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Chuck E. Cheese






Chuck E. Cheese
OBHR
Group 7
Dr. Edgington
University Texas at Dallas
4/18/14






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Chuck E. Cheese
Group Seven
OBHR 3310.503
18 April 2014
Chuck E Cheese
Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment, Inc. has been recognized as a leader in family dining
and entertainment for 37 years. The restaurant chain features arcade games, an animatronic
show, and indoor climbing play structures designed for young children. This company has
provided a place where people from all background can come and bring their kids to a place they
can enjoy and be accompanied by other kids that have the same desire.
Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater first opened in San Jose, California in 1977 by
founder Nolan Bushnell to provide a unique family dining experience. The concept of the
animatronic show, starring Chuck E. and his fellow band members, was to provide entertainment
to parents while their children played games in the arcade. Prior to the restaurant opening,
Chuck E. was called Rick Rat. It was later decided his current name would be more fitting for an
eating establishment. In nineteen eighty four, Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time was purchased by
fellow competitor Showbiz Pizza Place. Showbiz converted all existing locations into Chuck E.
Cheese Pizza locations in the early nineties. Towards the late nineties, the company rebranded
itself Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment, Inc. As of today, there are more than five hundred
locations operating in the United States and several foreign countries.
CEC Entertainment, Inc. has been a leading competitor in the family dining and
entertainment industry for thirty seven years. The restaurant chain features arcade games, an
animatronic show, and indoor climbing play structures designed for children of different ages.
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Chuck E. Cheese
The company operates under the mission, Every guest leaves happy, which extends to parents
as well as children. Parents can feel confident knowing their children are able to play and have
fun in a clean and safe environment. The company has an advantage over its competitors in
terms of security measures. All visitors are subject to their kid check system. Upon entering a
CEC location, each visitor, parents included, receives a unique hand stamp to ensure all parties
leave together.
Chuck E. Cheese is most known for hosting birthday parties, but also hosts other group events
such as, school fundraisers, PTA meetings, community events, etc. Parents choose to celebrate
birthdays at CEC because their children can enjoy delicious pizza, a game room full of activities,
and fun prizes all at a fairly low cost. There are accommodations for kids of all ages. The game
rooms are separated into three sections: the toddler zone, kiddie area, and skilled games and
arcade. Birthday boys and girls even spend time scoring tickets in the Ticket Blaster. Tickets
can then be traded for fun toys and other prizes.
Each CEC restaurant exhibits a team environment with one common goal, to provide the
best possible experience for children and parents. The teams consist of a general manager,
assistance managers and opening coordinators, and cast members. Each position plays a key role
ensuring the restaurant functions as it should. For instance, cast members are responsible for
ensuring game functionality, restaurant cleanliness, food preparation, and child safety.
Additionally, assistant managers, and opening coordinators, guarantee the restaurant is opened
and closed on time, and crew members are well prepared to complete their daily tasks. Lastly,
general managers, guide and motivate the team, oversees all daily operations, handle any
complaints or staffing issues, and monitors sales. Without the contributions of each member, the
restaurant chain would not be successful.
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Chuck E. Cheese
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
In order for an organization to be successful, it must posses a sense of identity. This sense
of identity is developed through organizational culture, which shapes both how an organization
sees itself and how it sees the rest of the world. Organizational culture creates a system of
control within an organization because it influences all members to mutually share a certain
degree of consensus towards the organizations rules, norms, and values. A prime example of an
establishment with strong organizational culture is Chuck E Cheeses.
The foundation for organizational culture in businesses like Chuck E Cheeses generally
consists of three components known as observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic
underlying assumptions. Observable artifacts include manifestations of an organizations culture
that employees can easily see or talk about. Examples of observable artifacts in Chuck E
Cheeses include symbols like the mouse on the Chuck E Cheeses logo in addition to distinct
physical structures such as printed carpets and a play place with colorful slides. The espoused
value element in organizations like Chuck E Cheeses consists of a companys explicitly stated
beliefs, norms and philosophies. For instance, Chuck E Cheeses states that we base our
company mission and philosophy on Total Quality Management theory, ethics, and trial and
error. Lastly, basic underlying assumptions in organizations like Chuck E Cheeses consist of
taken-for-granted beliefs and philosophies that are so ingrained that employees simply act on
them rather than questioning the validity of their behavior in a given situation. A prime example
of a basic underlying assumption is demonstrated through the outwardly expressive enthusiasm
that Chuck E Cheeses employees show during a childs birthday celebration.
