Expectations and Opinions of the Fenwick Arms Pub at the Local Level - Example

The Fenwick Arms Pub Name Institution Abstract This report focuses on the expectations and opinions of the Fenwick Arms Pub at the local level. Currently, the performance of the pub has been below the expectations of the stakeholders. In essence, this report will be an important source of information on ways that the management of The Fenwick Arms Pub can use to regain its former popularity. From the results of this report, there is sufficient evidence that a majority of the customers of this pub wants to be served traditional meals rather than contemporary dishes. The pub is under poor management. For instance, the employees of the company felt that the human resource management should improve tremendously. Making these changes would be an important step in improving the overall performance of the pub. The Fenwick Arms Pub While many industries are diverse, none of their dynamic nature compares to that of the hospitality sector. In fact, feeding habits have been an integral part of cultures across the globe. For instance, the eating habits of the western culture are significantly different relative to those of the Asian or the African culture (Matias, Alexandre Neto,& Nijkamp, 2007). Additionally, economic factors do have an influence on the eating culture of a certain community. Essentially, companies and institutions operating within the hospitality business to ensure that they are conscious of the different cultures in this industry. Studies (Matias, Alexandre Neto,& Nijkamp, 2007) have observed that the increasing cost of living, healthy eating, and sustainability are the most important trends in the world today. For instance, the global community has increasing become aware of the effects that their habits do have on the globe. An example is global warming or their contribution to the environmental pollution. Many people want to understand the source of the food that they consume. If the process led to the mistreatment of animals, environmental pollution, or the climatic changes they will boycott not only that type of food, but also rather the entire brand that produces such food. Essentially, sustainability of the food that they consume and the economy are important factors of consideration. For instance, the current economic crises in Europe caused by the Greece economic turmoil and the immigration problem imply that many consumers will consume affordable foods. The modern consumer is not only interested in the sustainability and the affordability of the foods that they consume. Instead, they want variety and convenience. That is, they want to taste the Chinese cuisine, eat the African cuisine, or the European cuisine. Additionally, the reason drive-through and MacDonald have gained popularity is the speed with which they serve their food. Food festivals are also increasingly becoming popular among the modern consumer because of their love for mixing food an entertainment. The Fenwick Arms pub wants to be relevant at the local level considering the fact that the pub only serves its local consumers. In essence, while all of the trends discussed e important aspects that the management has to consider at one point or the other, they have to ensure that they first focus on the local consumers and their preferences. Their response to the expectations of the local consumers will be the determinant the success of the pub. This report focuses on improving The Fenwick Arm, through an analysis of the preferences of the local consumers. Methods The primary data was collected using questionnaires to the local consumers. The use of closed-ended questionnaires has its benefits, but the most important aspect of collecting data was allowing the consumers to answer the questions in details. Essentially, it is advisable to use the open-ended questionnaires because a close-ended one will limit the responses of the respondents.Additionally, the close-endedquestionnaires do have the tendency to influence the responses that the respondents given by limit their choices. While the open-ended type of the questionnaires are difficult to analyse, they give relatively accurate information relative to the closed-ended questionnaires. The annual reports and the case studies were also important as sources of the secondary data. The office for National Statistics and the Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares case study are the two sources of the secondary information. The Kitchen nightmare has an episode featuring The Fenwick Pub, which indicates the various challenges faced by the pub. The annual reports obtained from the national Statistics would play an important role in the determination of the economic status of local community (Office for National Statistics, 2013). The sampling of the customers to be used in the study had to be done through a scientific sampling approach. This is informed by the fact that there is need for the sampling to capture a sample that is representative of the customers or prospective customers of the pub. To achieve this objective, the best approach would be the usage of the simple random sampling. The reasoning behind the usage of this form of sampling was to ensure that each of the possible respondent to the questionnaire would be given an equal chance of