Restaurants and Customers - Example

RESTAURANTS AND CUSTOMERS Student’s name Code & Course Professor’s name University City Date Executive summary The retrospect paper focusses on discussing the project delivery as a reflection on various aspects. The restaurant chain presently exists amid stiff competition positioning the restaurants at a crossroads between making profits and attracting more customers to beat other rivals at the competition. As such, the project analyses the project process providing the strengths and limitations demonstrated in the project delivery. This discussion is centered on analyzing the key deliverables and requirements that were included in the research. Moreover, the tendering methodologies that were incorporated to acquire tools and products for the project. Furthermore, contract formation in the project indicates inclusion of contracting laws in Scotland and Australia which were further utilized for dispute resolution. Lastly, the project was done through providing various final submission of reports that were documented for post process management. Table of Contents Executive summary 2 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Background and Environment of the Project 4 3.0 Tendering Methodologies 8 4.0 Contract formation, Administration, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution 10 5.0 Contract Closeout and Project Handover 12 6.0 Findings and Recommendations 15 7.0 References 16 1.0 Introduction The project aims at establishing ways in which restaurants can attract more customers and maintain the existing as a means to success in the business (Azim et al 2014). As such, the project focusses on defining of the deliverables and requirements by describing the stakeholders interested in the project and the tools that were used. By discussing the contract formation and demonstrating whether the contracting involved best practices, Gido & Clements 2014 demonstrates that it will be possible to analyze the processes involved in the negotiations besides how conflicts arising will be addressed and resolved. Further, the project describes tendering methodologies that were involved in acquiring goods and services that were used in the project (Kang et al 2015). This includes the evaluation of offers from the market. This retrospect paper seeks to reflect on the project management as a contract offered to the Project Management Office by the restaurants in Australia by analyzing the contract formation, tendering methodologies and project handover besides providing recommendation for future projects (Kendrick 2015). 2.0 Background and Environment of the Project Presently, restaurants are growing fast and increasing in number in every city worldwide. As such, managers are facing the urge to remain at the top since the competition is stiff (Dubay et al 2015). In order to do so, the respective restaurants have to be the most profitable and at the same time attract and retain customers (Christensen & Raynor 2014). Due to this, the restaurant chain Project Management Office was mandated to conduct a study into the best manner in which the restaurants could remain profitable besides being ahead of their rivals within the market. This project is built on hypothesis that more customers translates to more profits and consequently the leading position for the specific restaurant (Horng et al 2013). Further, the project intended to establish whether this hypothesis was correct or not and the possible theories that could be associated with the restaurants amid the stiff competition. Therefore, the project intends to demonstrate the means to attract and retain more customers through designing various strategic practices that have been proposed by various scholars like Berndt et al 2014. Definition of project requirements and deliverables No. Deliverable Definition 1 Project deliverables The outcomes for the project 2 Process deliverables The means for planning and executing the project 3 Statement of work A deliverable defining the project besides securing acceptance of the project by the stakeholders 4 Project business case A deliverable intended to propose the project 5 Project review A deliverable for evaluating the results and performance of the project 6 Project schedule A deliverable defining the timeline for the project 7 Governance plans A deliverable indicating the means to managing of the project 8 Project budget A deliverable that defines and allocates the funding for the project Table 1.0 Project Deliverables: Planning Successful Outcomes. Available at: https://www.ittoolkit.com/how-to-it/projects/project-deliverables.html The project was aimed at establishing the factors that determine the success of a restaurant as discussed by Azim et al 2014. As a matter of fact, this formed the key deliverable of the project. Besides, the expectations of the stakeholders were set to integrate properly with the objectives of the project. The setting of these deliverables and requirements were coordinated by the project manager as the head of the project. Moreover, the process involved choosing the right restaurant that the participants in the project could engage respondents (Ye et al 2015). Srivastava et al 2016 posits that the defining of the requirements depends on identifying the project head and the people that were set to be affected by the project. For instance, the stakeholders determined what the project should focus at while the project manager provided the way forward by allowing those involved in the project as a group to provide their