EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This individual report is focusing on global business strategy and was conducted to
study the business issue currently happening towards small business which is Burger Bakar
Abang Burn, one of the most famous hamburgers located at Dagang Avenue Food Court in
Ampang. Based on the case study, the founders Sabrie Salleh and Khairul Anwar Azhari
believe that they should explore new opportunities for their business in the foreign market.
But, the issue is they do not have knowledge and information about the strategy on how to
expand their business internationally. As an IBM641 student, I believe I am capable and most
competent in analyzing and guiding them to expand their business in Australia.

From the finding, there are three problems were recognized from this issue of the case
study which are to identify the best strategy to use for its international expansion in Australia,
to explain the appropriate primary value chain activity of BBAB in Australia and to justify
whether they should engage in concentrated or dispersed configuration for each of value
chain. After the finding is figured out, they can make a final decision for their business for
national expansion work in Australia since they feel quite close to the Australian business
environment. However, Burger Bakar Abang Burn should be aware that pursuing new
opportunities will respond to pressures for national responsiveness and global integration,
which are required for foreign expansions to be successful.

However, the problems stated affected these two founders to expand their business
internationally. It is because they are still in Malaysia market share, but they do not have
sufficient knowledge to make their brand recognised in foreign market. Hence, there are
solutions and some recommendations included in this case study which I have suggested in
order to resolve the problem faced by Burger Bakar Abang Burn by giving them strong
information and strategy. Therefore, I hope that all these solutions will help them to resolve or
reduce to some extent the problem faced by Burger Bakar Abang Burn to expand their
business in Australia effectively.

1
1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of study

Hamburgers are undoubtedly the most favorite food in the United States. Although the
hamburger's origins are unclear, it is widely assumed that it was invented in the United States
by Louis Lassen in 1900 according to Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Hamburg
(Stradley, 2008). In German, the term ‘hamburger’ refers to a person who is associated with
Hamburg. In addition, hamburger meat, produced from cows raised in the nearby region,
became famous throughout the 19th century.

Moreover, this case study also can be related to entrepreneurship for the founders of
Burger Bakar Abang Burn who brings something fresh to the market. Many entrepreneurs
today operate impulsively, expanding internationally in reaction to external factors rather than
following a well-thought-out strategy. According to the International Labour Organization
(1982), " Entrepreneurs are persons who have the capacity to perceive and analyse business
possibilities, as well as the required resources to take advantage of them and to undertake
proper action to achieve success ”.

As we know, Burger Bakar Abang Burn has been one of the largest successful burger
businesses in Malaysia. Khairul, one of the founders, came up with the Burger Bakar Abang
Burn in early 2006. Burger Bakar Abang Burn was on a mission to produce the ideal, juicy
burger. The founders wanted to develop a burger that would be pleased to offer to his guests
at his house. Burger Bakar Abang Burn began from the failure of a previous business venture
in 2012, which was a butcher shop. On 1st May 2012, using his past expertise and experience
in the meat industry, which they gained in Australia and they created high-quality grilled
burgers that require less preparation time. As a result, they became familiar with the steps of
meat processing and butchery.

However, Burger Bakar Abang Burn has registered for a certificate of authenticity
(HALAL) and a franchisor registration with KPDNKK. With over 20 locations around Malaysia,
Abang Burn is now mostly located in the Klang Valley, with locations in Ampang, Kajang, Kota
Damansara, Subang, and Shah Alam, as well as branches in other states, such as Kedah,
Johor, and Pahang. It is no coincidence that Burger Bakar Abang Burn has grown in popularity.
Despite not having enough knowledge and clear information on international strategy, the
founders of Burger Bakar Abang Burn think that they should explore and exploit new
opportunities in the overseas market. As a result, they believe they must seek professional
advice before making a final decision to expand their business.

2
Figure 1.1 : Locations of Burger Bakar Abang Burn

Figure 1.2 : Main menu of Burger Bakar Abang Burn

3
2.0 ANALYSIS FOR BURGER BAKAR ABANG BURN (BBAB)

2.1 Question 1: Should BBAB execute international strategy, global strategy, transnational
strategy or multidomestic strategy for its international expansion in Australia? Write solid
justification.

