The Research and Analysis of Xiao MilaSchool: International BusinessMajor: International economy and trade class 1Member: 李雪竹41002021 夏鸿曲41002022黄丹妮41002062 丁桑妮41002064鲜铤41002036 李凯41002002梅琳41002003AbstractSince the catering enterprises actively developed in china, our team chooses one of the catering restaurants, Xiao Mila, located in the Liu Lang bay, closed to the east gate of SWUFE. It looks crowded and not very comfortable for eating hot pot. However, it is still very popular and competitive outside the East Gate and has a lot of regular customers. We decided to find out reasons for this odd phenomenon. As it is a typical catering restaurant in that area, the research gives us in-depth knowledge of catering restaurant in college student living area.Our article uses systematic research towards the operating condition of Xiao Mila. Our aims are to understand the in dividual catering businesses‟ operating condition, and at the same time supplement economic research, respond to our national twelfth five-year development plan, provide guidance for other catering enterprises. The investigative manner of this article is through the issuance of the form of questionnaire survey to the crowd who ate in the Xiao Mila. After the investigation, we use the statistics we got to analyze the research questions. The methods of analysis are quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis, the Comparative MethodOur conclusions of the reasons for Xiao Mila‟s success are its unique flavor, locality, and low price and its awesome reputation among students; the shortages of this restaurant are its inefficient service and poor sanitation. Our team also gets the conclusion that different in gender groups have different attitude towards to Xiao Mila. This difference do not only indicate the difference in female‟s and male‟s thinking patterns, but also point out the way for Xiao Mila to attract customers of a certain gender. Then through discussion, we come up with a suggestion that it should overcome its shortages while holding on to its best position in flavor and price.KeywordsXiao Mila; College Students; Consumption; Analysis; SWOT1. IntroductionAlong with the economy development and people's living standard improving, our tertiary industry especially catering industry is developing vigorously. Especially those young, good-tasted college students with appreciating ability,enjoyment demand, time and relatively plenty of money, have an increasing demand for catering. Canteen cannot satisfy their requirement, so the snack bars outside the university are developing prosperously. As one of the most popular restaurants among these shops, Xiao Mila‟s business model has strong research significance. It is located in the Liu Lang bay, closed to the east gate of SWUFE. It uses the form of buffet soup pot. With paying ten Yuan, everyone can get a gift dish and can get vegetables freely. As a shop with only two other shops, it has many customers. But the national twelfth five-year development planning emphasizes the development of the service industry. Therefore, the study of Xiao Mila‟s operati on state, is of great significant not only for economic research theory but also for the individual food businesses.This paper aims to have systematic research towards the operating condition of Xiao Mila. We investigate many factors such as the food taste, environment of dieting, health, location and so on, which appeal to typical customers like our college students. So as to understand the individual catering businesses‟ operating condition, and at the same time supplement economic research ,respond to our national twelfth five-year development plan, provide a guidance for other catering enterprises.This paper are divided into eight parts, respectively is the introduction, literature review, research method, data analysis and conclusions and enlightenment, references and appendix. We hope it can fully display Xiao Mila‟s performance!2. Literature reviewSince 1988, catering enterprises in China have actively explored the markets and promoted the popularization of the development of food industry and its development. Xiao Mila as a new local catering mode, there has been no person to do research on it. But from the former researches about catering enterprises we can see the reasons of Xiao Mil a‟s prosper ity. After the analysis about modern diners‟ consu mption psychology, Swiss expert concluded the tendency of food consumption. In the report, he pointed out that customers are more inclined to the restaurant of high quality but low costs, has various options and can enjoy with families and friends. I n Chi Jin‟s report in 2000, our dining market should pay more attention to level marketing. That is to change products appropriately to generate new use, new situation and new target market to create new categories, thus to redefine markets and create new requirements and value. So new type of catering mode like Xiao Mila can easily be accepted an loved by people. As Li Muming said in his report that the best way to attract customers is to be special.3. Methodology3.1 The proposing of problem and hypotheticThe report is aimed at analyzing of the management of Xiao Mila, a restaurant serving hot pot near SWUFE campus. In our first year in SWUFE, we made Xiao Mila a regular place for dining and having a treat. As we getting familiar with the small restaurant, we found it really below the standard of catering enterprises. However, it is still very popular and competitive outside the East Gate and has a lot of regular customers. We decided to find out reasons for this odd phenomenon.3.2 The selecting of research methodConsidering the actual situation and operability, we used random sampling survey to do the research. The survey had been done on May.22 2011 in Southwestern University of Finance and Economic .150 questionnaires were handed out, via Sojump and also in the class meeting of International Trade and Business. 