Reference no: EM132292032

Organization Design and Development

Peppercorn Dining

Objectives of the Case:

1. Review principles of entry and contracting.

2. Critique data gathering and analysis strategies.

3. Practice designing feedback processes.

Overview of the Case:

Peppercorn Dining is a restaurant on the All American University campus and serves students who have purchased “meal plans” as well as cash-paying customers. A group of consultants from Square One Consulting was having lunch at Peppercorn when they bump into Drew, Peppercorn’s manager. One of the consultants, Erica, worked at Peppercorn as a student. Based on this chance meeting, Drew describes the situation at Peppercorn as he sees it and they eventually reach an agreement to do some operational auditing. After several days, the group of three consultants, Roger, Lynn, and Erica, collect data from managers at the restaurant, representatives from the parent dining organization for the university, and from various student, full time, and temporary employees. Their interviews cover various operations functions, including serving, the kitchen, cashiers, dishwashers, and supplies.

Toward the end of the first day of observations and interviews, Erica describes a new development, the announcement that the university will be constructing a new dining facility and that Drew will be the head of the new unit. The consultants complete their interviews and observations and must make sense of the data collected as well as think through the purpose and design of a feedback session where Drew will hear about their conclusions and recommendations.

Questions:

1. Are you satisfied with the quality and quantity of data collected by the consultants?

2. How will you analyze the data collected? How will you make sense of the situation at Peppercorn?

3. What is your plan for the feedback meeting? How will you feedback your analysis and what outcomes do you want from the meeting?