selection. Essentially, the sampled respondents will be a fair representative of the entire population The Fenwick Pub customers, which means the findings of the study can easily be generalized. A total number of 10 questionnaires would be used in the study. Results According to the Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare (2015), The Fenwick Arms is a pub in a good location, and used the right approach, but the management of the pub was inferior. In fact, the menu used by the restaurant was not indicative of the local preferences. Instead, it has a menu that would be perfect for a pub located in a high-end location. In addition, the owners of the pub micromanage all the activities of the restaurant. In fact, Brian, who is one of the owners, does not allow all the other chefs to assist him. Still, the episode concluded that he not only a bad manager, but also a bad chef (Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare, 2015). The management is notorious of buying things that are unnecessary, which is ailing the business venture especially now that it has a debt of approximately £300,000 and it is losing more than £5000 each month. Part of the problem is the management style of Brian and his decision-making process. Not only does he buy plates that are not needed by the pub, but also he does not delegate any duties to the other chefs. His health is also poor. The National Statistics database also provides some important insights into the current challenge facing the pub and ways that the management can try to address the challenge. For instance, it provides crucial economic status of the community. The average weekly consumption of food from a restaurant was £12. Given the fact that the averageadult population per family is 2.3, each person consumes £5.3. Additionally, the average income of the region is the third lowest in the United Kingdom, which suggests that serving up-market dishes would lead to losses for the pub. The ten questionnaires were analysed after the individuals had returned the questionnaires Age Preferred food No. of Courses Starter Budget Main Budget Dessert Budget Formal/Informal Visits/per week 43 6 3 3.50 11.00 4.50 1 4 32 6 3 4.00 12.00 3.50 2 4 56 4 3 4.00 10.00 4.50 1 2 34 4 3 3.50 12.00 3.50 2 4 34 4 3 4.00 11.50 4.00 1 7 60 6 3 2.50 10.00 3.00 2 5 21 2 3 4.50 9.50 3.50 1 7 26 6 3 3.50 8.00 2.50 2 9 30 4 3 4.50 10.50 4.50 2 7 41 6 3 4.00 11.50 4.00 1 9   Mean Mode Median Std Dev Mean Dev Age 37.70 34.00 34.00 12.50 4.16 Pref. Food 4.80 6.00 5.00 1.40 0.84 Courses 3.00 3.00 3.00 0.00 0.00 Starter Budget 3.80 4.00 4.00 0.59 0.56 Main Budget 10.60 12.00 10.75 1.26 0.86 Dessert Budget 3.75 4.50 3.75 0.68 0.56 Formal/Informal 1.50 1.00 1.50 0.53 0.18 Visits 5.80 4.00 6.00 2.35 2.16 The questionnaire opted to use two option. That is, one that is formal and the other one informal. The respondents were to choose between the two the one that they do prefer. The menu that the respondents had to choose from included the following meals, each of the number used in the responses. 1. Crisps 2. Snacks and other fast foods 3. Restaurant/Bar meals 4. Traditional meals offered by the pub 5. High-end foods 6. Themed meals 7. Any other (please specify) In addition to the usage of the questionnaires, a sample menu was used in the analyses, the data obtained was analysed, and the outcome of the analysis is as follows.   Mean Mode Median Std Dev Mean Dev Starters 5.271428571 4.25 5.5 1.055879 0.87551 Main 9.521428571 9.25 9.75 1.162919 0.804082 Desserts 4.594285714 5.88 4.5 1.363303 1.122041 Starters Main Desserts 5.95 8.75 1.5 5.25 8.25 2.95 6.75 10.75 4.5 5.25 10.95 4.95 4.95 10.75 5.5 6.5 9.25 3.88 6.25 11.95 3.88   Correlation Coefficient Starter/Main 0.169569115 Main/Dessert 0.448449067 Starter/Dessert -0.677227087 Discussion Mean The mean is used in statistics to indicate the average of a given set of data. The calculation of the same is easy (Schabenberger & Gotway, 2005). That is, it requires that the researcher adds up all the values and divides them with the total frequency. Essentially, it is the sum divided with the count. Median The median is usually the number that is halfway a given data set. To obtain the median, all the values in a data set are arranged in an ascending order and the centremost value is the median. It is a word, which is synonymous with the median of the road. Mode The mode in statistical terms is the value that appears the highest number of times in a given data set (Schabenberger & Gotway, 2005). In probability distribution, the value of y whereby the probability mass function is maximum is the mode of that data set. Standard Deviation Both the population standard deviation and a sample standard deviation use the same formula of calculation, but use different symbols (Schabenberger & Gotway, 2005). For a sample of data, the value defines the variation amount or dispersion of a given set of data. All these sets of statistical terms are important in the analyses of data. For instance, the mean, mode and the median are import in the determination of vital information. In an example, The Fenwick Arms Pub can use the mean age to determine the average age of its consumers or the mean preferred dish to determine the preferences of its customers. The standard deviation, as earlier indicated, estimates the variation between the data