Strategic Agility Analysis: Oak Tree Inn's Growth in UK Hospitality Case Study

Strategic Agility Analysis: Oak Tree Inn's Growth in UK Hospitality

Introduction: Strategic Agility Analysis: Oak Tree Inn's Growth in UK Hospitality

The study, entitled "Strategic Agility on Oak Tree Inn," seeks to learn how the company may become more adaptable to the ever-changing business climate in order to ensure its continued success. The Oak Tree Inn, managed by a kind Scottish family, can be found on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond. There are hotel rooms, a restaurant, and a bar available to guests. Oak Tree Inn faces unique challenges as a small business; therefore, it could benefit greatly from the insight of managerial consultants who can help it better grasp the external factors driving its growth and performance (Dickinson et al., 2017).

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Figure 1: THE OAK TREE INN

Researching "Strategic Agility on Oak Tree Inn" is main concern. Many external factors have worked against the Oak Tree Inn's success, including the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, rising petroleum prices worldwide, Britain's cost of living crisis, a lack of workers in the restaurant and hotel sector, and a change in the government of the United Kingdom (Kohtamäki et al., 2020). Through the role as a management consultant, this report is made to help the owners of the Oak Tree Inn to overcome the aforementioned obstacles and set the stage for continued success.

Fast-changing business environments necessitate strategic flexibility from companies. It calls for seizing expanding opportunities, adjusting direction as needed, and reacting to conditions that are expanding swiftly. Thus, other from a few potential focus areas for my research on "Strategic Agility on Oak Tree Inn", The specific requirements and constraints of the business in question could also necessitate the evaluation of additional domains.

Critically analyze Oak Tree Inns' strategic position and identify the firm's strategic capabilities (along with any strengths and weaknesses)

Strategic Position Analysis

Oak Tree Inn is a family-run company with a considerable property base, an international track record for offering among the best goods and amenities, and potential for further growth and development. Nevertheless, it encounters difficulties like excessive dependence on its primary close family members, inadequate strategies, administrative procedures for making decisions, insufficient infrastructure and unwillingness to establish the company's survival in several emergencies (Rahimi & Gunlu, 2016). The company's potential to maintain prosperity and respond to changing circumstances in the marketplace may be impacted by several factors.

Strategic capabilities analysis

Strength of the Oak Tree Inn

The Fraser family's business and regional expertise, desire for and devotion to profitable development, and the organization's popularity for excellent and handmade goodsand amenities comprise some of Oak Tree Inn's belongings. Possibilities for futuregrowth are presented by a family-owned enterprise philosophy and robust property base of operations (Sarmah & Rahman, 2018).

Weaknesses of Oak Tree Inn

Poor infrastructure, a lack of emergency crisis management, poor strategic and business decision-making processes, and a personnel profile that varies according to the requirements of the company are among Oak Tree Inn's disadvantages.

Oak Tree Inn must focus on improving the managerial skills that will allow it to adapt consistently to competitive fluctuations and represent itself for future prosperity as a means to navigate the challenges above successfully.

There are many strategic qualities for Oak Tree Inn to take into consideration, including the following:

• Creating an increasingly talented and versatile administration organization: Oak Tree Inn can create an even more powerful leadership structure that may arrive at more effective strategic choices and improve its adaptability in circumstances of emergency simply by recruiting and maintaining talented individuals from a variety of ethnic groups (Olimovich, 2020).
• Streamlining the decision-making process: Oak Tree Inn needs to come up with improved decision-making procedures involving collecting and analyzing information about the market, keeping an eye on the latest trends, and coming up with alternate strategies to address different future possibilities (Shrestha, Ben-Menahem, and Von Krogh, 2019).
• Enhancing organizational infrastructure and propensity: Oak Tree Inn must invest in reliable infrastructure and backup procedures for effective company flexibility in emergencies. This can involve designing strategies for ensuring company continuity, implementing IT tools that encourage remote employment, and putting funds into training for staff members (Alipour, Safaeimanesh, and Soosan, 2019).
• Diversify business interest: Oak Tree Inn ought to think about diversifying its business activities to mitigate its dependence on any one aspect of the business community. This can imply developing innovative goods and services or aggressively targeting new markets (Li & Singal, 2022).

Thus, to establish itself for future prosperity, Oak Tree Inn has encountered the chance to enhance its selling points and address its limitations. Oak Tree Inn can adapt to fluctuating marketplace circumstances and remain profitable by developing analytical leadership skills.

An overview of the competitiveness of the hospitality sector across the UK

The restaurant and hospitality sector in the UK remains highly profitable and broad, covering everything from dining establishments and coffee shops to hotels and bars. According to study results from (VisitBritain, 2020) with 3.2 million employees and $130 billion in turnover in 2019, the hotel industry in the UK is the third-biggest job creator in the nation.

Approximately 7% of the UK's GDP is contributed by this industry, which additionally makes it a major driver of growth to the nation's economy. Scotland's Loch Lomond location is a well-liked vacation spot that draws many tourists annually.

The surrounding area has many accommodations, restaurants, and bars, making the hospitality business there extremely competitive. In this respect, the Oak Tree Inn encounters challenges from other nearby businesses ranging from tiny bed and breakfasts to large hotels (Page and Connell, 2020).

The Oak Tree Inn has to become flexible and react quickly to changing marketplace trends to survive in such an emergency circumstance. This phenomenon requires the capacity to respond quickly to changing demands of customers, economic conditions, as well as outside variables like the latest war conflictsinUkraine, theincreasing price of gasoline, and the UK's cost-of-living difficulties (Breitbarth, Kaiser-Jovy, and Dickson, eds., 2017).

