Category: Restaurant

Businesses are affected by internal and external factors; to attain competitive in contemporary business era, business leaders need to manage their internal and external environments effectively. An understanding of prevailing business environment is crucial to make responsive business strategies that effectively address challenges facing an organization (Fred, 2008). This paper undertakes a PEST analysis on Italian restaurants in London.

Politics

It is through some political formation that rules and regulations are made in an economy; the government sets rules that should be adhered to by all businesses operating in the economy. Some of these rules may work for the benefit of the hospitality industry and some for the worse.

An example of political situation is when the country is undertaking national elections; during this time the hospitality industry mostly one that depends on tourists is negatively affected. The flow of Italians in the country is reduced creating a shortage of business in the restaurants. When the country is calm and political decisions favor the flow of international trade, there is high chance of Italians visiting the country and creating business for the hotels (Haberbeg and Rieple, 2001).

Social

Modern societies have continued to adopt new systems and styles of living, there are high levels of culture diffusion as people trade and interact. With the situation, there has been the emergence of social classes that can try other nations or cultures foods. With this notion, there are an increasing number of non Italians who are trying Italian foods; this is working for the benefit of Italian hotels in London (Jackson, 2002).

Technology

In modern civilized worlds, there has been the development of technology systems to undertake various activities in business sectors. For instance processes have been made simple and effective with the use of computers and other technologies. The United Kingdom is one of the nations with high level of technological developments, with this state Italian countries operating in the country benefit from low cost of operation that in turn lead to high profits.

London is a metropolitan state, this means that Italian restaurants operating in the state have higher tendency of getting Italian customers than those operating in other states. The strategic position of the city is to the advantage of Italian restaurants as accessibility is easy, this is further accelerated by good transport and communication systems in the state (Borkowski, 2009).

Economical situation

United Kingdom is one of the world richest countries, the country has reliable infrastructures and the living standards of the people are relatively high compared with other nations. The country has continued to have positive economic development with much emphasis placed on improvement of people’s social welfare.

The state of the economy works for the good of Italian restaurants as they can get customers from the balanced state. The world is recovering from global financial crisis of 2008; the state of the world has led to economic retardation of countries and their states. Italian restaurants in London are suffering from the effects of the crisis; they are experiencing slowed growth as people income has reduced with time.

Conclusion

Italian restaurants operating in London are facing a slowed positive growth in their revenues and expansions. Growth is enabled by the state of the metropolitan city but slowed by the effects of global financial crisis of 2008. Leaders in the sector need to be sensitive of changes in the industry and make policies to address any negative change.

References

Borkowski, N. ,2009. Organizational behavior, theory and design in healthcare. London: Jones and Bartlett.

Fred, D. ,2008. Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases. New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Haberbeg, A. and Rieple, A., 2001. The Strategic Management of Organizations. London: Prentice Hall.

Jackson, S., 2002. Diversity in the workplace: human resources initiatives. New York: The Guilford Press.

This customer satisfaction policy seeks to create and sustain strong relationships between Claude Restaurant and its clients. The restaurant needs to be more responsive to the needs of our clients to ensure they get high quality service. The restaurant has opened a website through which clients communicate with our employees regarding various issues (Gibson, 2011, p.41 ). Our employees have been trained to serve our customers diligently.

Our customer satisfaction policy seeks to improve the experiences of our customers whenever they are consuming our products. Claude Restaurant seeks to retain its loyal customers to ensure that it stays ahead in a competitive hospitality industry. Several new services have been introduced to improve the experiences of our customers.

Our marketing department is conducting surveys to establish the backgrounds of our customers, their perceptions and preferences. It is important for us to know the needs of our clients so as to offer them products that satisfy their needs and expectations (Gibson, 2011, p. 45). The restaurant plans to introduce delivery services to our clients. It will now be possible for clients to order meals in any location within the city at their own convenience.

The restaurant has trained new staff who will be involved in the delivery of products to our clients. Our staff have been trained to be courteous and responsive to all our clients. Our employees have been trained to offer each individual customer quality service. Our employees are highly qualified and well equipped to handle our clients’ expectations.

The restaurant is actively building and sustaining strong relationships with our clients (Gibson, 2011, p. 62). The restaurant has open communication channels which enable our clients to contribute their ideas and opinions about the quality of services offered to them. The feedback we get from our clients is important because it helps us to evaluate our performance.

Customer Satisfaction Survey

How do you find the quality of service?

Were the restaurant attendants helpful?

How did you find the meal and our other products?

What are your views on the ambience?

Do you think more cuisines need to be added to the menu?

How would you describe your experience?

Has the service fulfilled your expectations?

Would you be willing to visit this restaurant again?

Survey Rationale

This survey seeks to find out the perceptions clients have regarding services and products offered by the restaurant. The information obtained from the survey will help the management to formulate strategies to help build trust, confidence and loyalty in our customers.

The information obtained from this survey will help the restaurant to improve its products to make them more competitive (Cochran, 2006, p. 89). The restaurant will be in a better place to understand the likes and preferences of our customers. All departments in the restaurant will be encouraged to improve their performance to ensure that we achieve customer service excellence.

The restaurant seeks to establish and sustain strong relationships with its customers. This survey offers valuable customer feedback to the restaurant. The restaurant is able to evaluate the views and perceptions of its customers regarding services offered. The main objective of Claude Restaurant is to provide high quality services to our clients (Cochran, 2006, p. 93).

We constantly improve our services to ensure that our clients are always satisfied. The restaurant seeks to build a strong reputation in the local hospitality industry to improve its competitive edge in the market.

References

Cochran, C. (2006). Becoming a customer focused organisation. London: Paton Professional.

Gibson, P. (2011). The world of customer service. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Just like the McDonald’s, two Emirati brothers came up with a similar idea and established a restaurant in Dubai which started operating in 2009 though their intentions were long thought. Though they had the idea for a long time, the initials costs of setting up the business was a challenge and they had to take time to plan themselves.

They set a business by the name ‘Wild Peeta’ that concentrates in making sandwiches of Shawarma depending on a customer’s requirement using different types of sauces and Peeta bread apart from making salads and desserts. Wild Peeta restaurant has expanded throughout the UAE as it successfully targets the retail market offering Shawras and other foods in their menu.

According to Duening (2009), entrepreneurship revolves around management of businesses or companies in a manner that is slightly different from traditional forms of management. Comparing the two approaches of management there are clear differences between traditional and entrepreneurial management and they include the following: traditional managers were closely monitoring the work of the juniors by assessing the effectiveness of the inputs, time members of staff are working, raw materials and financial budget while an entrepreneurial manager focuses on main concerns in the firm and use of the best talents and expertise.

This is due to the fact that modern markets are considering a wide variety of products and services. In traditionally managed firms, the manager delegates’ duties and responsibilities in a bureaucratic manner and all employees know their fixed roles. Reynolds (2007) argued that this is not the case in an entrepreneurial firm because the duty of the manager is selection of individuals and teams with respect to talent and creativity so as to provide innovative solutions to the market.

In a traditionally managed company, managers discuss and come up with ideas on how the company should run while entrepreneurial management, mangers act as facilitators and employees give propositions about external stakeholders, equipments to be used and systems to be used.

In a traditional firm, much effort was done to train managers to be leaders in the firm while entrepreneurial management advocates distribution of leadership in the entire workforce (Schumpeter, J. 2006). Furthermore, managers in a traditional organization had the duty of planning, but the main focus of an entrepreneurial manager is to come up with strategies that exploit market dynamics.

The two owners of the restaurant have portrayed entrepreneurial management skills as revealed by their involvement in the business sometimes doing the work of employees and serving customers as they inquire improvements that can be added to the business (Livingston, J. 2007, p.122).

Concerning independent entrepreneurship, the owners of this restaurant are highly motivated. There are factors that boosted the starting of this business and they include: first, the entrepreneurs of this business had a liking for food which was the biggest driver for them to set up the business in addition to benefiting the society, making profit and sustaining growth of the business.

