Group Case Instructions - Restaurant Trouble

BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 1 of 7

BUSN119 W15 - Group Case Analysis – 15%

Professor Kerri Shields, [email protected]

DUE DATE: Thursday, March 26, 2015

Late submission will incur a 20% per day late mark deduction

Team Peer Evaluation due 24 hours after Case Due Date, No late submissions

SUBMISSION FORMAT: Professional Word Report

Questions and Objectives:

1) Problem Identification: Describe three problems occurring in this case. What fundamental

potential consequences are relevant here? What went wrong?

2) Responsibility: To whom or what does the restaurant have a responsibility in this situation?

Why?

3) Competitive Analysis: Identify three competitors for this restaurant in the Toronto area.

Explain three reasons for each as to each establishment might be considered a competitor—

as in similar size, revenue, company structure, similar products, similar target market, etc.—

be specific—give facts.

4) PEST: Perform a PEST analysis on HJ Burgers. PEST is an environmental scan which includes

the political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological environments. Remember that

environmental, legal, and international environments are also included in a PEST analysis,

sometimes known as PESTELI.

5) SWOT: Perform a SWOT analysis on HJ Burgers analyzing and extrapolating strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

6) Reassessment of the Problem: For each of the three problems you identified above describe

how each could have been avoided.

7) Identification of Alternatives: After analyzing what when wrong in the case and performing

several management analysis (competitive, environmental, and SWOT), list at least two

alternative courses of action the restaurant could take on each of the three problems above.

List and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of each alternative.

8) Recommendations: Out of the alternatives your group arrived at, select the best alternative

for each of the three problems. Give arguments to support recommendations.

9) Implementation Plan: Complete action plan for both short-term (immediate) and long-term

strategies.

Self and Peer Evaluations:

Each student must complete a self and peer evaluation form individually. Complete form and upload

into Dropbox. You will rate each member, including yourself, on their/your ability to work in a team.

Evaluations must be submitted within 24 hours of case due date, no late submissions permitted.

Failure to submit means no grade for this portion of the assignment.

BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 2 of 7

HJ Burgers Restaurant Trouble

I started work at a nationally known fast food restaurant, HJ Burgers in Toronto, ON, when I

was seventeen. I had had other jobs, but none of them was as much fun as this one. I reported for

my first shift and was introduced to a new atmosphere that was unlike anything I had experienced

before.

One of the first things I learned was that having fun was really encouraged. Smiles were the

norm, and, in fact, expected. This friendly environment led to a lot of fast friendships with my co-

workers, especially since we all went to neighboring high schools. Our employer encouraged these

ties and would organize activities for us outside of work.

We enjoyed these outings, but the best “perk” by far was the food, which was half price to

employees, even outside of scheduled shifts! We could even informally extend this discount to

friends once in a while, which made it an even more enviable privilege.

I loved my job and worked very hard at it. After fourteen months I got my first promotion. Six

months later I was promoted again to a junior management position along with two of my co-

workers.

We received very little preparation to deal with this move up to management. We were given

a workbook covering topics such as food safety, employee relations, shift planning, scheduling, etc.,

and were supposed to get time on the job to work through it and then go to classes. But that never

happened. However; we were all told immediately about the importance of management always

presenting a united front. Most of our training was on the job—we were given a different colour

shirt, a new nametag, and encouraged to do our best. My first shift as a manager I was left alone to

supervise a busy dinner hour.

My promotions brought me into more frequent contact with Michael Roberts, area manager

for the district. Michael was a scary figure to all store employees because whenever he came in he

found faults. Heaven help you if your personal grooming wasn’t perfect, if you didn’t have your

nametag on, or even if you weren’t using the prescribed pattern to mop the floor!

Now that I was in a management position, Michael knew me by name, and made a point of

talking to me every time he came in. I suddenly had to develop a working relationship with him and

meet his high standards.

There were many benefits to this promotion though, the best of which was now, free food!

The expensive items on the menu were now always available to us. We would take advantage of this

whenever we could, sometimes eating three meals a day at our restaurant! We now also had the

authority to reward our subordinates with free food.