perspectives on the requirements. Of interest was the fact that the customers formed the other important dimension in defining the requirements in that they are the people who are set to benefit from the project. After defining the requirements and those involved in defining them, it was necessary to get official commitment through signing off by the key stakeholders. This was necessary because the signing was affirming that the requirements are precise besides ensuring that the scope creep does not come into the project in the course of implementation. In addition, the requirements for the project were categorized into various groups to ensure that each element has been taken into consideration. These categories included: Functional requirements in which the objectives of the project was viewed from the end users’ perspective. In this manner, it was possible to establish the function of a product or service by shaping its features to suit what the customers would want. For instance, the preparing of a menu to include varieties of food from different cultures to attract and maintain more customers in a restaurant (Osborne 2015). Operational requirements were considered in order to set the strategies that would ensure the success of the restaurant for a long term period. Strategies like disruptive strategy proposed by Christensen were utilized to demonstrate the success strategies and the future of restaurants. Technical requirements were analyzed to establish the technical aspects of the project that were to be involved in the project implementation. Aspects like the availability of recording devices for audio and video, operations on spreadsheets for data recording and tabulation through SPSS were considered under this category. Transitional requirements were defined in order to establish how the products that are set to be rolled out in the restaurants can be rendered smoothly and effectively to the consumers (Monaghan 2012). The project utilized check lists that each member in the project team was provided with (Maley 2012). The checklist indicated which restaurants were to be surveyed under the project, which resources like literary sources were to be analyzed, where and when the questionnaires would be used among other sets of information. Of interest in the preparation was that the information on the checklist was structured in a manner that allowed for chronological order of administering the activities stated (Kerzner 2013). By following the information as provided on the checklist through ticking what has already been done, it was possible to see what has been covered and what is yet to be. Kerzner 2013 demonstrates that as a measure to establish the validity and adaptability of the requirements, the requirements were analyzed for approval of the requirements. This was done through prioritizing of the requirements to establish which ones to be attended to first and to which degree. Besides, analysis of the impact of the change that was to be brought about by the project was done to establish the consequences the project would have on the existing services and products in the market besides resolving the conflicting issues within the stakeholders on possible different future of the proposed project. The analysis that was conducted revealed the feasibility of the project and thus paving way for the implementation of the project (Kendrick 2015). Whole of a life considerations in the research was inculcated to demonstrate the relationship between the success of restaurants and the customer preferences. Just like the research done by Bapna 2015 on the successful South Mumbai restaurants, it was revealed that the success of a restaurant depended greatly on the whole life aspects for the customers. These involves sectors like religion, tradition, culture and the needs of the customers. In this project, traditions and culture were involved in the services offered to the customers to demonstrate how the two influence the preferences of the customers (Lu et al 2013) Similar to the research by Bapna 2015, including varieties of food from different cultures in the menu for the restaurants attracted more customers to the restaurants indicating that localities are comprised of multicultural population that have varied tastes and preferences. Furthermore, the project demonstrated the application of disruptive strategy that is proposed by Christensen and Raynor 2014, which has been applied by companies that intent on taking leadership in the markets. The strategy focuses on aspects of human life by analyzing how a product can be useful in various segments of human life. The project on the other hand using an example of milk shakes and its consumption trends, it was established that customers buy certain products continuously due to the brand name associated with it (Srivastava et al 2016). 