Secondly, the owners of the business are engaged in activities of the business like cashiering, serving customers and preparing shawrmas, thereby, they create an opportunity to be in contact with customers and employees. Concerning risks, the owners of the company set up their business despite risk in the market that includes competition, goodwill and others.

Before the business was fully operational, the owners of Wild Peeta encountered failures that drugged their business idea to start after seven years which was majorly a challenge with finances. But with determination and focus, they managed to implement their business idea through assistance from Mohamed bin Rashid Foundation. Time orientation is a basic necessity in entrepreneurship, there must be short time for orientation, planning and future growth and changes that might occur (Shane, S. 2003, p. 44).

References

Duening, T. (2009) Technology Entrepreneurship. New Yolk: Academic Express.

Livingston, J. (2007) Foundations at Work. Berkeley, CA: Apress

Reynolds, P. (2007) Entrepreneurship in the United States. New Yolk, NY: Springer.

Schumpeter, J. (2006) The Economist. The Economist Newspaper. Web.

Shane, S. (2003) A General Theory of Entrepreneurship: The Individual Opportunity. Cheltenham: Edward Elga.

Introduction

Author Shirleene Robinson, in her article, “Inventing Australia for Americans: The rise Outback Steakhouse restaurant chain in the USA”, argues that, the Outback steakhouse chain of restaurants is presenting an outdated and unreal picture of Australia wherever these restaurants are stationed in the world.

According to her, the restaurants thrive by positioning themselves as the ultimate peddlers of an ‘Australian experience’, yet the food served, the owners of the restaurant, the advertisement models, and all other entities related presented as “Australian” in these restaurants are not. Therefore, according to her, Outback Steakhouse is a fraud. However, the author overlooks the fact that all businesses sell ideas, or the role of sound business management and outstanding customer service in maintaining profitable restaurants.

Profit Motive of All Businesses – To Sell an “Idea”

The owners of the Outback steakhouse chain of restaurants are, above anything else, businesspersons keen on profits. The function of any business enterprise is to make profits. Therefore, all actions that the owners of these restaurants take are solely aimed towards maximization of profits.

As such, to expect the Outback steakhouse restaurants to present a realistic and more accurate picture of Australian cuisine, lifestyle and beliefs in the general ambience of these overseas restaurants misses the point. The owners of these restaurants are not cultural ambassadors, and since their interest lies in making profits, all cultural ideas that attract more clients and thus increase profits will be adopted. Whether these cultural representations are realistic, true or accurate is never highly considered by business executives.

The Outback steakhouse chain of restaurants is not the first to purport to offer a customer experience based on myths, or disputable ideas. Indeed, the entire goal of any business enterprise is to sell an idea (Soederberg 506). When the client buys the idea, the veracity of this idea, especially concerning its exact accuracy, is moot.

When McDonald’s and the many fast food restaurants in the western world sell their food and drinks to their clients, they sell an idea as much as they do the food. The idea of freedom, choice, and independence is also packed into these food sales. When an insurance agent tries to convince a client to buy insurance, the agent sells the idea of security to the clients. Therefore, businesses, whether offering goods or services, are inherently selling ideas and beliefs to their clients.

According to the article, the owners of Outback steakhouse restaurants, who are all American, chanced upon the idea of opening up Australian themed restaurants in the US after watching the Australian movie “Crocodile Dundee” gain unprecedented fame in the US and other countries.

The movie, whose main character is Paul Hogan perpetuates the view of the typical Australian male being carefree and intensely masculine, while Australia as a country is depicted as wild, unexplored and welcoming. These images of both Australian males and Australia as a country contributed to its widespread fame as much as the plot, characters and the storyline of the movie did. In this particular case too, the producers of the movie sold an idea.

Therefore, when the founders of the Outback steakhouse embarked on their project of opening up Australian themed restaurants, they wanted to capitalize on the popular image of Australia perpetuated by the movie.

This much the author of the article acknowledges. Therefore, if the original purpose of the owners was to continue a mythical popular idea propagated by the movie “Crocodile Dundee” – and other popular distortions of the masculinity of the Australian male in books such as Australian Legend by Russell Ward – then the blame, if at all anyone is to be blamed, lays beyond these owners.

The Power of Advertisements – Exploiting the Masses’ Ignorance

Secondly, to a certain degree, the owners of the Outback steakhouse are exploring the ignorance and lack of international exposure of American citizens. According to statistics quoted by the author in her article, only 27% of Americans own a passport. Out of these numbers, a much smaller margin may have travelled to Australia, much less lived there long enough to have an idea of what a true “Australian cultural experience” may be.

Therefore, the owners of the Outback steakhouse know well enough that inaccurate representations of Australia within its restaurants in the US and elsewhere are unlikely to come under scrutiny. Even though the US plumes itself as a citadel of liberty and democracy, a closer scrutiny of its citizenry reveals a nation largely guided by what it sees on television and reads in the mainstream press, and is thus largely ignorant.

Many citizens of the US hardly bother with what happens beyond their borders. For instance, the US has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the western world, with only 56% of voters having turned out to vote in the 2004 presidential elections (Niemi and Hanmer 305).

The picture of the US as a highly educated and informed society, which is what many neutral observers believe to be the case, is wrong. Therefore, US citizens easily buy into the idea of Australia propagated by the Outback steakhouse restaurants because they are none the wiser. However, if the popularity of the restaurants is anything to go by, then the idea (if not the service and food/drinks offered in the restaurants) seems to sit well with Americans.

Customer Experience as an Important Factor

Additionally, the author has overlooked the concept of customer experience in her criticism of the mythical and inaccurate depiction of Australia as done by the Outback steakhouse restaurants. Although many first time clients of Outback steakhouse restaurants may be pulled by the restaurants’ promise of delivering the ultimate Australian experience, future visits back to the restaurants will depend solely on the customer’s experience, which goes beyond the mere desire for a foreign and mythical experience.

Customer service, pricing, and other such unrelated but ultimately decisive factors play a monumental role in retaining customers (Ching-Shu 430). Indeed, even if the restaurant were to offer real Australian food, employ only Australian nationals, sell only Australian beer, and even build its restaurants in Australian architectural design, if the customer service were poor, the customers would unlikely return.

Therefore, the popularity of the Outback steakhouse restaurants goes beyond the mere fact that they promise an exotic (Australian) experience, it most likely has to do with the restaurants ability to serve customers in a professional and hospitable manner. Similarly, if the restaurants were to be accurate in their portrayal of the Australian experience, yet charge exorbitant prices for their service, they would unlikely attract more customers.

Conclusion

Therefore, in conclusion, the popularity of the Outback steakhouse restaurants in the US goes beyond the mere fact that these restaurants purport to deliver an Australian experience for their clients. Their popularity has to do with sound business practices geared towards profit maximization, powerful advertising that captures a susceptible client base, and a comprehensive customer experience that makes clients return for the same.

Works Cited

Ching-Shu, Su. “The role of service innovation and customer experience in ethnic restaurants.” Service Industries Journal 31.3 (2011): 425-440.

Niemi, Richard, and Michael Hanmer. “Voter Turnout among College Students: New Data and a Rethinking of Traditional Theories.” Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited) 91.2 (2010): 301-323.

Soederberg, Susanne. “Taming Corporations or Buttressing Market-Led Development? A Critical Assessment of the Global Compact.” Globalizations 4.4 (2007): 500-513.

The agile chatter for Lobo’s restaurant contains three vital components. These are vision that is definitive of the restaurants purpose for existence, mission that states how this purpose will be achieved, and success criteria (Brown 34).

The restaurants vision will aim at aiding office workers possess more time, more energy, and feel much healthier via the supply of convenient, quick, nutritionally balanced, affordable, and good tasting meals.

The mission statement is to create a highly regarded and profitable Lobo’s restaurant and delivery services shop in down town London that will provide a healthy, economical, selection of nutritionally balanced sandwiches, salads, soups, and other finger licking meal fare. Lobo restaurant’s success criteria will be an opening date of June 7^th 2012, indoor sales of £3,000 and delivery sales of £2,500 for the beginning week.

