The document provides an audit of three Lizard's Thicket restaurant locations conducted by a group of students. They analyzed wait times, conducted customer surveys, and interviewed servers. Key findings include:
- Forest Drive had the fastest wait times while Knox Abbott was slowest, contrary to management expectations.
- Customer surveys found Elmwood had the highest satisfaction overall despite longer wait times.
- Surveys identified a need for more healthy menu options and opportunities to attract more student customers.
- Server interviews provided additional feedback on opportunities like attitude and food temperature.
The group recommends addressing healthy options on the menu and promotions targeting student customers to improve performance. Overall wait times were not an issue but servers could maintain attentiveness during
This document discusses queuing analysis and its applications. Queuing theory models systems with queues and servers that process items. It is useful for analyzing network and system performance when load or design changes are expected. The document outlines different analysis methods and key metrics like arrival rate, service time, waiting time, number of items, and utilization. It also covers important assumptions like Poisson arrivals, service time distributions, Little's Law, and example applications like database servers and multi-processor systems.
This document summarizes the methodology used in a descriptive research study. It describes the variables measured in the study's survey, including frequency of buying food at gas stations, key factors for choosing a gas station, attitudes toward gas station food, and demographic information. Scaling techniques like comparative and non-comparative scales were used to measure variables. A questionnaire with 14 questions employing different scale types was developed and pretested on a small sample. Non-probability convenience sampling was used to collect data through an online survey from a sample of 68 foreign individuals living in Slovenia. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS, including univariate and bivariate analyses along with parametric and non-parametric tests to describe the sample and test hypotheses.
The document provides information about analyzing potential locations for a new Culver's franchise restaurant. A student consulting group analyzed historical data from 89 existing Culver's locations to build a statistical model for predicting gross sales at new locations. Their model includes variables like traffic count, population within a mile radius, number of automobiles, and other demographic data. Using regression analysis, they identified a best-fit model including traffic, population within a mile, automobiles within 5 miles, and population within 5 miles to predict sales. They will apply this model to 3 potential sites and consider startup costs to make a site recommendation.
As a class assignment for an advertising research course, a group of students was tasked with conducting market research on awareness of a local retail store called Metro Shoe Warehouse. The group first administered a pre-test survey to friends and family to gather feedback on question design and validity. Based on responses, they revised the survey questions. They then administered a final survey to 1,000 university students, informing participants they would be entered to win a $50 gift card for completing it. The survey first asked if participants had heard of Metro Shoe Warehouse to determine which additional questions to ask. After analyzing the results using SPSS software, the group found that over 1/3 of respondents had not heard of the store, and those who
MKT220CH 09Red Lobster Market Research Reveals What’s Fresh T.docxannandleola
MKT220
CH 09
Red Lobster: Market Research Reveals What’s Fresh Today
Remember the Red Lobster commercials featuring lots of fried shrimp bouncing around and lobster claws dripping with butter? They’ve been replaced by scenes of steaming fresh fish, rice, and vegetables. The old slogan, “For the Seafood Lover in You” has also been canned. Now Red Lobster wants you to “Come See What’s Fresh Today.” The restaurants themselves will soon look different, too, with a more streamlined, contemporary décor that downplays the traditional nautical themes.
These changes and more are part of an effort to make over the seafood chain after marketing research revealed that the restaurant was considered outdated and unappealing to potential customers. Red Lobster president Kim Lodrup says that in the first stage of the makeover, the chain improved operations so that customers wouldn’t have to wait so long for the food to reach their table. The second phase focused on improving the restaurant’s image and shifting the focus from low prices to freshness. The third and final challenge will be to increase sales. Lodrup says, “We are positioning Red Lobster to be the best seafood restaurant on the planet.”
Lodrup was originally hired as a marketing specialist to revive the sagging brand’s image in 2003 when sales were falling and customer satisfaction was at an all-time low. He immediately put the kibosh on promotions like the All-You-Can-Eat Crab Legs Specials that had lost money for the company in the past and emphasized Red Lobster’s seafood expertise instead. After sales increased in 2004, he was promoted to president, but he still relies on marketing research to keep his finger on the pulse of customer preferences.
“We find out what they want from idealized dining service and research how to deliver value to guests,” Lodrup says. To do that, Red Lobster follows changing consumer habits and pays attention to which dishes patrons prefer. They use phone and Internet surveys to learn about guest attitudes toward the food they’ve tried and try to determine how well they might respond to new menu items or concept changes before instituting them. The guest-relations department “catalogs the nature of guest contact so we can see if there are changes in trends,” Lodrup explains. “Emerging concerns or requests from consumers get captured weekly and recorded for our executives.”
More in-depth research measures attitudes and trends that could affect the brand in the future. Before a promotion is launched, featured menu items are chosen through extensive consumer testing. Beginning with a large number of possible dishes, they narrow it down to the one that testers deem most appealing.
After studies indicated that freshness is the single biggest criteria consumers use to judge a seafood restaurant, the chain knew it was vital to get word out that fresh fish is delivered to Red Lobster restaurants six days a week. Interviews with former customers revealed that many still beli ...
<404>: The Drive-Thru is a group project that required to redesign drive-thru system. We started from secondary research to primary research to make a scope of problems, and understand users and their needs. Then, we came up with alternative solutions to solve existing problems and make the systems better.
The district manager of a burrito chain was concerned about inconsistent burrito sizes based on customer complaints. A survey was administered to 25 customers rating their experience on a 5-point scale for questions like food quality and a likelihood to return. Burrito weight data was also collected from 50 samples. When analyzing the survey and weight data:
- The responses to individual questions showed variability in customer experiences.
