BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 1 of 7 BUSN119 W15 - Group Case Analysis – 15% Professor Kerri Shields, [email protected] DUE DATE: Thursday, March 26, 2015 Late submission will incur a 20% per day late mark deduction Team Peer Evaluation due 24 hours after Case Due Date, No late submissions SUBMISSION FORMAT: Professional Word Report Questions and Objectives: 1) Problem Identification: Describe three problems occurring in this case. What fundamental potential consequences are relevant here? What went wrong? 2) Responsibility: To whom or what does the restaurant have a responsibility in this situation? Why? 3) Competitive Analysis: Identify three competitors for this restaurant in the Toronto area. Explain three reasons for each as to each establishment might be considered a competitor— as in similar size, revenue, company structure, similar products, similar target market, etc.— be specific—give facts. 4) PEST: Perform a PEST analysis on HJ Burgers. PEST is an environmental scan which includes the political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological environments. Remember that environmental, legal, and international environments are also included in a PEST analysis, sometimes known as PESTELI. 5) SWOT: Perform a SWOT analysis on HJ Burgers analyzing and extrapolating strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 6) Reassessment of the Problem: For each of the three problems you identified above describe how each could have been avoided. 7) Identification of Alternatives: After analyzing what when wrong in the case and performing several management analysis (competitive, environmental, and SWOT), list at least two alternative courses of action the restaurant could take on each of the three problems above. List and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. 8) Recommendations: Out of the alternatives your group arrived at, select the best alternative for each of the three problems. Give arguments to support recommendations. 9) Implementation Plan: Complete action plan for both short-term (immediate) and long-term strategies. Self and Peer Evaluations: Each student must complete a self and peer evaluation form individually. Complete form and upload into Dropbox. You will rate each member, including yourself, on their/your ability to work in a team. Evaluations must be submitted within 24 hours of case due date, no late submissions permitted. Failure to submit means no grade for this portion of the assignment. mailto:[email protected] BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 2 of 7 HJ Burgers Restaurant Trouble I started work at a nationally known fast food restaurant, HJ Burgers in Toronto, ON, when I was seventeen. I had had other jobs, but none of them was as much fun as this one. I reported for my first shift and was introduced to a new atmosphere that was unlike anything I had experienced before. ...

1. BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 1 of 7
BUSN119 W15 - Group Case Analysis – 15%
Professor Kerri Shields, [email protected]
DUE DATE: Thursday, March 26, 2015
Late submission will incur a 20% per day late mark deduction
Team Peer Evaluation due 24 hours after Case Due Date, No
late submissions
SUBMISSION FORMAT: Professional Word Report
Questions and Objectives:
1) Problem Identification: Describe three problems occurring in
this case. What fundamental
potential consequences are relevant here? What went wrong?
2) Responsibility: To whom or what does the restaurant have a
responsibility in this situation?
Why?
3) Competitive Analysis: Identify three competitors for this
restaurant in the Toronto area.

2. Explain three reasons for each as to each establishment might
be considered a competitor—
as in similar size, revenue, company structure, similar products,
similar target market, etc.—
be specific—give facts.
4) PEST: Perform a PEST analysis on HJ Burgers. PEST is an
environmental scan which includes
the political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological
environments. Remember that
environmental, legal, and international environments are also
included in a PEST analysis,
sometimes known as PESTELI.
5) SWOT: Perform a SWOT analysis on HJ Burgers analyzing
and extrapolating strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
6) Reassessment of the Problem: For each of the three problems
you identified above describe
how each could have been avoided.
7) Identification of Alternatives: After analyzing what when
wrong in the case and performing
several management analysis (competitive, environmental, and
SWOT), list at least two
alternative courses of action the restaurant could take on each