Its indoor sales for the first month would be £15,000, with delivery sales of £12,500. Deliveries will all be made within 30 minutes of the order reception, and all in-house customers will be served within seven minutes of them taking a seat.

The restaurant also aims at being recognised in the restaurant round up by downtown news in the top ten of nutritious in-house and delivery providers’ restaurants (Brown 34). This sort of charter will erase ambiguity from the project’s undertaking, how its vision will be realised, and how the management will monitor its success or failure.

Downtown London is one of the most desirable locations of retail in London. The chamber of Commerce has rated it the number three most desirable retail market in the city. The restaurant’s location will be a single story block surrounded by offices and adjacent to the train station. More than five office blocks will surround the restaurant. The customer base has three vital segments.

The American International University has four different schools, which are in proximity to the restaurant, with a population of 12,000 seasonally. There is also a sizeable local population of 100,000 year round. The restaurant is within 10 or so minutes drive from 5 suburbs.

The Chamber of Commerce in London lists over eight hundred businesses in the area, with most being office related, with a 10 worker average per office. There are also tourist arrivals, with 92% bed occupancy last year in the motels, hotels, and inns around the location (Kemp 45).

The planning of the restaurant will include getting the construction documents a general contractor, know the building codes so as to comply with health and building codes of the restaurant location from the department of building and safety, the fire department, and the health department.

Food service consultants certified interior designers, architect, and equipment suppliers and dealers would also have to be brought on board (Ware & James 67). Through organizing, the project would be brought into action by the manager. Through organizing, the staff would maintain a commitment to the enthusiasm and vision of the organization within their teams that carry out the tasks given to them.

Organizing would also align the tasks to goals of the organization, as well as provide proper direction to the staff (Ware & James 67). Through controlling, the manager will be able to measure the failure or success of the planning implementation, performance evaluation, improvement strategy development, and aid in taking actions to correct what goes wrong.

Necessary interpersonal skills for this project include information exchange that is effective communication, influencing of the organization in order to get things and duties done, offering leadership by developing a strategy and a vision while motivating the staff to achieve the strategy and vision (Kemp 46). The staffs also need to be motivated in order to overcome change barriers and achieve high performance levels.

The manager would also have to be an adept at conflict management and negotiation by conferring with the staff for an agreement to be reached. Finally, the manager has to have good problem solving abilities, which is the identification of alternatives, defining problems, and decision-making.

Works Cited

Brown, D. The restaurant manager’s handbook : how to set up, operate, and manage a financially successful food service operation. Ocala: Atlantic Pub, 2007. Print.

Kemp, S. Ultimate Guide to Project Management for Small Business : Get It Done Right!. Irvine: Entrepreneur Press, 2005. Print.

Ware, R., and James, R. How to open your own restaurant : a guide for entrepreneurs. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Print.

Introduction

The key to a successful business is customer satisfaction. Customers want to have their needs addressed in the right way and manner, and only then it is possible to win their loyalty and drive business growth since satisfied customers will always want to come back and even give referrals.

Mega bytes restaurant does not underestimate the power of customer satisfaction and hence the reason the management decided to assess how well their customers were satisfied.

A survey was conducted for a period of three months in which customers were asked to rate their satisfaction. Surprisingly, the survey revealed that customers had issues, for example, the waiting time was long. Information from the respondents showed that lack of customer satisfaction was a product of many factors as outlined below.

First, the customers had to wait for seats and this was the major source of dissatisfaction followed closely by poor arrangements of the buffet table. Thirdly, the tables were not clean and that at times, the rooms were so drafty. Those were cited as the major causes though in addition to them, other minor reasons were cited as waiting for coffee for a long time, missing utensils, failure to provide dietetic sweetener and lack of ashtrays on the table.

In order to address the issues and improve customer satisfaction, management resulted to getting a team of employees who used the Seven Step Model (SSM) to critically analyze the root cause of the problem, potential causes and probable solutions in an analytical approach. The following is a systematic procedure and analysis of the seven step method.

The Seven-Step Method

According to Winston and Mark (2008, pg.9), the first step is project definition which entails defining the problem in terms of the current situation and what is expected, determining the importance of analyzing the problem and establishing evaluation measures. In this case, the problem was defined as customers waiting too long to be seated and the team had to analyze issues such as when the waiting started and when it ended.

Therefore, the problem that needed to be solved was waiting time taken by a customer to be seated. The second step involves assessment of the current situation, which implies that baseline date is gathered, designing flow chart and sketches, identification of relevant variables and data collection instruments, collecting information and taking a summary of the variables effect on the problem.

Any useful additional information can be gathered at this time. In this case, current situation was assessed in terms of floor set-up (arrangement) and the number of customers who waited for more than one minute before being seated as well as on what days of the week waiting time was higher.

Baseline data showed that waiting time was high during weekdays and during the busy hours. The main reason for waiting during this time was unavailability of tables merely because they were waiting to be cleared and not because they were occupied by clients or lack of space at preferred sitting position which normally was the non-smoking region. The third step is to analyze the potential or probable causes of these problems.

This step requires that a cause and effect diagram is constructed to assess the conditions that could be leading to the problems at hand. The causes should be verified through appropriate measures such as observation or controlling variables.

The team at mega byte restaurant cause and effect diagram showed that the distance from the kitchen to the tables was one of the factors that contributed to uncleared tables and waiting for non smoking sitting positions.

The fourth step in the model entails developing a number of alternative solutions and screening them thoroughly to come with the best possible solution and implementing it. In the case of mega byte restaurant, the team opted for a solution that could be tested easily just by observing. Temporary workstations were set up in the non-smoking area and no other changes were made.

The team then wanted to establish the number of people who had to wait for more than one minute before being seated after the change was effected. Step five involves checking the results.

In this step, the effectiveness of the solutions undertaken in step four is assessed, additional relevant and baseline data is can be added at this point and a repeat of necessary steps conducted. Disparities between the planned and the actual results should be explained and accounted for.

From the case study, there was drastic improvement in waiting time after implementation of the solution in step four having dropped from as high as 40% to as low as less than 5%. In step six, standardize the improvement. This means adopting and incorporating the improvement in a manner that it fits well into the organization’s operations and policies.

Strategy implementation and ensuring its success is also done at this stage as well as identification of other areas that can improved by application of the same strategy and the subsequent implementation if any. In the case of mega byte restaurant, institutionalization of the improvement was done by replacing the temporary workstations with permanent ones.

The last and final step is establishment of future plans. It focuses on assessing whether the gap between what is and what should be needs to be narrowed further and if need, who would be the key participants.

A summary of what was learnt should be availed to act as a guideline to future projects or for reference purposes. From the case study, mega byte team of employees decided to focus on the next major issue listed as customer complaints and in particular poor arrangement of buffet tables.

How to Boost the Seating Capacity

The sitting capacity can be boosted in several ways; one being the main reasons as to why people take time to sit is associated with uncleared tables or search for a sitting section away from the smoking areas. This issue can be addressed by first addressing the issue of preferred sitting section.

From the study, it is evident that most clients prefer the non-smoking section. More tables can be added to the section and also convert a part of the smoking section to non-smoking to increase the sitting capacity of the people.

The tables are far from the kitchen; this can be addressed by redesigning the floor in such a way that the tables are located near the kitchen to reduce the physical distance. Time taken by the waitresses to take the check to the counter can be minimized by introduction of self service where the clients are required to pay before they are served. Payment mode can also be diversified to incorporate cash payment system.

Such mechanisms will give the waitresses more time to clear the tables. The waitresses salaries should be reviewed and paid a salary that commensurate their services and also look for ways to boost their morale so that they clear the tables in good time.

Staff Reduction

It would not be advisable for mega byte restaurant to reduce staff since during the busy hours they have shortage of staff. It would be advisable to look into the root causes of high turnover of the staff and look into the staff welfare with regard to their pay.

