Question

a. Exercise to identify types of control: This exercise is designed to help YOU apply the concept of control and monitoring to a specific business develop a control plan for a fast-food restaurant like McDonald's. Steps to complete this exercise include: Determine what standards are needed to assure that customers are satisfied with their food and service. For the purpose of this exercise, limit the food items to hamburgers, fish sandwiches, French fries, and drinks, and the maximum number of standards to ten. b. Set the standards. C. Determine how the standards will be monitored. d. Determine what action should be taken when standards are not met.

Answer 1

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a. Standards to ensure customer satisfaction with foods and services.

•             Customer first mentality

•             Employee performance

•             Centering operation around customer satisfaction

•             Quality and reliability

•             Compatibility between products (interoperability)

•             Transparency of product information and labelling

•             Protection from false or misleading claims

•             Systems of redress, such as complaints handling and processing of claims

•             Consistency in the delivery of services

•             Suitability of products for vulnerable populations (such as children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly)

b. Standards: -

•             Customer first mentality- To make sure the existence of customer friendly atmosphere we have to consistently speak with customers, address unclean or untidy areas, keep tabs on wait times and ask guests for feedback.

•             Employee performance- Employee needs to be friendly and trained enough to help the customer with their issue. At the same time, they need to be honest instead of making excuses.

•             Centering operation around customer satisfaction – When we turn the focus from “we’re doing the best we can” into, “this customer needs…” providing excellent customer service becomes a regular event.

•             Quality and reliability- Food quality should be both outstanding and consistent. Another way to boost the level of customer satisfaction is to educate the servers on the menu and its flexibility. Servers should learn which dishes have gluten-free options, and which contain common food allergens. Additionally, they should be prepared with a list of alternatives or substitution options for any issues regarding allergies, intolerances, or preferences.

•             Compatibility between products (interoperability)- The hamburger is incomplete without drinks. Similarly, compatible products need to be paired and should be offered together so as to maximize satisfaction of customers.

•             Transparency of product information and labelling- Transparency regarding the food content, allergy warnings, calories consumption, etc. needs to be informed/disclosed to customer. Honesty goes a long way in creating long term relationships.

•             Systems of redress, such as complaints handling and processing of claims- this is of utmost importance so as to ensure customer satisfaction. An enterprise should always be open to receive criticism so they can perform better.

•             Suitability of products for vulnerable populations (such as children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly)- Vulnerable population need to get a special place on the list of customers as their needs are slightly different then the rest of population. If ignored, it can create lethal consequences on one’s business.

c.

Internal control needs to be placed on the operations of business so as to ensure that the set standards are met at all time.

•             Assign accountability- Assign accountability for the different operations in the organization. Ensuring quality of raw materials can be assigned to one and cleanliness to the other.

•            Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)- Critically examine what each process is trying to achieve, the required inputs and the expected results. KPIs needs to be put in place so as to be able to know if we are working on right direction or not. For e.g. Average no of days after which a regular customer visits the establishment.

•            Appoint Supervisor- To ensure that everything is in order and everyone is working according to the set standards.

•             Seek feedback from customer- What’s better way to know about ‘how good your services are?” than by the customers themselves. Encourage customers to write a feedback and positive reviews about their experience.

•             Evaluate Improvement Opportunities- Develop a process to routinely evaluate applicable quality standards to look for changes and identify opportunities for improvement. Understanding and acting appropriately on trends allows organizations to stay at the forefront of innovation. Continuous improvement results in optimization of the organization.

•            Leverage the Team- One of the ways to create leverage is to diversify responsibility with people so not too much of any given process is dependent on few individuals.

d.

After setting standards and placing internal control in place one need to measure from time to time actual performance with the set standards.

•             Comparing actual performance with standards or goals: Feedbacks will be the greatest tool in ascertaining the actual performance. For e.g. If the cleanliness standards are maintained or not can be ascertained by the feedbacks provided by the customer for the same.

•             Analyzing deviations: We must determine why standards were not met. This step also involves determining whether more control is necessary or if the standard should be changed.

•             Taking corrective action: After the reasons for deviations have been determined, we can then develop solutions for issues with meeting the standards and make changes to processes or behaviors. For e.g.- if there are complains about an employee’s response to the customers, we can decide if we need to fire them, cut their pay or retrain them.

Best of luck.