MGT101: PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

SEMESTER 1– 2018
GROUP ASSIGNMENT

Due date: Friday 30 March 2018

Value: 20% of the total assessment

Word limit: 2,500-3,000 words (exclude references or appendices)

CASE STUDY: JUMPING INTO THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

Opening any kind of business requires a great deal of patience, dedication, and
perseverance. Lynn Leach jumped into the world of restaurants with both feet when she
decided to open her own quick service restaurant. Truthfully, the industry is filled with
stories of people who dove in, got knocked down, but pulled themselves back up.

In the small town of Wilmington, Ohio, Lynn opened a Skyline Chili franchise. The
town of 12,000 people has embraced the location and Lynn’s friendly business
practices build upon strong customer service and delicious offerings. Recently, Lynn
celebrated the restaurant’s one-year anniversary. But getting started was no easy task.
“I hadn’t worked in a restaurant since high school and here I was, opening a
restaurant,” she said.

Skyline Chili is a Southern Ohio-based restaurant chain that serves “Cincinnati style”
chili. This rather unique blend of chili and seasonings is a typically served over
spaghetti and hot dogs and is a favourite in the Midwest. With over 100 stores, Lynn’s
franchise is somewhat typical of their small-town locations.

Lynn calls her foray into the restaurant business as a “great learning experience.”
Fortunately, she had a lot of support from Skyline’s corporate office. But, much of
what needed to be done was driven by her. “My ultimate goal,” she said, “is to help
people and make them feel good – people’s careers, our customers, and the
community,”
First, she had to determine just how many employees she would need before ever
opening the doors. “We did scores of interviews,” she said, “and hired some really
good people.” However, she discovered during her first year of business that some who
may have interviewed well were not necessarily the best employees. After turning over
about half the staff, she now feels she has the right people in place. But every employee
must be properly trained. They have to learn the menu, how properly greet and serve
the guest, handle their transaction at the cash register, and keep the entire restaurant
fastidiously clean. In addition to hiring, she had to plan the marketing for the grand
opening and order the initial inventory for the restaurant. “All this took a great deal of
planning,” she said. “From a to z, we thought things through and how best to get them
done.”

Once the operation was up and running, Lynn had to pay attention to her costs as well
as her staff. From a cost standpoint, she discovered that there some very efficient steps
the restaurant could take to contain expenses. One idea implemented was to stop
serving half-pint cartons of milk to children. It was found that more than half of the
carton would be wasted and thrown away. However, by serving a small amount in a
glass, the restaurant wasted very little. To keep tabs on all the ingredients, Lyn
conducts an inventory every Monday – literally counting every hot dog bun, cheese,
chili, onions, etc. “It’s painstaking work, but highly necessary so we know what we
have and what we don’t,” she said. “The Monday inventory is how we know what we
need to order and when we need it.” Lynn is not alone in her approach. Successful
restauranteurs understand that counting food costs down to the penny is critical.
Restaurants should look at every shift of operation with a before, during, and after
approach to not only monitor inventory costs, but also identify important best practices
throughout the facility.

For her team of servers, cooks, and cleaners, Lynn believes in creating a fun, yet
productive atmosphere. “Positive feedback is important,” she said. “I’m not to yell at an
employee in front of everyone.” Instead, she counsels employees when performance is
not up to par or the quality of work is suffering. We do not role-plays,” she said,
“where we ask each other how would you would like to be treated if you were the
customer.” These role-plays demonstrate the proper way to engage with customers and
provide a safe training ground to fine-tune the servers’ skills. For those employees who
go above and beyond with their service – whether to customers or to coworkers - Lynn
provides a gift card. “When an employee goes out of her way to serve the customer,”
she said, “they should be rewarded.”

Everyone at Skyline Chili chips in where needed. There are always tasks that need to
be done, and assigning those workers are scheduled to take on certain assignments, but
in some cases, there might be an opportunity to trade tasks. “We sometimes have a
lottery,” Lynn stated, “where some of the least popular tasks like cleaning the bathroom
are drawn in a lottery fashion.” Occasionally, the team will play a game where servers
can assign tasks to each other – realizing that if one employee gives a difficult task to
another, that employee may also get a least favourite job to do, too.
Now that Lynn’s first year of business is behind her, she can say with certainty that it
has indeed been a learning experience. “I have to touch every facet of this business,”
she said, “and you know what, I love it!”

