Caballero 1

Brittney Caballero

Professor Tirres

MGMT 3338

2 October 2019

Case #2: Levendary Cafe: The China Challenge

1. What is your evaluation of the way the Levendary Cafe has entered into the China

market?

They entered the Chinese market very strong, opening 23 restaurants within a year.

Although they came out of the gate strongly, there were too many differences between all 23

restaurants. The image of a restaurant is most important. An easily recognizable and familiar

storefront is what will make consumers continue to go to your restaurant. With Louis Chen

heading the Chinese stores, that consistency was nearly entirely missing. While the stores were

successful thus far within the Chinese market, the importance of consistency and their

international clientele was left behind.

2. What changes (if any) should Mia Foster make? Specifically, what should she do about

Louis Chen? And what changes (if any) would you propose at headquarters?

Mia Foster definitely holds an agreeable position. Louis Chen needs to adhere to the look

and feel of the Cafes in the US and if Chen cannot see the importance of that, then someone else

must be found to do the job. Headquarters could surely offer more support as well. Their lack of

support is what allowed Chen free rein for so long in the first place. His view point of making

sure to cater to the tastes of the local communities is important as well, but he has gone too far in

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 Caballero 2

that direction. The menus should definitely reflect the surrounding community, but only in

certain dishes, or maybe even altering some key ingredients like KFC had done. The look and

feel of the restaurant must always be the same as well as having a majority of the same dishes

offered. When you’re trying to be an international business you have to cater to an international

clientele, not just the clientele of the immediate surrounding area. It’s a point CCO, Lucian

Leclerc, brought up after a meeting about the liberties Chen had taken; it could ruin Levendary’s

image. Consistency is key, especially in an international market.

3. Prepare a specific action plan for Foster to help her deal with the need for continued

growth in China. What should be on her agenda for her meeting with Chen?

She should focus on showing Chen the importance of a consistent and overall cohesive

look and feel of the restaurants. Having so much variance between each store could be

detrimental to the Levendary image. Going to each store and incorporating their strengths could

do a lot of good in keeping the Chinese market happy with the changes that have to be done in

order to stay consistent with the US stores. In order for their presence in an international market

to grow, this is imperative. If no agreements can be made, although Chen has done an amazing

job growing Levendary’s Chinese market, someone more capable to be a professional manager

would need to be found.

This study source was downloaded by 100000774040274 from CourseHero.com on 01-27-2022 07:18:18 GMT -06:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/57127464/Levendary-Cafe-The-China-Challenge/
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