Question

In well written paragraphs, answer the following question.

1. Read carefully the below problem text and write the following proposal sections in paragraph format:

1. Analysis of the problem
2. The reasons
3. Proposed solutions
4. Risk to the organisation if the proposed changes are not made

Hunter Co.:

The Hunter Company is a chain of restaurants that are widely distributed across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The business started in 1995 with one branch in Jeddah. It was very successful as it was always crowded and widely complimented by customers in terms of food quality, hygiene and service level. The company then created an expansion strategy to meet the increasing demand. Between 2000 and 2015, The Hunter Co. has opened 50 branches in 30 cities in Saudi Arabia. However, Hunter Co. reported 30% drop in earnings for the second quarter of 2015. In an attempt to understand the causes of such drop, The Hunter company has discovered that customer satisfaction level massively dropped! While gathering information related to the reasons behind the major drop in customer satisfaction, the following comments were given from customers. Many complaints about inappropriate staff behavior. Moreover, complaints about food quality. The service varies from time to time and from a branch to another. Long waiting time. Employees are not taking care of hygiene and cleanliness. In general, they confirm that the food and service quality are below the standards set by the company. The following comments were given by the restaurant staff: Salary is different for the same levels in different restaurants. Nobody cares about how we feel. The company`s CEO says that quality is a priority, but they have brought low quality raw materials to save money. High staff turnover pressure on existing serving staff and managers. The Hunter restaurant is under a real threat of going out of business. They need for transformation to re-gain customer trust.

Answer 1

a. Analysis of the Problem:

The problem which is faced by the Hunter Company chains of restaurants is the fall or the drop in sales, despite of being an entity which was looked forward to and loved by many customers around the country.

The acceptance of the crowd was the major reason which made Hunter Company to open more branches of their restaurant in the country. But then as told above there was a drop in sales which was due to the massive drop in the customer satisfaction.

b. The Reasons:

When inquired about there were multiple complaints from the customers which were stated as follows:

- Inappropriate behavior of the staff,

- Reduced food quality,

- Long waiting time,

- Lower hygiene and cleanliness maintained by the client.

The also claimed that all the standards maintained at the restaurant was below what was set.

At the same time, there were certain points put forth by the restaurant staffs or employees with respect to the reasons for the deteriorated standards and customer complaints. Which were as follows?

- Low salary being paid to the employees which is below the industry average,

- There is no one to address their problem or talk for them,

- Despite of the motto of the company which is ‘quality is priority’, the company provided employees with low quality raw materials/ingredients,

- High staff turnover which in turn increased the pressure on the existing staffs.

c. Proposed Solutions:

Now coming to the solutions for the above stated problems, i.e. drop in sales due to drop in customer satisfaction and the complaints put forth by both the customers and the employees, we can say that the two should be dealt with separately.

But here the priority or the first step should be addressing and solving the employee’s problems and also hiring new employees so as to ensure that there are enough members in the team. The salary for the employees should also be increased or raised to atleast meet or be above the industry standard and also bring good compensation packages and bonuses so as to ensure they are paid the best for the efforts put in by them. The company management should appoint an HR or any such personnel who would address the problems of the employees and to whom they can reach to at the time of difficulty. This HR should hold the capacity to be the bridge between the employee and the management. The company should also ensure that the raw materials (say meat, vegetables, fruits, spices etc.) provided by them are best in quality as they are serving the food which they have prepared using this ingredients and this would make an overall difference in the food quality. In case of turnover of staff, an exit interview should be conducted so as to know the reason for leaving and when one staff has left a new person should be hired without any delay.

Now coming to the customers complaints, majority were about the staff as they were not polite or neatly behaving, did not maintain cleanliness and hygiene, there was more waiting time and the food quality was lower. And it can be understood that all this would be solved when the employees are happy as their requirements are fulfilled.

d. Risk to the organizations if the proposed changes are not made:

If the above proposed changes are not made by the Hunter Company, they would be having more dissatisfied customers and employees. This would eventually lead the company to loss more sales and mounting debt. As the time passes they may even be put out of business easily.

Hence, it would be highly recommended that they adopt the solution and get things right before it’s too late.