In business, when we decide to expand our business internationally, we are not

carrying on a simple task. It require preparation, resources, and a great deal of energy.
However, what matters is how we carry out our strategy. According to the MBA Skool Team
(2021), international strategy can be defined as “ a company's business plan or strategy for
entering foreign markets.” By analyzing the international market, we need to examine
resources, define goals, evaluate market dynamics, and build offerings are all part of an
international strategy. Hence, most of the businesses looking to expand internationally are a
continuous effort and process.

The type of strategies consist of the international strategy, multidomestic strategy,

transactional strategy and global strategy. In this case, Burger Bakar Abang Burn should
execute in international strategies because most of the businesses when they want to leverage
their core competencies, they use an international strategy. Moreover, I suggest Burger Bakar
Abang Burn using international strategy because it is suitable for their business. Most of the
small local enterprises that want to export resources to global markets frequently use this
method. In addition, the pressure for global integration and national responsiveness are low
compared to other strategies. By using an international strategy it is also emphasizing Burger
Bakar Abang Burn on exporting goods and services to foreign markets which are located in
Australia.

By entering into international strategies, Burger Bakar Abang Burn has a few options
to use five different strategies for his worldwide strategy plan such as direct exporting, foreign
direct investment, piggyback marketing, Greenfield approach, and foreign franchisor licensee
or franchisee. As claimed by Ewan Roy (2017), said that direct exporting known as “ the
process of selling goods directly to a customer in a foreign market.” For instance, Burger Bakar
Abang Burn can choose this technique to reach the international market by exporting their
products such as burgers, wedges, fries, sausage, and minced beef to customers in other
countries.

Apart from that, they also can sell to a wide range of customers, with some of them
serving as market intermediaries. Even if a middleman is involved, the export is still direct
because the middleman is a customer in the target market. Direct export is the best option but
I am not suggesting for them to use this method due to some major problem such as mistrust

4
between the exporter, image of quality or perceived value. That is why it is very important to
implement a good strategy so that minor problems like these can be avoided.

Other than that, Burger Bakar Abang Burn also can use piggyback marketing.
Piggyback marketing is described as " a low-cost market entrance approach in which two or
more enterprises promote one another's complementary products in their respective
industries," as stated by Business Directory. They have an experience with the difficulties
towards online advertising, so by adopting online piggybacking strategies, it will be able for
Burger Bakar Abang Burn to reach a wider audience by exchanging data across various
platforms and sites. For example, when Burger Bakar Abang Burn have an opportunity to
collaborate with their international partners, such as five-star restaurants in Australia and this
might assist them in entering the market without incurring the high marketing and distribution
costs associated with exporting.

Having stated that, they can begin seeking for a licence to become a foreign
franchisor's franchisee. I think this technique in international strategy to apply for the
franchisee’s licence is very suitable for Burger Bakar Abang Burn and it will help them to
understand how other franchisors, such as McDonalds or KFC, run their franchises in various
countries. Burger Bakar Abang Burn also will gain benefits from learning what strategy to apply
and how much it will cost to operate or resources. They can also determine demand for
Australians' food cultures and preferences. It may take a long time for Burger Bakar Abang
Burn to learn, but if they believe in improvement, the end outcome would be satisfying as they
wished to expand their business in Australia.

To conclude, it is important to choose the best strategy and I believe every strategy
has its own benefits and limitations. I highly recommend Burger Bakar Abang Burn that this
strategy is the best to implement as I am one of the fans of Burger Bakar Abang Burn, and I
would like to see the growth and success of this business in Australia. Last but not least, the
most important thing is when a firm has more competencies than its foreign competitors, an
international strategy will work effectively. Although this strategy is risky, but it will give a lot of
benefits to the Burger Bakar Abang Burn if they execute this strategy because it is very suitable
for small businesses for its international expansion in Australia and become one of the famous
burgers in Australia such as “De beste Burger-leddene” in Melbourne.

5
2.2 Question 2 : For the recommended strategy, illustrate and explain systematically the
appropriate primary value chain activity of BBAB in Australia.

Primary activities

Inbound Operations Outbound Marketing Service

Logistics Logistics

Safety and
Distribution of Product Managing
security, Marketing mix,
raw material delivery
quality control, sales force, information,
and equipment process to
to warehouse. overhead,
Burger Bakar
packaging pre sale and
legal and scheme, and post sale
Abang Burn
regulatory advertising services
branches.
affairs.

