Brooklyn Pizza is a home delivery operation with 300 stores in towns and cities throughout the UK. All of these are franchised, with each franchisee operating between 3 and 7 outlets. Lakeside Villages is a holiday village concept with four locations in the UK – the northwest, Midlands, East Anglia, and the southwest. There are some aspects of the seven key result areas that they are likely to manage in similar ways. These are mostly due to statutory or regulatory requirements. Hence both companies adopt COSHH procedures to handle dangerous substances, both have public liability insurance, and both comply with health and safety legislation. Likewise, they will conform to employment practices as laid down by the employment laws of the UK, such as paying at or above minimum wage, as well as directives from the European Union, such as the Working Hours Directive. Also, both companies would encourage so-called ‘best practices’, such as those advocated by Kavanaugh and Ninemeier (1999) about labor management, or by Jones (2010a) in terms of employee recognition schemes.
People Also Read
- The Crucial Role of Hotel Operations Management in Running a Successful Hotel
- The Power of Graphic Memoirs: Analyzing Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic”
Brooklyn Pizza
Protecting Assets
Most of Brooklyn’s ‘assets’ are owned and managed by their franchisees. Brooklyn assists in finding suitable sites for each store, which are typically leased by the franchisee. Brooklyn also assists in fitting out the store with the right plant and equipment – such as refrigerated storage, preparation areas, pizza ovens, soft drink dispensers, and so on. To ensure franchisees comply with the company’s policies on health and safety, food hygiene, and premises and equipment maintenance and cleanliness, the stores are likely to be visited and audited every month by an Area Manager. There will be standard operating procedures (sops) in all these areas, as well as SOPS for food production. To help ensure cleanliness and hygiene, storage and production areas need to incorporate easy to clean surfaces, coved flooring, and effective screens and openings to control for pests (Jones, 1994). Food waste will be minimized by following standard recipes, using weighing and portion control devices, and holding materials at the correct temperature.
Although Brooklyn has no materials of great value, minor pilferage and stock loss in-store is a possibility. To make it less easy for employees to behave dishonestly, managers should have the following policies (Jones, 2010b) – spot checks on entrance and exit, employee policies eating and drinking on the job, monitoring of rubbish disposal, and policies about what personal property is allowed on-premises and where it is to kept.
Another major challenge for Brooklyn’s is cash security and the safety of their delivery employees. Pizzas are typically delivered by drivers on scooters or mopeds to homes within a 3-kilometer radius of the store. Most customers pay for their pizza with cash. Hence it is not unknown for drivers to be robbed and assaulted, either before or after they deliver the pizza, some have even had their scooters stolen or damaged. To minimize this Brooklyn should ensure drivers carry the minimum of cash on them, train their staff in how to minimize risk to themselves and what to do in the event of an incident, and liaise closely with local law enforcement officers. Recently Brooklyn has encouraged customers to place orders via the internet and through their own mobile phone app. Ordering in this way means that customers pay by credit or debit card in advance, thereby reducing the amount of cash handled.
Improving Employee Performance
All ‘employees’, in the Brooklyn franchise system, work for the franchisees. However, Brooklyn provides detailed specifications in the franchise agreement of the human resource policies and practices it expects its franchisees to follow. Brooklyn focuses on managing its franchisees and supporting their success. To his end, they have withdrawn franchise agreements from their less successful or less motivated partners, and awarded more stores to their successful ones. This means that over the last five years the number of franchisees has gone down from 120 to about 60, whilst the number of stores operated on average has gone up from just over two per franchisee to nearly five per franchisee. During this time customer satisfaction scores have consistently risen.
Since employees in each store and hired by and paid by franchisees, an issue for Brooklyn is the extent to which a shared organizational culture amongst all employees (Jones, 2010a) is desirable and possible. Given that Brooklyn is a national chain it is very concerned about its brand and its reputation, and hence it is likely to promulgate a vision and culture designed to support this. Hence Brooklyn needs to reinforce in its franchises that their success is based on both the Brooklyn ‘system’ (ie SOPs, IT systems, and so on) and the Brooklyn culture. The franchises will then take this and encourage this in their employees. The company, therefore, needs to create heroes, rituals, and events (Jones, 2010a) to reinforce the culture amongst franchisees. It can create ‘heroes’ by recognizing franchisees who perform to the highest level (in such things as sales revenue, employee turnover, and quality audits). It can have ‘rituals’ such as monthly, quarterly, or annual events where headquarters staff and franchisees get together to discuss performance, plans and recognize high performers. Although much of employee training is likely to be on-the-job, Brooklyn could create some DVD or computer-based training that all employees were required to undertake on topics such as the history of the company, basic food hygiene, and so on. These training materials could reinforce the Brooklyn culture, as do those of the Hilton University (Whitelaw, 2008).