3.0 Tendering Methodologies The project undertaken proved to be a complex process with many responsibilities and thus, various tools and processes were involved in the project to execute the project (Kang et al 2015). The tools involved in the project included video and audio recorders, project books, among other tools. As a matter of fact, the sourcing of these tools involved variants of both purchasing and leasing. The books that were involved in recording the responses from interviews with the respondents and the forms filled in were purchased since they were to be filed by the project manager for future reference (Monaghan 2012). However, devices like video and audio recorders were lease to reduce the cost of conducting the project and yet the only the tape was necessary for storing the data collected during the project. Basically, acquisition of goods and services involved various tools like delivery vehicles and structure to store the goods delivered. As such, the storage space and the delivery vehicles were leased for specified periods of time. On the contrary, storage facilities like cooler boxes for perishable products and the goods themselves were purchased. The purchase also covered delivery services that were paid for once dispensed. The tendering for these goods and services involved open tendering (Kang et al 2015). This involved the companies advertising their products through an open competition to acquire unbiased opportunities that were offered by the project. Furthermore, the providers were allowed to demonstrate their evaluation measure to establish the least costly but high quality providers (Christensen & Raynor 2014). The qualified bidders through effective competition got the contract to provide the goods and products since much emphasis was attached to the value for money. Moreover, the tendering involved creating healthy supply chain with the suppliers through establishing strategic relationship in which the supplier was offered best prices in order to deliver the high quality goods (Dubay et al 2015). Besides, having various bidders allowed for the project managers to establish which provider was best in a way that providing of varieties in the goods supplied meant a competitive advantage (Gido & Clements 2014). The successful bidders were awarded the tenders to supply the goods and provide services. In the restaurant business presently, the competition is stiff and therefore, the market and the providers of goods and services have to be evaluated on various grounds to establish the quality in the goods and services they offer (Horng et al 2013). One of the ways that was used to evaluate the market was urgency. In this manner, the goods and services to be supplied were rated depending on how much the customers need the products (Osborne 2015). For example, setting up restaurants in Indian societies dictates that one provides Hindi foods which are in high demand among the Indians (Bapna 2015). Another way for evaluating the market was basing on the uniqueness of the offer (Berndt et al 2014). This was necessary in establishing what the supplier offers that is not offered by other competitors. For instance, a supplier offering unique goods enables the group conducting the project to provide unique products and services to their customers (Osborne 2015). Besides, the uniqueness demonstrated that it was difficult for others to copy what is being offered. For example, providing private dining spaces for customers is unique compared to providing varieties of fast food which is common in every restaurant (Srivastava et al 2016). Considering the evergreen potential in the market such that the project focused on reducing the cost of operation (Maley 2012). Thus, the evaluation was in a way that once the initial investment has been made, there should be continuous inflow of profits with minimum additional costs. For example, training the staff at the restaurant on people relations will be effective even after a long period of time yet there are no extra costs that will be incurred (Kerzner 2013). Considering the environment in which the restaurant business is situated, the methods for evaluating the offers proved effective and relevant in a manner that the competition in the business being stiff, an investor needs unique products and services for the customers which earns the business a good word of mouth (Lu et al 2013). As such, evaluating the offers basing on how unique the goods and services supplied are will ensure that the final consumer gets exclusive and unique products which are not offered by other rivals which contributes to people talking about the brand over the social media and other platforms (Lu et al 2013). Furthermore, considering the evergreen potential from the offer indicates that the restaurant will make more profits after the initial input since the additional costs are not incurred later on. 4.0 Contract formation, Administration, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution The formation of contract was based on best practices as demonstrated by various laws in Scotland, England and Australia. The initial formation involved placement of offers, acceptance of the offer, consideration and legal relation creation (Maley 2012). Like demonstrated by Monaghan 2012, the restaurants exists in ethical and legal environment since they directly deal with the wellbeing of the people and society in general. As such, during the implementation of the project, the restaurant provided the offer inviting the project management office to conduct a project on how best to capture the attention of customers and retain them for the success of the restaurant (Ye et al 2015). This offer was accepted by the project management office by instantaneous communication through telephone communication. Consequently, the terms of the contract were clearly outlined indicating the financing of the project (Srivastava et al 2016). This was done both orally and through writing by both parties. The writing as a legal procedure helped eradicate the possibilities for future disputes on parties changing their positions later. Furthermore, the terms and conditions were made basing on standards of the restaurants so as the project management office not to be