- Averages of the first seven survey questions were strongly correlated with overall satisfaction.
- The burrito weight data had a wide standard deviation, indicating sizes were inconsistent.
- Recommendations could focus on improving consistency of portions to enhance customer satisfaction.
The district manager of a burrito chain was concerned about inconsistent burrito sizes based on customer complaints. A survey was administered to 25 customers rating their experience on a 5-point scale for questions like food quality and a likelihood to return. Burrito weight data was also collected from 50 samples. When analyzing the survey and weight data:
- The responses to individual questions showed variability in customer experiences.
- Averages of the first seven survey questions were strongly correlated with overall satisfaction.
- The burrito weight data had a wide standard deviation, indicating sizes were inconsistent.
- Recommendations could focus on improving consistency of portions to enhance customer satisfaction.
This document discusses queuing analysis and its applications. Queuing theory models systems with queues and servers that process items. It is useful for analyzing network and system performance when load or design changes are expected. The document outlines different analysis methods and key metrics like arrival rate, service time, waiting time, number of items, and utilization. It also covers important assumptions like Poisson arrivals, service time distributions, Little's Law, and example applications like database servers and multi-processor systems.
This document summarizes the methodology used in a descriptive research study. It describes the variables measured in the study's survey, including frequency of buying food at gas stations, key factors for choosing a gas station, attitudes toward gas station food, and demographic information. Scaling techniques like comparative and non-comparative scales were used to measure variables. A questionnaire with 14 questions employing different scale types was developed and pretested on a small sample. Non-probability convenience sampling was used to collect data through an online survey from a sample of 68 foreign individuals living in Slovenia. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS, including univariate and bivariate analyses along with parametric and non-parametric tests to describe the sample and test hypotheses.
The document provides information about analyzing potential locations for a new Culver's franchise restaurant. A student consulting group analyzed historical data from 89 existing Culver's locations to build a statistical model for predicting gross sales at new locations. Their model includes variables like traffic count, population within a mile radius, number of automobiles, and other demographic data. Using regression analysis, they identified a best-fit model including traffic, population within a mile, automobiles within 5 miles, and population within 5 miles to predict sales. They will apply this model to 3 potential sites and consider startup costs to make a site recommendation.
As a class assignment for an advertising research course, a group of students was tasked with conducting market research on awareness of a local retail store called Metro Shoe Warehouse. The group first administered a pre-test survey to friends and family to gather feedback on question design and validity. Based on responses, they revised the survey questions. They then administered a final survey to 1,000 university students, informing participants they would be entered to win a $50 gift card for completing it. The survey first asked if participants had heard of Metro Shoe Warehouse to determine which additional questions to ask. After analyzing the results using SPSS software, the group found that over 1/3 of respondents had not heard of the store, and those who
MKT220CH 09Red Lobster Market Research Reveals What’s Fresh T.docxannandleola
MKT220
CH 09
Red Lobster: Market Research Reveals What’s Fresh Today
Remember the Red Lobster commercials featuring lots of fried shrimp bouncing around and lobster claws dripping with butter? They’ve been replaced by scenes of steaming fresh fish, rice, and vegetables. The old slogan, “For the Seafood Lover in You” has also been canned. Now Red Lobster wants you to “Come See What’s Fresh Today.” The restaurants themselves will soon look different, too, with a more streamlined, contemporary décor that downplays the traditional nautical themes.
These changes and more are part of an effort to make over the seafood chain after marketing research revealed that the restaurant was considered outdated and unappealing to potential customers. Red Lobster president Kim Lodrup says that in the first stage of the makeover, the chain improved operations so that customers wouldn’t have to wait so long for the food to reach their table. The second phase focused on improving the restaurant’s image and shifting the focus from low prices to freshness. The third and final challenge will be to increase sales. Lodrup says, “We are positioning Red Lobster to be the best seafood restaurant on the planet.”
Lodrup was originally hired as a marketing specialist to revive the sagging brand’s image in 2003 when sales were falling and customer satisfaction was at an all-time low. He immediately put the kibosh on promotions like the All-You-Can-Eat Crab Legs Specials that had lost money for the company in the past and emphasized Red Lobster’s seafood expertise instead. After sales increased in 2004, he was promoted to president, but he still relies on marketing research to keep his finger on the pulse of customer preferences.
“We find out what they want from idealized dining service and research how to deliver value to guests,” Lodrup says. To do that, Red Lobster follows changing consumer habits and pays attention to which dishes patrons prefer. They use phone and Internet surveys to learn about guest attitudes toward the food they’ve tried and try to determine how well they might respond to new menu items or concept changes before instituting them. The guest-relations department “catalogs the nature of guest contact so we can see if there are changes in trends,” Lodrup explains. “Emerging concerns or requests from consumers get captured weekly and recorded for our executives.”
More in-depth research measures attitudes and trends that could affect the brand in the future. Before a promotion is launched, featured menu items are chosen through extensive consumer testing. Beginning with a large number of possible dishes, they narrow it down to the one that testers deem most appealing.
After studies indicated that freshness is the single biggest criteria consumers use to judge a seafood restaurant, the chain knew it was vital to get word out that fresh fish is delivered to Red Lobster restaurants six days a week. Interviews with former customers revealed that many still beli ...
<404>: The Drive-Thru is a group project that required to redesign drive-thru system. We started from secondary research to primary research to make a scope of problems, and understand users and their needs. Then, we came up with alternative solutions to solve existing problems and make the systems better.
