Chapter 1 - The Challenge of Food and Beverage Operations

Not too many years ago, mechanical cash registers were the norm in all types of food and beverage operations.They did a good job of making change for customer purchases, but they did very little to collect sales information other than to track the number of items sold and the amount of revenue rung up on the machine.Modern POS technology provides managers with access to information about almost any are of management concern, from product costs to human resources information to data helpful for product purchasing.

Review pages 1 to 27 to complete the following tasks.

Task 1:The Challenge of Food and Beverage Operations

1. How does the organisation where you work use management and control-related technology applications? Support your answer with examples. (10)
2. Do you think your establishment makes sufficient use of technology applications?Explain why or why not you think so. (3)

Chapter 2 -The Control Function

Control is one of the most important functions of the complex system of activities referred to as "management".A manager uses available resources to attain the organizations objectives.

Review pages 35 to 52 to complete the following tasks.

Task 1:When life hands you lemons.... better check the specs

Read below case-study then answer the questions that follow:

Thursday, 4 P.M.

Sue, the kitchen manager at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant, glanced at the clock. Pierson's Produce would be calling soon for the weekend order. She pulled out a notepad and began to make a quick list. It was going to be a busy weekend - the homecoming game at the collage would be bringing in lots of business. She'd better order an extra case of lemons for ice tea, and lettuce for salads.

Sue didn't have time to take inventory, so she tried to picture the storeroom as it looked when she last peeked in. She was sure they had lettuce - or was that cabbage she saw? No, it had to be lettuce. Maybe she'd only order one case for the weekend. They were fine on parsley, no need to order that. But kiwis - that new fruit salad on the menu was popular, so she added kiwis to the list.

Sue was putting the final items on her list when George, the general manager, tapped at her office door. He carried a report in his hand and he didn't look happy. "Have you seen this report, Sue?" Our food costs are on the high side, and it looks like produce is the culprit. It's up to 9.5 % and it should be down around 7.5%. We really need to do something about that."

"I'll take care of it," she said

Just then the phone rang. It was Alan from Pierson's Produce, calling for the order. "Just the man I wanted to talk," said Sue. She explained George's concern about the produce cost and wondered what Alan could do to help. She could hear him tapping away at his computer keyboard.

"Well you know it's the end of the season and prices are higher now, Sue" he said." But looking at your past orders, I see you've been paying $22 a case for fancy lemons. If you like, I can get you lemons for ... how does $14 a case sound?"

Sue didn't even stop to ask what she might be getting for the price. Saving $8 a case was just what she wanted to hear. She agreed and ordered three cases of lemons, a case of lettuce - yes, only one, she told him - and two cases of kiwis. She checked the items off on her notepad as Alan read back her order. She thanked him and hung up the phone.

Monday, 4 P.M

Sue looked up in surprise as George came into her office. He looked even unhappier than he had last week, if that was possible. He shook a report under her nose"

"I thought you were going to take care of the produce cost" he said " These figures are even higher - 11 %! How could that happen?" Sue looked confused. "I don't know," she stammered.

At that moment Adrian, the chef, who had happened to hear George's question as he was walking by, stuck his head in the door. "I know how it happened" Adrian said. "We ran out of lemons, lettuce, and parsley this weekend and I had to send my people down to the grocery store to pick up produce - at the retail price! That's what drove our costs up."

"But I ordered lemons and lettuce on Thursday afternoon" Sue replied. She showed him the torn-off page from her notepad. "Didn't they get delivered?"

Adrian thought back. Yes three cases of lemons had been received, but they were small and unattractive, obviously not the fancy lemons that the restaurant used to garnish its drinks. "I told the receiving clerk that the produce company must have sent us the wrong lemons and told him to send them back" Adrian said. "They definitely weren't the lemons on our specifications"

Sue groaned. So much for the $8 a case savings on lemons. She guessed she should have told the receiving clerk what to expect.

Adrian continued. "As for the rest of the order, the restaurant got only half the lettuce it needed and no parsley at all. We had to garnish the Eggs Benedict with scallions until someone could get to the market and buy some parsley" He laughed. "But boy, do we have kiwis to spare. We already had one case. I don't know how we're going to use up two more cases before they go bad."

George looked at Sue for an explanation. "I'm sure this is an isolated incident" he began. Adrian laughed again and said, "It happens more often than you think. Why don't you ask her about the time we ended up with Florida oranges for our garnishes instead of California oranges?" Sue glared at Adrian, and George looked at both of them. "I think it's time we sat down and reviewed some purchasing procedures around here," he said

Questions:

1. What is the control process? (2)
2. How would the control process have assisted the purchasing department with regards to the quality of products received? (10)