QUESTIONS

Answer All THREE (3) of the following questions.

1. Discuss how has Lynn Leach used the four functions of management in building
her Skyline Chili franchise business?
(40 marks)
2. Discuss the use of organisational resources (human, monetary, raw materials,
and capital) in Skyline Chili franchise. What challenges would Lynn Leach face
with each one?
(40 marks)
3. Which of Katz’s managerial skills (technical, human, and conceptual) does
Lynn Leach seems to use most often? Why?
(10 marks)
Assessment rationale

To enable students to analyze principles and practices of management in organizations

and prepare written reports which provide sound argument with clear conclusions.

Task
1. Dateline: the Group Assignment (3 members per group) must be submitted by
30 March 2018, together with a report generated from the Turn-It-In. It is your
responsibility to ensure the similarity index is not more than 30%. Marks will be
allocated for the originality of your report. You will be referred to the Board of
Inquiry should the originality index is more than 30% (Refer to Academic Integrity
at pages 4-7 of this document).

2. Assignment must be substantially your own work. If you wish to report another
author's point of view you should do so in your own words, and properly footnote the
reference in accordance with the departmental style. Direct quotations should be used
sparingly, form a small part of your work, and must be placed in quotation marks and
referenced. Any material taken from texts and other references, including electronic
resources, CD−ROMS, and the Internet, must be acknowledged.
 Assessment Criteria
Question Guide for Students Marks
Question 1 Identification, definition and brief description of the four (4) functions of /16
Functions of management.
Management Explanation on four functions of management performed by Lynn Leach in /24
Skyline Chili franchise.

Question 2 Definition of four (4) types of organizational resources. /8

Organisational Explanation on the use of organizational resources in Skyline Chili franchise. /16
Resources Explanation on the challenges that Lynn Leach faced with each type of /16
organizational resource.

Question 3 Definition of Katz’s three (3) managerial skills. /3

Managerial Identification & explanation of ONE managerial skill which Lynn Leach /7
Skills seems to use most often in Skyline Chili franchise.
Application Knowledge and understanding of terms, concepts related to the topic /4
Format/Style Logical presentation of a written format; logical explanation of ideas; spelling,
grammar, punctuation, & word choice /2
In accordance with Harvard Referencing standards. (refer /2
References http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/library/subjectsandsupport/referencemanagement/harvard
Total /100
Divided by 5 equals the mark out of 20 /20
Assignment Format

1. Your assignment must follow proper format. The assignment must be typed, line
spacing of 1.5, on 8.27” x 11.69” sheets of unruled paper (A4 paper), and using Times
New Roman (12 point) font.

2. The cover page must list the following information:

a. Names of Students and IDs
b. Subject Code
c. Subject Name
d. Assignment Title/Topic

3. You must submit your assignment together with the Assignment Cover Page duly
completed.

Assessment criteria

Your assignment will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Evidence of understanding of relevant concepts;
• Ability to apply these concepts;
• Quality and originality of ideas presented;
• Clarity of written expression; and
• Professional standard of report presentation (Good structure and layout. Careful
checking of spelling, grammar and punctuation).

Important Notes:

1. Late submissions:
Requests for the granting of extensions must be made in writing (NOT via email) to
the lecturer at least 48 hours prior to the submission date. The request must also
contain documentation satisfactorily supporting the request. Items (for which no
extension has been granted) submitted after the due date and time, incur a late
submission penalty. The penalty is at the rate of 5% of the total available marks for
that particular piece of assessment, for each calendar day or part thereof that the item
is overdue.

2. Turn-It-In
a) You are to make sure the assignment is substantially your own work. Copy and
paste directly from any sources of information is strictly prohibited. You are
allowed to only submit your assignment to the Turn-it-in when you have finalized
and satisfied with your work. There is only ONE submission allowed.
b) It is your responsibility to make sure you have submitted your work to the Turn-
it-in prior to the submission of this assignment. A copy of the report from the
Turn-it-in has to be attached together with your hardcopy submission.
c) You will be given a FAIL grade for this assignment should you fail to follow any
of the above requirements.
d) To access to the Turn-it-in: Website: www.turnitin.com
Class Name: to be given in class
Class ID : to be given in class
Password : to be given in class