The district manager of a burrito chain was concerned about inconsistent burrito sizes based on customer complaints. A survey was administered to 25 customers rating their experience on a 5-point scale for questions like food quality and a likelihood to return. Burrito weight data was also collected from 50 samples. When analyzing the survey and weight data:
- The responses to individual questions showed variability in customer experiences.
- Averages of the first seven survey questions were strongly correlated with overall satisfaction.
- The burrito weight data had a wide standard deviation, indicating sizes were inconsistent.
- Recommendations could focus on improving consistency of portions to enhance customer satisfaction.
The district manager of a burrito chain was concerned about inconsistent burrito sizes based on customer complaints. A survey was administered to 25 customers rating their experience on a 5-point scale for questions like food quality and a likelihood to return. Burrito weight data was also collected from 50 samples. When analyzing the survey and weight data:
- The responses to individual questions showed variability in customer experiences.
- Averages of the first seven survey questions were strongly correlated with overall satisfaction.
- The burrito weight data had a wide standard deviation, indicating sizes were inconsistent.
- Recommendations could focus on improving consistency of portions to enhance customer satisfaction.
The document discusses hypothesis testing to compare two population means using samples from the populations. It provides assumptions and steps for the test, including stating hypotheses, selecting a significance level, determining a test statistic such as a z-score or t-statistic, formulating a decision rule, making a decision about the null hypothesis, and calculating a p-value. Several examples are provided to illustrate the process.
1
Data Collection
Maria Castro, Jose Collado, Joyce Esquilin,
Josean Quintana, and Ephraim Torres
Quantitative Analysis for Business - QNT / 351
May 21, 2015
University of Phoenix
Overview-problem, Purpose, Research Question, and Hypothesis
As consultants to Ballard Integrated Managed Services Inc. (BIMS) we are focused on the overview-problem of the employees’ morale and the effect on the company’s operation. BIMS is a company that is committed to providing food and hospitality services while also providing housekeeping and food services to other corporations and institutions. The three division within the company have a significant function and represent the company’s goals and interests. The General Manager, Barbara Tucker, is responsible for the three divisions and the staff management. Ms. Tucker has noticed there is a serious situation of an increase in employee turnover within the last four months. There has been an increase of 4% up to 9% in the annual turnover rate. The department heads also noticed there was a situation with the turnover rate and morale of the employees. Still the department heads were unable to tell the general manager the “why” of the situation.
Purpose – As General Manager Ms. Tucker must find the answer as to why her employee’s motivation has been deteriorating and the amount of complaints is on the rise. The general manager has chosen to meet with her department heads and look for a possible solution to the situation.
Research questions – The Human Resources Manager suggested to the General Manager on surveying the employees in order to identify the decrease in the employees’ morale. The survey included questions about the employee’s feelings working for the company, and other issues that affected their morale.
Hypothesis – With only 17% of the company’s employees completing the survey to the Human Resources Manager, which is a common rate of return, there has to be additional efforts made to encourage the employees to generate more useable information.
Data Collection Instruments
The survey is based on quantitative evaluations that will help to generate an evaluation hypothesis; strengthening the design of survey questionnaires and expand or clarify the quantitative evaluations. The survey is the data collection instrument that will assist in identifying the feedback of the level of satisfaction of the BIMS employees.
Identify types of data collected
The data collection is an important aspect of any research study and ultimately leads to invalid results; the method used was the quantitative data collection. The data gathered was used with linkers scaling that is a one-dimensional scaling process. This method plays an important role in impacting the evaluation by providing information useful to understand the processes that were used to identify the reason for the increase in employee’s turnovers.
How data is collected
Recording and organizing data may take many different forms, de.
Marketing Research 1 of 3Marketing Research 2 of 3Market.docxendawalling
Marketing Research 1 of 3Marketing Research 2 of 3Marketing Research 3 of 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
PROBLEM STATEMENT
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
HYPOTHESES
RESEARCH PROCEDURES
LIMITATIONS
SECONDARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX SPSS OUTPUT
BACKGROUND
In early 2004, two recent college business graduates (one majored in finance and the other in management) came together with a new restaurant concept for a Southwestern casual dining experience that focused on a Mexican theme with a variety of good food items and a friendly family-oriented atmosphere. After six months of planning and creating detailed business and marketing plans, the two entrepreneurs were able to get the necessary capital to build and open their restaurant- calling it Santa Fe Grill Mexican Restaurant.
After the initial six months of success, the noticed that revenues, traffic flow, and sales were declining and realized that they knew only the basics about their patrons. Neither of the owners had taken any marketing courses beyond basic marketing in college, so they turned to a friend who worked in marketing for some advice. Initially they were advised to hire a marketing research firm to collect some primary data about people’s dining out habits and patterns. Looking into marketing research consulting firms, they quickly found out these firms wanted too much money to conduct the research. So they went to Barnes & Noble bookstore and purchased a practitioner’s book on how to do marketing research studies. Using their understanding of how to do research and design questionnaires, the owners decided to use an experience intercept research design (randomly stopping customers as they were leaving Santa Fe Grill), with trained interviewers to qualify the respondents using a set of three screening questions, and a 35 question, self-administered survey to actually collect the data.
The report mainly focuses on analyzing the data from Santa Fe Grill Restaurant with the means of quantitative analysis to identify Santa Fe Grill’s competitive advantages. Meanwhile, via analyzing the psychographic/demographic profile of Santa Fe Grill’s customer, it aims to assess the customer’s willingness to return to the restaurant in the future. Through comparative studying on Santa Fe Grill, to determine the characteristics customers use to describe the Santa Fe Grill restaurant and then further to find out the Santa Fe Grill’s address areas for improvement. And then, provide reasonable recommendations to improve Santa Fe Grill’s business performance.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
In a research project, “the problem must ask about the relationship between two or more variables” (Wunsch 1). In addition, it clearly identifies the purpose of the project. The problem statement for this research project is stated below:
The problem of this study is to determine the level of satisfaction of the customers with their favorite Mexican rest.
