Restaurant Chains in China

The Dilemma of Standardisation versus Authenticity

Guojun Zeng, Henk J. de Vries, Frank M. Go

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9789811309854
• eBook ISBN:
  9789811309861
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Negocios en general

This book explores the paradox of the hospitality industry: customers demand not only personal and innovative tourism products and services, but also cost-effective ones. Enterprises have the option to meet the former demand by offering authentic products and services while the latter could be achieved through standardization. Although it seems ideal to combine both concepts, they seemingly contradict each other leading to suppliers facing an authenticity-standardization paradox.  The authors identify, analyze, and provide solutions for this authenticity-standardization paradox based on a series of case studies of restaurants in China. This book will be of interest to scholars, business owners, and consultants.

© The Author(s) 2019

Guojun Zeng, Henk J. de Vries and Frank M. GoRestaurant Chains in Chinahttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0986-1_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Guojun Zeng¹ , Henk J. de Vries² and Frank M. Go²

(1)

School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

(2)

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Guojun Zeng (Corresponding author)

Henk J. de Vries

End Abstract

1.1 Introduction: Why Research the Authenticity–Standardization Paradox?

Business and consumption are subject to the influences of globalization, and this applies to food consumption as well (Symons 1993; Torres 2002). There exists a concern that cultural imperialism (Tomlinson 1991) and McDonaldization (Ritzer 1996) may lead to homogenization that, in turn, can result in a ‘global palate’ as well as a ‘global cuisine’ (Ritzer 1996; Symons 1993; Mak et al. 2012). The homogenizing force of globalization is often viewed as a threat to the authenticity of food (Leitch 2009). However, the preliminary evidence suggests that globalization can provide an impetus for reinventing local gastronomic products and identity as well (Torres 2002; Mak et al. 2012). For example, Appadurai (1996) holds that increased global and local interactions can result in a heterogenization process. This tension between homogenization and authenticity forms the context of this book, in which we will focus on restaurants, a key part of the hospitality industry.

1.1.1 Consumers and Producers in the Hospitality Industry

The tourism market is highly fragmented, because vendors, intermediaries, and customers are geographically distributed and vary significantly in terms of economic scale and scope (Go and Appelman 2001). The actors along the value chain include an oligopoly of large tour operators (TOs), hotel chains, and numerous small and medium enterprises (SMEs). During the past decades, the international tourism sector has been subjected to the effects of key economic drivers, such as deregulation, globalization, and the advances of information and communication technology (ICT), which are key enablers of a flexible response to evolving patterns of tourist behavior. The strategic position of tourism groups has been influenced by several major drivers which are inextricably connected: internationalization, ICT (Go et al. 2003), mobility, and the rising of middle class (Zeng and Go 2013), in many countries.

On the demand side, potential tourists have a significant degree of discretion to either assemble the elements of a tourist product (e.g., transportation, information, entertainment, accommodation, insurance, etc.) themselves or select an organized tour instead. Many tourists are in search of attractive, personalized tourism products and services, and expect intelligent and proactive access to relevant high-quality information services, anytime, anywhere, in a mobile context. At the same time, they hope that they can get tourism products for an affordable price. On the supply side, the subsidiaries of tourism groups may use standardization in an effort to achieve consistency in terms of service quality and image at low cost due to economies of scale. However, from a demand perspective, customers are in search for reliable, up-to-date, and accessible services.

For example, the subsidiaries of restaurant groups pursue a standardization strategy through the implementation of uniform service quality and a company image projected in a consistent way but they also see the need for differentiation to meet individual needs of customers. On the one hand, the application of a standardization strategy facilitates the implementation of routines in service production, which, in turn, facilitates the expansion of restaurant groups, in the sense of opening more restaurants. On the other hand, authenticity also plays an important role in new product development, market introduction, and expansion. However, authenticity and standardization represent contradictory forces and, therefore, might pose a managerial paradox. In particular, establishing a sense of uniqueness while simultaneously possessing characteristics that are common among the individual members of a restaurant group can easily lead to such a paradox. In this regard, attempts to combine authenticity and standardization may be likened to mixing water and oil; opposites that fail to blend. However, the large number of restaurants that provide authentic, standardized, or heterogeneous products for their customers suggests that different profiles can succeed in market exposure and scale expansion. Apparently, in terms of the operation performance, neither a standardization strategy nor an authenticity strategy serves as a pre-condition for the success of a restaurant.

In the age of globalization, spaces are subject to a process of continuous reconfiguration and translocality formations. Translocality describes the ways in which people have loyalties of one place but are residing elsewhere, and the promotion of the place through image-building and physical/social infrastructural enhancements (Smart and Lin 2007). Suppliers need to deal with the paradox of pursuing ‘perceived geographic authenticity’ (e.g., Waitt 2000) or catering to customers’ needs in the translocal context. This implies that, first, service providers experience market pressure to pursue differentiation and meet the individual customers’ requirements; second, face the challenge to meet critical success factors, including packaging services appropriately and narrowcasting information where appropriate.

This study aims to investigate the authenticity–standardization paradox. Then, what is decisive for the success of restaurant groups against the background of translocality? How can restaurant chains deal with the authenticity–standardization paradox? What authentic products do the restaurant chains provide for their customers? To answer these questions, we explore the phenomenon of translocal expansion in the restaurant chain industry.

1.1.2 Authenticity–Standardization Paradox

Businesses can benefit from being authentic. Forces such as globalization, pollution, and climate change have caused public anxiety, tourists’ desire for ‘safe havens’, and the growing demand for authentic goods and services (Barsamian and Hammar 2008). Authenticity is acknowledged as a universal value and an essential driving force that motivates tourists (Cohen 1988; MacCannell 1973; Naoi 2004; Kolar and Zabkar 2010). The quest for authentic experiences is considered one of the key tourism trends. Accordingly, authenticity is crucially important for tourism firms. Many consumers demand transparency in transactions, so that they are able to check the genuine source of products. Increasingly, they reject fake offerings (Pine and Gilmore 2000). An entity which projects an aura of an authentic experience can create customer satisfaction (Govers and Go 2004) and benefit businesses. Many businesses want to be perceived by the public as authentic. But their failure to change their business practice accordingly results in inauthentic perceptions, instead.

On the other hand, standardization is another strategy a restaurant group can apply. Standardization may be defined as the ‘activity of establishing and recording a limited set of solutions to actual or potential matching problems, directed at benefits for the party or parties involved, balancing their needs and intending and expecting that these solutions will be repeatedly or continuously used, during a certain period, by a substantial number of parties for whom they are meant’ (De Vries 1997). There are specific benefits for the standardization of services. Services are defined as the result of at least one activity, necessarily performed at the interface between suppliers and customers, which is generally intangible. From a user point of view, the first benefit is the building of customer confidence. This is done by assuring safety, security, quality, durability, and ease of use. The second benefit is that accurate and appropriate information is supplied and user requirements are taken into account. The third benefit is that the development of choice and access to a wide range of users is supported. The fourth benefit is that consumers can purchase goods/services at affordable prices as a result of the effects of economies of scale and more price competition, thanks to better transparency. Furthermore, appropriate and fair forms of redress are provided where necessary (ISO/IEC 2006).

For restaurant groups, producing high...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Authenticity Versus Standardization
• 3. Translocality
• 4. Methodology
• 5. Authenticity–Standardization Paradox: Case Study of Expansion Strategies of Restaurant Groups in China
• 6. Case Study of Authentic Shanxi Cuisine in Guangzhou
• 7. Case Study of Authentic Hunan Cuisine in Guangzhou
• 8. Conclusion and Discussion