Capacity management
The Pizza outlets largely adopt a chase demand strategy (Sasser et al, 1978). That is to say, pizzas are made to order and employees are scheduled according to forecast levels of demand. Franchisees should be provided with software and training that enable them to forecast likely demand and they can devise staff rotas using an internet-based labor scheduling system(Whitelaw, 2008). This system ensures that they have the right combination of production workers and delivery staff on duty to meet demand. During peak periods, such as weekend evenings, this may mean up to 40 staff working in the stores, and 60 delivery staff. Stores will be staffed very flexibly, with a relatively small number of full-time staff, and a large number of part-timers to reflect the variation in peaks and troughs in the business.
Brooklyn is also likely to engage in some demand management. Its menu is the same everywhere and it will always have signature items on it. But to promote sales, it will also develop new pizza concepts and dishes to stimulate both new and existing customers. Moreover, it may also stimulate demand by having special offers (discounts or two-for-ones) during periods of low demand, such as mid-week, or the Summer.
Improving Productivity
The two main areas for productivity improvement in the home delivery business are materials (mainly food and soft drinks) and labor. In the area of materials processing, Brooklyn is likely to be constantly looking for ways to redesign the production system by better workplace design and improved work processes (Mill, 2008). This likely to focus on the core technology – namely the pizza oven – and the time this takes to produce a good product. But it should also look at the ergonomics of the preparation area, where pizza bases are made and toppings added.
Labour productivity is likely to be achieved by highly efficient scheduling of staff, hence the proposed use of an internet-based system, linked to a forecasting system. Employee performance can also be improved – as discussed above.
Managing Profitability
Brooklyn has two types of cost – manufacturing (making the pizza) and service (delivering it to the customer). To control production costs, Brooklyn will have several systems in place, already referred to above (SOPs, standard recipes, and portion control). It should also have an inventory management system that is integrated with its point-of-sale (POS) system. This will ensure each store is replenished based on what is sold.
To control service costs, Heskett et al (2007) argue that volume must be high and repeat sales generated. Volume is largely achieved by locating the stores in the right areas and high profile advertising and promotions on national television. Repeat business then depends on the product and speed of delivery meeting customer expectations. If the other KRAs are managed well, as outlined in this report, then this will be achieved.
Managing Service
A key feature of Brooklyn’s “service concept” (Heskett, 1986) is the speed of delivery. There is an industry-standard that pizzas should be delivered to the customer’s door within 30 minutes. This time is made up of two main processes – producing the product (ie make, cook and pack the pizza) and transporting it to the customer. With regards to transportation time, all stores must be located in high population areas to maximize demand, but the delivery time will vary according to how close the customer is to the store.
Hence Brooklyn needs to concentrate its efforts to improve service on reducing production time. In this sector, it takes about 17 minutes on average to prepare the product ready for delivery. If 1 or 2 minutes can be shaved off this time, the speed of delivery for every customer will be improved.
Managing Quality
Brooklyn’s processes are relatively straightforward, so its basic approach to quality is quality control (QC). The systems it has in place to control manufacturing profitability (inventory controls, standard recipes, portion control devices) also serve to ensure a consistent product. Delivering quality will also be helped by poka-yokes (Afify, 2008) that are incorporated into their equipment. Their refrigerators will have temperature sensors and thermostats to ensure they are maintained at the correct temperature, with an alarm alerting managers if a fault occurs. There will be similar devices on each of the pizza ovens that they use.
As a result, quality should be controlled at two key points in the process. First, the product should be checked before leaving the store to ensure that it conforms to specification and matches the customer’s order. In particular, the pizza should be checked using a probe thermometer to ensure it is at the specified temperature. Second, delivery drivers should record the time at which they delivered the order, through some kind of mobile device (such as an app on a mobile phone).
Lakeside Villages
This service concept is complex since it is made up of accommodation, leisure, and sports facilities, restaurants, and shops. This report will try to focus on the village as a whole rather than these different service systems
Protecting Assets
A major feature of the Lakeside service concept (Heskett et al 1990) is its ‘servicescape’ (Namasivayam and Lin, 2008) which is the natural environment – woods, lakes, streams, trails, paths, and so on. It is a key asset that has to be protected in a variety of ways. A major threat could be fire, during periods of dry weather, especially since there are patios outside each villa on which guests can have bar-b-ques. Hence Lakeside should ensure that appropriate fire fighting equipment (such as water-based extinguishers and brushes to dampen fires) is located at appropriate places around the village. Whilst all employees should be trained in fire-fighting (not just outside but for indoor events too), Lakeside should ensure that specific staff is scheduled at all times to make up a ‘fire-response team’ that can be sent to an outbreak as soon as it is alerted. Customers can also be ‘trained’ by having information on noticeboards and/or inside their villas about what to do in the event of a fire.