Marketing Research 1 of 3Marketing Research 2 of 3Market.docxalfredacavx97
Marketing Research 1 of 3Marketing Research 2 of 3Marketing Research 3 of 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
PROBLEM STATEMENT
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
HYPOTHESES
RESEARCH PROCEDURES
LIMITATIONS
SECONDARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX SPSS OUTPUT
BACKGROUND
In early 2004, two recent college business graduates (one majored in finance and the other in management) came together with a new restaurant concept for a Southwestern casual dining experience that focused on a Mexican theme with a variety of good food items and a friendly family-oriented atmosphere. After six months of planning and creating detailed business and marketing plans, the two entrepreneurs were able to get the necessary capital to build and open their restaurant- calling it Santa Fe Grill Mexican Restaurant.
After the initial six months of success, the noticed that revenues, traffic flow, and sales were declining and realized that they knew only the basics about their patrons. Neither of the owners had taken any marketing courses beyond basic marketing in college, so they turned to a friend who worked in marketing for some advice. Initially they were advised to hire a marketing research firm to collect some primary data about people’s dining out habits and patterns. Looking into marketing research consulting firms, they quickly found out these firms wanted too much money to conduct the research. So they went to Barnes & Noble bookstore and purchased a practitioner’s book on how to do marketing research studies. Using their understanding of how to do research and design questionnaires, the owners decided to use an experience intercept research design (randomly stopping customers as they were leaving Santa Fe Grill), with trained interviewers to qualify the respondents using a set of three screening questions, and a 35 question, self-administered survey to actually collect the data.
The report mainly focuses on analyzing the data from Santa Fe Grill Restaurant with the means of quantitative analysis to identify Santa Fe Grill’s competitive advantages. Meanwhile, via analyzing the psychographic/demographic profile of Santa Fe Grill’s customer, it aims to assess the customer’s willingness to return to the restaurant in the future. Through comparative studying on Santa Fe Grill, to determine the characteristics customers use to describe the Santa Fe Grill restaurant and then further to find out the Santa Fe Grill’s address areas for improvement. And then, provide reasonable recommendations to improve Santa Fe Grill’s business performance.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
In a research project, “the problem must ask about the relationship between two or more variables” (Wunsch 1). In addition, it clearly identifies the purpose of the project. The problem statement for this research project is stated below:
The problem of this study is to determine the level of satisfaction of the customers with their favorite Mexican rest.
This document provides a marketing research report on an Italian pizza restaurant. It includes an executive summary, introduction, objectives, literature review, secondary data analysis, research methodology, empirical findings, discussions, limitations, and conclusions/recommendations. The report was prepared by a marketing research team for a college marketing research class. It analyzes the pizza restaurant industry and college student customer base to understand preferences and develop brand marketing strategies. Empirical research was conducted through surveys of college students to understand pizza purchasing behaviors and satisfaction factors. The report aims to provide insights to help an Italian pizza restaurant effectively market to college students.
The marketing research team conducted a survey of 100 Starbucks customers in Boston to understand reasons for the closure of over 600 Starbucks stores. Key findings include:
1) City residents were less satisfied with Starbucks than suburban residents, with issues around small store size and long wait times due to under-trained employees.
2) While customer service was rated as satisfactory overall, 44% of customers had neutral or poor ratings, indicating room for improvement.
3) Dunkin' Donuts was identified as a major competitor, with 42% preferring Starbucks but 55% thinking they were similar or preferring Dunkin' Donuts instead.
4) Price value was the most important attribute for coffee purchases, particularly for
The document describes the development of a survey by a research team to understand customer perceptions of Starbucks. It details the sections of the survey on customer service, products, and demographics. Various question formats are used, including Likert scales, open-ended questions, ranking questions, and semantic differential scales. The team plans to administer the survey to a sample of around 20 customers selected through systematic sampling at Starbucks locations in downtown Boston. The goal is to test the team's hypotheses about over-saturation of locations and undesirable food options.
Check-In Kiosk Eval Class of 2014 Aslie (Ashlie) Burnett.docxspoonerneddy
This document outlines a project to introduce check-in kiosks at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Hospital to reduce wait times. A team analyzed the current issues of long wait times and lack of technology usage. They introduced check-in kiosks in three pilot clinics and surveyed patients. Results showed increased kiosk usage over time and higher patient satisfaction with reduced wait times. The project was effective in addressing the key issues and improving the check-in process for veterans.
The document discusses Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and how it portrays women. It analyzes how the novel reflects the patriarchal society of the 19th century. Specifically, it notes that the only named female characters are Victor Frankenstein's mother and Elizabeth. These women exist solely in relationship to male characters and their roles are limited to being wives and mothers. The document also discusses how the monster requests Victor to create a female companion for him, showing how even the monster views women as companions for men.
The document provides a project implementation report analyzing Net Promoter Score (NPS) for Hyatt Hotel Group. Key analyses included identifying patterns in customer visits on Valentine's Day across the US, determining which guest demographics are most likely to be promoters, and correlations between nightly rates, length of stay, purpose of visit, and customer satisfaction. Recommendations include offering Valentine's packages, discounts for older and younger guests, and adjusting nightly rates based on length of stay patterns in different countries. The report covered results from a variety of statistical methods to analyze the hotel customer data and provide actionable insights.
