Question

Rita is head cocktail server at a high-volume singles bar that serves both food and drinks. She has CASE STUDY: "They Like It the Way It Is" responsibility for a large staff of part-timers, most of whom she worked with as a server before she was promoted. They are a lively bunch who regard themselves more as independent entrepreneurs doing business at this particular place than as loyal employees. Most of them pay little attention to rules, but they are all high-volume performers, and that, she figures, is what matters. She looks the other way and lets them get away with a lot. 

Yesterday, her boss, Sam, who was recently hired to manage the entire operation, called Rita in for "a little talk." He offered her a cup of coffee, paused a moment, and then plunged in. "I want you to be aware that the discipline in your part of this operation does not measure up to standard and is causing a great deal of trouble," he said. 

"The servers and kitchen staff are required to follow rules and are disciplined when rules are broken. They resent it when they see a cocktail server carry a drink into the employee lounge, have a cigarette with a customer, wear flashy jewelry, come in late and leave early, and take it for granted that the servers will cover for them. I'm sure you can understand how they feel." 

"I don't see that their feelings are my problem," says Rita. 

"I think they are," says Sam, "and I am asking you to begin enforcing the hours of work and the smoking and drinking rules, for starters. How you do it is pretty much up to you, although I will be glad to help you work things out. I suggest we meet again tomorrow to discuss your plan and set some improvement goals." Rita is astonished. "Listen, Sam," she says, "any one of my people could get a job anywhere else in town in five minutes, and I could, too. Improvement goals! They like it the way it is!" 

"I know," says Sam. "But nobody else does. In fact, it has become a major problem that even customers have noticed, and its effect on the other employees could affect business. Think it over, and we'll talk again tomorrow." 

Rita's first reaction is defiance and anger, but she senses that it won't do her any good. She would rather stay here than change jobs. She is proud of being a supervisor, the money here is the best in town, and it's a fun place. Her next reaction is panic. How in the world can she make her people toe the line? 

Case Study Questions 

.1. What common mistake has Rita been making? What effects has it had? 

2. Do you agree that high-volume sales are more important than enforcing rules? Defend your answer. 

3. Is it workable to have different standards of discipline in different departments? Why or why not? 

4. What is your opinion of Sam's approach to the problem? How well did he handle the interview? What risks is he taking?

CASE STUDY: Who's the Boss? 

Leon has been head chef at the Elite Café since it opened 25 years ago. The little restaurant has been customers who came back to enjoy the same fresh seafood dishes they remembered from years before. a landmark in a small seaside resort town and up to a year or so ago had always been crowded with from several new restaurants that feature nouvelle cuisine, gluten-free offerings, and ethnic cuisines 

In the past year, however, there has been a noticeable drop in its business, owing to competition 

Leon's boss, Dennis, the restaurant manager, is an eager young man fresh out of a college hospi tality program. He sees what is happening and wants Leon to change the menu, but Leon Tatly refuses. He says that the food is as good as it ever was the best food in town and that Dennis 

Leon makes it clear that he has no respect for college graduates who haven't paid their dues and "-a figure of speech that is all too appropriate for Leon, whose sanitation "gotten their hands dirty"- practices are old-fashioned, too. simply isn't promoting it properly and is probably making a lot of other mistakes, too. 

The other employees are aware of this ongoing situation between Leon and Dennis and are beginning to take sides. Dennis is aware that he must do something quickly. But what? Dennis sees his main problem as regaining the café's share of the market and putting it out front, where it has always been. He can see only the following alternatives:

 1. Fire Leon for insubordination. This is what he would like to do. But Leon is an excellent cook and no one on his staff can duplicate his chowder, his lobster bisque, and some of the other classics and there are no recipes to follow.

 2. Try it Leon's way—a marketing program emphasizing an old-timey image and ambience-the good old days, tradition. Dennis's heart is not in this approach—he does not believe that Leon is right and knows the other employees will protest.

3. Discuss the problem with his boss, the owner of the café. She is an older woman who really doesn't understand the restaurant business--and besides, Dennis doesn't want to admit to her that he has a problem.

 4. Get some expert advice on market trends and how to make a market study: Hire a consultant or pay a visit to his favorite professor at the hospitality Institute. 

Case Study Questions 

.1. What do you think of Dennis's four alternatives? What are the pros and cons of each? What are the consequences? 