3. of the three problems above.
List and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of each
alternative.
8) Recommendations: Out of the alternatives your group arrived
at, select the best alternative
for each of the three problems. Give arguments to support
recommendations.
9) Implementation Plan: Complete action plan for both short-
term (immediate) and long-term
strategies.
Self and Peer Evaluations:
Each student must complete a self and peer evaluation form
individually. Complete form and upload
into Dropbox. You will rate each member, including yourself,
on their/your ability to work in a team.
Evaluations must be submitted within 24 hours of case due date,
no late submissions permitted.
Failure to submit means no grade for this portion of the
assignment.
mailto:[email protected]
BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 2 of 7
HJ Burgers Restaurant Trouble

4. I started work at a nationally known fast food restaurant, HJ
Burgers in Toronto, ON, when I
was seventeen. I had had other jobs, but none of them was as
much fun as this one. I reported for
my first shift and was introduced to a new atmosphere that was
unlike anything I had experienced
before.
One of the first things I learned was that having fun was really
encouraged. Smiles were the
norm, and, in fact, expected. This friendly environment led to a
lot of fast friendships with my co-
workers, especially since we all went to neighboring high
schools. Our employer encouraged these
ties and would organize activities for us outside of work.
We enjoyed these outings, but the best “perk” by far was the
food, which was half price to
employees, even outside of scheduled shifts! We could even
informally extend this discount to
friends once in a while, which made it an even more enviable
privilege.
I loved my job and worked very hard at it. After fourteen
months I got my first promotion. Six
months later I was promoted again to a junior management

5. position along with two of my co-
workers.
We received very little preparation to deal with this move up to
management. We were given
a workbook covering topics such as food safety, employee
relations, shift planning, scheduling, etc.,
and were supposed to get time on the job to work through it and
then go to classes. But that never
happened. However; we were all told immediately about the
importance of management always
presenting a united front. Most of our training was on the job—
we were given a different colour
shirt, a new nametag, and encouraged to do our best. My first
shift as a manager I was left alone to
supervise a busy dinner hour.
My promotions brought me into more frequent contact with
Michael Roberts, area manager
for the district. Michael was a scary figure to all store
employees because whenever he came in he
found faults. Heaven help you if your personal grooming
wasn’t perfect, if you didn’t have your
nametag on, or even if you weren’t using the prescribed pattern
to mop the floor!

6. Now that I was in a management position, Michael knew me by
name, and made a point of
talking to me every time he came in. I suddenly had to develop
a working relationship with him and
meet his high standards.
There were many benefits to this promotion though, the best of
which was now, free food!
The expensive items on the menu were now always available to
us. We would take advantage of this
whenever we could, sometimes eating three meals a day at our
restaurant! We now also had the
authority to reward our subordinates with free food.
Because we were a small branch, we rarely had more than one
manager working at a time,
which left me completely in charge during my shift. This meant
that it was up to me to ensure that
company standards were met and that all customers were
satisfied, as well as to deal with any
BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 3 of 7
complaints. I also had to make sure everything was in place for
the next shift; if there was something
that I wasn’t able to finish, I had to communicate it clearly to

7. the manager of the next shift.
I also became privy to more knowledge about our store. I
quickly learned that we had trouble
making a profit because the restaurant was so small. As a result
we had to be very careful about
expenses, especially food wastage. We would order $5000 to
$6000 of supplies every week to ten
days, and try to be careful to order only what we would need.
As a result sometimes we would run
out of something, or several things, before they next order. I
hated when that happened.
If it was just a little thing, like milk or tomatoes, we would buy
some at retail to tide us over,
although this was not encouraged. For more basic items, like
hamburger patties and buns, I had to
phone around to other outlets and “beg” to “borrow” some
supplies. This was a real hassle, and
irritating to the other managers too. Furthermore, we often had
only two or three employees
working at a time, so it was a huge inconvenience to send one to
pick up supplies-that is, provided I
could convince someone with a driver’s license and gas in their
car to go. I once had to go myself on
a busy Saturday during Christmas season to pick up eighty trays