Because we were a small branch, we rarely had more than one manager working at a time,

which left me completely in charge during my shift. This meant that it was up to me to ensure that

company standards were met and that all customers were satisfied, as well as to deal with any

BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 3 of 7

complaints. I also had to make sure everything was in place for the next shift; if there was something

that I wasn’t able to finish, I had to communicate it clearly to the manager of the next shift.

I also became privy to more knowledge about our store. I quickly learned that we had trouble

making a profit because the restaurant was so small. As a result we had to be very careful about

expenses, especially food wastage. We would order $5000 to $6000 of supplies every week to ten

days, and try to be careful to order only what we would need. As a result sometimes we would run

out of something, or several things, before they next order. I hated when that happened.

If it was just a little thing, like milk or tomatoes, we would buy some at retail to tide us over,

although this was not encouraged. For more basic items, like hamburger patties and buns, I had to

phone around to other outlets and “beg” to “borrow” some supplies. This was a real hassle, and

irritating to the other managers too. Furthermore, we often had only two or three employees

working at a time, so it was a huge inconvenience to send one to pick up supplies-that is, provided I

could convince someone with a driver’s license and gas in their car to go. I once had to go myself on

a busy Saturday during Christmas season to pick up eighty trays of buns. It took me three hours and

my mom’s SUV.

Most of the equipment in our restaurant was old and in bad repair. We couldn’t get

authorization to replace it, so we had to make do. When I complained, I was told to use the manuals

and try to fix it myself! I had absolutely no idea how to service these temperamental machines that

would often act up, especially when we were busy. I once had an ice cream machine explode goo all

over me for my trouble trying to fix it.

The air conditioning didn’t always work either, but the grills were by far the most

troublesome. They would stop heating properly in the middle of the day and not cook the food

thoroughly. I got to know several repairmen on a first-name basis; we spent many hours going over

this problem together.

Nevertheless I persevered, and over the next tem months I gained valuable experience and

completed all the necessary steps to be prompted again. Towards the end of this period I met with

my restaurant manager several times, and she assured me that a promotion was in the works, subject

to the approval of the area manager.

I was really looking forward to that…it would mean I would no longer have to wear a hat on

the job!

One Summer Day

One summer day I came in to open the restaurant after a day off. It was 6:00 a.m. and already

warm outside, even more so inside the store because the air conditioning didn’t work well. I started

getting the computer system up and counting the cash, and sent the open staff person, Jason, to start

making the muffins and getting the tables ready for our 7:00 a.m. opening.

BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 4 of 7

As I was counting the cash, Jason called to me from the back. He was young and somewhat

excitable, so I didn’t think anything of it as I went over to see what the matter was.

Jason gestured excitedly and directed me towards the large walk-in freezer, insisting I look

inside. I went into the freezer to take a look. I didn’t like going in there because it was always so

cold. But not today!

The freezer was room temperature! It must have been off overnight! “Oh, NO!” I thought, as I

looked in an open box of chicken and picked up a piece. It was warm and squishy; the coating

crumbled off on my hand. I opened a box of hamburger patties and touched one on top. If felt

mushy, and was beginning to lose its shape. I leaned over and opened a box in the middle. It was

cool, and the meat in the center of the box seemed still frozen.

My mind started racing. I ran to the phone to call my restaurant manager; I know she was

opening at another location that morning. It was about 6:30 a.m. Pat picked up the phone after

several rings.

“Hi Pat, it’s me…umm…I have a really big problem. You see…uh…”

“Jennifer, I’m really busy! Hurry up!” she snapped.

“I came in this morning and the freezer has been off for hours. Everything is goopy and gross

and I don’t know what to do. It’s disgusting!”

“WHAT! You’ve got to be kidding. Who the hell was working yesterday? I just don’t believe

this. Damn! I’m too busy to deal with this now. Call Mike.” Click—she hung up.

I looked at my watch; it was 6:35 a.m. I had to call Michael at home.

“Hi Michael, it’s Jennifer from 82nd West…Pat told me to call you!” I blurted out. “Sorry about

this, but I have a big problem. Our freezer has been off for several hours, the food’s gross and

mushy. I don’t know what to do.”

There was a brief pause as Michael woke up.

“What? Are you joking? Why is the freezer off? Is it broken? Is it unplugged?”

“Umm…I don’t really know.”

