Reference no: EM131280775

Josh Martin is writing a business plan for starting a new restaurant. His concept is to create a restaurant that will serve Spanish cuisine such as paella, steak, and other traditional dishes in a family atmosphere in a resort community along the North Carolina coast. His vision is stated as “We will be a profitable, responsible, and customer-driven team that supplies high-quality food and service while maintaining sensitivity to our employees and the community. We are committed to hiring, developing, and rewarding people who are enthusiastic, intelligent, and hard-working team players dedicated to the company’s success.” He realizes that the industry is highly competitive, with many national chains as well as other local restaurants. Staffing will be a challenge, as the turnover in this industry is traditionally quite high, particularly among high school and college students who will comprise a large proportion of the employee base.

Josh has come across the Baldrige criteria and attended a brief presentation by the local Chamber of Commerce. He is wondering how it might help him to design a management infrastructure to build a successful business. Some of his initial and somewhat random thoughts are outlined below.

- Design the menu and food presentation to clearly differentiate from competitors.

- Have weekly shift meetings to relay information about current issues and generate ideas for process improvements. Review this information at monthly management meetings and quarterly planning sessions.

- Make teams the central focus of all jobs and allow all staff to process customer requests; for example, a busser can order an additional beverage without first getting a server to process the transaction.

- Compensate performance based on teamwork.

- Give employees who leave for school and find a replacement a bonus.

- Develop efficient methods for disposal of grease and recyclable goods, and participate in programs such as Junior Achievement.

- Use an Enterprise Resource Planning system to manage information, along with a Customer Relationship Management module to process customer intelligence. This system will help to generate accurate forecasts of demand and manage the supply chain.

- Learn about industry best practices for supply chain management and work with suppliers to reduce inventory requirements and costs.

- Train and empower the staff.

- Give a small discount for customers who complete a comment card on selected days.

- Customize service a much as possible to develop customer loyalty.

- Train hostesses, servers, bussers, and managers on customer relationship building.

- Empower them to address problems such as wrong orders or late deliveries to the table.

- Incorporate all stakeholders into planning activities, including employees, customers, investors, and suppliers.

- Post performance measures in the lobby where all employees and customers can see them.

- Use wireless handheld computers to capture orders and send them to the kitchen.

- Use marketing research to understand age, ethnicity, income, and marital factors of customers. Hand out coupons at Junior Achievement functions.

- Rotate duties for cleaning and sterilizing areas at the end of each shift, including managers.

- Outsource accounting and legal processes.

1. How do these practices fit into the Baldrige criteria? In what categories and items?