8. of buns. It took me three hours and
my mom’s SUV.
Most of the equipment in our restaurant was old and in bad
repair. We couldn’t get
authorization to replace it, so we had to make do. When I
complained, I was told to use the manuals
and try to fix it myself! I had absolutely no idea how to service
these temperamental machines that
would often act up, especially when we were busy. I once had
an ice cream machine explode goo all
over me for my trouble trying to fix it.
The air conditioning didn’t always work either, but the grills
were by far the most
troublesome. They would stop heating properly in the middle of
the day and not cook the food
thoroughly. I got to know several repairmen on a first-name
basis; we spent many hours going over
this problem together.
Nevertheless I persevered, and over the next tem months I
gained valuable experience and
completed all the necessary steps to be prompted again.
Towards the end of this period I met with
my restaurant manager several times, and she assured me that a

9. promotion was in the works, subject
to the approval of the area manager.
I was really looking forward to that…it would mean I would no
longer have to wear a hat on
the job!
One Summer Day
One summer day I came in to open the restaurant after a day
off. It was 6:00 a.m. and already
warm outside, even more so inside the store because the air
conditioning didn’t work well. I started
getting the computer system up and counting the cash, and sent
the open staff person, Jason, to start
making the muffins and getting the tables ready for our 7:00
a.m. opening.
BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 4 of 7
As I was counting the cash, Jason called to me from the back.
He was young and somewhat
excitable, so I didn’t think anything of it as I went over to see
what the matter was.
Jason gestured excitedly and directed me towards the large
walk-in freezer, insisting I look

10. inside. I went into the freezer to take a look. I didn’t like
going in there because it was always so
cold. But not today!
The freezer was room temperature! It must have been off
overnight! “Oh, NO!” I thought, as I
looked in an open box of chicken and picked up a piece. It was
warm and squishy; the coating
crumbled off on my hand. I opened a box of hamburger patties
and touched one on top. If felt
mushy, and was beginning to lose its shape. I leaned over and
opened a box in the middle. It was
cool, and the meat in the center of the box seemed still frozen.
My mind started racing. I ran to the phone to call my
restaurant manager; I know she was
opening at another location that morning. It was about 6:30
a.m. Pat picked up the phone after
several rings.
“Hi Pat, it’s me…umm…I have a really big problem. You
see…uh…”
“Jennifer, I’m really busy! Hurry up!” she snapped.
“I came in this morning and the freezer has been off for hours.
Everything is goopy and gross
and I don’t know what to do. It’s disgusting!”

11. “WHAT! You’ve got to be kidding. Who the hell was working
yesterday? I just don’t believe
this. Damn! I’m too busy to deal with this now. Call Mike.”
Click—she hung up.
I looked at my watch; it was 6:35 a.m. I had to call Michael at
home.
“Hi Michael, it’s Jennifer from 82nd West…Pat told me to call
you!” I blurted out. “Sorry about
this, but I have a big problem. Our freezer has been off for
several hours, the food’s gross and
mushy. I don’t know what to do.”
There was a brief pause as Michael woke up.
“What? Are you joking? Why is the freezer off? Is it broken?
Is it unplugged?”
“Umm…I don’t really know.”
In a panic I ran to the back room to figure out why the freezer
wasn’t on. The answer was in
the fuse box, where I discovered the freezer circuits were in the
“off” position. Quickly I reset them. I
knew we had received a supply order the day before. In order
to save energy in the heat of the day,
the freezer was likely shut off while the order was carried in.
This wouldn’t have been a problem…if

12. only someone had remembered to turn it back on.
“OK, as long as all the cooking temperatures are met, the food
will be all right. You can still
use everything here.”
BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 5 of 7
He went on. “It’s important that we don’t cause a panic about
his. Don’t talk about it in the
restaurant and make sure food temperatures are met. Everything
will be OK. Continue your
shift Jennifer."
"Uh…OK…umm…”
I hung up the phone in a daze. I couldn’t quite bring myself to
carry out those instructions
right away. I felt confused and upset, as I stood lost in my
thoughts searching for some instruction or
part of my training for guidance. I know what to do if there was
a bomb threat, but nothing had
prepared me for this.
I had about twenty minutes worth of food in our small freezers
up front. Jason was waiting