and the average values. When the value of the standard deviation is lager, it implies that the mean is not the actual average value of the data set. In an example, a standard deviation for the preferred food is 0.84, which implies that 4.8 is an accurate representation of the average preferences of the customers of the Fenwick pub. The range is also a common statistical term that is important. It used to indicate the difference between the largest and smallest value in a data set. When there is a large difference, it is advisable to consider not only the first quantile but also the third quantile in the decision making process. In an example, the range of the age for the customers of the pub is 39 years, which indicates that there is a huge difference. Instead of opting to serve the mean age, The Fenwick should decide to serve both spectrum of ages. The correlation coefficient indicates a quantitative measure of the dependence. That is the statistical relations of two random arrays of data. In most cases, the value will not be more than 1 or less than -1. When the value is positive, the relationship between the two is positive and linearly perfect. A negative value on the other hand while indicating a perfect linear relationship suggests a negative relationship. For instance, the correlation between the starter and the dessert is negative. This negative relationship suggests that an increase in the cost of the dessert will lead to a decrease in the price of the starter. The results of this study suggests that a majority of the customers of the pub wold not appreciate the foods served by the restaurant. For instance, there was an indication by the secondary sources of data that there was a need for the pub to change its dietary towards entertainment themed and traditional local cuisines. This data was obtained from an episode from The Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare where the choices made by the management were criticized. The primary source of information concurs with this observation. From the data obtained, a majority of the customers prefer traditional pub meals and the themed cuisines, which The Fenwick does not serve. From the data, it is evident that 50% of the respondents preferred the themed evenings. Of the 10 respondents, five respondents choose this option. On the other hand, traditional pub meals were preferred by 40% of the respondents. Only 10% of the customers prefer snacks, and none preferred any of the other options presented to them. This is an indicator that customers and the prospective customers of this pub were not interested in high-end meals and instead preferred local servings. The sample menu is also an important source of information. That is, an investigation of the average of the various meals is indicative of the decision that the management of the pub should make. Starter The average cost a starter is £5.27 while the mode is £4.25. This information implies that the management should ensure that they prepare relatively cheaper starters and ensue that the average of their cost is approximately £4.25. Dessert The average cost of the dessert according to the sample menu is £4.59. However, the mode is £5.88, which implies that they should prepare desserts whose average cost is in the neighbourhood of £5.88. Main The average of the main course from the data is £9.52 and the mode of the same is £9.25. This data suggest that the pub is right on the cost of the main course. However, preparing cheap meals whose cost averages £9.25 would improve their performance.   Sample Menu Questionnaire Responses   Mean Mode Median Mean Mode Median Starter 5.271428571 4.25 5.5 3.80 4.00 4.00 Main 9.521428571 9.25 9.75 10.60 12.00 10.75 Dessert 4.594285714 5.88 4.5 3.75 4.50 3.75 From the table there is evidence that the sample menu is more reasonable relative to the research data. The average cost of the starter from the information is higher than the average budget for the same, which implies that there is an increasing need for the pub to lower the prices of the starter. They can afford to increase the cost of the main course given the fact that the average budget of a customer is more than the average cost. Lastly, the dessert is costly and the management should consider lowering the cost of the dessert to reflect the average budget of its customers. The respondents were also asked to indicate the number of times that they visit the pub. From the data, there is need for the management of the pub to invest in marketing. The average visiting frequency of the customers is 5.8 time each week. While this implies that they visit more than 5 days each week, it also suggests that there is a need for the pub to improve its services in a bid to entice the customers to increase the frequency of their visits. The mode of the visits according to the data collected is four. A large proportion of the customers visit only 4 days in a week. This performance is poor and as previously indicated, a marketing strategy is necessary to improve the number of visits. Sources of Error While some of the errors that might be observed in this research, the most glaring source is the fact that the sample size was small. The limitations on the resources available were the cause for the small sample size. From studies (Schabenberger & Gotway, 2005), it is evident that