Incentives such as rewards should be given to the staff to motivate them to server the customers in an effective and efficient manner. Reason being satisfied customers are likely to be loyal and bring in others thus creating more jobs hence employ more staff instead of reducing the number.

Relevance of the Study

The study team learnt various skills such as formulating the problem statement which requires posing the solutions as the problem. This skill can be used in addressing other issues concerning the business such as the reasons behind improper setting of the buffet table.

Collection of data with accuracy and ability to use and interpret baseline data to get relevant information was also another aspect learnt that would be very useful in solving the other problems the organization is facing.

Eliminating the Smoking Section May Cause Waiting Time to Decrease

From the case study, introduction of temporary workstations in the non-smoking zone led to an overall reduction in the number of people who waited for more than a minute to sit. This shows that most of the clients preferred to sit on the non-smoking section.

The study showed that percentage of people who waited for seats after temporary work stations were set up in the non smoking section reduced from as high as 40% to as low as less than 5%.

Considering that most of the clients are business people who travel a lot and mainly meet to discuss business or official matters, few people will want to smoke from the restaurant since most people prefer to smoke when they are relaxed and without interfering with the comfort f others. Hence, to some extant, elimination of the smoking are can lead to decreased waiting time.

The SWOT Analysis

According to Bohm (2009, pg 2), the SWOT analysis refer to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Each organization needs to understand its SWOT analysis to be able to remain competitive in the market or industry. Strengths refer to the strong aspects of an organization that gives it a competitive edge over the other competitors.

Mega byte restaurant has a strong management team that understands the importance of customer satisfaction and thus addresses issues from customers’ point of view in a systematic and procedural manner. This gives a competitive edge over the competitors who try to look for solutions without considering what the customers’ needs and wants are.

However, it has weaknesses too in that it does not adequately cater for employees welfare hence high turnover that is costly to the firm and drains funds that could otherwise be used to expand the building. Employees’ motivation is very important in determining their productivity and this is an area that is wanting with regard to mega byte restaurant.

The design of the building is also wanting and needs redesigning to save on time and energy spent on physical movement. Considering that the firm is normally very busy and especially during weekdays, it stands a better chance to improve on its services, satisfy customers, and generate more business revenues and profits that will allow it to grow and expand.

The fact that customers opt to wait for seats instead of leaving implies that it stands a better chance than competitors in winning and retaining customers. The biggest challenge or threat is that if the firm fails to address the customer complaints addressed by clients during the survey, the might easily lose on to competitors in terms of both customers and employees.

Conclusion /Alternative

Mega byte restaurant has the potential to meet its customer needs if proper measures and procedures are put in place. The case looked at how customers could be served in a more satisfactorily manner by reducing waiting time to be seated. This was done by increasing workstations in the non-smoking zone and this greatly reduced the waiting time.

In the alternative hypothesis, elimination of smoking zone will not decrease the waiting time. This can be supported by the fact that even with introduction of more workstations in the non-smoking zone; the smoking zone was still operational.

Based on gathered information, elimination of smoking zone will lead to a reduction in waiting time but not fully since other factors such as uncleared tables have to be considered as causes of increased waiting time.

References

Böhm, A. (2009). The SWOT AnalysisAkademische Schriftenreihe. Norderstedt, GRINVerlag. Web.

Winston, W. L and Mark, C. (2008). Practical management science. OH, Cengage Learning. Web.

The Research Title

The researcher will complete a research dissertation with the following title:

“An Evaluation of Effectiveness of employees’ Motivation in Enhancing Job Satisfaction and Increased Productivity of Clipsy Restaurant.

The Research Topic and Questions

The research topic for the dissertation entails employees’ motivation and job satisfaction and how motivated employee affects productivity. The researcher will address how motivation is related to productivity in doing so the researcher will be guided by Need-based theories and Reinforcement theories.

Research Rationale

This research will be important for Clipsy Restaurant in understanding impacts of its motivation strategy on productivity. In addition, the management at Clipsy Restaurant will learn on how it can improve its strategy.

Research Questions

While undertaking the study, the researcher will try to answer the following 5 questions.

1. How has motivation of employees in Clipsy evolved since its foundation?
2. Is employees’ motivation within Clipsy considered a significant area of business?
3. Does the Current employees’ motivation strategy adopted by Clipsy in alignment with its business strategy?
4. What are the business implications of Clipsy employees’ motivation strategy?
5. How can the employee motivation strategy adopted by Clipsy be developed further so that it is most beneficial to the organization?

The researcher currently works as a human research manager at Clipsy Restaurant. Clipsy Restaurant is a small scale restaurant located in London and offers a small scale restaurant that offers fast food to people as well as is among one of the fast food to its highly valued clients. The restaurant has a workforce of 100 employees who work in various departments present at Clipsy Restaurant.

The researcher is a royal customer of Clipsy Restaurant since 2010. The researcher mainly takes his breakfast, lunch as well as supper at Clipsy Restaurant. The employees’ motivation strategy that is adopted by Clipsy has enabled it to attract, retain as well as build high competent employees in a wide range of specialization.

However, the strategy adopted has been associated with some failings and particularly noted from Clipsy high employees’ turn over.

The Research Aim and Objectives

The broad aim of this research is to explore the effectiveness of the current employees’ motivation strategy adopted by Clipsy with a view of making recommendations on how to make it more effective.

In order to achieve the main objective, the researcher will use the following specific objectives:

1. To examine how Clipsy employees’ motivation strategy has evolved since its foundation
2. To examine how Clipsy employees’ motivation strategy is perceived within the organization at all levels; from senior management through to more junior employees.
3. To examine the current components of the reward strategy within Clipsy Restaurant.
4. To examine the benefits that Clipsy Restaurant as well as its employees receives through adoption of the existing employees’ motivation strategy.
5. As a result of the research, to make recommendations to Clipsy restaurant as to how its employees’ motivation strategy can be improved to be more effective

Literature Review

In this section, the researcher will review relevant literature pertaining to the subject matter. The researcher will do so by reviewing past studies conducted on the subject. Discussing appropriate theories associated with employees’ motivation and how they affect employees’ productivity.

History of Motivation Concept

The following section discusses the historical development of motivation concept. The section indicates how different scientific disciplines and school of thought have contributed to the evolvement of motivation concept over time as well as how it is understood today. The section terminates by highlighting some major motivational theories and how they have influenced the concept of motivation (Bard & Moore 2000).

Historical Development of the Concept of Employees’ Motivation

The traditional model of thought and motivation was dominant in 1900 to 1930. By then motivation was associated with Frederic Winslow Taylor and the scientific school of management that argued that workers generally do not enjoy working and require being motivated to work through financial rewards. The traditional model paved way to the relation model that was dominant between 1930 and 1960.

As time passed, traditional model failed to account some aspects associated with employees conducts. For instance in some circumstances some workers were noted to voluntarily motivate themselves without close monitoring and control. In addition, many workers started doubting managements because their remuneration failed to measure up with their productivity (Arnold & Feldman 1986; Gunter & Furnham 1996).

Dissatisfaction as a result of poor remuneration resulted to the establishment of trade and labor unions. The trade unions exerted a lot of pressure on employers which forced them to realize the importance of social relationships in workplace as well the need to motivate employees in their work (Beach 1980).

The realization of the importance of social relationship at work place resulted to development of human relationship model of motivation that changed employers’ perception of motivation. Employers started viewing motivation as a form of human potential (Huddleston & Frazier 2002).

The model was instrumental in ensuring that workers were motivated in their workplace, although it failed in explaining all work nuisances that were present work in workplace. Its failure to account for all the work nuisances lead to the emergence of the human potential model.

The theory explained that motivation is not limited only to rewards and social relationship, but also caters for a sense of achievement that is realized from performing a challenging and meaningful task. The theory pointed that people are ever motivated to work and do not consider work as unpleasant. This school of thought is instrumental in current motivation theories that are applicable to date (Haslam, Powell & Turner 2000).

