Business research methods ISA 1

Introduction

the company’s success caught the eye of fast food multinationals from the U.S, McDonalds. As part
of its diversification strategy, McDonalds purchased Donato’s Pizza in 1999. At that time McDonalds
also had Chipotle and Boston Pizza Market under its portfolio. Purchasing Donato’s Pizza was
McDonalds’ way of breaking into the pizza market. Due to a downturn, McDonalds revamped their
strategy to focus on their core business. Thus, in 2003 the Jim Grote alongside his daughter Jane
Grote repurchased the family business. With a strong turnaround plan, the family was able to get
Donato’s back on track. Today, Donato’s Pizza operates over 160 locations in 10 states.

Problem statement

Donato’s Pizza will have to bring innovation to their menu to capture attention and tastes of
customers in a way that its adaptable

identifying the problem

In the above case study, after Donato’s pizza was rebought by Jim Grote and his daughter from
McDonald’s, Jim reopened the franchise and it is doing pretty well. No doubt the sales are good but
in this rapidly changing world Donato’s pizza has to find a way to stay relevant from the vast amount
of competition it faces in the market, curate pizzas and other menus in a way this it suits the palate
of consumers whose tastes are constantly shifting. If Donato’s pizza plans to excel and scale its
business, then it needs to find solutions to these problems.

Research design

Before preparing the research design the first step is to decide what the sample should be.

The sample in this case study is the type of people that donatos pizza is targeting whether it be teens
or working adults with families

In this case lower middle class or middle class families with a household income of $50,000.

Convenience method of sampling

We will be using the convenience method of sampling as a preferred sampling method in this case

-As of date this Pizza chain operates in more than 160 locations in 10 states, the research should not
be limited to only one states but need to take in account external factors in the other states as well
like culture and food preferences etc. with using the convenience method of sampling we can gather
information from each of the 10 states.

Type of research method to be used

Figuring out the type of research to be used is an important factor in this case and each case the
type of research varies.

Qualitative research is the type of the research method which should be used in this case because
this case involves a large scale survey and is focused on it

To be specific we will be using the Analytical style of qualitative research

In this method we get accurate analysis by using theories to draw in depth conclusion. it focuses on
obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication This will provide us with an
in-depth accurate result which will help greatly in analysing the case further

Data Collection

The data needs to be collected and processed in this stage and the focus should be primarily on the
collection of data part.

The data we have to collect is as follows

1.The areas where the stores are located and information about the locality, neighbourhood, people
etc.

2.The cultures of different categories of people in the following 10 states

3.Pricing strategy of the rivals and comparing it to donato’s pizza.

Data evaluation

1.there is no differentiating factor between franchises and the standization should be maintained
across all locations. standardization in the pricing strategy should be held across all location its
established in.

2. the competition Donato’s pizza is facing is very strong, some being multibillion dollar ventures.

Conclusion

While there are many pizza chains and restaurants in the market, Donato’s pizza has 2 main
differentiating factors that give other pizza chains a run for their money.

1.Donato’s pizza is known for decades by the locals since 1963 for their generous toppings and also
its quality. The company puts around a 100 slices of pepperoni on each of their pizzas. Making it a
really good deal for its customers. This is also part of the reason why its loyal customers don’t go to
other fast food pizza chains like pizza hut or dominos.

2.Donato’s pizza offers a wide variety of menu items in their restaurants, this is a key factor of
success for Donato’s pizza. certain menu items include cauliflower bruschetta or mariachi beef.
These items may only be found at Donato’s pizza as multinational pizza chain giants cannot keep
inventory of such menu items because of them being niche. But the customer base of Donato’s pizza
know this and partly it’s one of the main reasons that their customers stay loyal to the franchise.

Upon conducting this research on Donato’s pizza, I have summarised that Donato’s pizza needs to
act on some aspects of their operations. They include

Though being a standardised restaurant chain with most of the menu items standardised, keeping a
few items which are area specific, for example thin crust margarita pizzas in New York city. Donato’s
pizza will become a big franchise one day for pizzas in the united states only if they are successfully
able to capture the local market.