Ruby Tuesday Restaurant: Operational Improvement Analysis

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Table of Contents

Business Overview
Aim & Objectives
SWOT Analysis of ‘Ruby Tuesday’
Recommendation
HR audit
Training session Planning
References

Business Overview

The Ruby Tuesday restaurant is one of the oldest independent casual dining restaurant chains in America established in 1972 by Samuel E. Beall III as CEO at Maryville, Tennessee. It has been held and run by the same unit for the last 40 years. When it began Ruby Tuesday was a small place, stacked in a small room not big enough to be a garage, it seated no more than 10 people at a time by the Knoxville campus of Tennessee University. The fundamental stakeholders or key people are LeBoeuf, Rob, Duffy, Marguerite Naman and Samuel E. Beall III. They were university students at that time of establishment. In about 10 years, in 1982, once the business took off, Ruby Tuesday shifted to a bigger place in a, comparatively, up-market neighborhood. With the increase in size the Ruby Tuesday management also decided to employ a handful of waiters and kitchen help. At this point, Samuel formulated his own maxims for running a lucrative business with two major points. The first one is Good quality and nothing else will earn you good repute and the second one is Proper staff maintenance and nothing else will ensure good quality. Following the shift, the Lee’s business prospered thoroughly. From a small ground-floor restaurant, the Ruby Tuesday now became a two-storied affair in as little time as 3 years. It was still as warm and comfortable as before and the number of seats was still restricted but the waiters had increased, as had the menu. The Ruby Tuesday management had also employed a specialized chef, a manager and a maitre d’hotel. To ensure that their clientele gets nothing but the authentic experience of casual American taste the Ruby Tuesday management had also begun their very own chain of restaurants in the indifferent cities across the US (Hargreaves & Fink, 2003).

Aim & Objectives

The main aim is to recognize the important factors that are directly related to the development of an operational formulation for the future success of the organization and the mode of operation necessary for the implementation of the formulated operational strategy. In doing so it would be looked upon that a proper SWOT plan is constructed for identification of the organizational operational situation and current position. This would help formulate and incorporate the operational plans of the organization.

SWOT Analysis of ‘Ruby Tuesday’

To begin with, the Ruby Tuesday management had an easy task at hand – deciding what their future objective is. Increasing profitability is their primary goal. The SWOT analysis is done keeping in mind this basic premise.

Strengths	Possible means of exploiting the strength
Reputation in marketplace	Can be strengthened further so that the clientele grows.
Valuable intangible assets	Can be used as a possible way of setting the restaurant apart from other competitors.
Standard of product	Can be used to gain more popularity. The more people become aware of Ruby Tuesday’s superior food the more they are likely to come back to the restaurant.
Cost advantage due to exclusive access to specific ingredient products	Can help owners to seriously cut down on costs and increase profits.
Owner’s Enthusiasm	Can be used to motivate the ‘disinterested’ staff members.
Energy	Can again be used to pep up the place and the staff.
Ease in training new entrants	Can ensure the prompt appointment of new aspirants. Who can join in quickly without having to spend days training and losing interest in the process?
A low level of expertise is required for a majority of employees.	Can ensure a large variety of people to choose from.
Stable and hands-on management	The best in the profession should be incorporated into the business with newer ideas and better service.
A strong tradition of customer service	The traditional aspects can be cashed upon with more success by manifesting these qualities.

Weaknesses	Possible ways of addressing the problem
Economic Condition	By fixing a specific amount of payment for all the sectors involved in the business.
Staff recruitment process	By preparing a contract for all newly recruited, and formerly recruited staff to sign and be bound by.
Location	Waiting for the change in staff payment etc. to help save a spot of money and then shifting to a more favorable location.
Lack of motivational rewarding system for staff members	Formulating a hierarchical system for all workers, and providing them incentives in the form of better positions and payments after a certain period or level of service.
Lack of means for learning about customer response	A customer affiliation program might help. This can be as simple as a customer response book/leaflet to be filled up by the client after the meal.
Lack of systematic staff training facilities	A proper human resource development department will be of much help. Even if this seems too expensive at the beginning the restaurant must at least seek proper consultancy support as soon as possible.
Lack of staff interest and an organizational incapacity to allow them to show what they are capable of	Proper training sessions, workshops and team-building tactics might help. Also, a good pay package and greater facilities might keep the turnover rate down and actually make the staff feel like a part of the business.
Large turnover of staff	Same as above
No human resource development attempts.	Refer to point no.6
Lack of managerial heads	Creating proper department and corresponding posts and utilizing a systematic recruitment process might help.
Weak financial base to compete	The organization needs to loan from financial institutions so as to make the business more competitive by setting up better infrastructure.
Rigid and old fashioned management style	The management should be remodeled and restructured to meet the demand of modern management techniques that are flexible yet successful and updated.
Stifling involvement of owner/managers	The owner and manager must indulge more in the affairs but must provide ample independence to the staff for a better working environment.
Restricted market segment/customer base	The business must be open to a wide variety of market segments or customer bases. For this latest management techniques should be implemented.
High cost of operation/declining operating margins	The business must be cost-effective and to incorporate better cost-management techniques must be established.