Taking into consideration the combination of an organization like Chuck E Cheeses
observable artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions-it becomes possible to further
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Chuck E. Cheese
classify the company along various cultural dimensions. For instance, Chuck E Cheese consists
of a communal culture, specifically aimed towards customer service. The focus on communal
culture is due to the fact that Chuck E Cheeses deals with an environment packed with young
children roaming freely. To ensure the highest degree of efficiency in the workplace, Chuck E
Cheeses requires that its organization to keep a friendly group of employees who all think alike.
Furthermore, since the vast majority of Chuck E Cheeses revenue is based solely on customer
satisfaction-providing professional quality customer service is absolutely essential to the
sustainability of this organization; therefore, prioritizing a customer service culture. Although
maintaining such a strong organizational culture comes with potential disadvantages such as
increased difficulty merging with other organizations or limiting diversity of thought by
attracting and retaining similar kinds of employees, the strengths of Chuck E Cheeses solidified
culture outweighs such risks. For instance, Chuck E Cheeses can use its strong organizational
culture to differentiate itself from others by being unique, and can also combat against limited
diversity by creating a distinct organization that allows employees to identify themselves within
its culture.
Altogether, Chuck E Cheeses exemplifies what successful organizational culture can
lead to. All the way from showcasing distinctive observable artifacts to training its employees
while reminding them that they are now part of a group that helps define who they are, Chuck E
Cheeses continues to experience growth as a business. As time progresses and new trends and
technologies begin to take place, it is a companys organizational culture that helps it maintain its
identity in an ever-changing world.
TEAM PROCESS AND COMMUNICATION
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Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E Cheese is divided in three sections and has six managers. They have nine
employees working in the host department, ten employees working in the game room, and
thirteen employees working in the kitchen. Each department works as a team for the success of
the restaurant. The employees working there are mainly teenagers and each team is very
interdependent to the other.
Chuck E. Cheese cares about its employee and wants to ensure an environment that is safe,
productive and rewarding. For that, it has a Human Resources Manager who is available to
discuss issues, problems or concerns that may arise. Employees can address employment
concerns, report incidents of harassment or discrimination, or report any illegal, immoral or
unethical behavior to managers.
It is a company whose ultimate goal is to have every guess happy when they are leaving,
especially children who are their targeted customers. They are really engaged and putting all
their effort to always have the best product in the marketplace, and thus, only highly motivated
people are hired. In addition, Chuck e cheese has its managers that train employees individually
so they could reach they main goal. Employees have a work book to note every detail so it is
easy for managers to see if the work is well done, if something is missing, or if something needs
to be replaced. Furthermore, managers provide some promotions to those employees that are
really committed and motivated to work. Besides that, each employee helps each other when
needed and work as a family so that the company could reach their goal.
When it comes to decision making, managers refers to employees for their suggestions.
However, when it is about making a big decision, the six managers decides between them or
refers to the corporate as hole.
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Chuck E. Cheese
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Chuck E Cheese has three different tears the individual that coordinated everything in the store is
the head manager. The Head Manager: is responsible for managing the daily operations of the
restaurant including direct hiring, supervision, development and, termination of employees. In
addition, he oversees the inventory and ordering of food and supplies. The head manager
enforces sanitary practices for food handling, general cleanliness, and maintenance of kitchen
and dining areas. He needs to ensure the restaurant compliance with operational standards,
company policies, federal or state laws. Guests are a top priority; therefore the manager must
guarantee positive guest service in all areas. He has to respond to complaints, taking any and all
appropriate actions to satisfy guests. Besides, he is responsible for ensuring that all financial and
personnel (payroll) related administrative duties are completed accurately, on time and in
accordance with company policies and procedures. His administrative duties include preparing
financial, marketing, and sales projections, analyses, and estimates. Outside the restaurant the
manager needs to be aware of emerging trends in the restaurant industry by attending educational
workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal networks; and also
participating in professional societies. The head Manager reports everything to Chuck E.