Figure 2.1 : Primary value chain for Burger Bakar Abang Burn

According to Louis Brennan (2017), the value chain is a term applied “ to the whole
activities that companies do to bring a product from creation to end user.” This involves
everything from design to production, marketing, distribution and lastly to customer service.
Michael E. Porter, of Harvard Business School (1985) divides a company's activities into two
categories in his value chain which are primary activities and support activities. Primary
activities consist of five components as stated in figure 2.1. Performing primary activities
usually requires the use of secondary processes and programmes, which are commonly
referred to as support activities. The categories of support activities involve material and
equipment, human resources management, system and solutions and infrastructure.

6
Inbound Logistics

Burger Bakar Abang Burn is one of Malaysia's fastest-growing food chains. However,
other factors and aspects contribute in making a successful product, which requires more than
just the product's appearance and functionality. In terms of international strategy, inbound
logistics is the most important aspect that we must concentrate on in order to extend Burger
Bakar Abang Burn business into Australia. Hence, Burger Bakar Abang Burn recipes and
production techniques are resources for its menu and product, which are concerned with
customer demands. Since, this is the first time they have a franchise in Australia, Abang Burn
must ensure that they have a strong focus on quality of the product from suppliers. In this
process, they will purchase raw materials,or equipment such as vegetables, chicken patties,
meat patties, potato products or any liquid product from suppliers.They need to manage the
procurement, transportation, storage to conduct this activity.

Since they were still new in the international market and to make it easier or more
reliable to deal with suppliers, the franchise in Australia approximately resupplied fresh and
frozen products once a week from their warehouse to be stored. For suppliers, I suggest that
Abang Burn need to use the “Supplier Optimization” system where they prefer to select a few
with whom they can build a good, long-term relationship rather than having a large number of
suppliers. This helps with the development of a relationship in which trust is a key component,
just like McDonalds using this type of system. Since this is the first time they have a franchise
in Australia, Abang Burn needs to make sure they have a great supplier and make a demand
consistency where supply exactly meets the customer's needs.

Operations

Furthermore, after all the raw materials and equipment arrive,it is necessary for the
workers to keep track and have a good inventory tracking system of the raw materials in their
orders from suppliers. In the case of Burger Bakar Abang Burn to distribute all the raw
materials in each branch in Australia, as an operation management they need to ensure all
these raw materials like patties or fresh vegetables that have been ordered is sufficient for
every branch in Burger Bakar Abang Burn to be delivered. It is important for operation
management to analyse operational activities for Burger Bakar Abang Burn to prepare the raw
material into the end product and launch it in the market. Most of its product for each branch
is in ready-to-serve form, and employees should grill and prepare the product in the minimum
possible time.

7
 To develop their business in Australia, they may also need to improve their machine
patty to the market, that will provide them with more flexibility and high performance in a larger
size than before. When compared to a previous patty machine, this high-quality patty machine
will speed up all operations and save time while ensuring constant food quality. To achieve
consistent increased profitability in competitive advantage, this part of operational activities
should always be considered. Moreover, they also need to emphasize the quality control,
safety and security of products because it is necessary to guarantee that the Burger Bakar
Abang Burn activity meets the required criteria. It also responds to and receives feedback
from customers in order to help Burger Bakar Abang Burn business grow. They also work with
established researchers to provide the greatest and safest nutrition to the general public.

Outbound Logistics

In logistics, Burger Bakar Abang Burn must have a well-established transportation

system in order to have effective logistics. Since all of its products are received by suppliers
and prepared at the warehouse, in order to improve the distribution process to each branch,
it must have implemented IT technology to inform the warehouse body when a branch is
running out of products, allowing it to make the product available to the branch before it runs
out. Every branch in Australia does not need a stock department for the products, so it is
advantageous for this procedure which is highly cost effective. However, when outbound
activities are managed in a timely and cost-effective way by Burger bakar Abang Burn, the
product delivery processes have a minimal negative impact on quality and customer
satisfaction is maximised as well as the growth potential for the business are increased. When
the products sold by Burger Bakar Abang Burn are perishable and require speedy delivery to
the end customer, the outbound value chain operations should be given priority.

