Case Study Papa John’s International, Inc. Twenty-First Century Growth Challenges Essay

1) What is your assessment of papa flush toilets differentiation strategy? On what bagfuls does the company differentiate?There ar a number of bases on which atomic number 91 prats differentiates itself, many of which are interrelated. First and initiatory is soda water capers offering of a loftyer-quality pizza pie pie, which non however allows them to differentiate on the root word of a return feature (i.e. the racy quality ingredients used in the pizza), besides, even much importantly, on the basis of reputation. While most other pizza chains have their sights put in on much of a cost-leader/low-price strategy, and make an less genuine avowal of quality, dad crappers entire organizational culture is focus squarely upon the pursuit of better ingredients, better pizza. This committal has in turn endeared it to customer base, and has resulted in a long string of high customer satisfaction ratings. pop arses early acceptation of online and mobile ordering technologies allowed it to differentiate itself on the bases of both timing of foot and distribution conduct. dadaism pots was in fact the truly first pizza chain to offer both internet- and text- base ordering, and it was able to collapse tremendous revenues as a first-mover in these then-untapped channels. Being that daddy Johns is a part of the larger riotous food for thought industry, and consumers want out fast food in large part on the basis of its convenience, the value of such a distribution system apparently lies in how easily accessible it made Papa Johns products.2) Is Papa Johns strategy sustainable? What is your assessment based on a VRIO analysis?Obviously the most sustainable base of Papa Johns differentiation strategy is its reputation as a sustainr of high-quality pizzas. Such has been earned through years of commitment to the goal of producing a perfect pizza, which is an outgrowth of a hefty organizational culture and well-communicated vision. The rel ationship between Papa Johns and its dedicated customer base is socially complex, and these customers could not be taken away overnight by a rival who suddenly began development better ingredients. However, the underpinning of this reputation the product feature of high quality ingredients is not nearly as sustainable, as it is not alike costly for Papa Johns rivals of comparable size to ultimately imitate. In fact, half masks and Pizza Hut have demonstrated a transplant towards  high-quality ingredients in recent years, and so this point of differentiation is no monthlong as rare as it once was. However, it lead take many more than years of making pizzas of similarly high quality for each to in truth cement the same reputation as Papa Johns, and reputation does remain a very sustainable base of differentiation.However, it is value depending at which price point the value of this reputation begins to diminish, given the reputation of the product incline of instruc tion itself. Papa Johns is, after all, a fast food pizza chain, and price does lead a satisfying role in the fast food foodstuff. Obviously, part of the value of having a differentiated product is the ability to command premium prices for it, and to easily faint increased costs on to a customer base which is relatively price-insensitive. However, the question here is what price ceiling exists on fast food pizza, regardless of its quality. Papa Johns may have a reputation for the highest-quality fast food pizza, and loyal customers may be go outing to pay more for this high-quality fast food pizza than a lower-quality fast food pizza, but the price disparity between the two is improbable to be anywhere near as great as that between, say, a car made by Rolls Royce and one made by Hyundai. Papa Johns may be able to charge a premium, but it must still exist within what is an essentially specialise price range acceptable for fast food. Should Papa Johns prices exceed this reason able range perhaps in the event that they sessnot bide staving off ingredient cost volatility as well as they have to this point then even their most loyal customers will turn to other brands or substitute foods of higher quality which excuse a higher price.The essential point is that price still does play a significant role in Papa Johns reputation sure they make high-quality pizza, and sure it costs a little(a) more than Dominos, but that price premium is commensurate with its great quality, and it strikes the right balance between affordability and quality. However, the value this reputation provides in allowing for higher prices while it does exist, and thus leads one to conclude that reputation is a writer of sustained competitive advantage does indeed have its constraints. It creates value, but provided until reaching a price ceiling which is lower for this product category than for premium products in most other product categories. Regarding Papa Johns other, inte rrelated bases of differentiation timing of introduction and distribution channels it is evident that these were precisely temporary sources of competitive advantage along a base which has given way to competitive parity. Every other pizza chain (and pretty much every restaurant, chain or independent) in a flash offers online and/or mobile ordering, and thus Papa Johns offering of increased convenience is no longer rare. Furthermore, Papa Johns has not been the first to market with any further similar innovations in the years to follow, and its base of differentiation as a pioneer of tricky innovations is in many ways currently dormant. This is perhaps owed to a bump in organizational focus away being the first-to-market with novel propositions as Papa Johns looks increasingly to extending the business they have already perfected to foreign markets.3) What do you recommend Papa Johns do to achieve its growth goals?Papa Johns has encountered challenges in its attempt to bal ance its focus on producing a higher-quality pizza with expanding its product mix enough to keep up with competitors who offer broader product mixes. Papa Johns does not want to stretch its focus and resources too thin, and consequently dilute the quality of its pizza by shifting circumspection away from it. However, many of Papa Johns competitors, namely market leaders Dominos and Pizza Hut, have broadened their product mixes to entangle items such as pasta dishes, and Papa Johns has in turn been pressured into adopting similar additions to their menu. Because all of these pizza chains have begun take oning each other with regard to product mixes, adding menu items is acting more as a base of competitive parity than competitive advantage.However, in expanding its product mix through co-branding strategies, Papa Johns can forge a far more sustainable base of differentiation. Papa Johns has already partnered with Nestle in adding additional confection items, and such is a strate gy they should continue to pursue aggressively, not merely with Nestle but with many other companies. Obviously Papa Johns can free up its resources and attention in partnering with another(prenominal) company to develop and produce menu items for it, and it can focus more on exerting its high level of pizza quality. More importantly, if Papa Johns could enter into exclusive deals with these other brands and companies, and in turn be the only one in the industry to offer products by a given brand of high repute (and even possibly a product made exclusively by that brand for Papa Johns), then its competitors will have much more trouble attempting to match the combined brand equity of Papa Johns and its partners. In terms of more of a corporate-level strategy, Papa Johns should consider integrating backward into the production of its high quality ingredients. Obviously it has already done this to any(prenominal) extent with BIBP Commodities, Inc. in combatting cheese price volat ility, but they should consider going a step further in actually producing cheese and other ingredients themselves. They would be much better poised to overcompensate a steady stream of consistently-priced ingredients in handling production themselves to some extent, and they would also be able to directly maintain the quality of its ingredients.It has already been stated that the product feature of high-quality ingredients is not very sustainable, and that other pizza chains are already moving to match the quality of Papa Johns ingredients. However, should Papa Johns lock in a supply of high quality ingredients at affordable prices whilst others are still encountering significant price volatility, then it will be more costly for Papa Johns competitors to imitate its pizza quality. Additionally, Papa Johns could act as supplier of ingredients to other restaurants (excepting of course its competitors), just as it originally expanded into the printing industry to produce its own prin t advertisements, but now also provides printing work to other companies. Expanding into the production of ingredients it already uses so heavily and, by constitution of its expertise in producing high-quality pizzas, of which it already as a strong mind makes greater sense than creating a Hispanic restaurant as is suggested in the text, being this such is a specific category of food with which Papa Johns has no prior experience. In entering a restaurant category so dissimilar, Papa Johns will have to spread its attention thin far thinner than in expanding its product mix and, in turn, will likely be distrait from its heretofore steadfast pursuit of better pizza, setting in motion an eventual loss of its hardfought reputation. As stated, Papa Johns reputation is its strongest point of differentiation, and, regardless of whatever move it makes next, it must maintain its high level of brand equity.