Strategic Choice and Evaluation

STR 581 Lee’s Sandwiches

Lee’s Sandwiches

Environmental Analysis

STR 581

Professor: Kenneth Kobus

Vincent Nguyen

Lee’s Sandwiches

Introduction

This work evaluates both the internal and external environment for Lee Sandwiches. It begins by highlighting the external factors that influence the operations of the entity. It also focuses on the key strengths, weaknesses, and resources of the company. The organization’s structure is also analyzed and on its impact on the performance of the company.

External Environment Factors

As a company that mainly operates in the South West of the country, the political status of the region is stable enough to be favorable for the company operations. The United States has a very stable political atmosphere, and this is also manifest in all locations that the company operates in. Another critical aspect of consideration is the economic status of the same locations. The economy has been on the rise since the 2008 downturn, and this trend is expected to prevail the near future (Cader, 2011). The company was able to make it through the previous economic slump and may be in a position to do so in the future. However, the conditions at the moment are desirable.

Sociological factors make up one of the key aspects of the external environment. The culture all across the United States is very receptive and favorable for the business. One of the reasons that the company has amassed a lot of success over the last few years is that it has attracted new customers to its business locations. Sociological factors are hence favorable for the company. The company is mostly reliant on technology in marketing. There is no outright threat to the company on the basis of the technology utilized because of the industry it operates in (Jovanovich, 2001).

Key Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

The company has some notable strength that supports its stance in the market place. One of the company’s strengths is that it has a loyal Vietnamese American customer base. Although the customer base that the company serves is continually expanding, it has a loyal group that that has supported its growth to a recognizable brand.

One of the other strengths is that the company specializes in unique products. Most restaurants across the country offer the similar products allowing for stiff competition. Lee Sandwiches offers Vietnamese and European cuisines that it has become reputable for. This makes it more stable and well-founded into the market.

Another notable strength that can be attributed to the company is that it has taken up a very desirable organizational culture that is very customer oriented. Since the inception of the company, its owners have learned a lot from their customers and nurtured a culture of high motivation and customer oriented service. This is a strength that makes the company capable of taking on a going concern assumption (Lee's Sandwiches, 2015).

Weaknesses

One of the factors about the company that counts as a weakness is that it is privately owned. Private ownership presents some benefits to the owners but makes a company less capable to cope in a large economy like the U.S. The key factor, in this case, is that of finance. The company is restricted financially because of its private ownership.

Although the company has the unique product range from which it has attained the success it has, this is also one of its weaknesses. In order to sustain growth, the owners had introduced European cuisines to the menu in order to serve a broad market. This was successful, but the product range can be widened to lure more customers.

This can partly be cited as the cause of the small market share that the company has. There is a large market across the country that the entity can exploit but has not done so. A small market share means that the company is more vulnerable than its competition (Lee's Sandwiches, 2015).

Organization’s Resources

The company is privately owned and hence has limited access to finance. It operates from 43 locations across seven states in the south-west of the country (Lee's Sandwiches, 2015). Its resources are not as desirable as those of other competing restaurants, but the customer base of the company is widening and presenting new opportunities to be exploited.

Competitive Position and Possibilities

Competitive Position

The company has amassed considerable success over time because of various favorable factors. This has also meant that the entity has been competitive enough to achieve the success. However, the growth rate of the company is considerably slow. The company has only been keen to serve Vietnamese Americans, but the market for its products is gradually increasing. There are competitors with more competitive abilities and serve a wider market share. One fundamental reason the company does not have an edge on its competitiveness is that its products are limited and hence attract only a small market share.

However, this has also played a role in the success of the company. The few sandwiches that the company is exclusive and targets a specific market. The immediate outcome of this is that it conceives a new market that has less competition as compared to those of other food outlets. The company has been in a position to sustain growth by offering products that customers cannot find in other food outlets. This means that there is less competition. However, the small size of the company takes away from its competitive attribute because it does not dominate the market and developments such as new entrants can challenge its attainment.

Possibilities

One of the possibly for the company would be to diversify its cuisine. The company solely offered Vietnamese cuisine when it began operation. However, it later included some European sandwiches in its menu to attract a new market. This has been one of the key reasons for the success of the company. It has presented the company with the opportunity to grow even where the industry is highly competitive. The company can, however, diversify further by introducing new unique cousins that would create a burly foundation for it to grow further. The United States presents an extensive blend of cultures that means that there is a large market for different cuisines.

The other opportunity that the company can exploit is to venture into more markets across the country. There has been a high success rate among the new locations that the company has set up in. Ventures in other locations can also result in the same outcome. The few locations that the company operates in limit the success and possibilities for the entity. Its success should partly be invested into growing the company into new markets. The possible markets are in states such as Seattle and Houston. This does not necessarily imply that the company has to enter new markets. The growing number of customers indicates that there is a market that can be exploited using more locations.

Structure of Organization

There are various factors about the structure of the company that explains its present state. The most notable aspect of its structure is that the company is privately owned. It is run by a family that built it from the beginning. The size of the company compared to other players in the market may be a manifestation of this. Privately run businesses have low finance which means that they cannot operate in large scale. It also means that there is the likelihood of the lack of knowledge to run a leading institution. Another possibility is that the profit margin targeted is not as high as one that would be aimed at by a publicly traded entity.

Unlike large companies, the organizational structure at Lee’s Sandwiches is relatively basic. The company is owned by Chieu Le and Henry Le, who were also its founders. The two renamed their enterprise as Lee Bros. Foodservices, Inc., which owns and runs the food outlets. Managers are employed to run its 43 locations across the seven states. These managers are in charge of the few employees who run the outlets. It is a fairly basic structure.

The influence that this structure has on the performance of the entity is profound. Since it is a privately run company operating on relatively small scale, its owners need to be in control of its operations. The basic structure allows the owners to maintain this control and also makes it easier to facilitate success (Chow, 2011).

References

Cader, H. A. (2011). Small business survival and sample selection bias. Small Business

Economics, 37(2), 155-165.

Chow, M. J. (2011). The Small Business Sector in Recent Recoveries. Business Economics,

46(4), 214-228.

Jovanovich, B. (2001). New Technology and the Small Firm. Small Business Economics,

16(1), 53-55.

Lee's Sandwiches. (2015, March). Retrieved from Lee's Sandwiches.com:

http://www.leesandwiches.com

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