Marketing

Burger Bakar Abang Burn will use marketing to persuade buyers of the benefits and
uniqueness of their product in comparison to other competitors. Even if Burger Bakar Abang
Burn produces a high-quality product at a reasonable price, this is still insufficient to create
value. As a result, Burger Bakar Abang Burn must spend money on marketing and sales. They
must use the marketing mix, sales force, packaging scheme, and advertising to increase
consumption. Burger Bakar Abang Burn previously lacked marketing expenditure and had to
rely on the current market to create a positive cash flow.

8
 However, if they seek to expand their firm into a foreign market, they need a strong
marketing strategy to engage and notify buyers in Australia about their products. As a
suggestion, Burger Bakar Abang Burn might advertise using newspapers, radio, television,
or social media. By Googling Burger Bakar Abang Burn in Australia, for example, you may
access Burger Bakar Abang Burn on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and company websites.
Establishing a marketing plan for the first day they launched the product in Australia is the
fastest way to generate consumers and loyalty towards the burger bakar abang burn business.
From these techniques, it can develop an interesting menu that will differentiate them other
than the competitors.

Service

Managing information processing and developing specialised understanding of key

activities are two of the most important roles in primary value chain activity. The integration of
important technologies such as telecom, wireless, and cloud systems, as well as management
information systems and process automation, are all challenges in business. Besides, when
Burger Bakar Abang Burn expands their business in Australia, the pre-sale and post-sale
services they provide will play an important role for developing customer loyalty.

As we all know, when customers enter Burger Bakar Abang Burn in Australia, the
majority of them are still unfamiliar with the brand, unlike McDonalds or Kentucky Fried
Chicken (KFC). They are unfamiliar with the menu as well, as they are visiting the restaurant
for the first time. So, the workers need to ask customers by suggesting to add an extra item
or side dish to promote every single customer. Due to the quick and efficient structure of this
strategy, Burger Bakar Abang Burn may avoid ruining its brand reputation and instead utilise
it as a tool to spread positive word of mouth.

9
2.3 Question 3 : Then, for each value chain activity, state whether BBAB should engage in
concentrated or dispersed configuration. Provide solid justification.

The central role of configuration and coordination in multinational business strategy is

suggested by Porter (1986) as determining alternative international strategy types within
global industries. The configurations vary from concentrated where the company performs all
the value chain activities in one location to dispersed where the organization performs various
value activities in different countries. It could be a crucial element in attempting to better
comprehend the implementation of Burger Bakar Abang Burn's international strategy.
According to Bartlett & Ghoshal , a complex configuration is accompanied by a similarly
complex pattern of coordinating the associated flow of parts, components, finished products,
resources, skills, expertise, ideas, and knowledge.

Inbound Logistics

Burger Bakar Abang Burn suggested using a configuration of dispersing for all value
chain activities in different countries in Malaysia and Australia in order to pursue an
international strategy in Australia. These primary activities of the value chain consist of product
design, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and service.The dispersed activities could
then be coordinated globally, regionally, or autonomously. So the first activity is inbound
logistics for Burger Bakar Abang Burn, which is based on geographically where the process
of product purchase from suppliers are carried out together with improvement activities.

Furthermore, quantity concerns in product production may allow for very operational
efficiencies. In fact, being dispersed has lots of advantages. Burger Bakar Abang Burn, in
particular, has a massive increase in production efficiency retention and a significant increase
in base efficiency. With production efficiency retention, they can maintain more production
efficiency when swapping between production lines. Then, the raw materials are used. Burger
Bakar Abang Burn will receive the raw materials from suppliers to distrubute to their well
organized warehouse in Australia and delivery them to other branches in the same country
based on their needs.

Operations

Burger Bakar Abang Burn would be a global company and usually the top management
in each country would be in charge of developing operation management strategies. All of the
operation techniques developed have been executed, and they will be distributed to all Burger
Bakar Abang Burn's franchise branches. Since the proposed business is a franchise that only
wants to expand in Australia, the operation will be straightforward because all the value chain

10
activities are different from other countries. So, all branches for every location have
operational managers who control all operational activities and ensure that the resources are
transformed into final products. Therefore, by having a good operating system for Burger
Bakar Abang Burn, they must train staff for each task in the kitchen so that operations in each
country and branches are always under control.