2. What do you think is the real problem? How would you define it? 

3. What should Dennis's objectives be? 

4. Is Dennis himself part of the problem? If so, does this make it harder or easier to solve? 

5. Are there other alternatives besides those Dennis has listed? Suggest as many as you can, and give pros and cons for each. 

6. Who do you think is right about the menu: Dennis or Leon? 

7. Is it possible for Dennis to change Leon's opinion of him? If so, how? 

8. Do you think Dennis and Leon might ever get together using the win/win problem-solving method? Would it be appropriate in this situation? 

KEY POINTS 

.1. A supervisor's or manager's decision should be a conscious choice among alternative courses action directed toward a specific purpose. 

2. Different people approach decision making in different ways. Examples include logical, intuitiv indecisive, and impulsive approaches. 

3. The decisions that a hospitality supervisor is called on to make range from those that are easy make to complicated time-pressure decisions to problem solving. 

4. It is essential to recognize which decisions are important and which are unimportant, which d sions you must make now and which can wait. 

5. The following six steps are a simple version of the logical approach to decision making: Define nroblem and set objectives: get the facts (who-what-when-where-how-why); develop and ut calutinn by examining risk, economy, feasibility

CASE STUDY: Too Much, Too Fast? 

Joanne is manager of an in-plant, self-service cafeteria for an insurance company headquarters with 1,000 employees, most of whom eat breakfast and lunch there. In addition to managing the cafeteria, she is responsible for stocking sandwich and dessert vending machines. She has been supervising all her employees directly but has decided that it would be better if she delegated the major food- preparation responsibilities to her three best employees in order to devote more time to customer relations. 

After lunch on Wednesday, she calls the three employees together and explains her plan. 

"I am going to delegate to each of you responsibility for preparing the food in your department and keeping the counters and steam table stocked during the serving period. Jasmine, you will be in charge of salad and sandwich preparation. Michelle, you will do the desserts and baked goods. You two will also prepare the food for vending. Robert, you will be responsible for all the hot food: soups, entrées, vegetables, and so on. 

"Your co-employees-you each have two-will become your assistants, and you will direct their work. I will be on hand at all times, but I will be talking with guests and supervising the rest of the staff: the breakfast cooks, cashiers, cleanup crew, dishwashers, and so on. I will also continue to do the ordering, receiving, staffing, and so forth. 

"Now, you all have seen me in action in your departments, and you know what my methods and standards are. Make the usual menu in the usual quantities. Just do everything as I would do it, and come to me with questions. We will start tomorrow." 

The first day of the new regime is a near-disaster. No one makes the beverages and no one stocks the vending machines, although the food is prepared for them as usual. Both Michelle and Jasmine prepare the cantaloupe and the fruit/cheese plates. One of Robert's assistants does not show up, and instead of asking Joanne to get a substitute cook, he and his other assistant try to keep up with the demand. The result is a large and growing crowd of complaining guests waiting for the hot food. Jasmine's two assistants refuse to take orders from her and go to Joanne saying, "Hey, she's not our boss. Who does she think she is, telling us what to do?" One of Michelle's assistants resigns in a huff in the middle of lunch because she thinks she should have had the job instead of Michelle, and Michelle is snapping at her. The other complains to Joanne about Michelle after the serving period is over. 

Joanne spends the entire day putting out fires (some of them are still burning), dealing with com- plaining guests, and trying to find a replacement for the worker who resigned. She ends the day har- assed and embarrassed. She is pretty sure that all her employees except those who are mad are laughing at her, and she will probably have trouble with everyone for several days, including the ter 14 Delegating guests. She hopes that her boss at the catering company she works for does not hear about this 

Case Study Questions 

.1. What basic mistakes did Joanne make? 

2. Why do you think she did not foresee what happened? 

3. How could she have avoided the reaction of Jasmine's and Michelle's assistants? How could she have avoided the reaction of Robert, who tried to work shorthanded? 

4. What should she do now? Should she withdraw the delegation or try to make it work? If the latter, then make a detailed plan for her to carry out. 

5. How will she handle all her other workers tomorrow to keep their respect? 

6. What should she do about pacifying customers? 

7. Should her boss at the catering company headquarters be involved in any way? Does her boss share the responsibility for what happened?