During my Junior year of college, I participated in a group project for my Assessment and Evaluation course with two peers. We collected data and then analyzed the results for our request to bring food trucks into downtown San Luis Obispo.
Exploratory data analysis and data mining on yelp restaurant review PoojaPrasannan4
The document discusses exploratory data analysis (EDA) performed on a Yelp restaurant review dataset to gain insights. Key analysis included identifying the top restaurant categories and filtering to the most reviewed category of restaurants. Spatial and temporal analysis of KFC reviews found Pennsylvania had the highest ratings and reviews have been declining since 2014. Bag-of-words modeling was used to identify the most frequent words and phrases in positive ("good food"), neutral ("good not great"), and negative ("bad customer service") reviews. The EDA provided useful insights about popular restaurants and how sentiment has changed over time.
This document discusses concept analysis of pain. It states that pain is the most common reason people seek medical care and is a leading cause of disability. It notes that pain is an important topic that requires thorough understanding. The document will analyze the concept of pain by defining its attributes, antecedents, and consequences to provide clarity around this complex phenomenon.
Empower Mobile Restaurant Operations Analytics with Oracle business Intellige...Perficient, Inc.
Multi-unit, multi-concept restaurant companies face challenging reporting requirements.
How should they compare promotion, holiday, and labor performance data across concepts? How should they maximize fraud detection capabilities? How should they arm restaurant operators with the data they need to react to changes affecting day-to-day operations as well as over-time goals?
An industry-leading data model, integrated metadata, and prebuilt reports and dashboards deliver the answers to these questions and more. Deliver relevant, actionable mobile analytics for the restaurant industry with an integrated solution of Oracle Business Intelligence and Oracle Endeca Information Discovery.
How To Cite Movie Quotes In Essays. Online assignment writing service.Erica Wright
This document provides instructions for using the HelpWriting.net service to have essays written. It outlines a 5-step process: 1) Create an account, 2) Submit a request with instructions and deadline, 3) Review bids from writers and select one, 4) Review the completed paper and authorize payment, 5) Request revisions if needed, knowing plagiarized work will be refunded. The service uses a bidding system for writers to compete for requests.
The survey analyzed Starbucks customers' experiences and satisfaction levels. Key findings included:
- Respondents found prices expensive but were satisfied with service speed, customer service, and quality.
- Most buy cold drinks/food weekly or monthly and spend $5-10.
- Starbucks is seen as trustworthy and conveniently located.
- The one area for improvement is lowering prices to better satisfy college-aged customers.
How To Write A Thesis Statement Examples - CoverletterpediaTracy Dolittle
The document discusses the Great Tuna Boat Chase and Massacre case between Ecuador and the United States. Ecuador claims the US violated its 200-mile territorial sea by allowing US tuna fishing boats to operate there. The case examines whether the US complied with international law regarding territorial seas. It also explores Ecuador's rights to regulate economic activity within its waters and enforce compliance.
Basics Of Writing An Effective Essay By Jackson ZackLisa Chambers
Alexander III of Macedon, also known as Alexander the Great, became king of Macedonia after his father's death in 336 BCE. He then went on to conquer most of the known world of his time. His leadership and respect for his followers allowed him to build a legacy that lasted over 9 centuries after his death. His conquests spread Greek culture and language widely.
Kudler Fine Foods is a growing specialty food store that uses Microsoft Access to track inventory, orders, and customers. The document recommends improving the database tables from an accounting perspective to better organize financial data and maximize data presentation. It also recommends sorting and arranging the data in the pivot tables chronologically to improve decision making.
Emeryville Fair Work Week employee survey analysisE'ville Eye
The survey of 304 retail and food service employees in Emeryville found:
- Nearly 40% wanted more work hours, indicating potential underemployment.
- Most employees (87%) had some input into scheduling, but 30% received schedules less than a week in advance.
- While some reported issues like last-minute schedule changes or clopening shifts, most said such issues were not problematic.
- The data suggest underemployment may be a larger issue than unstable scheduling practices. The city is considering policies like increasing hours for current employees to address underemployment.
More Related Content
Similar to Customer Service and Queuing Analysis - Lizard's Thicket
The document discusses hypothesis testing to compare two population means using samples from the populations. It provides assumptions and steps for the test, including stating hypotheses, selecting a significance level, determining a test statistic such as a z-score or t-statistic, formulating a decision rule, making a decision about the null hypothesis, and calculating a p-value. Several examples are provided to illustrate the process.
1
Data Collection
Maria Castro, Jose Collado, Joyce Esquilin,
Josean Quintana, and Ephraim Torres
Quantitative Analysis for Business - QNT / 351
May 21, 2015
University of Phoenix
Overview-problem, Purpose, Research Question, and Hypothesis
As consultants to Ballard Integrated Managed Services Inc. (BIMS) we are focused on the overview-problem of the employees’ morale and the effect on the company’s operation. BIMS is a company that is committed to providing food and hospitality services while also providing housekeeping and food services to other corporations and institutions. The three division within the company have a significant function and represent the company’s goals and interests. The General Manager, Barbara Tucker, is responsible for the three divisions and the staff management. Ms. Tucker has noticed there is a serious situation of an increase in employee turnover within the last four months. There has been an increase of 4% up to 9% in the annual turnover rate. The department heads also noticed there was a situation with the turnover rate and morale of the employees. Still the department heads were unable to tell the general manager the “why” of the situation.
Purpose – As General Manager Ms. Tucker must find the answer as to why her employee’s motivation has been deteriorating and the amount of complaints is on the rise. The general manager has chosen to meet with her department heads and look for a possible solution to the situation.