Cheese's head office. The Head Assistant Manager: Helps the head manager in all his tasks and
duties. He insures the clerical tasks for the head manager and the restaurant. He helps prepare the
restaurant financial documents such as invoices, receipts or payrolls. At Chuck E. Cheese's, the
head manager is not always present at the restaurant so the head assistant manager ensures
continuity helped by the assistant manager. The Assistant Manager: oversees all the practical
activities of the restaurant from the reception of the guests to the kitchen. He can make decisions
in the absence of the head manager to whom he reports directly. He is in charge of all the floor
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Chuck E. Cheese
workers (servers, cashiers, cooks). The assistant manager carries the key of all the machines and
games or the facility. He is also responsible keep the food and supplies inventories of the
restaurant up to date. Besides he oversee all the restaurant deliveries to make sure they are
conform to the command. There are two assistant managers working at different shifts at Chuck
E. Cheeses. Cashiers: They run the cash registers but they also give menus to the guests and
take orders. They also collect tickets from the guests and get the prizes. Servers/ waiters: they
manage the table services and they are responsible of cleanliness the tables and the facility floor.
They assure the connection between the cooks, the kitchen and the guests. Cooks: they mainly
cook dishes and they manage the kitchen. They update food and kitchen inventories that they
transmit to the assistant managers. Host: the host greets and installs the guests, stamps the hangs
of the kids and parents. Chuck E. Cheeses Mascot: entertain and plays with the kids.
This restaurant employs 32 people to insure its smooth running. Each employee as a very
narrow view and a precise understanding of the tasks they perform. The command chain is very
strict and clear because every floor employee directly reports to the assistant manager who
reports to the head manager. An employee cannot take a decision without consulting the manager
or the head manager. All the customer complaints or refunds must be approved by the manager
or the assistant manager before being process. As we can see Chuck E. Cheeses is a mechanistic
company.
During the recent years some changes have been made to improve the service and the
customers satisfaction. A couple years ago they decided to create a sign-up sheet that lists all the
tasks of each employee. Each employee has to sign his sign-up sheet at the end of his shift. The
sign-up sheet allows the manager to monitor the completion of all the employees tasks but also
forces the employee to work efficiently.
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Chuck E. Cheese
Job Satisfaction- Marcus Harrison
Chuck E. cheese creates a work atmosphere that allows employees to communicate and
perform job duties in a relaxed fun environment. The In-depth chapter breakdown of job
satisfaction was observed and documented based on workplace employees. The value perception
theory lists specific faucets that identified employees job satisfaction at Chuck E. Cheese; the
value perception theory explores each employee on whether or not they perceive their job
supplying specific faucets that provides personal value to their job. The two faucets employees
viewed as the highest based on the value theory was: work itself and co-satisfaction. Job
satisfaction questionnaires were given to random employees that indicated that the job itself gave
them a high sense of personal satisfaction. Employees, observed working on the job, seemed to
enjoy work interactions with other coworkers. The significant underrated value faucet was
supervision satisfaction, which was on display as assistant managers communicated casually
with floor employees. Employees, I talked to, informed me that the managers were fair and
collaborative with their employees. Based on the value perception theory the worst would have
to be pay satisfaction; the employees that responded to the questionnaire indicated that they were
satisfied with work but not pay.
Another theory called Job characteristic describes specific characteristics in the job itself
that provides employees job satisfaction. Employees performed specific job roles such as the
host whom greets customers or work floor employees assisting customers. Employees performed
specific job roles that actually provided a lot of variety within the job title. An example would be
floor employees multiple job tasks such as: assisting customers on where to sit, serving customer
ordered menu items, and resolving customer complaints. Essentially, their daily work tasks may
become routine, but the job provided a variety of customer interactions that doesnt feel
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Chuck E. Cheese
repetitive to employees. Chuck E. Cheese did a great job of creating a work atmosphere that
gives employees significance while performing their job duties. The companys business model
is centered on making sure the customer enters and leaves with a smile, which indicates
employees have an overall purpose at work to supply and provide customers with a great
experience. There are times employees quickly adapted into other job roles based on increased
customer demands; this indicates that the variety of role changes provided at work gives
employees job enrichment satisfaction. This means that duties and responsibilities associated
with the job can expand to provide more variety and increase job satisfaction. The work
environment at Chuck E. cheese provides frequent feedback to allow employees to understand if
they are performing their duties accordingly on the job. This became evident as employees
assisted customers with any issues and customers would provide instant appraisal feedback to
employees such as: Thank you or youre doing a great job. This instant feedback provides
employees personal satisfaction, which in returns increases their work commitment at work.
Another job characteristic evident was work identity to specific job roles such as host, floor
workers and cashier. Work identity refers to job tasks that have an identifiable beginning to end
with a visible outcome. Work identity were in identifiable job roles such as: The host is the one
that greets and stamps customers as they arrive, the cashier rings up customer transactions
receipt, and floor employees efficiently satisfying the customers needs providing an enjoyable
experience for customers.
