I have experienced is that you can always tell who is American even without them uttering a word. This is especially true in restaurants as Americans typically try to order American dishes or local dishes prepared in an American style. It all ties in to American corporations going international and trying to fit in. According to Arthur, having a creative and innovative business model can at times work to your advantage as everyone wants to try something new. The key is to ensure that they do not just try it once and never return, but to gradually grow repeat customers and customers that share their positive experience with others. (Arthur, n.d.).
Burger King does have the majority of their restaurants in North America and in my opinion is a very good idea. Americans eat more burgers that anywhere else in the World. So it absolutely makes sense to have the majority of their restaurants in the place where the majority of the people eat the product that