Research questions – The Human Resources Manager suggested to the General Manager on surveying the employees in order to identify the decrease in the employees’ morale. The survey included questions about the employee’s feelings working for the company, and other issues that affected their morale.
Hypothesis – With only 17% of the company’s employees completing the survey to the Human Resources Manager, which is a common rate of return, there has to be additional efforts made to encourage the employees to generate more useable information.
Data Collection Instruments
The survey is based on quantitative evaluations that will help to generate an evaluation hypothesis; strengthening the design of survey questionnaires and expand or clarify the quantitative evaluations. The survey is the data collection instrument that will assist in identifying the feedback of the level of satisfaction of the BIMS employees.
Identify types of data collected
The data collection is an important aspect of any research study and ultimately leads to invalid results; the method used was the quantitative data collection. The data gathered was used with linkers scaling that is a one-dimensional scaling process. This method plays an important role in impacting the evaluation by providing information useful to understand the processes that were used to identify the reason for the increase in employee’s turnovers.
How data is collected
Recording and organizing data may take many different forms, de.
Marketing Research 1 of 3Marketing Research 2 of 3Market.docxendawalling
Marketing Research 1 of 3Marketing Research 2 of 3Marketing Research 3 of 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
PROBLEM STATEMENT
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
HYPOTHESES
RESEARCH PROCEDURES
LIMITATIONS
SECONDARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX SPSS OUTPUT
BACKGROUND
In early 2004, two recent college business graduates (one majored in finance and the other in management) came together with a new restaurant concept for a Southwestern casual dining experience that focused on a Mexican theme with a variety of good food items and a friendly family-oriented atmosphere. After six months of planning and creating detailed business and marketing plans, the two entrepreneurs were able to get the necessary capital to build and open their restaurant- calling it Santa Fe Grill Mexican Restaurant.
After the initial six months of success, the noticed that revenues, traffic flow, and sales were declining and realized that they knew only the basics about their patrons. Neither of the owners had taken any marketing courses beyond basic marketing in college, so they turned to a friend who worked in marketing for some advice. Initially they were advised to hire a marketing research firm to collect some primary data about people’s dining out habits and patterns. Looking into marketing research consulting firms, they quickly found out these firms wanted too much money to conduct the research. So they went to Barnes & Noble bookstore and purchased a practitioner’s book on how to do marketing research studies. Using their understanding of how to do research and design questionnaires, the owners decided to use an experience intercept research design (randomly stopping customers as they were leaving Santa Fe Grill), with trained interviewers to qualify the respondents using a set of three screening questions, and a 35 question, self-administered survey to actually collect the data.
The report mainly focuses on analyzing the data from Santa Fe Grill Restaurant with the means of quantitative analysis to identify Santa Fe Grill’s competitive advantages. Meanwhile, via analyzing the psychographic/demographic profile of Santa Fe Grill’s customer, it aims to assess the customer’s willingness to return to the restaurant in the future. Through comparative studying on Santa Fe Grill, to determine the characteristics customers use to describe the Santa Fe Grill restaurant and then further to find out the Santa Fe Grill’s address areas for improvement. And then, provide reasonable recommendations to improve Santa Fe Grill’s business performance.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
In a research project, “the problem must ask about the relationship between two or more variables” (Wunsch 1). In addition, it clearly identifies the purpose of the project. The problem statement for this research project is stated below:
The problem of this study is to determine the level of satisfaction of the customers with their favorite Mexican rest.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
PROBLEM STATEMENT
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
HYPOTHESES
RESEARCH PROCEDURES
LIMITATIONS
SECONDARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX SPSS OUTPUT
BACKGROUND
In early 2004, two recent college business graduates (one majored in finance and the other in management) came together with a new restaurant concept for a Southwestern casual dining experience that focused on a Mexican theme with a variety of good food items and a friendly family-oriented atmosphere. After six months of planning and creating detailed business and marketing plans, the two entrepreneurs were able to get the necessary capital to build and open their restaurant- calling it Santa Fe Grill Mexican Restaurant.
After the initial six months of success, the noticed that revenues, traffic flow, and sales were declining and realized that they knew only the basics about their patrons. Neither of the owners had taken any marketing courses beyond basic marketing in college, so they turned to a friend who worked in marketing for some advice. Initially they were advised to hire a marketing research firm to collect some primary data about people’s dining out habits and patterns. Looking into marketing research consulting firms, they quickly found out these firms wanted too much money to conduct the research. So they went to Barnes & Noble bookstore and purchased a practitioner’s book on how to do marketing research studies. Using their understanding of how to do research and design questionnaires, the owners decided to use an experience intercept research design (randomly stopping customers as they were leaving Santa Fe Grill), with trained interviewers to qualify the respondents using a set of three screening questions, and a 35 question, self-administered survey to actually collect the data.
The report mainly focuses on analyzing the data from Santa Fe Grill Restaurant with the means of quantitative analysis to identify Santa Fe Grill’s competitive advantages. Meanwhile, via analyzing the psychographic/demographic profile of Santa Fe Grill’s customer, it aims to assess the customer’s willingness to return to the restaurant in the future. Through comparative studying on Santa Fe Grill, to determine the characteristics customers use to describe the Santa Fe Grill restaurant and then further to find out the Santa Fe Grill’s address areas for improvement. And then, provide reasonable recommendations to improve Santa Fe Grill’s business performance.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
In a research project, “the problem must ask about the relationship between two or more variables” (Wunsch 1). In addition, it clearly identifies the purpose of the project. The problem statement for this research project is stated below:
The problem of this study is to determine the level of satisfaction of the customers with their favorite Mexican rest.