Definition of Employee Motivation

Past studies have indicated very little relationship between job satisfaction and productivity. Studies show that some highly satisfied workers as poor performers, whereas some highly dissatisfied workers as good performers. There are several variables that affect the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity, although there are no direct causal factors that have been established.

Motivation is considered very effective in the enhancement of job satisfaction and productivity. People are considered to be motivated by social needs that cannot be realized from their works. Therefore, there is importance of establishing a favorable environment that is imperative in satisfying and maintaining social interrelationships at work.

From the model of self-actualization, people are considered as intrinsically motivated, take pride in their work and realize satisfaction from their achievements. Complex man view model considers people to be motivated by diverse variation of motives, experiences, abilities and emotions. These motives are considered to change over time as new motives are learned and new skills acquired make them to have new attitudes towards their job.

Scholars have different definitions for motivation: Schultz and Schultz (1998) consider motivation as personal or workplace characteristics that explain why people behave in certain manner. Beck (1983) had a similar view and regarded motivation as the concern of workers variation of behavior where some workers work harder than others.

Work characteristics refer to task variety, whereas personal characteristics are considered as the intrinsic need for accomplishment. Petri (1996) considers motivation as the drive that acts on or within a person to initiate and maintain desirable behavior.

Whereas Pinder (1998) regarded work motivation as the external and internal forces that trigger work related behaviors, and determine its intensity, form and duration (Hull 1943; Schneider & Snyder 1975).

Theories of Motivation

There are many theories of motivation that are grouped into three categories: cognitive theories, needs-based theories and drive and motivation theories. This research will be limited to two groups of theories which are need-based theories and drive motivation theory.

Need-based theories are often regarded as content theories because of their explanation of the content of motivation. Need-based theories propose that internal states within workers are responsible for energizing and directing behaviors. Internal states are considered as individuals’ needs, drives or motives.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory argues that people are motivated by the pursuit to satisfy needs that are grouped into five categories and occur in varied hierarchy. Maslow (1986) argued that lower needs have to be met before pursuing the satisfaction of those of higher order. Physiological needs are the basic needs and include hunger and thirst. Safety needs entail physical safety as well as job security.

Social needs entail social acceptance, friendship, love and support while the egotistic needs comprise an individual’s desire for respect. Self actualization occurs at the apex of the hierarchy and indicates the aspiration towards full development of one’s potential that is never fully attained.

According to Maslow people always pursue what they have not yet achieved and once they get it, it stops being a motivation for action (Pinder1998). Despite lack of a lot of empirical support on need-based theory, it is widely adopted in many organizations in ensuring that employees’ needs are met.

The self-actualization concept in need-based theory has been a great motivator for managers and executives (Becherer, Morgan & Richard 1982).

Herzberberg’s theory is another essential need-based motivational theory. It considers motivation to originate from work and not from external factors, but these factors result to job satisfaction. The theory constitute of hygiene factors and motivators. Hygiene factors involve those factors that do not bring job satisfactions and prevent dissatisfaction if maintained adequately.

Hygiene factors entail; level of supervision, remuneration, job status among others. Conversely, motivators are considered to be directly related with performers and lead to increased productivity. They include; increased responsibilities, pleasure of performance as well as opportunities for promotions and advancements.

Despite available of limited empirical support, the theory is widely applicable in many organizations mainly in re-design of many jobs in order to ensure greater employees’ participation in planning, performing as well as assessing their performance. This theory has been very effective in helping in providing employees with tasks that are meaningful to them (Cofer & Appley 1968: Cohen & Cairnes 1991).

Drive and Reinforcement theories are founded on behaviorist approaches that claim that positive reinforcement condition a behavior in a manner to be repeated in future endeavors, whereas behavior that has been punished will not likely to be repeated. The aforementioned theories have greatly assisted in shaping the current concept of employees’ motivation.

Job Satisfaction

The concept of job satisfaction has greatly gained more attention in many organizations nowadays. Most managers strive to ensure high level of job satisfaction among their employees mainly as a result of its great impact on productivity.

It is believed that having a satisfied staff contributes greatly towards organization effectiveness and ultimate survival. Employees’ job satisfaction is closely related to important employee and organization outputs that range from job performance to health and longevity (Beck 1983; Purcell 2006).

Definition of Job Satisfaction

Arnold and Feldman (1986) consider job satisfaction as one’s emotional response to her/his current job condition. On the other hand, Schneider and Snyder (1975) consider job satisfaction as an individual’s assessment of the conditions that exist in the workplace or outcomes that arise for having a job.

Determinates of Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction has diverse and distinct dimensions depending on an individual’s perception because satisfaction depends on one’s needs. It is these dimensions that are used to monitor employees’ attitudes and feelings towards job characteristics. Examples of certain variables that determine job satisfactions include; job objectives, work context, tasks activities and job content (Becherer, Morgan & Richard1982).

These variables directly affect the nature and extent of an employee’s effort and the employee may get satisfaction from his/her effort.

Although effort is essential in performance, a workers competence is also important in determining job satisfaction because an employee can derive job satisfaction from a sense of achievement that follows competent task execution (Hadebe 2001; Hoole & Vermeulen 2003; Porter & Hackman 1975,).

Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction can arise from external factors that are job-related such as job characteristics, job tasks. Spector (2003) pointed various significant environmental factors that determine job satisfaction. They include; age, race, role variable, work-family conflict, gender, job experience and occupational level (Bolman & Deal 1984; Gunter & Furnham 1996).

Research Philosophy

Phenomological paradigm and Positivism are the two main research philosophies that are suitable in identifying the research methods that are most suitable for the study. Positivism paradigm posits that social world thrive externally and its properties should be measured objectively rather than being deduced subjectively.

Conversely, phenomological research philosophy recognizes actions, artifacts as well as events from within human life, but not as observation of some external reality. Social-historical world is a symbolic world that is formed by human mind and should not be generally taken as a relationship material thing.

The researcher will use phenomological research philosophy. The researcher opted for phenomological research philosophy because the research data that can received through positivism research philosophy may not be as rich as that of positivism.

Research Approach

The approach for this research will be qualitative in nature. The research will entail inductive analysis of the collected data in order to build on a theory (Yin 1994).

Research Strategy

Saunders et al (2007) points the importance of selecting an appropriate research strategy. He argued that the choice of a research strategy is guided by objectives and research questions formulated.

Other factors that determine research strategy to be adopted are philosophical underpinnings, time available as well as the extent of available knowledge. The researcher will use a case study approach for this research (Bryman & Bell 2007; Easterby, Thorpe & Lowe 2001).

Data Collection

The researcher will collect data using a questionnaire as well as a focus group interview with appropriate stakeholders such as human resource managers of nearby restaurants. The questionnaires that will be used will comprise of close-ended questions that will require the respondents to select the answer from the options provided.

On the other hand, the questionnaire will have open-ended questions that will not limit the respondent to specific options. Open-ended questions will help to bring insight into the study which the researcher could have overlooked.

The study will also comprise of a secondary research that will be conducted from a review of relevant sources such Journals, books and internet articles. The study will entail a review of past studies conducted on the subject, theories of motivation and job satisfaction (Yin 1984).

Data Analysis

The questionnaires will be cleaned and then coded accordingly. The researcher will use Excel and SPSS software to analyze the data collected to get appropriate inference.

Data Presentation

After analyzing the data, the information generated will be presented in tabular form.

Consent and Ethical Considerations

In order to ensure ethical considerations, the researcher will explain to the respondents the purpose of the research and ensure that the data collected will be used solely for the purpose given.

The researcher will allow the respondents only to answer those questions that they feel comfortable answering. For the focus interview, the researcher should ensure that he/she agrees with the participants on the date, time and venue for the interview and stick to it.

Possible Limitations

Because of lack of enough time and financial constraints, the researcher will use a small sample size. This will limit the reliability of the results as bigger samples are highly recommended in order to increase the reliability of the study (Saunders et al 2009).

List of References

Anderson, V 2009, Research Methods in Human Research Management, Sage Publication, London.