when there are two exactly similar experiment with similar parameters, but one has a small sample size, the large sample size research has less sampling process errors. The reasoning is that as the sampling size increases, it will mimic the general population. In essence, it has low chances of having sampling errors, but the reverse is true for small sample size studies. Conclusion There are numerous conclusions that can be drawn from this study. For instance, there is evidence that the preferences of the customers and the foods served at the pub vary. That is, the management of the pub has been keen on serving its customers high-end foods. There is a general belief among the managers that ensuring that the restaurant serves high-end meals will attract more customers, but that has not been the case. Instead, a majority of the customers prefer traditional and themed meals. Only 10% of the customers prefer snacks and fast foods. In addition, there are disparities between the costs of the meals in the pub as compared to the amount of money that its consumers are ready to use. These facts imply that the management has been making the wrong decision and have to improve their approach to help The Fenwick to pay its debts and attract more customers. Lastly, it is notable that there is a low frequency of visits to the outlet. Part of the reason for this trend can be explained by the discussed disparities in terms of costs and the foods served in the restaurant. Recommendations From the evidence collected from the community, the strength of the pub emanates from the support that it receives from the local community. A majority of the residents identify with restaurant. Still, they are concerned by the current trend of the pub and its deteriorating performance. They acknowledge and the study concurs that there is need for change by the management to steer The Fenwick to success. The first step that the management should focus on is to change the menu to reflect the preferences of its customers. The pub is keen on serving high end and up-town meals. However, no customers reported that they prefer this type of food. A majority of the customers sampled indicated that they preferred themed and traditional foods. To this effect, the management should adjust the menu. The cost of the meals is another important change. As indicated by the study, there are discrepancies in the cost and the budget of the customers. The management should reduce the prices of the foods to concur with the budget of its customers. The number of visits to the restaurant is indicative of a reducing popularity of the restaurant. For this reason, the management of the pub should invest on marketing the services that they provide. This will improve the awareness of the local community of the restaurant and the changes made by the management. This approach will increase number of customers that the pub receives weekly. Micromanaging all the activities has a negative impact on the employees. The management of The Fenwick should delegate some duties to its customers and improve its human resource management. This approach will not only reduce the employee turnover, but also improve the service delivery. The pub has many equipment and cutlery that do not add any value to its overall performance. As indicated by the secondary source of data, the management purchased appliances that were unnecessary, which had a negative effect on the finances. Selling these appliances will improve the financial situation of the pub. Additionally, given the age of most of its customers, children playground and equipment could improve its ratings significantly. The Fenwick Arm Pub name is widely appreciated, which implies that rebranding would not be necessary. Instead, making the changes outlined will improve service delivery to its clientele and help it to overcome its current challenges. References The Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare (2015). Kitchen Nightmares Season 3 Episode 6 - The Fenwick Arms. [online] Available at: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22rqdk_kitchen-nightmares-season-3-episode-6-the-fenwick-arms_shortfilms [Accessed 26th Sept 2015]. Matias, A., Alexandre Neto, P., & Nijkamp, P. (2007). Advances in modern tourism research. Heidelberg: Physica. Office for National Statistics, (2013). Detailed household expenditure by UK countries and regions, 2010-2012. [Online] London. Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/regional-statistics/[Accessed 26th Sept 2015]. Schabenberger, O., & Gotway, C. (2005). Statistical methods for spatial data analysis. Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall/CRC. Appendix Sample Menu Questionnaire 1. Please state your age 2. What is your average number of visits to the Fenwicks Arms Bar? 3. What is your view of the pub as part of the community? 4. Do you love visiting the pub? 5. What are your thoughts about its management? 6. Of the foods listed below, which ones would you prefer you be served 1) Crisps 2) Snacks 3) Bar Meals 4) Traditional; Pub Meals 5) Formal meals 6) Themed evenings 7) Others (Please specify) 7. How many courses of meal do you prefer? 8. What is your average budget for a starter? 9. What is your average budget for the main course? 10. What is your average budget for a dessert? 11. Formal or Informal? Read More