This document provides a marketing research report on an Italian pizza restaurant. It includes an executive summary, introduction, objectives, literature review, secondary data analysis, research methodology, empirical findings, discussions, limitations, and conclusions/recommendations. The report was prepared by a marketing research team for a college marketing research class. It analyzes the pizza restaurant industry and college student customer base to understand preferences and develop brand marketing strategies. Empirical research was conducted through surveys of college students to understand pizza purchasing behaviors and satisfaction factors. The report aims to provide insights to help an Italian pizza restaurant effectively market to college students.
The marketing research team conducted a survey of 100 Starbucks customers in Boston to understand reasons for the closure of over 600 Starbucks stores. Key findings include:
1) City residents were less satisfied with Starbucks than suburban residents, with issues around small store size and long wait times due to under-trained employees.
2) While customer service was rated as satisfactory overall, 44% of customers had neutral or poor ratings, indicating room for improvement.
3) Dunkin' Donuts was identified as a major competitor, with 42% preferring Starbucks but 55% thinking they were similar or preferring Dunkin' Donuts instead.
4) Price value was the most important attribute for coffee purchases, particularly for
The document describes the development of a survey by a research team to understand customer perceptions of Starbucks. It details the sections of the survey on customer service, products, and demographics. Various question formats are used, including Likert scales, open-ended questions, ranking questions, and semantic differential scales. The team plans to administer the survey to a sample of around 20 customers selected through systematic sampling at Starbucks locations in downtown Boston. The goal is to test the team's hypotheses about over-saturation of locations and undesirable food options.
Check-In Kiosk Eval Class of 2014 Aslie (Ashlie) Burnett.docxspoonerneddy
This document outlines a project to introduce check-in kiosks at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Hospital to reduce wait times. A team analyzed the current issues of long wait times and lack of technology usage. They introduced check-in kiosks in three pilot clinics and surveyed patients. Results showed increased kiosk usage over time and higher patient satisfaction with reduced wait times. The project was effective in addressing the key issues and improving the check-in process for veterans.
The document discusses Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and how it portrays women. It analyzes how the novel reflects the patriarchal society of the 19th century. Specifically, it notes that the only named female characters are Victor Frankenstein's mother and Elizabeth. These women exist solely in relationship to male characters and their roles are limited to being wives and mothers. The document also discusses how the monster requests Victor to create a female companion for him, showing how even the monster views women as companions for men.
The document provides a project implementation report analyzing Net Promoter Score (NPS) for Hyatt Hotel Group. Key analyses included identifying patterns in customer visits on Valentine's Day across the US, determining which guest demographics are most likely to be promoters, and correlations between nightly rates, length of stay, purpose of visit, and customer satisfaction. Recommendations include offering Valentine's packages, discounts for older and younger guests, and adjusting nightly rates based on length of stay patterns in different countries. The report covered results from a variety of statistical methods to analyze the hotel customer data and provide actionable insights.
During my Junior year of college, I participated in a group project for my Assessment and Evaluation course with two peers. We collected data and then analyzed the results for our request to bring food trucks into downtown San Luis Obispo.
Exploratory data analysis and data mining on yelp restaurant review PoojaPrasannan4
The document discusses exploratory data analysis (EDA) performed on a Yelp restaurant review dataset to gain insights. Key analysis included identifying the top restaurant categories and filtering to the most reviewed category of restaurants. Spatial and temporal analysis of KFC reviews found Pennsylvania had the highest ratings and reviews have been declining since 2014. Bag-of-words modeling was used to identify the most frequent words and phrases in positive ("good food"), neutral ("good not great"), and negative ("bad customer service") reviews. The EDA provided useful insights about popular restaurants and how sentiment has changed over time.
This document discusses concept analysis of pain. It states that pain is the most common reason people seek medical care and is a leading cause of disability. It notes that pain is an important topic that requires thorough understanding. The document will analyze the concept of pain by defining its attributes, antecedents, and consequences to provide clarity around this complex phenomenon.
Empower Mobile Restaurant Operations Analytics with Oracle business Intellige...Perficient, Inc.
Multi-unit, multi-concept restaurant companies face challenging reporting requirements.
How should they compare promotion, holiday, and labor performance data across concepts? How should they maximize fraud detection capabilities? How should they arm restaurant operators with the data they need to react to changes affecting day-to-day operations as well as over-time goals?
An industry-leading data model, integrated metadata, and prebuilt reports and dashboards deliver the answers to these questions and more. Deliver relevant, actionable mobile analytics for the restaurant industry with an integrated solution of Oracle Business Intelligence and Oracle Endeca Information Discovery.
How To Cite Movie Quotes In Essays. Online assignment writing service.Erica Wright
This document provides instructions for using the HelpWriting.net service to have essays written. It outlines a 5-step process: 1) Create an account, 2) Submit a request with instructions and deadline, 3) Review bids from writers and select one, 4) Review the completed paper and authorize payment, 5) Request revisions if needed, knowing plagiarized work will be refunded. The service uses a bidding system for writers to compete for requests.
The survey analyzed Starbucks customers' experiences and satisfaction levels. Key findings included:
- Respondents found prices expensive but were satisfied with service speed, customer service, and quality.
- Most buy cold drinks/food weekly or monthly and spend $5-10.
- Starbucks is seen as trustworthy and conveniently located.
- The one area for improvement is lowering prices to better satisfy college-aged customers.
How To Write A Thesis Statement Examples - CoverletterpediaTracy Dolittle
The document discusses the Great Tuna Boat Chase and Massacre case between Ecuador and the United States. Ecuador claims the US violated its 200-mile territorial sea by allowing US tuna fishing boats to operate there. The case examines whether the US complied with international law regarding territorial seas. It also explores Ecuador's rights to regulate economic activity within its waters and enforce compliance.