Arnold, H & Feldman, C 1986, Organizational behavior, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Bard, M & Moore, E 2000, ‘Mentoring and Self-Managed Learning: Professional Development for the Market Research Industry,’ International Journal of Market Research, Vol.42. no.3, pp.255 – 265.

Beach, D 1980, Personnel: The Management of People at Work, Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc, New York.

Becherer, R, Morgan, F & Richard, L 1982, ‘The job characteristics of industrial salespersons: Relationship to motivation and satisfaction,’ Journal of Marketing, Vol.46, no.4, pp.125 – 135.

Beck, R 1983, Motivation: Theories and Principles, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Bolman, L & Deal, T 1984, Modern Approaches to Understanding and Managing Organizations, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Bryman, A., and Bell, E 2007, Business Research Methods, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Cofer, C & Appley, M 1968, Motivation, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York.

Cohen, E & Cairnes, L 1991, ‘Doing the Best Job,’ Journal for Quality and Participation,’ Vol.14, no.3, pp.48 – 53.

Easterby, M, Thorpe, R & Lowe A 2001, An Introduction to Management Research, Sage Publications, London

Gunter, B & Furnham, A 1996, Biographical and Climate Predictors of Job Satisfaction and Pride in Organizations. Journal of Psychology, 130(2), 193 – 208.

Hadebe, T 2001, Relationship Between Motivation and Job Satisfaction of Employees at Vista Information Services, Rand Afrikaans University Press, Johannesburg

Haslam, S, Powell, C & Turner, J 2000, ‘Social Identity, Self-Categorization and Work Motivation: Rethinking the Contribution of the Group to Positive and Sustainable organizational outcomes,’ Applied Psychology Journal, Vol. 49, no.3, pp.319-339.

Hoole, C & Vermeulen, L 2003, Job Satisfaction Among South African Pilots, South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, Vol.29, no.1, pp. 52 – 57.

Howell, D 2002, Statistical Methods for Psychology, Duxbury, USA.

Huddleston, P & Frazier, B 2002, ‘The Influence of Firm Characteristics and Demographic Variables on Russian Workers’ Work Motivation and Job Attitudes,’ Distribution and Consumer Research Journal, Vol.12, no.4, pp.395 – 421. Hull, C 1943, Principles of Behavior, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York.

Maslow, A 1968, Toward a Psychology of Being, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York:

Pinder, C1998, Work Motivation in Organizational Behavior, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, N J:

Porter, L. & Hackman, R 1975, Behavior in Organizations, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Purcell, J 2006, Building Better Organizations, Sage Publication, London.

Saunders, M, Lewis, P & Thornhill, A. 2009, Research Methods For Business Students Prentice Hall, Harlow

Schneider, B & Snyder, R 1975, Some Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Organizational Climate,’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, no.3, pp.318 – 328.

Schultz, D & Schultz, S 1998, Psychology and Work Today: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Yin, R 1984, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Sage Publications, New York.

Yin, R 1994, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Sage Publications, London.

Introduction

With the current fast-paced world, traditional recipes and foods are slowly being phased out of restaurants across the world (Willett & Stampfer, 2013, p. 77). More restaurants are focusing on making money via easy and quick means by serving fast foods and other modern delicacies that contemporary people demand. However, the modernity has also brought many issues concerning lifestyle diseases and problems.

These issues have led to the rising of the movement towards healthy living. Healthy living demands individuals to not only exercise well but also always consider the kind of food that they eat. In the search for prosperity and a means of coping with the demands of the changing world, people have lost track with reference to the traditional setup and eating habits (Mellentin & Heasman, 2015, p. 21).

It is crucial to restore this state of affairs. A good concept that focuses on achieving this goal is the El Peregrino. In this concept, life is viewed as a pilgrimage where people are in search of their origin. In other words, they aspire to return to a state of innocence or purity. Based on the concept of “El Peregrino” that that this marketing strategy and design will focus on the opening of a new restaurant.

Background to the Restaurant Business

In major Spanish cities, as well as across the whole country, it is difficult to find any restaurant that serves traditional Spanish delicacies and cuisine. From the above-discussed restoration formula, the new restaurant will focus on providing traditional Spanish foods that support the ‘return to the initial state of the traditional culture’ by providing the classic and typical Spanish delicacies and cuisine.

These delicacies are not easy to come by in the modern world, yet more and more people are increasingly becoming health conscious. They have a deep desire to move towards the path of self-discovery and restoration to the traditional state of living. Indeed, the city of Mallorca has the La Plaza de la Lonja de Palma where the restaurant will be set.

Here, it is even more difficult to find a restaurant that serves pure and unique traditional Spanish foods. Despite the location being famous for many Spanish restaurants that are full of tourists and locals who need the sumptuous Spanish delicacies, the hotels that serve traditional Spanish foods are very few, as it will be revealed by the market research that supports the idea of opening a restaurant (Murphy, 2013, p. 246).

The planned restaurant will have an average size of 120M² and approximately 20 tables. Each table will have four seats and hence a maximum sitting capacity of 80 customers. The restaurant’s name will be Peregrine, which is inspired by the term El Peregrino that reflects the café’s focus on aiding customers in their journey to the traditional lifestyle through Spanish cuisine and experience.

Market Research

Market research is a central part of any business. In this case, opening the restaurant based on traditional Spanish cuisine will help to determine its viability (Fujita & Thisse, 2013, p. 12; Dobbs, 2014, p. 32). The market research will focus on the determination of the clientele base, the appropriateness of the location, and competition among other key tenets of competitiveness in the hotel industry in the La Plaza de la Lonja de Palma area.

Type of Clientele

In a successful business planning process, it is imperative to understand the need for determining the availability of demand of the intended services or products (Longenecker, Petty, Palich, & Hoy, 2013, p 14). A business seeks to bring a return on investment to the owner.

This goal can only be achieved if customers are available to buy the services and products that the business provides (Shafique, Ahmad, Abbas, & Hussain, 2015, p. 29). In this case, a determination of the availability of customers in La Plaza de la Lonja de Palma is of great importance to the Peregrine Restaurant.

Locals

To determine the availability of demand for the food products and services that the restaurant seeks to offer, a market research was undertaken to determine the availability of customers within the local population. In this market research, 50 questionnaires were distributed to random people in their homes, as well on the streets, to establish their views on the concept of the restaurant.

Out of the 50 questionnaires, only 38 were returned. This finding indicates a response rate of 76%. The questionnaires revealed vital opinions on the restaurant. Firstly, among the respondents, 64% pointed out that they were more aware of the importance of healthy living. This awareness fueled their desire for more traditional and healthy foods in their diet.

Although the remaining 36% acknowledged the significance of healthy living and eating, they did not have a strong desire to consume traditional foods. They tried such foods if they found them on the menu, rather than expressly ordering them.

Secondly, the research sought to know the reasons that hindered the respondents from seeking or consuming traditional foods. Among the 64% of the respondents who had indicated a strong desire for healthy foods, 71% indicated that the availability or accessibility of restaurants that provided such foods was the determinant of whether they would seek such foods.

Further, another 23% indicated that the price of the foodstuffs determined whether they would look for the traditional foods. The remaining class of 6% was not sure of the reason that hindered it from seeking the traditional foods.

The above results reveal an overwhelming demand for traditional foods in the region of La Plaza de la Lonja de Palma from the local population. However, accessibility and pricing are a major determinant of whether the locals are ready to visit the hotel and order their favorite traditional Spanish cuisine.

Tourists

It is without any doubt that Spain attracts millions of tourists annually from across the world (Murphy, 2013, p. 14). The tourists wish to have a Spanish culture in its purest form. As the origin of the Spanish language and culture, millions of Spanish-speaking people across the world identify with Spain. They often visit the country in their search of their roots of origin.

For instance, Mallorca is indeed one of the oldest Spanish cities in the world. Thus, it has hundreds of attractions that reflect the Spanish culture and heritage. In the quest of finding their Spanish roots, as well as the exploration of the Spanish culture by other tourists, discovering the Spanish cuisine is top on their agenda (Murphy, 2013, p. 17).