127 questionnaires were collected and 86 of them were valid. The percentage of valid questionnaires is 67.7%.4. Sample and data analysis4.1 Pre-investigationTo test the validity of our questionnaires, we did an analysis for pre-investigation. During the process of pre-investigation, we asked students some questions about our questionnaires to know whether our questionnaires are easy to understand .Then we revise our questionnaires according to students‟ precious suggestions.The possible reasons for the imperfect questionnaire are three. First, we‟re supposed to use the quantitative research mode, but we didn‟t. So we gave people too much choice that it was difficult for them to choose answers and for us to collect data. Second, we didn‟t organize the questions well. We didn‟t divide them into several types. So it was difficult for us to analyze the answers. Last, the questi on types weren‟t enough for us to do the research of Xiao Mila systemically.4.2 TableThis table is designed to analyze the influence of grade on customers‟ choice.This table is designed to analyze the influence of gender.4.2 SWOT Analysis4.2.1 Strength4.2.1.1 Technology Strengthsa. Xiao Mila has a very special-tasted soup which contains various herbs and ingredients, beneficial to health to a certain degree.b. A free meat dish is offered for each custom, the more people joining the dining the more dishes treated.c. Xiao Mila, the traditional pepper used in Sichuan food, extremely hot, is used as the main ingredients of the sauce. It has an amazingly spicy taste that makes customers enjoying.4.2.1.2 Tangible Assets Strengths:a. Rustic decorating style with fake green vines hanging over head andbamboo tables and chairs creates a comfortable and relaxing dining atmosphere.b. An easily accessible location.4.2.1.3 Intangible Assets Strengths:a. Exclusive recipeb. Good public praisec. Brand image is generally built among the neighborhood.4.2.1.4 Human Resource Strengths:a. Warm-hearted and honesty employeesb. Specially-trained chief4.2.1.5 Organizational system Strengths:a. Loyal customer group4.2.1.6 Competition Capability Strengths:a. Overwhelming superiority of market share4.2.2 Weaknessa. Xiao Mila is so popular that there‟s always full of people. So customershave to wait for quite a long time to enjoy the delicious food.b. Waiters have unfriendly attitude. If you want to add tea or soup, youmust have waited a long time since you asked them.c. Cooks have low efficiency in preparing food.d. The food is not clean. The vegetables provided are always notwashed properly.e. The food provided for customers to get without paying are so simplexthat doesn‟t have constant attraction on customers.f. The account of gift food is small. And it has quite small size.g. The tableware is not clean.h. The repast environment is not so comfortable for people.4.2.3 Opportunitya. University will enlarge the amount of studentsb. Small market sharec. Customer has a high randomness of choosing canteend. Another Xiao Mila will close down4.2.4 Threata. The food industry in East Gate is very prosperous. There are many kinds ofsnack bars with specialty. Such as Wan Zhou roast fish, and various kinds of hot pots.b. Customers will gradually lose their interest in it because the free food typesin the shop are limited. The flavor of the hot pot of Xiao Mila never changes.So to think further, it is not perfect on attracting more customers.c. The canteen provides special kinds of hot pots, where students can enjoythemselves without spending too much money, and it is also more convenient, healthy and cheap.d. Another snack bar called Ye Dian Xiao Mila was opened last semester.From then on, some students choose that one for its more types of vegetables.4.3 linear regression analysesAccording to the date from questionnaire survey[数据集1]5. Results and discussionAfter the analysis, there are many factors that influence the operation of Xiao Mila. In general, it is affected by its flavor, price, location, decoration, service attitude, sanitation, customers‟ gender, food types, reputation.From the tabl e analysis, we can see grade, gender and address affect people‟s choice of the answers. From the SWOT analysis, we can see the advantages and disadvantages of Xiao Mila and conclude the opportunity and threat in its development.6. Conclusion6.1 Summarya. From the statistic we analyzed, we can draw the conclusion that thesuccess of Xiao Mila is directly related to its unique flavor, low price and its awesome reputation among students.b. What hold Xiao Mila back from getting greater success is its inefficientservice and poor sanitation. The statistic illustrates that more than two thirds of students are more or less dissatisfied with the service Xiao Mila offered and food sanitation.c. When it comes to the distance of Xiao Mila to the dormitory, the resultsdiffer a lot in terms of the different location of dormitory. From the statistic, it is obvious that students who live in the dormitory near the north gate havea greater dissatisfaction of Xiao Mila‟s location than students who live indormitory near the east gate.d. As the results of the questionnaire indicated, the decoration of thestorefront doesn‟t have a obvious impact on the Xiao Mila‟s operation. Most of the students we researched feel indifferent about the decoration of the storefront.e. In addition, we find out there is subtle difference in differ ent gender‟sattitude towards Xiao Mila: females are more dissatisfied