Opportunities	How they may be exploited
A growing trend among youngsters to eat out	Making the restaurant more youth-friendly may be a place to start.
The traditional interest in casual American food.	The interest may be increased by introducing new items into the menu and upgrading it on a regular basis.
Lack of truly authentic casual American food restaurants	The new items introduced (as explained in the point above this) should be kept thoroughly ‘authentic’ even if they are slightly off-beat
Collaboration with global players through franchising or another commercial arrangement	This way the organization can develop by opening newer and better outlets and can even set up outlets abroad.
Restructuring the business to play in a lower/different market segment.	There is a great opportunity to open the business to a variety of income groups so that it becomes accessible for the maximum number of customers.

Threats	Possible ways of dealing with them
The current obsession with ‘healthy’ ‘low-calorie food’ which isn’t congruent with the description of casual American food	A good way of appealing to the youth would be to provide ‘authentic’ though ‘off-beat’ casual food with a twist. The twist may concern experiments with low-calorie ingredients.
Emergence of a number of ‘fusion/experimental casual cuisine restaurants’	Not aping them in any way but still keeping the level of innovation and inventiveness high.
A large number of casual restaurants in the city	A detailed analysis of these restaurants in order to see their exact characters might help Ruby Tuesday from becoming merely a brick in the wall.
Intense competition	The best possible way to deal with this problem is to ascertain the competitive advantage of the organization and work on the aspect to make it a recognizable brand.
Labor issues	The management must be on spot and negotiate any labor problem right at the beginning.
Government legislation of minimum wage/working hours	The minimum wage/working hours should be looked upon and provided so that there is no unrest among employees.
Improved fast transportation making day trips possible	It would be better to use this threat and turn it into an advantage by developing a better mobile unit for communication and door-to-door delivery.
Improved telecommunication-teleconferencing reducing travel	Again this threat can be used as an advantage by making use of this aspect and develop a well-oiled communication system by incorporating the latest gadgets.

(Border, 2006)

Recommendation

Following the SWOT analysis and the environmental analysis, the owners and Ruby Tuesday found that profitability was really a minor issue depending on a number of major issues that the investigations helped unearth. In order to give Ruby Tuesday a second life, the Ruby Tuesday management was desperate to set right all the hitches in the system. Internally the most important issue to take care of concerns the company’s current financial condition. To increase profitability the writer suggested the Ruby Tuesday management get some help from an HRM company and chalk out a detailed contract for new and old recruits. Given Ruby Tuesday’s current financial state these areas needed good looking into before everything else. The writer also advised the Ruby Tuesday management to keep their business running even while planning their changes. This way a certain source of income will still be insured. Once these immediate needs are taken care of the Ruby Tuesday management will have to turn to long-term issues. In the following section, the writer provides a detailed plan to tackle these (Dollard, 2006).

Here the Step 1 would include Employee training and development. An intricate training plan should be devised. Special attention should be given to developing a team spirit. More chefs and better-trained waiters should emerge out of the program. The workforce should also preferably be workshopped once every 3 months to keep them energized. Step 2 would be about Managerial Development. Proper managerial posts must be created in well-defined departments. A Human Resource department, restaurant management department, finance department, etc. should be some of the sectors that must be created. Step 3 is about Organization Development. The establishment should be strategically broken down into specific organizational sectors. The department to be created have been mentioned before. Step 4 deals with Performance Appraisal/Employee reward where proper measures to reward the workers must be defined and mentioned clearly in the contract. Performance should be closely monitored and rewarded on a regular basis. Rewards can consist of anything from extra holidays to bonus payments or even a better position. (Hargreaves & Fink, 2003) Step 5 is about Employee Selection and recruitment. The owners must also devise a systematic method of recruiting employees based on their specific requirements. Greater importance must be given to former experience. A skill test should help decide which of new applicants will prove more beneficial to the organization. The recruitment process should involve a detailed contract, which will bind the staff for a specific time. The salary etc. must also be fixed and mentioned clearly in the contract. Lastly step 6 is about Manpower Planning wherewith the installation of the essential HR department the owners must first sit down and decide the exact number of people and the level of skill that will be required for the organization. The contractual details might also be decided upon here (Fletcher, 2006).