In a panic I ran to the back room to figure out why the freezer wasn’t on. The answer was in

the fuse box, where I discovered the freezer circuits were in the “off” position. Quickly I reset them. I

knew we had received a supply order the day before. In order to save energy in the heat of the day,

the freezer was likely shut off while the order was carried in. This wouldn’t have been a problem…if

only someone had remembered to turn it back on.

“OK, as long as all the cooking temperatures are met, the food will be all right. You can still

use everything here.”

BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 5 of 7

He went on. “It’s important that we don’t cause a panic about his. Don’t talk about it in the

restaurant and make sure food temperatures are met. Everything will be OK. Continue your

shift Jennifer."

"Uh…OK…umm…”

I hung up the phone in a daze. I couldn’t quite bring myself to carry out those instructions

right away. I felt confused and upset, as I stood lost in my thoughts searching for some instruction or

part of my training for guidance. I know what to do if there was a bomb threat, but nothing had

prepared me for this.

I had about twenty minutes worth of food in our small freezers up front. Jason was waiting

for my instructions. I looked at my watch—it was 6:45 a.m.

APPENDIX

Exhibit 1: Excerpts from the Food and Drug Act, and Food and Drug Regulations, as Administered by

Health Canada.

Interpretation

“Unsanitary conditions” means such conditions or circumstances as might contaminate with dirt or

filth, or render injurious to health, a food, drug or cosmetic.

Food

4. No person shall sell an article of food that

a) has in or on it any poisonous or harmful substance;

b) is unfit for human consumption;

c) consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, disgusting, rotten, decomposed or diseased

animal or vegetable substance;

d) is adulterated; or

e) was manufactured, prepared, preserved, packaged or stored under unsanitary conditions.

Sale of Barbecued, Roasted or Broiled Meat or Meat By-Products

B. 14.072 No person shall sell meat or a meat by-product that has been barbecued, roasted or broiled

and is ready for consumption unless the cooked meat or meat by-product

a) at all times

i) has a temperature of 40° F (4.4° C) or lower, or 140° F (60° C) or higher, or

BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 6 of 7

ii) has been stored at an ambient temperature of 40°F (4.4° C) or lower, or 140°F (60 C)

or higher

b) carries on the principal display panel of the label a statement to the effect that the food

must be stored at a temperature of 40° F (4.4° C) or lower, or 140° F (60° C) or higher.

Adapted from Source: Griffin, R. and Ebert, R. and Starke, F. and Lang, M. (2011). Business, Seventh

Canadian Ed. Pearson Canada Inc.: Toronto, ON

GRADING RUBRIC

Criteria

Marks will be deducted for grammar and spelling errors or incomprehensible sentences.

Title page, Table of Contents, APA References page, in-text citations, page numbers, APA headings, double-line

spacing, consistent font size and type.

Marks

10

Problem Identification:

Describe three problems occurring in this case and the potential consequences of each as they relate to the

business. Describe what went wrong.

6

Responsibility:

To whom or what does the restaurant have a responsibility in this situation? Why?

3

Competitive Analysis:

Identify three competitors and give three reasons for each as to why each one is considered a competitor—as in similar size, revenue, company structure, similar products, similar target market, etc.—be specific—give facts.

9

PEST Analysis:

Perform a PEST analysis on HJ Burgers. PEST is an environmental scan which includes the political, economic,

socio-cultural, and technological environments. Remember that environmental, legal, and international

environments are also included in a PEST analysis, sometimes known as PESTELI.

8

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths & Weaknesses (Internal), Opportunities & Threats (External)

8

Reassessment of the Problem:

For each of the three problems you identified above describe how each could have been avoided.

3

BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 7 of 7

Identification of Alternatives:

After analyzing what when wrong in the case and performing several management analysis (competitive,

environmental, and SWOT), list at least two alternative courses of action the restaurant could take on each of

the three problems above. List and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of each alternative.

9

Recommendations:

Out of the alternatives your group arrived at, select the best alternative for each of the three problems. Give

arguments to support recommendations.

6

Implementation Plan:

Complete plan of action for both short and long term strategies.

6

Team Peer Evaluation:

Each student obtains an evaluation for their contributions to the team goals. Marks may vary. Students who do

not submit a team peer evaluation to the eCentennial drop box within 24 hours of the case due date receive

NO marks for this component regardless of how their team members rate them.

12

Total Earned /80