Answer 1

(1)

The main mistake that Joanne made was lacking proper and effective communication. She could have called all the employees including the ones that were delegated the assistant jobs; because if she communicated well then Jasmine's two assistants could not refuse to take orders from her. Another mistake she made was that she delegated duties and didn't take time to supervise; she was supposed to be in the close vicinity to see if whatever she told them is what they are doing (This was supposed to go for like a week). Joanne committed a classic mistake in bringing about change in the cafeteria management to fast and suddenly. There has been no planning and improper, unsufficient communication to employees. The three employees selected i.e. Jasmine, Michelle and Robert have been delegated with responsibilities. However, the others have not been informed regarding the structural changes. Neither have they been given detailed instructions and trainings, nor a chance to clear their doubts before implementing the change.These all factors have contributed towards making the change unsuccessful and damaging the current working conditions.

(2)

She did not foresee what happened because she presumed that her employees have seen her in action in their departments, and they know what her methods and standards are. Joanne was in hurry to bring about changes in the system. Therefore, she was unable to forsee the problems that would occur due to improper execution of the change.

(3)

The reaction of Jasmine's and Michelle's assistants could have been avoided by explaining in detail to them (assistants) why she chose Jasmine and Michelle to lead them. She could have made the assistants aware of the delegated responsibilities. In addition, she could have asked the assistants to cooperate and coordinate well with their leaders. However, to Robert, she could have told Robert in advance that incase he is less of personnel to handle the job, he report so that he can be given more. Or even upon realizing that Robert is trying to work shorthanded, she could have just provided another assistant. Joanne could have avoided the reaction of Jasmine's and Michelle's assistants by communicating the change to them properly. Also, clarifying the reason for selecting these three for delegation. As for Robert, a contingency plan in case of manpower shortage must be available. This would have helped resolve this problem such that they would not have been affected as they were on this day.

(4)

Joanne should understand that operations don't just run smoothly for the first time of delegating duties. She should learn from the mistakes she made. She should not withdraw the delegation; instead, she needs to have a clear plan of how responsibilities are going to be delegated. Make clear arrangements with Jasmine, Michelle, and Robert to plan how they are going to handle their operations. Call the assistants and all the workers and tell them about the plans. Tell them the mistakes and put some guidelines and disciplinary measures for ignorant employees. Have a meeting with all the employees so that each of them knows what is required. Manager can hire or fire the employees, so she could tell them to do their work diligently as directed by her to avoid embarrassment or they will be fired. Disciplinary measures must be implemented so that rules and policies can be followed. She can definately not withdraw her decision as it would de-motivate the three most capable employees, which she cannot afford to endure. Thus, she has to make her delegation work. However, she needs to change her strategy. She must first plan the change, have a communication plan. Then, communicate with all the employees. Take their feedback and doubts. Resolve their queries and motivate the staff. Further, provide all the details and the training required to the three and their respective assistants. This could be a hand-holding activity and only leave the management of the three departments once she is entirely certain about it's functioning.

(5)

About handling other workers tomorrow to keep their respect, she should talk to them and send a warning about what happened today. In case such thing repeats itself, then she will fire all those who caused the problem and recruit new ones. This is the point to implement disciplinary measures which will ensure smooth running of the operations as everyone will be afraid to mess with the delegated roles. Joanne has to call all her staff, communicate with them and inform them the need for this change. Further, resolve their queries and misconceptions and motivate them.

(6)

To ease the disturbance caused to the customers, she should apologize to them and tell them that there were some small misunderstandings which lead to such disturbances but assure them that everything is in control and they won't experience such again. Customers tend to be very understanding when you explain the situation to them. They can just react negatively to a situation when they don't get proper explanation and apologies to what happened. Again, when her employees work properly, customers get what they want and are satisfied. Hence, Joanne must motivate her staff and guide them wherever required so that the service to customer is uninterrupted.

(7)

This is a situation which is not out of hand. It can still be controlled at the manager's level. No need of involving her boss in any way. She is required to calm everything and implement the necessary measures and tough actions in case of worker's negligence, ignorance or mistakes. She can later explain to her boss about what happen and the necessary measures she has put in place to ensure that such thing don't happen again. The boss will even appreciate her managerial skills and be seen as someone who is up to the task.

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