Overall observation revealed that employees maintained a consistent pleasant mood and
moderate levels of activation. This means employees maintained a mood that was cheerful and
above moderate level of activeness. Chuck E. Cheeses high customer service environment puts
employees in situations that can trigger short term emotions based on the affective events theory.
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Chuck E. Cheese
The theory explains how employees work attitudes and behaviors are altered by workplace
events. Talking to a few employees, they noted that a bad customer interaction was the top
influence of negative emotions from work. Overall, every employee displayed positive emotions
after various workplace events. This could be due to the fact that customer service workplace
requires high emotional labor, which means that employees need to manage emotions to
complete job duties successfully. Thats why Chick E. cheese prides itself on high customer
service, because employees can transfer bad emotions to customers by emotional contagion. This
means employees with low emotional labor will unintentionally transfer their negative emotions
onto customers, which leads to unsatisfied customers.
Recommendations
Even with all the great things that Chuck E Cheese has accomplished there is always
room for improvement for a company. One of the major things that should be noted and
addressed that could potentially improve not only with employee moral but also help improve
customer satisfaction would be to create an emphasis on employees that go above and the
beyond there call of duty. One way that this can be address is by having a daily meeting with
employees before the opening of the store to help identify those individuals that have exceeded
their expectations in providing a great customer experience. Allowing other employees to see
that hard work pays off and that their hard work does not go unnoticed will not only encourage
them to go above and beyond but it will also create a since of competitiveness to strive for
excellence. Another way that this issue could be addressed would be to create a monthly award
for the employee that received the highest amount of customer praises. By having the employees
picture taken and placed in a place that is visible to other employees will not only create a since
of appreciation for the employee but it will also show the other employees that if they are
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committed to providing a great customer experience their work will not be in vain. Having these
types of rewards available for employees this could drastically help increase meaningfulness of
work for the employees. These actions on behalf of the company could also increase citizenship
behavior among the employees which could also lead to more employees being committed to the
company seeing that other employees are going the extra mile and being rewarded for their hard
work.
Another improvement that the company could take into consideration is that of helping
their employees deal with stress and aggravated customers. Since the company had devoted all of
its efforts in hopes that every customer leaves satisfied it would only make sense that the
company take time to ensure that every employee understands and knows how to deal with
personal stress and unpleasant customers. In an environment where employees have the
responsibility to entertain and safeguard children one should take into account that taking care of
other peoples children is a great responsibility because parents can become very sensitive when
it comes to how their children are treated. Every parents has raised their child with different
morals, standards, and cultural believes. Having employees that understand and are able
demonstrate a good understanding of the importance of putting their emotions aside and that are
willing to doing everything they can to meet the needs of the customers will help the company
reach its goal of making sure that every customer leaves happy. One way that the company can
start to address this issue is to educate the floor employees by allowing them to watch videos on
culture diversity so that they can get familiar with the different family backgrounds that they
might encounter at the restaurant. Most employees that work at Chuck E Cheese are young and
allowing them to relate and understand a parents perspective on the precautions that he or she
may take to ensure the well-being of their child the employee can then help minimize the room
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Chuck E. Cheese
for dissatisfaction. The company could provide cross cultural training to their employees so that
they may ultimately become aware of the diversity that they might encounter in the work place.
One of the major thing that the company could use to help increase efficacy and
ultimately customer satisfaction would be to have a lead cashier, lead cook, and possibly a floor
supervisor. The fact that there are only three manager that run the entire store creates an
environment that can possibly lead to customer dissatisfaction. Allowing one employee to help
oversee the daily activities of one particular department will ultimately relieve some stress and
easy the load off the head assistant manager and the assistant manager. If this title was
implemented into the organizational structure of the company the managers would spend less
time helping employees with issues that arise from customer complaints and could spend more
time in interacting with customers to find different ways that they can increase customer
satisfaction which is the ultimate goal of the company. Also allowing other employees to help
oversee departments could relieve some role overload that the managers may be experience.
Managers may also be facing role conflicts in which they feel that they are being required to do
all the paper work, pay attention to customers, and oversee employees complete their daily task.
Another benefit that could be obtained from adding these position is that employees
promotional satisfaction may increase. The current company structure seems to not have room
for employee improvement which could potentially decrease the employees job value
perception.
These things along with many other thing can easily be implemented to ensure that the
employees as well as the company can be profitable. Ensuring that all employee are well aware
of the availability of growth within the company and of the strong history and stability of the
company will allow employees to become more committed to their jobs and roles.