providing the counter offer (Kerzner 2013). This gave rise to special considerations in which the parties involved received considerations in order to perform their end of the bargain favorably (Kang et al 2015). Basing on the Australian law on contracting, the goods and services that were to be provided during the implementation of the project were to be valued under the contract terms (Kendrick 2015). Moreover, the contrast management was conducted in order to ensure that the performance of the project is monitored. This is through each party checking to ascertain that the other party was fulfilling their obligations (Gido & Clements 2014). The various terms involved in the contracting were outlined to provide sufficient information which can be utilized by other researchers as basis for project formulation and implementation (Dubay et al 2015). For instance, confidentiality of the contract was observed since the project included sourcing information from customers who might not be interested in allowing the public to know their real identities. As a result, the confidentiality clauses were drafted indicating which sections of the contract could be disclosed and under which conditions (Christensen & Raynor 2014). The initial contract involved utilizing various processes for the success of the contract. These includes payment provisions in which stipulated the exact prices that could be paid out to the project management office besides indicating the dates for payment. This was however regulated so as to anticipate any eventualities like inflation (Kerzner 2013) The information provided at the formation of the contract outlining the terms of the contract that were to be met besides signing off provided a basis for the contractors to deliver to the expectations of the organization (Kendrick 2015). The funding provided was adequate to cater for setting up of simulations that could allow the workers to learn through experience (Kerzner 2013). The project was conducted smoothly and seamlessly with minor disputes arising at the start of the negotiations on contracting. The major dispute was concerning the possible outcomes of the project whereby the stakeholders could not agree on the possible outcome (Gido & Clements 2014). The argument was centered on what the information gained from the project could be used for. To resolve this dispute, it was necessary to define the goals that were to be fulfilled by the project on of them being providing a recommendation for the future of the organization (Gido & Clements 2014). Therefore, the project team set out to collect data to help provide substantiated feedback to the organization (Kendrick 2015). 5.0 Contract Closeout and Project Handover Most of the projects are focused at gaining acceptance of the results by the management (Gido & Clements 2014). For the stakeholders to accept these results, the project management incorporated documentation from the onset of the project to the conclusion. These documents demonstrated measurable criteria being applied in the project leaving non room for ambiguity and doubt (Kerzner 2013). The completion of the project was verified by presenting various final project areas to the stakeholders including the following as highlighted by Kerzner 2013: Lessons learnt documented Audit of the project Final report Requirements documentation Equipment, tools and hire returns Updated risk registers. Providing these documents indicated the final phase of the project though it opens up other areas of insight investigation like post project evaluation (Gido & Clements 2014,). Holding the post project evaluation was intended to identify the sectors that needs improvement since doing one thing the same way over and over all the time will eventually produce similar result. Therefore, if the restaurants are interested in getting better results, have to analyze the final documentation from the project. This post project review is to be done by both the project managers and the stakeholders and establish lessons learnt from the project (Maley 2012). The review should provide answers to such questions as: Were the expected objectives met? Were the results achieved in the way they were expected to be? Were the stakeholders happy with the achieved results? The transfer of knowledge from the contractors to the restaurants involved various forms, all of which were influenced by technological advancements and the economic interest of the restaurants. One of the ways in which the knowledge was transferred was through simulation (Maley 2012). Through this mechanism, the project managers designed similar restaurant scenarios for demonstrating various aspects as customer preferences and their influence on the success of the business. By doing so, it enabled the restaurant managers and workers to understand the dynamics involved in capturing the interest of the customers and maintaining them through participating in a simulated environment of a restaurant (Ye et al 2015). Moreover, paired work proved as another of the effective means of knowledge transfer during the implementation of the project (Lu et al 2013). As a matter of fact, a number of workers at the restaurants were paired each with one participant in the project to facilitate sharing of knowledge through participating in the practice alongside a more experienced personnel. As such, the knowledge gained was retained in the organization for dissemination to other new employees (Berndt et al 2014). This of knowledge transfer was facilitated by identifying and motivating the holders