Since the 1950s, Mallorca has received millions of tourists. Tourism is the main economic activity in the city. For instance, in 2014, the city received approximately 10 million tourists who were mainly attracted by the large number of beaches, warm weather, accessibility from many European country, and high-quality tourist amenities.

German tourists account for the largest share of the tourists who visit the city (Mellentin & Heasman, 2015, p. 26). This figure represents more than 30% of all visitors. Other high numbers of tourists are from the mainland Spain, Nordic Countries, and then the rest of the world as represented in the table below:

Source: (Mellentin & Heasman, 2015, p. 26)

From the above findings, it is apparent that indeed the restaurant will have a ready clientele from the large number of tourists who among other activities are also interested in sampling the Spanish cuisine.

Characteristics of the Location

Competition Research

For a company to be triumphant, it is imperative to understand the prevailing competition in the given area where it seeks to venture. In this process, the analysis of competition involves the use of various tools of business environment (Hollensen, 2015, p. 32). The most effective tool is the Porter’s Five-Force Analysis. The tool analyzes the competition in a given market area through five key areas, which are discussed below in relation to the Peregrine Restaurant:

Threat of Entry of New Competitors

Due to the high number of tourists in the region, hotels and restaurants form a major sector. Indeed, the number of restaurants is very high. It is approximated at 2400. As such, the threat of entry of new restaurants is high due to the availability of ready customers (Johnson, Price, & Van Vugt, 2013, p. 132).

However, the prohibitive cost of acquiring a location to establish a new business is a limiting factor, although it does not hinder many people from setting their restaurant businesses in this luxurious destination. Therefore, it is imperative for Peregrine to offer differentiated services, which will ensure that it remains relevant even in the face of new entrants into the market.

Competitive Rivalry

The city has more than 2400 restaurants. Most of them are concentrated around beaches. In this case, the Peregrine Restaurant faces serious competition from well-established restaurants and hotels in the area. In this case, Peregrine should consider differentiated marketing strategies and services to gain market share in the region.

Threat of Substitutes

The threat of substitutes is high since Peregrine seeks to set base on numerous types of foods that are offered in the region. In this case, if people do not find their preferred cuisine, they will stand a chance to pick other foods in the menu or get the foods in other restaurants.

Buyer Power

Customers do not have much authority over Peregrine because of the numerous and decentralized sources of the business’ customers.

Supplier Power

Since the business offers numerous foodstuffs, the restaurant will be supplied by several suppliers. Further, other suppliers are also available in the food industry and hence no one has a considerable power over the restaurant.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis is an essential tool in a business marketing strategy since it guides the determination of the strengths, flaws, chances, and threats of a business (Cazcarro, Hoekstra, & Chóliz, 2014, p. 93; Wrigley, 2014, p. 33). Such determination is very vital in guiding the various strategies that the business can adopt to guide its efforts that are aimed at gaining a competitive advantage in its industry (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015, p. 12). The following is the SWOT analysis table for Peregrine:

Marketing

The business will use various marketing strategies to attract customers. Firstly, it will use the internet through its official website to market its various foods that are on the menu. The company will also use Google Ads as a way of reaching a worldwide potential client base for people who are specifically interested in visiting the Mallorca region where Plaza de la Lonja de Palma is located. Other approaches will include partnerships with major tourist agents in the region.

Conclusion

The establishment of the restaurant Peregrine based on the concept of El Peregrino will provide traditional food enthusiasts with the opportunity of sampling a large variety of traditional foodstuffs as they tour the beautiful Plaza de la Lonja de Palma.

Although the business will be established in a region that has many other restaurants, its focus on traditional Spanish cuisine presents a central area of business that many hotels in the sector have not considered. Further, from the analysis of the market and competition, it is evident that the opportunity for success is very high.

Reference List

Cazcarro, I., Hoekstra, A., & Chóliz, J. (2014). The Water Footprint of Tourism in Spain. Tourism Management, 40(1), 90-101.

Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32-45.

Fujita, M., & Thisse, J. (2013). Economics of Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Globalization. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing Management: A Relationship Approach. New York City, NY: Pearson Education.

Johnson, D., Price, M., & Van Vugt, M. (2013). Darwin’s invisible hand: Market competition, evolution and the firm. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 90(1), 128-140.

Kim, W., & Mauborgne, R. (2015). Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Longenecker, J., Petty, J., Palich, L., & Hoy, F. (2013). Small Business Management. London: Cengage Learning.

Mellentin, J., & Heasman, M. (2015). The Functional Foods Revolution” Healthy People: Healthy Profits. London, UK: Routledge.

Murphy, P. (2013). Tourism: A Community Approach (RLE Tourism). London, UK: Routledge.

Shafique, M., Ahmad, N., Abbas, H., & Hussain, A. (2015). The Impact Of Customer Relationship Management Capabilities On Organizational Performance; Moderating Role Of Competition Intensity. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 3(3), 28-47.

Willett, W., & Stampfer, M. (2013). Current Evidence on Healthy Eating. Annual review of public health, 34(1), 77-95.

Wrigley, N. (2014). Store Choice, Store Location and Market Analysis (Routledge Revivals). London, UK: Routledge.

Pastis Restaurant is a French eatery located in the New York’s 9^th avenue and is operated by Keith McNally. The restaurant offers a wide variety of French cuisine as well as a range of services including take outs and deliveries. Besides vintage French wine, Pastis Restaurant offers a wide variety of meals for breakfast, brunch lunch and dinner.

The waiters and waitresses are pleasant, helpful and friendly. They attend to the clients’ needs appropriately making the clients feel valued. The waiters and waitress are well informed of the restaurant’s menu items. Overall, dining at Pastis is a pleasant experience.

The interior decoration at Pastis is deceptively simple. However, the decorations complexly integrate with each other. There are large antique mirrors covering most of the walls.

The ceiling is made of unconventional material (pressed tin). However, a closer look reveals that the tin ceiling is glazed with yellowish-brown pigments giving it a cool shinny finish. This creates the impression that the tin in the ceiling is part of the building. The floor is lined with mosaic patterns that complement the decorations on ceiling and the wall (Tyrnauer n.pgn).

Pastis restaurant does not get its reputation from its food. However, the restaurant serves distinctively good quality French cuisine. Despite the fact that the food seems to be overpriced, it is a largely popular eatery. Ironically, the menu doesn’t contain as much wine as a French menu should.

Nevertheless, the food is well cooked and moderately spiced. The meat seems to be a bit dry and lacks the rich beefy taste, making meat dishes unsatisfactory. Additionally, the green vegetables accompanying the main courses are a bit bitter and mostly inedible. The bread is however delicious.

Much of the wine is served at the bar. There are a variety of cocktails constituting French vintage wine, served in glass, carafe or bottle. Pastis restaurant also serves a variety of French flavored aperitifs at the end of every meal. Overall, other than the distinct taste of French flavors, the food is average. The wines however, are richly flavored and add to a pleasant dining experience (“Pastis”, n.pgn).

Pastics Restaurant seems to combine the best of New York and Paris cultures. In typical New Yorkan culture, the restaurant is fairly crowded most of the time. The waiters and waitresses are surprisingly pleasant given the high number of patrons served every day. They are well informed on the menu items and are pleasant to associate with. Even though Pastis seems understaffed, the waiters and waitresses are quick and attentive, giving the restaurant an extra measure of busyness (“Pastis”, n.pgn).

As indicated earlier, the atmosphere at Pastis is deceptively formal. However, for regular patrons, Pastis is a cool, warm and a friendly restaurant. The extra buzz created by many patrons creates a fairly brasserie atmosphere uncommon to many formal workingman’s restaurants. Despite the unnecessary buzz, the décor, the food and the staff combine to give Pastis a relaxed and casual atmosphere. Patron can enjoy a meal or a drink without being hurried. It is also fun to just sit and watch patrons come and go (“Pastis”, n.pgn).

