What Gives Casablanca Cafe a Competitive Advantage - Case Study Example

Investigative Report The hospitality industry is a very lucrative sector in Miami given the fact that it’s one of the mostvisited destination for tourists and other people on the merry making spree. The region hosts a number of the world’s top notch entertainment and hospitality joints in America and attracts clientele from across the world. The essay present a detailed report of the observations that I made after visiting Casablanca café as one of the feasibility studies for launching a similar business in the locality. I visited the bistro and strategically sat on the terraces to have a better view of both the interior and external sections of the restraint as I took notes of how the premises operates together with other notable things that I would be able to witness. To begin with, the hotel is strategically located in Fort Lauderdale with a perfect view of the ocean whereby the fresh breeze blows off to create a beautiful ambiance for the revelers. Casablanca café is conveniently located in the sense that it is easily accessible and at the same time convenient since anyone who intends to visit the restaurant can conveniently access it either through bus or the numerous taxi that are available along 3049 Alhambra Street. The restaurant is housed in a beautifully restored ancient home that has a perfect finish both in the interior and exterior that creates a sensational ambiance for visitors that come in. The interior décor is designed in a manner that makes it perfect for dinner outings and romantic dates since it is cozy and with some jazz music playing from the music bar. The café offers a wide variety of cuisines as I would observe from their menu. The range includes food from various cultures for instance; Mediterranean, French as well as the indigenous American cuisines. It is an advantage to the restaurant since it does not limit its services to an individual culture of foods but packages its services in a manner that will attract clients across cultures due to the room for choice that is available. Service delivery The services at Casablanca café are impressive, personally I asked for a coffee latte and within the next one minute my order was already processed and I was enjoying my drink. I notice the joint is a favorite spot for many people reason being the time I spent at the establishment close to one hundred clients checked in a majority of who were coming in for an early dinner. I observed a significant number making out with takeaway food an impressive phenomenon that I noted. It is prudent to notice that some clients may be in a hurry to attend other duties thus they require express services whereby they will want their food packed so that they can eat at their convenience. It is not a common phenomenon for most establishments since they focus on serving the food to be eaten at the establishments. Casablanca café was acting like a restaurant, and fast food joint all in one. Its employees are neat with a thorough knowledge of their services thus it takes a maximum of two minutes for a client to be served with his/her order. However, I noticed for bulk orders for instance if a family of like six people came in for dinner it took a considerable amount of time to serve them. At some point, a disgruntled client had to check on the progress of his order a number of times before it would be delivered on the table. It was evident that the workers are more proficient with lighter orders as opposed to the bulky ones that require a lot of time to process. That instance caused some client pile up at the point of sale since the moment the client became furious other employees resorted to that particular order thus leaving the rest of customers unattended. Conversely, it was apparent that the organization employed some bureaucratic sort of management structure since I did not see any senior manager or rather supervisor engaging the employees in the course of their work. The senior managers only make phone calls to direct or instruct on something that needs to be done or in case of a client having issues with the kind of service offered he/she can decide to air his/her complaints. I noticed the supervisors were quick to rebuke their employees for any slight mistake that they committed, at some instance one employee mistakenly took an order to the wrong table nd had to revert it to the correct client on witnessing the act I overheard the supervisor threatening the worker that he was demonstrating his incompetence in the presence of their clients. The employee apologized by the supervisor was not keen to take the apology. That was one aspect that I noticed the management of the restaurant was missing the point since it was evident that the employees were not adequately engaged and involved in policy formulation at the establishment. Apparently, at Casablanca café there is some sort of organizational hierarchy whereby orders from senior management are a threat to the junior employee; for instance, is a manager makes a call to the supervisor after receiving a complaint about poor services by a disgruntled customer the workers will be threatened and frequently they are not given a chance to defend or offer an explanation of what led to that hitch. Seafood Linguini was the most ordered cuisine that night as per my observation. It is apparent that the establishment is very famous in this region mainly because it offers a wide range of cuisine, so customers throng the place, and it is every busy. I spent close to four hours at the restaurant as I made my observation the traffic of clients in and out of the café was consistent. At an individual instance, a group of Arab clients came and sat the table that was next to me. They were conversing, in English, I heard one commenting that she loves Casablanca café because she can always find Moroccan delicacies. It is from this point that I realized Casablanca café has established itself as the one stop restaurant that offers cuisines from all cultures so as to accommodate clients from any part of the world. Miami is a major tourist destination; thus, it attracts people from all over the world. The fact that Casablanca offers international menus hands it a competitive edge over other market players that would be specializing one or a few cuisines. In terms of sales the joint is doing some real business; since the point of sale was ever busy and a significant percentage of the customers were going for heavy meals save for the few who were coming in for desserts. If indeed the amount of sales translates to profit then it is prudent to note that Casablanca is a profitable organization. Casablanca café is successful in a considerable number of aspects, to begin with the floor space and plan for the restaurant is perfectly utilized with partitions made to suit the different kinds of clients that visit the premise. There is a music bar for revellers who want to have drinks while listening to Jazz music, the main food lounge is appropriate for customers who want to have their meals in a serene environment while the exterior terraces are for customers that fancy the fresh breeze from the sea as they enjoy their delicacies. Their menu has tried to accommodate a significant number of traditional cuisines thus satisfying the desires of a majority of the customers that visit the establishment. Areas of Improvement Despite the numerous positive reviews that I have associated with the restaurant, it is worth noting that I observed a few hitches that need to be improved to enhance service delivery. The management of the business needs to engage its employees to ensure the entire personnel works as a team unlike what I observed whereby senior managers give strict directions to the junior workers without giving room for feedback. The organization needs to embrace a horizontal hierarchy whereby employees are free to engage their supervisors to come up with the best technique of handling the issue and, in the long run, improve service delivery. Furthermore, I realized that children are not entirely included based on the manner in which the restaurant is designed. It lacks enough kids’ fun section. Despite the fact that it has smoothies and other delicacies that children fancy it needs to create a designated area for children to have fun. It will make them enjoy their experience at the restaurant more and yearn to make more visits in the future. That notwithstanding, the employees needs more coordination among themselves to enhance the level of services especially during rush hours when the number of clients at the premises is significantly high. Conclusion Casablanca café has indeed established itself as a restaurant of choice in Miami. Based on the services that it offers together with its location and ambiance it is evident that it has a market edge in the industry. The level of competition that we will face when launching a similar business will be significantly high; thus, we have to be very innovative to capture the clients in this particular area. As much as we will be capitalizing on the shortcomings of Casablanca the brand that it has established over time gives it a competitive advantage since we have to market our new restaurant before clients can get to know of our services. Thus, it is very challenging to indulge in this particular market but then through innovation we can still build a reputable and competitive brand worth challenging the existence of Casablanca café. Works Cited About Casablanca café. n.d. Web. 3 April 2015. Read More