Outbound logistics

Next, for outbound logistics, the task of moving the raw material to operations and to
the end user should engage in dispersed configuration in Malaysia and Australia and distribute
them to different branches which are located in Australia. When they use this technique, they
do not have to deal with all the activities of logistics with other countries. It is because the
process for transforming the raw material to end products is still within the country. So, Burger
Bakar Abang Burn can concentrate on their value chain activity in a single location, dispersing
value operations across countries to take advantage of cross-national cost differentials is an
ongoing source of competitive advantage. However, they need to ensure product quality,
product packaging is provided in good condition so that there are no problems in this process
before it is marketed to consumers.

Marketing

The location-specific advantage is then strengthened by marketing and sales

operations that are globally dispersed. Despite the fact that this business seems to be focused
on developing global economies, the foreign activities for marketing are simply a way of
gaining exposure to new markets in order to expand globally. Dispersed marketing and sales
operations, on the other hand, can create a competitive advantage by allowing for some local
and regional response that is not country-specific.

Services

Last but not least, in terms of the service implemented, Burger Bakar Abang Burn must
be involved in a dispersed configuration in order to handle all customer complaints, cost
savings, technology development that will allow Burger Bakar Abang Burn to access internal
business activities, and after-sales services. Overall, I believe that for this type of business, a
dispersed configuration is preferable to a focused one for each type of value chain activity in
Burger Bakar Abang Burn for its international expansion in Australia.

11
3.0 RECOMMENDATION

For the improvement, Burger Bakar Abang Burn which is looking to invest in a foreign
country should look at capital development, economic, political, cultural, and legal rather than
the risk involved in the country. However, almost all countries have had risks in the past yet
international firms have led to changes in economic stability. To minimize risk in foreign
operations, they need to enter new districts as traders or open a franchise and most commonly
between as joint ventures with local companies of the same size.

Besides, maintaining the competitive combination of Abang Burn products portfolio

that would be served in Australia is one of the most important processes of Burger Bakar
Abang Burn global product management. Since Burger Bakar Abang Burn is a late entrant
into the Australian market, it is important to raise global competitiveness, which will encourage
Burger Bakar Abang Burn to consistently innovate in new markets. Therefore, Burger Bakar
Abang Burn must update a new menu from time to time in order to keep its product balanced
and that will give a new vibe to the customers.

As we can see, people are willing to try new menus if they notice advertisements on
television or social media, and this overcomes the menu choice problems. Burger Bakar will
be able to offer a large variety of drinks, shakes, desserts as side meals. I also suggest Burger
Bakar Abang Burn should be removed from the menu if it isn't very popular or doesn't attract
customers to buy. For example, today's large companies like KFC and McDonald's often
update their menus like burgers, ice-cream and chicken, especially on special days, so that
people are attracted to try its food.

Last but not least, when Burger Bakar went to expand products in foreign markets,
they needed to create more employment which can increase the consumption power of
people. If they succes to create employment starting to manage staff with training, the quality
of their product will increase as well because a training programme allows employees to
improve the skills that they need to enhance. When employees are properly trained and
understand their roles, work will be completed quickly and no one will have to queue for orders.
Hence, whatever improvements are made Burger Bakar Abang Burn must have proper
planning so that the product can be accepted in the market.

12
4.0 CONCLUSION

To conclude, on the basis of their current capabilities, Burger Bakar Abang Burn should
expand and explore new opportunities in the international market. It is an opportunity for them
if their business has been successful in their home country, and it is time to look into foreign
markets or markets overseas. As we can see, the purpose of this case study is to show that
the challenges the Burger Bakar Abang Burn firm faces due to a lack of information should be
necessary for me as an IBM641 student to evaluate and solve these problems. As a result, all
of these solutions have been discussed and are supported by theory and situation.

They are capable of executing an international strategy in order to expand the

company's international presence in Australia. However, the process of locating a foreign
operation in a new country, such as Australia, must be carried out carefully. Furthermore,
Burger Bakar Abang Burn has the option of developing an international strategy such as
franchising, licencing, or partnerships with local distributors. However, it is up to the Burger
Bakar Abang Burn to decide if they want to expand their business in Australia by choosing a
more secure strategy with lower risk.

And more importantly, Burger Bakar Abang Burn may gain new knowledge and
expertise about how to overcome problems, manage and control their business, and attract
people or customers to their product in Australia. I hope that all of the strong and sufficient
information provided in regards to the recommended international strategy, the primary value
chain of BBAB, and which configuration will assist Burger Bakar Abang Burn in making their
final decision to enter the Australian business environment and to improve their production as
well as getting high profit in new market.

13