with the poor sanitation and inefficient service than males, whereas males are more dissatisfied with the flavor of the soup pot. This difference do not only indicates the difference in female‟s and male‟s thinking patterns, but also point out the way for Xiao Mila to attract customers of a certain gender.f. According to the result of our questionnaires, we can see that the situationXiao Mila is in is quite paradoxical. On the one hand, Xiao Mila is not that perfect, for students are not satisfied with it in many aspects, especially the aspects of its poor sanitation and service. On the other hand, despite of its numerous weaknesses, Xiao Mila‟s special flavor and unfair advantage of its low price and still attract a lot of customers. If Xiao Mila wants to push its business to a higher level, it should overcome its shortage while holding on to its best position in flavor and price.6.2Suggestion6.2.1 About hardwarea. Expand the restaurant area to contain more people. Rent the nearingstorefront or transform the table setting to make space.b. Improve the decoration to create a more comfortable environment.c. Focus on the sanitation of the whole restaurant, especially the tables andaround the food shelves.6.2.2 About softwarea.Improve the variety and cleanness of food to meet the catering standard.b.Adopting employee training program to make them behave appropriately andwork with enthusiasm and efficiency.6.3ImplicationWe can find an indication through the analysis of the research. In the catering market, which has a variety of types, we can conclude that restaurant owners are not able to determine the consumption level but they are able to attract and keep customers by many other means. The Xiao Mila doesn‟t have rare ingredients or elegant decoration to attract customers. But it has successfully exerted popularity among innumerable college students. The college students are willing to queue for a long time to have meal in Xiao Mila. Just like a senior student in SWUFE said: “If you haven‟t been to Xiao Mila, you are likely to be out of fashion.” We have to say, indeed, Xiao Mila has performed successfully in catering market. And we can get many indications from it.In contemporary society, the catering industry is weak. Developing all kinds of luxury food, spending a big deal of money on advertising, and using all kinds of spices to make food more delicate, Traders have tried their best to attract customers. However, customers always only just have a try on their luxury food and then give it up. The reason is not that customers cannot afford the high price but they are afraid of the food which is full of unhealthy unknown spice. In this point, Xiao Mila does a great job. Its ingredients are both cheap and healthy. We can find that people turn to choose food that is good for their health and of a reasonable price. With its unique way, Xiao Mila wins more and more customers‟ hearts and establishes itself securely in position.In addition, compared with Ye Dian Xiao Mila, Zhu Juan Xiao Mila has perfect location. This example perfectly explains that as to a catering enterprise, accurate market positioning and realistic analysis do make a great sense to its success.Furthermore, not only for Xiao Mila, but also for whole catering industry，to attract more diners，the enterprises must assure their customer groups and position customer market. And they had better attach more importance to innovation, paying more attention to healthy food and its flavor. Only in this way can they fascinate new customers while keeping old customers and promote their catering brand.Also, we found some problems in our research of Xiao Mila. A lot of students complain about its poor service and terrible sanitation. Because there is only one cook in Xiao Mila, serving speed becomes its Achilles‟ heel. If those problems stay unsolved, even Xiao Mila‟s magical flavor cannot stop it fromstepping into its own grave. This potential dilemma also reminds other catering enterprises to establish a complete system of service and pay more attention to the division of labor and cooperation.6.4 ShortageIn this research, we get samples from students of SWUFE, while the research result is not common enough. As a liberal arts college, there is a low proportion of male students. And compared with female students of science academies or engineering college, the female students here are keener on perusing delicious food.Next, we handed out 127 pieces of questionnaire while only 86 pieces of them are valid. What‟s worse, most of the samples are from dormitory area which is close to the east gate, which made the research some limitations.In the process of analyzing, as lacking of professional knowledge, we are incapable of using a more advanced research method7. ReferenceDong Hong …an.(2010).Our dining enterprise level marketing strategy research.Liu Xinfeng & Feng Yuzhu(2011). Chinese catering economic research review in recent years.Li Muming(2010). Way of keeping customers.Government.(2010). CPC central committee about formulate national economic and social development of the twelfth five-year plan suggestion.Chi Jin.(2000). Several problems of the development in catering enterprises.8. Appendix8.1 Questionnaire8.1.1 Questionnaire of pre-investigation关于财大东门小米辣顾客满意度的调查问卷1.如果您到小米辣就餐，您最注重以下哪些方面（限选3项）A.食品质量B.就餐环境C.知名度D.服务质量E.所在位置F.口味与品种G.卫生程度H.其他2.您对小米辣所提供的食品的满意程度如何A.卫生程度B.菜肴质量C.营养价值D.菜肴口味E.菜肴价位F.菜式种类3.您对小米辣的就餐环境满意度如何A.卫生条件B.装修格调C.文化气息D.地理位置E.就餐气氛F.家具与餐具4.您对小米辣的员工服务满意吗A.服务态度B.服务效率C.服务主动性D.服务准确性E.服务及时性F.员工个人素质5.需要改进的地方A.食品质量B.就餐环境C.知名度D.服务质量E.所在位置F.口味与品种G.卫生程度H.其他6.在什么情况下你会选择去小米辣和TA约会A.同学聚餐B.班级活动C.缺乏蔬菜补给D.想吃了E.荷包窘迫8.1.2 Final questionnaire关于财大东门小米辣顾客满意度的调查问卷财大东门餐馆云集，竞争激烈，而“猪圈小米辣”因其独特的口味和良好的口碑赢得了超高人气。