In recognition of the Oak Tree Inn to achieve success in this sector, strategic flexibility is necessary. The business's proprietors must create an easy-to-understand and responsive marketing strategy that will help them to adapt effectively to changing circumstances in the market quickly.

This may involve developing innovative products and services, taking advantage of technological advancement to improve the consumer's experiences, or utilizing resources in advertising and marketing campaigns to attract prospective clients.

Hence, by considering the intense competition in the restaurant and hotel industry within the UK and the Loch Lomond geographical area, there are still plenty ofpossibilities for expansion and accomplishment of future businesses like the Oak Tree Inn, whose services can demonstrate strategic adaptability and react to changing market circumstances (Hansen, Fyall, Leask, and Wardrop, 2021).

A macro environmental analysis

A macroenvironmental review of current developments affecting the UK hotel industry is provided below, along with key opportunities and threats:

• Economic Factors: Due to the UK's high cost of living, consumers have reduced their expenses, such as eating and travelling.

This affects the hospitality industry and presents a chance for businesses that provide cost-effective choices.

• Technological Factors: As a result of changes in consumer behaviour triggered by technological advancement, more people are now investigating and making reservations about their eating and vacation plans online. Consequently, as a result, the hotel and hospitality sector faces a danger and an opportunity the way companies must adapt while investing in digital technologies to satisfy changes in client demands (Zhang et al., 2020).
• Political Factors: The hotel industry is unidentified due to UK government policy regarding the flow of people and the Brexit process, which may have a footprint on business and the accessibility of workers. Businesses have to develop alternate strategies and prepare for future distractions due to this serious risk to the industry (Arif & Hossin, 2016).
• Sociocultural Factors: The hotel industry is being impacted by shifting customer trends and preferences, such as a rise in demand for environmental sustainability and improved dining alternatives. Businesses that can provide ethical and environmentally friendly practices and satisfy emerging expectations will benefit from this chance to succeed (Capobianco et al., 2021).
• Environmental Factors: The influence of hospitality businesses within the business environment is being examined more carefully due to the increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability and global climate change.

Businesses that fail to emphasize longevity suffer significant risks from this. However, there is also a window of opportunity for those who can provide environmentally friendly and responsible practices.

Along with the review of the competition, the hotel and restaurant sectors have demonstrated plenty of room for growth. Such possibilities include providing more affordable alternative options, putting money into technological advances, adapting to changing consumer demands and prioritizing the long-term viability of the business. Increases in the cost of living, political unpredictability, changing purchasing patterns, and concerns about the environment are among the major threats (Odey, 2021). This macro environmental analysis for the Oak Tree Inn emphasizes the necessity of being mindful of and sensitive to the aforementioned external influences when trying to remain profitable and competitive in the restaurant and hotel sector

Figure 2: Introduction to PESTLE Analysis

The choice of two potential growth strategies that will enable the firm to best navigate the present and future challenges

The Oak Tree Inn can take into consideration the following two plans for expansion to meet existing and upcoming obstacles, such as:

• Diversification: The Oak Tree Inn can consider extending into comparable sectors like catering or sporting events to reach a wider clientele and generate more revenue.

This can entail investing in improved facilities, establishing collaborations with nearby activity service provider entrepreneurs, and employing customized marketing to draw attention to the enhanced services (Liao et al., 2017). By diversifying, the Oak Tree Inn would be more capable of reacting to shifting visitor tastes, addressing marketplace circumstances, or decreasing the possibility of becoming excessively reliant on its current financial framework.

• Brand Expansion: The Oak Tree Inn has an excellent history of offering exceptionally good products and services. By making possible business models or licensing commitments with other hospitality-related companies, the company might take advantage of its popularity by growing its brand far beyond where it operates (Westerbeek & Karg, 2022).

By carrying out this, the Oak Tree Inn could increase its clientele and generate more income without physically making the large capital expenditures associated with its development.

Additionally, it would improve its brand and identification, enhancing its managerial ability to compete in the market. Expansion of the sources of its income and increasing its clientele database can assist the Oak Tree Inn in addressing its present and potential challenges while decreasing the potential hazards of relying excessively on one physical location or business strategy.

The Oak Tree Inn's strengths and assets, as well as its outside market circumstances and environment of competition, could all influence the particular decision of the expansion plan.

Critical evaluation the two potential growth strategies to make a strategic recommendation to the owners of the best strategy they should adopt

Here is strategy advice for the proprietors of the Oak Tree Inn, along with an in-depth examination of the two prospective expansion strategies:

Diversification: The Oak Tree Inn may have a strong chance of expanding its sources of income and engaging in a broader clientele by pursuing an approach of diversification into other businesses like catering or recreational activities. Nevertheless, it would require considerable investment in newly created amenities, collaborations with others, and advertising campaigns. The Oak Tree Inn will have to carefully analyze the benefits and drawbacks of portfolio diversification before deciding how well it has the abilities and assets needed to implement this approach. Furthermore, the Oak Tree Inn's emphasis and fundamental skills might be diluted by diversification, which could affect its overall competitiveness and customer loyalty.

Brand Expansion: The Oak Tree Inn can decide to broaden its clientele and sources of income at less risk to itself by entering into afranchise or licencing contract. Additionally, it would improve the company's image and identification, strengthening its ability to compete in the marketplace as a whole. To prevent negative publicity or dissolution, the Oak Tree Inn would have to pick collaborators wisely and preserve continuous standards for the brand. Franchise or licencing contracts require a large initial expenditure on organizational and regulatory infrastructures.

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