[ORDER SOLUTION] The COVID-19 and Managing Disruption

In this Experiential Exercise, “BFF” is not the acronym for “Best Friends Forever.” BFF or Business Format Franchising is the most common type of franchising: it is the right to manage and market an entire branded retail offering. Such contractual vertical marketing systems must have strong brand/trademark, operations and perceived customer value. Please familiarize yourself with franchise systems, and understand the role of the “franchisor” and “franchisee.” To learn more, I recommend that you go to https://www.franchise.org the web site for the International Franchise Association, the most prominent trade association for franchise systems. All franchise systems are required (by U.S. law) to have a clear and fully articulated FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) that provides transparency to prospective franchisees (see https://www.franchiseprep.com/docs/fdd/Sample%20Franchise%20Disclosure%20Document%20FDD.pdf). There is no doubt that you have consumed goods and/or services from a retail franchisee. Here are some of the hundreds of BFFs that predominate the global market place: There is no more timely nor unprecedented disruption in marketing than the extant Covid-19 public health and economic crisis. Think about how Covid-19 has impacted your fast-food and fast-casual dining purchases. You might enjoy this video: https://youtu.be/OjNDOqtPfrw Generally, our discussion of disruptive forces addresses innovation and technological innovations (i.e., AI, robotics), natural disasters (i.e., tornadoes, hurricanes), competitive forces (i.e., mergers and acquisitions) and economic fluctuations (i.e., pricing, financial market shifts). SARS (2002/2003) and H1N1 (2009/2010) were pandemics that disrupted markets and marketing; however, it appears that the present Covid-19 pandemic will be far more devastating at both a macro- and microeconomic level. In this Experiential Exercise, you will critically explore the impact of the Covid-19 on a business format franchise in either the fast-food or casual dining sectors. You likely know that many cities and state governments have forced closures of restaurants, except for delivery and take-out services. So, please use the following Discussion Platforms to articulate a well-integrated descriptive (situational analysis) and prescriptive (recommendations) for a focal business format franchise in one of these sectors. It may be a large franchise system like McDonald’s or Subway or a small system like Chicken Salad Chick or Nestles Tollhouse by Chip.