Read the following case study then answer the questions that follow:

CASE STUDY SCENARIO

Upstate College, a public, 4-year college located on the east coast of the United States, offers a hospitality degree program. In 2014, thanks to a successful capital campaign and a generous endowment from William 68 and Mary MacArthur 69, the college constructed a medium-sized hotel and conference center on campus. The Colleges vision was for this facility to be self-sufficient within 10 years and to serve as a training ground for hospitality students. The MacArthur Hotel and Conference Center (hotel) had a soft opening during Fall Homecoming in October 2014 and its grand opening in December 2014. The facility held several small holiday luncheons and dinners in November and December, primarily for campus departments. The first major conference was in January 2015.

This particular conference happened to be an annual hospitality education conference attended by industry professionals, faculty, and students from around the world. The booking of this conference was a coup for Upstate College. It was an honor to be chosen as the host hotel, and Upstates hospitality students would have a prime opportunity to network with key industry representatives. The conference was also going to be the first major challenge for college and hotel staff. It was a large-scale, multi-day event with plenary sessions, workshops, breaks, lodging, and meals (including a formal awards dinner) taking place in the hotel. Staff would have their abilities stretched to provide the necessary services and resources.

With the 2008 economic downturn in mind, college administrators made several operational decisions for the hotel. Each major department would have full-time permanent managers, but the number of line staff would vary depending on guest demand, event bookings, and staff availability. Student labor would play a key staffing role, both in front and in back of the house. As most students attending Upstate College were local commuters, administrators anticipated that many would welcome the opportunity to work during the school breaks.

In addition, as the hotel was considered an auxiliary, for-profit arm of the College, the human resources functions would be handled by the individual managers for their own departments, not by the Colleges Human Resources Office. Each manager was expected to have a basic understanding of the legalities involving each function as a condition of employment but could contact the Colleges Human Resources Office for the occasional question. The College intended to revisit these decisions in the future.

THE FIRST NIGHT OF THE CONFERENCE

On the first night of the conference, three hospitality faculty members from different schools met during the hotels evening mixer. They got along well immediately and decided to continue their conversation over dinner. As it was late in the evening, they decided to patronize the hotel restaurant.

The restaurant closed at 10:00 p.m., so the faculty members decided to freshen up and meet back at the restaurant. They arrived at 8:00 p.m. and were seated quickly and pleasantly by the hostess. There was only one other diner in the restaurant.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The tables in the restaurant were clean and set with standard place settings. The faculty members thought it was serendipitous to have been seated with a partial view into the kitchen and service area. They saw two staff in the kitchen dressed in kitchen uniforms. The server, who arrived at 8:20 p.m., wore a name badge saying Erica and Student Server.

ERICAS BACKGROUND

Erica is a hospitality student at Upstate College and entered college immediately after high school. As a single mother, she needed to work as well as study. Her advisor suggested that since Erica was interested in the restaurant industry that she apply for a position in the conference center restaurant. Erica obtained a dishwashing and cleaning position in the kitchen. Erica liked her co-workers and her hours. She also felt satisfaction at seeing everything clean at the end of her shift. An added benefit was that kitchen positions paid more than other student jobs on campus.

Erica was suddenly reassigned to be frontline wait staff in the colleges conference center restaurant the morning the conference started because of a shortage of student workers. She was concerned because she had no work experience in front-of-the-house restaurant operations. Additionally, the usual staff orientation for new employees would not be held because the conference started that day, but Ericas supervisor told her that since she had been a customer at least once in a restaurant, she had to know how to serve people. She was also quite shy, but her co-workers tried to reassure her, saying she would do great because she was a hard worker and had a nice smile. Ericas biggest concern though was that her wages would be lower because she would be expected to supplement her base pay with tips.

SECOND IMPRESSIONS

The faculty members noticed that Erica was dressed in a white button-down shirt, plain black slacks, and black sneakers. The shirt and pants were somewhat wrinkled, but clean. One sneaker had a stain. Erica seemed a bit nervous as she greeted the faculty members and apologized profusely when she splashed a little water on the table. The faculty members attempted to put Erica at ease by making small talk, but after a few minutes, one of the faculty members interrupted Erica to ask for menus. She stopped talking and looked embarrassed. As Erica distributed the menus, she giggled nervously and said, I hope youre good tippers!

The faculty members asked about some of the local specialties on the menu. Ericas previous station had been away from the food preparation area, so she was unfamiliar with these items and had to go ask the chef. Erica then returned to take the faculty members orders and left. The faculty members noticed the other diner in the restaurant had finished his meal and departed, leaving them the only guests.

WHERES ERICA?

The faculty members chatted for a while, but eventually noticed that there seemed to be a delay in receiving their meals. Erica was not in view, but the group saw what they believed to be their meals placed under a heat lamp on the pick-up counter at approximately 9:00 p.m. The faculty members jokingly asked each other if they should retrieve the meals themselves. Instead, they waited to see what happened.

At about 9:30 p.m., the faculty members saw Erica get up from a booth that had hidden her from view. She was texting on her cellphone while she walked to the pick-up counter. At the pick-up counter, one of the kitchen workers seemed upset at Erica and pointed at the meals on the counter. She shrugged and then brought the platters to the table. After she placed the meals down, she asked if she could bring anything else. The faculty members said no. Without further comment, Erica left.

WORTH THE WAIT?

The faculty members noticed that the appearance and quality of their meals were generally poor. The hot meals were cool or cold. A local specialty, fried plantains, were gummy and greasy. Two of the faculty members had ordered hot beverages, but they were not accompanied by the usual condiments such as sugar, cream, and lemon slices. Only one faculty member decided to eat his meal. The others were too dissatisfied and annoyed since it was quite late to be eating or to try and find someplace else in town. When Erica returned, they asked that the restaurant manager be summoned. Erica stuttered that she would find somebody and hurried away.

THE RESTAURANT MANAGER ARRIVES

The restaurant manager arrived. As she was speaking with the guests, Erica was telling her co-workers in the kitchen that she wanted to quit. She had been happy where she was, but now she believed she was going to be paid less and she was very uncomfortable dealing directly with customers. The older staff member chided Erica, saying she should keep her eye on the ball and think of the job as a beginning, reminding her that many a manager started in the kitchen. With the experience and education youre getting, you might even manage a top restaurant or hotel someday, he said.

Back in front of the house, the restaurant manager told the guests that she would not charge for the meals and offered them free desserts, but these were declined. She commented that it was very difficult to find and retain good employees, especially when the hotel was dependent on part-time student labor. She also wished that student workers could be more engaged and motivated, even in just part-time or entry-level positions. One of the faculty members gave the manager her business card and offered a consultation.

QUESTIONS

1. Explain three service failures in this case study.

(3 marks)

2. What do you think about the way the manager handled these service failures?

(2 marks)

3. Imagine you are the restaurant manager in this case study and have just arrived at the guests table; how would you respond to the guests, using the HEARD+Follow technique? (include all six steps and a detailed explanation of exactly what you would say and do in this situation)

(24 marks)