Were it not for the seemingly prohibitive food prices, Pastis Restaurant New York is a common man’s hotel. Despite its deceptively formal atmosphere, it is quite relaxing and cool. It’s a place to relax and enjoy a good meal.

Works Cited

Pastis. 2012. Web.

Tyrnauer, Matt . Paris, New York. 2012. Web.

Introduction

New restaurants and hotels are starting to use the touch screen technology for ordering meals and drinks. According to managers of these restaurants and hotels, the screens only need a few thorough wipes in a day.

This technology has become very successful and as such, it has increased the customers’ utility. E-ordering touch screens improve the speed and efficiency of restaurants and give the clients the option to visualize full meals before they even decide on what to take (Beth & Darrell, 2000).

E-menus also allow clients to engage in other entertainment options as soon as they enter the restaurant according to Beth & Darrell (2000). Such aspects of entertainment entailed in touch screen technology include the latest wired videos and games which are inbuilt within the screens.

E-menus also ease the congestion brought about by the use of paper menus. In addition to this, touch screen technology eases the congestion of hotel waiters and waitresses crisscrossing the restaurants and hotels seeking to attend to clients. This makes the environment conducive for customers to enjoy their meals and drinks in a private and confidential manner (Beth & Darrell, 2000).

Thesis Statement

With reference to the given question, this paper will analyze the driving force within a customer that makes him want to try the touch screen technology in hotels and restaurants. It will also analyze the factors that impact customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with regard to the new technology as presented by Beth & Darrell (2000).

It will also seek to establish the factors that a firm should consider before encouraging trial and adoption of the new technology. Further, the paper will establish what the firms ought to do to ensure that customers continue using the new technology.

Discussion

The invention of new technologies is dramatically changing the nature of service used by traditional restaurants. Touch screen technology offers a self service solution and therefore making services simpler, faster and easier according to Beth & Darrell (2000). The touch screens have three important functions if used within a restaurant setting; the first and most important of all is taking orders and executing them.

As such, customers place their orders using the touch screen provided (Leonard et al., 2002). The order is then sent to the main server where it is processed and sent to the kitchen. On receiving the information, the kitchen crew acknowledges what a customer wants and how they want it. These touch screens also help in the elimination of miscommunication between the order taker and the kitchen crew (James, 1996).

Another function of touch screen technology within restaurants is cash management (James, 1996). The touch screens are used by cashiers in extracting the order history for the customer and giving them the bill due.

The third use of touch screens in restaurants is the management and control of inventory. In a restaurant, operations are handled through one central system which in turn transmits information to the necessary recipients according to Leonard et al. (2002).

What makes customers want to use SSTs?

Customers like to use the Self Service Technologies (SSTs) because they are time saving and very efficient when it comes to services. Many restaurants value their customers so much such that they guarantee a high satisfaction whereby they access their checks whenever they request without delays. In some, payments can be made using credit, debit or gift cards (Leonard & Parasuraman, 1994).

In such restaurants, customers are able to reorder for drinks and meals without having to flag down waiters and waitresses. This is done by just the touch of a button courtesy of the touch screens according to Leonard et al. (2002). They are also able to email or print their receipts while sitting at their table without having to move to the counter.

The touch screens also entertain the customers as they wait for their meals or drinks with games and trivia and this improves on a restaurants PR. They are also able to keep the customer informed on promotions and menu features. In addition to this, whenever there is are complains, customers can always forward them through the touch screens and get immediate response from the management (Leonard et al., 2002).

Customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction

The ability to access and control information raises the customers’ satisfaction. Research on customer satisfaction in regard to SST’s reveals many parallels to the general service quality study above. In a study of 823 incidents involving SST’s, 56% of the participants described their encounters as satisfactory (Leonard & Parasuraman, 1994).

Some of the factors that lead to customer dissatisfaction include; the quality of products and services being offered by the SSTs. Some of the customers would prefer to be served in person because restaurants will be able to deliver quality services and products to their customers (Devashish, 2004).

Another factor is the cost of the products and services offered by these restaurants. Some of them opt to transfer the cost of the gadgets like the touch screens to the customer in that they make their products and services more expensive to cater for the cost of these gadgets.

Another important factor is the educational level of the customers who frequent these restaurants. Some of the customers do not actually know how to operate the touch screens in the restaurants and may have a difficult time in trying to order for food and drinks and this poses a big challenge (Mary, 2001).

Factors that companies should consider

The factors that the companies should consider when encouraging the trial of the SSTs include;

The quality of products that the company offers through the SSTs

They must be able to offer the best quality of products for customers to be motivated to use them again (Devashish, 2004). They must be able to look at the cost of the products in that they should not charge customers any extra cost for the use of the gadgets and if this is observed, customers are motivated to use the services again (Mary, 2001).

Ability for service recovery

The company must be able to keep the SSTs updated and be able to continuously improve them. The way the company promotes or advertises the SSTs matters in that customers will be attracted by the best promotion with regard to SSTs (Mary et al., 2002).

For restaurants to ensure that customers continue to use these SSTs, they must be able to listen to the customers complaints and work on them accordingly to ensure that emerging issues are fixed immediately for continued customer satisfaction.

Reliability

If the services are not reliable, customers will seek the restaurants services at any one time in the future (Leonard et al., 2002). Companies must also put only those services that they consider basic into consideration in an effort towards avoiding exaggeration of SSTs. In addition to this, companies ought to just give the customers the fundamentals and best performances (Vince, 2000).

Recommendations

Some of the recommendations and future improvements that should be worked on in the SSTs include:

Researching on what the customers value and focus on their needs in that not all the customers have the same level of expertise putting various technologies into consideration (Matthew et al., 2003). In some cases the companies may need to provide an on-screen tutorial and make sure that the applications used are user friendly even to the most technically challenged user.

Companies should also have a clear strategic purpose for the SST in that just because a competitor has utilized SST, it does not necessarily allow another specific restaurant to utilize the same without doing a feasibility study to understand customers needs and wants (Leonard & Parasuraman, 1994).

The restaurant must also be able to provide protection and reassurances for privacy and security for the customers. The restaurants must be able to protect the customers from hackers whose intentions are to obtain private customer and employee data (Devashish, 2004).

The companies must involve the customers in the implementation of the SSTs in that the customers are main users of these SSTs and as such, it is very important to conduct a feasibility study from the customers to be able to know what exactly the customers’ needs (Eun-Ju et al., 2002).

The restaurants should also reduce SST failures in that whenever customers come in they should always be able to access the SST without any problem or interference (Matthew et al., 2003).

References

Beth, S, & Darrell, P, 2000, ‘Self-Service Lessons, HR Magazine’, 45: 5-10.

Devashish, P, 2004, ‘Self-service with a smile? Self-service technology (SST) encounters among Canadian business-to-business’, International Journal of Service Industry Management, 15 (2): 200-219.

Eun-Ju, L, et al., 2002, ‘The influence of communication source and mode on consumer adoption of technological innovations’, Journal of Consumer Affairs, 36 (1): 1-27.

James, A, 1996, ‘Keeping the Customer Satisfied’, InformationWeek, 591: 55-60.

Leonard, B, et al., 2002, ‘Understanding Service Convenience’, Journal of Marketing, 66 (3): 1-17.

Leonard, B, & Parasuraman, A, 1994, ‘Improving service quality in America: Lessons Learned, Academy of Management Executive’, 8 (2): 32-52.

Mary, B, 2001, ‘Self-Service Technologies: What Do Customer’s Expect?’ Marketing Management, spring, 10 (1): 10-11.

Mary, B, Ostrom, A, & Natthew, N, 2000, ‘Implementing Successful Self-service Technologies’, Academy of Management Executive, November, 16 (4): 96-109.

Matthew, M, et al., 2003, ‘The influence of technology anxiety on consumer use and experiences with self-service technologies’, Journal of Business Research, 56 (11): 899-906.

Vince, C, 2000, ‘What’s behind the curtain for self-service technology?’ Employee Benefit News, 14 (13): 31-33.