Lakeside also needs to ensure the integrity of its perimeter fencing, as well as carefully control access onto the village. With cars parked in car parks, sited away from the rest of the village, guest safety is increased, but cars are vulnerable because they are not close to the public areas. The car park should therefore have a highly effective CCTV system that is monitored 24 hours a day to ensure that cars are not stolen or broken into.
Whilst having a safe and secure environment is part of Lakeside’s appeal, this can lead to guests being complacent about the security of their belongings. Since the village covers a large area, many guests bring their own bicycles to ride the trails and get from their villa to the village facilities. But these are easily stolen if not locked. Likewise, guests may leave their villas unlocked or windows open, so that these may be broken into. Whilst it is possible that such theft may be done by a guest, the most likely cause of this is an intruder. This is why the perimeter fence should be secure and regularly checked to delay and deter intrusion. Also, all staff should be trained to look out for suspicious behavior and report it immediately, whilst customers can also be ‘trained’ to be vigilant and careful through publicity material located in the villa.
Improving Employee Performance
Blah, blah, blah (Lockwood,2011)
Managing Capacity
Lakeside has adopted all three approaches to managing capacity. By definition, it has a level capacity (Sasser et al, 1978) in that each village has a fixed number of bed spaces. But it has made this even more rigid by only enabling guests to check-in and out on Mondays or Fridays. This means that there is no ‘displacement effect’ (Shoemaker and Gorin, 2008) ie guests staying for 1 or 2 nights blocking out space that could be sold for longer periods of time.
To fill these mid-week and weekend blocks, lakeside has adopted a demand management strategy, since it prices each 3 or 4-day break differently according to the time of year. Mid-week breaks are generally cheaper (per night) than weekend breaks. Breaks during school holidays are always the most expensive.
Finally, each village ‘chases demand’ in terms of how it manages its workforce. It employs a large number of part-time staff, who only work on Mondays and Fridays, to clean the 500+ villas and apartments in each village. It also schedules more full-time leisure, retail, and food service staff to cover these changeover days, as the village is particularly busy with some guests departing late and others arriving early.
Improving Productivity
In such a complex environment, operational productivity can be improved if customers use the village effectively. Lakeside is fortunate to have a high level of repeat customers, who are likely to do so (Heskett, 2007).
Managing Profitability
Blah, blah, blah (Lockwood,2011)
Managing Service
Blah, blah, blah (Lockwood,2011)
Managing Quality
Managing quality may also be supported by loyal customers who act on behalf of Lakeside as quality ‘inspectors’ (Canziani, 2008) – that is to say, they identify quality breakdowns or problems occurring to other guests, as well as themselves, and report them to management so that they can be put right as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Bringing it all together, drawing comparisons and conflicts between the two operations, and summarising why this is appropriate
References
Afify, M. (2008) Quality Management, in Jones, P. (2008) The Handbook of Hospitality Operations and Information Management, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford, 295-338
Canziani, B.F. (2008) The Hospitality Customer: their role in service blueprints, in Jones, P. (2008) The Handbook of Hospitality Operations and Information Management, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford, 63-90
Heskett, J.L. (1986) Managing in the Service Economy, Harvard Business Press: Boston
Heskett, J.L., Sasser, W.E. and Hart, C. (2007) Service Breakthroughs: Changing the Rules of the Game, Free Press
Heskett, J. L. and Schlesinger, L.A. (1997) The Service Profit Chain, Free Press
Johns, N. (1994) Foodservice Layout and Design in Jones, P. with Merricks, P. (1994) The Management of Foodservice Operations Cassell: London, 59-77
Jones, P. (2010a) Managing Employees, Handout in ULearn, University of Surrey
Jones, P. (2010b) Loss Control and Asset Management, Handout in ULearn, University of Surrey
Kavanaugh, R.R., and Ninemeier, J.D. (1999) Managing Productivity and Controlling Labor Costs. CHA Certification Study Guide, 1, 145.
Mill, R. C. (2008) Managing Labour Productivity, in Jones, P. (2008) The Handbook of Hospitality Operations and Information Management, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford, 269-294
Namasivayam, K. and Lin, I.Y. (2008) The Servicescape, in Jones, P. (2008) The Handbook of Hospitality Operations and Information Management, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford, 43-62
Sasser, W.E., Wyckoff, D.D., and Olsen, M. (1978) The Management of Service Operations, Allyn & Bacon: Boston
Shoemaker, S. and Gorin, T. (2008) Revenue Management, in Jones, P. (2008) The Handbook of Hospitality Operations and Information Management, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford, 237-268
Whitelaw, P. A. (2008) ICT and Hospitality Operations, in Jones, P. (2008) The Handbook of Hospitality Operations and Information Management, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford, 167-184
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