13. for my instructions. I looked at my watch—it was 6:45 a.m.
APPENDIX
Exhibit 1: Excerpts from the Food and Drug Act, and Food and
Drug Regulations, as Administered by
Health Canada.
Interpretation
“Unsanitary conditions” means such conditions or
circumstances as might contaminate with dirt or
filth, or render injurious to health, a food, drug or cosmetic.
Food
4. No person shall sell an article of food that
a) has in or on it any poisonous or harmful substance;
b) is unfit for human consumption;
c) consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, disgusting,
rotten, decomposed or diseased
animal or vegetable substance;
d) is adulterated; or
e) was manufactured, prepared, preserved, packaged or stored
under unsanitary conditions.
Sale of Barbecued, Roasted or Broiled Meat or Meat By-

14. Products
B. 14.072 No person shall sell meat or a meat by-product that
has been barbecued, roasted or broiled
and is ready for consumption unless the cooked meat or meat
by-product
a) at all times
i) has a temperature of 40° F (4.4° C) or lower, or 140° F (60°
C) or higher, or
BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 6 of 7
ii) has been stored at an ambient temperature of 40°F (4.4° C)
or lower, or 140°F (60 C)
or higher
b) carries on the principal display panel of the label a statement
to the effect that the food
must be stored at a temperature of 40° F (4.4° C) or lower, or
140° F (60° C) or higher.
Adapted from Source: Griffin, R. and Ebert, R. and Starke, F.
and Lang, M. (2011). Business, Seventh
Canadian Ed. Pearson Canada Inc.: Toronto, ON
GRADING RUBRIC

15. Criteria
Marks will be deducted for grammar and spelling errors or
incomprehensible sentences.
Title page, Table of Contents, APA References page, in-text
citations, page numbers, APA headings, double-line
spacing, consistent font size and type.
Marks
10
Problem Identification:
Describe three problems occurring in this case and the potential
consequences of each as they relate to the
business. Describe what went wrong.
6
Responsibility:
To whom or what does the restaurant have a responsibility in
this situation? Why?
3
Competitive Analysis:
Identify three competitors and give three reasons for each as to
why each one is considered a competitor—as

16. in similar size, revenue, company structure, similar products,
similar target market, etc.—be specific—give facts.
9
PEST Analysis:
Perform a PEST analysis on HJ Burgers. PEST is an
environmental scan which includes the political, economic,
socio-cultural, and technological environments. Remember that
environmental, legal, and international
environments are also included in a PEST analysis, sometimes
known as PESTELI.
8
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths & Weaknesses (Internal), Opportunities & Threats
(External)
8
Reassessment of the Problem:
For each of the three problems you identified above describe
how each could have been avoided.
3

17. BUSN119 Group Case – Restaurant Trouble Page 7 of 7
Identification of Alternatives:
After analyzing what when wrong in the case and performing
several management analysis (competitive,
environmental, and SWOT), list at least two alternative courses
of action the restaurant could take on each of
the three problems above. List and evaluate advantages and
disadvantages of each alternative.
9
Recommendations:
Out of the alternatives your group arrived at, select the best
alternative for each of the three problems. Give
arguments to support recommendations.
6
Implementation Plan:
Complete plan of action for both short and long term strategies.
6
Team Peer Evaluation:
Each student obtains an evaluation for their contributions to the
team goals. Marks may vary. Students who do

18. not submit a team peer evaluation to the eCentennial drop box
within 24 hours of the case due date receive
NO marks for this component regardless of how their team
members rate them.
12
Total Earned /80