of knowledge to share. Besides, designing a guided experience as a sharing mechanism facilitated the knowledge transfer besides executing the knowledge transfer (Christensen & Raynor 2014). Through guided experimentation, it was possible to measure the application of the transferred knowledge within the organization. The project handover was cut over date to facilitate further investigation into the submitted documents for future changes and developments. That is to say, in order to identify the weaknesses and strengths of the deliverables for the project, post project review is to be applied before closing the contract after meeting the terms of the project (Bapna 2015). For instance, it is to be noted that the cut over date handover was important for both parties especially for the restaurants. This is because both parties need improvement in their respective areas and the only way up is by establishing the weaknesses in the process and working towards eliminating them (Horng et al 2013). Various activities were involved so as to set grounds for the stakeholders to accept the results as valid. Accuracy in measurement during the project whereby visual checks were conducted to establish that the measures that are reported are accurate. This was done through setting standards through guided experimentation where workers were expected to demonstrate certain characteristics implying that they had gained the knowledge intended (Dubay et al 2015). Forecasting by the project team and manager besides the stakeholders should be done well in advance. This is due to the fact that they are to be prepared for issues that can possibly arise later in the project and put into place the necessary precautions. For instance, the stakeholders were made aware of the problem that could arise from poor financing of the project that could lead to poor coverage of the terms agreed to during contracting. 6.0 Findings and Recommendations Basing on the project, it can be deduced that the project was structure under the ethical consideration of Australian law regarding restaurant management and consumer law. This is seen in the manner in which respondents were treated fairly under confidentiality clause to by disclosing the relevant information only where necessary (Gido & Clements 2014). Moreover, conducting post project review helps identify the strengths and weaknesses in the project which can be used for future development in the projects by the same organization and others that are similar. Observing that the transfer of knowledge was conducted and evaluation of the transferred knowledge done, it can be recommended that other projects should consider inculcating these techniques (Horng et al 2015). For instance, incorporating disruptive strategy for leadership position in competition demonstrates the contextual placement of the project making it a good basis for further studies in the future. Furthermore, it has been established that variety and multicultural inclusion in preparation of products facilitate attracting of new customers besides maintaining the existing ones (Srivastava et al 2016). Therefore, other businesses should consider diversifying their goods and services offered to the customers to gain larger market control. Considering the acquisition of the tools that were used in the project, it is noted that leasing of the tools reduces the cost of operation. In the same manner, tools that will be useful to the project team in the future should be purchased to allow for filing and documentation like in the case of note books (Maley 2012). Therefore, future projects can benefit from this research in a way that it is recommended to use a blend of the two mechanisms to acquire tools for the research. 7.0 References Azim, A, Shah, NA, Mehmood, Z, Mehmood, S & Bagram, MMM. 2014, ‘Factors effecting the customers’ selection of restaurants in Pakistan’, International Review of Management and Business Research, vol. 3 no. 2, p.1003. Bapna, K 2015, ‘An analytical study on customer preference and success factor of restaurants in South Mumbai’. Berndt, A, Gikonyo, L & Wadawi, J 2014, ‘Critical Success Factors for the Franchised restaurants entering the Kenyan Market: Customer’s Perspective’, International Journal of Management and Sustainability, vol. 3, no. 7, pp 433-477. Christensen, C & Raynor, M 2014, ‘The Innovator’s Solution’. Dubay, A, Lehota, J & Konnyves, E 2015, Key Factors of a successful restaurant strategy in Hungary, DOI: 10.17626/Dbem.ICoM.P00.2015.p005. Gido, J & Clements, JP 2014, ‘Successful project management’, Nelson Education. Horng, JS, Chou, SF, Liu, CH & Tsai, CY 2013, ‘Creativity, aesthetics and eco-friendliness: A physical dining environment design synthetic assessment model of innovative restaurants’, Tourism Management, vol. 36, pp.15-25. Ittoolkit.com. 2016, ‘Project Deliverables: Planning Successful Outcomes’, [online] Available at: https://www.ittoolkit.com/how-to-it/projects/project-deliverables.html [Accessed 19 Sep. 2016]. Kang, BG, Elbashier, MMME, Goh, BH & Song, MK 2015, ‘A Comparative Study between Clients and Contractors on Competitive Tendering in the Sudan Construction Industry’, Open Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 3 no. 07, p.67. Kendrick, T 2015, ‘Identifying and managing project risk: essential tools for failure-proofing your project’, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Kerzner, HR 2013, ‘Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling’, John Wiley & Sons. 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