HR audit

A Human Resource audit is a very important aspect for a business to flourish and develop into a bigger organization. This measure is taken to monitor the development of the Human resources of the organization and properly channel their output with maximum utility possible.

Staff agreement

The Ruby Tuesday restaurant can always make the fundamentals of the HR policies strong by preparing a contract for all newly recruited and formerly recruited staff to sign the bond. (Wilson, 2002)

Finance Planning

Furthermore, waiting for the change in staff payment, etc. to help save a spot of money and then shifting to a more favorable location in the field of staff training for yielding better results while services.

Hierarchical system

Formulating a hierarchical system for all workers, and providing them incentives in the form of better positions and payments after a certain period or level of service would also be very helpful.

Feedback

A customer affiliation program might help. This can be as simple as a customer response book/leaflet to be filled up by the client after the meal and in the same context, it can be stated that a proper human resource development department will be of much help. Even if this seems too expensive at the beginning the restaurant must at least seek proper consultancy support as soon as possible.

Training session Planning

Proper training sessions, workshops and team-building tactics might help. Also, a good pay package and greater facilities might keep the turnover rate down and actually make the staff feel like a part of the business. (Cameron & Green, 2004)

Department segmentations

Lastly, it should be kept in mind that the utmost utility of human resource development with training would be fruitful when it is looked upon with care about creating proper department and corresponding posts and utilizing a systematic recruitment process as this would be extremely helpful.

Thus, the recommendation for Ruby Tuesday is both short and long-termed at the same time. It is recommended that the restaurant Can be strengthened further so that the clientele grows with a possible way of setting the restaurant apart from other competitors. The more people become aware of Ruby Tuesday’s superior food the more they are likely to come back to the restaurant. The best in the profession should be incorporated in the business with newer ideas and better service and the traditional aspects can be cashed upon with more success by manifesting these qualities. Furthermore, the organization can benefit from a better Human Resource development scheme with better training procedures (Bolman & Deal, 2008).

The organization needs to loan from financial institutions so as to make the business more competitive by setting up better infrastructure and management should be remodeled and restructured to meet the demand of modern management techniques that are flexible yet successful and updated. The business must also be open to a wide variety of market segments or customer bases. For this latest management techniques should be implemented and the business must be cost-effective and to incorporate better cost-management techniques must be established and it should be looked upon that there is the constant impetus of making the restaurant more youth-friendly and interest may be increased by introducing new items into the menu and upgrading it on a regular basis. There is also a great opportunity to open the business to a variety of income groups so that it becomes accessible for the maximum number of customers (Yukl, 2000).

Negatives

However, the only negative aspect in this context of operational management implementation is the issue of change management. Change Management is an integral part of the business fraternity these days and that too with reasons. In a general sense, it can be mentioned that Change management includes assessment of changes, implement the change, plan and attainment. Thus, the main aspects of Change management indicate two major points. One is to trace the change intricately and two is to support the procedure of the change and channel it into a proper course or utilize this change for the advantage of the business (Cameron & Green, 2004). Thus, the HRM incorporated by Lee should be able to negate this issue and successfully run the business.

References

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. Lndon: John Wiley and Sons.
Border, S. (2006). Management: Fire of the Mind. Wellington: National Book Trust.
Cameron, E. & Green, M. (2004). Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools & Techniques of Organizational Change. NY: Kogan Page Publishers.
Dollard, J. (2006). Modern Human Resource Policies in Europe: A look into Tomorrow. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Fletcher, R. (2006). Operation Management: Beliefs and Knowledge. Glasgow: Howard & Price.
Hargreaves, A. & Fink, D. (2003). Sustaining Leadership. LA: Ebsco publishing.
Wilson, D. C. (2002). A Strategy of Operation Management: Concepts and Controversies. LA: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Yukl, G. A. (2000). Operation Management in Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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