Basics Of Writing An Effective Essay By Jackson ZackLisa Chambers
Alexander III of Macedon, also known as Alexander the Great, became king of Macedonia after his father's death in 336 BCE. He then went on to conquer most of the known world of his time. His leadership and respect for his followers allowed him to build a legacy that lasted over 9 centuries after his death. His conquests spread Greek culture and language widely.
Kudler Fine Foods is a growing specialty food store that uses Microsoft Access to track inventory, orders, and customers. The document recommends improving the database tables from an accounting perspective to better organize financial data and maximize data presentation. It also recommends sorting and arranging the data in the pivot tables chronologically to improve decision making.
Emeryville Fair Work Week employee survey analysisE'ville Eye
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- Most employees (87%) had some input into scheduling, but 30% received schedules less than a week in advance.
- While some reported issues like last-minute schedule changes or clopening shifts, most said such issues were not problematic.
- The data suggest underemployment may be a larger issue than unstable scheduling practices. The city is considering policies like increasing hours for current employees to address underemployment.
Similar to Customer Service and Queuing Analysis - Lizard's Thicket (20)
2. 2
Background
Lizard’s Thicket is a family-owned and operated country cooking restaurant specializing in authentic regional
Southern home cooking at reasonable prices. It was first opened by Bob and Anna Williams in Columbia, SC in 1977.
The business has grown to a multi-unit operation with 700 employees including Bob and Anna’s children and
grandchildren. For our project, we worked directly with Robert Willimas III, who is the restaurant operations manager.
Our first task was to meet with him and gather information about how we could best aid Lizard’s Thicket with our project.
From that information, we were able to better customize our objectives and goals (see interview notes and results in
Appendix-A).
Our project consisted of analyzing three Lizard’s Thicket locations. These locations demonstrated various
performance levels based on numbers and perceptions of the management. The lowest performing restaurant was expected
to be the Knox Abbot location, the average performing one was located on Elmwood, and the best performer was located
in the Forrest Drive area (according to the perception of the management). Mr. Williams explained that the first two touch
points were the most crucial to the customer experience. The first touch point is defined as the moment the server
welcomed the customer and took their drink order. The second is defined as the fulfillment of the drink order and the
placement of the food order. With this in mind, we created two separate categories for our data points. We recorded the
time it took from when the customer sits down to the time the drink order is placed, and then a second wait time was
recorded from the moment the drink order was placed to the time they received their drinks.
We visited each location five times, for a total of fifteen visits. Each visit consisted of data collection and the final
three visits to each location also consisted of survey collection. During our first two days of observation at each location,
the management and staff did not know our objective. We did this to ensure unbiased data results avoiding the possibility
of skewed data due to staff awareness of observation. Regarding survey distribution and collection, the manager did not
want us to hand out the surveys to customers so that we did not disturb the dining experience; instead, we placed them by
the register for customers to complete on their way out. At the start of our survey we had a customer-grouping question to
split customers into Student, Family, Couple, or Other categories. The rest of our survey consisted of eight questions plus
a comments section (see Appendix B for examples of the surveys). These questions consisted of five-point Likert scale
questions, ranging from very dissatisfied to very satisfied, and open-ended questions that gave us a chance to collect extra
3. 3
information on items the customers may feel would improve their dining experience. We visited the locations Monday
through Thursday, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. During this time, the influx of people was surprisingly low. We had expected a
large influx, but instead, we were able to collect data from each individual table due to the gap between arrivals. From
this, we expected the wait times to be lower due to the availability of the servers. The resulting free time allowed servers
to get the first two touches to the tables more quickly.
Analysis of Wait Lines
During our intitial meeting with Lizard’s Thicket management, we were informed that there were no existing
issues with queuing or wait times at any of the three locations. Our site visits confirmed this to be the case. In order to
coroborate the absence of waiting lines at each of the Lizard’s Thicket
retaurant locations, we used the touch point and arrival time data collected
during our observations to build a dynamic model of our process. Using
100 data points from each location, we determined the average touchpoint
times as well as the average total amount of time customers were spending
in our defined system (from initial seating to fulfilment of drink orders).
The calculations derived from our raw data can be seen in the “Location
Metrics” table to the right.
Next, we used these table touch averages to construct a
simulation of our system in ProcessModel. Since each restaurant
possesses approximately the same capacity and resource contraints, the
process maps for each lcoation are identical and can be found under
“ProcessModel Diagram” on the next page. For each location, arrival
times and table touch averages were adjusted to model the Forest
Drive, Knox Abbott, and Elmwood locations. These simulations were
then run for 2 hours to mimic our observation experiences. To the right
are the data outputs showing the quantity processed and average cycle
time for each location. These quantities closely resemble the number
4. 4
of customers we counted during our observation periods at each location (Knox Abbott experienced less dinner traffic and
greater time between customer arrivals). Furthermore, the average cycle times for each location predict nearly the exact
same cycle times calculated using our raw data points (see “Location Metrics”).
Our model outputs also confirmed that there are no
existing waiting time or queuing problems at any of the
three Lizard’s Thicket locations. The activity state outputs
to the left show the metrics for the queues in each
restaurant (this chart is representative of all three Lizard’s
Thicket locations). During our simulations, each
queue remained empty 100% of the time—
meaning that no queues formed at any point
during the process. Collectively, this data
indicates that Forest Drive is the best performing
location with regards to process cycle time,
followed by Elmwood and finally Knox Abbott.
These cycle time metrics align exactly with the
restaurant management’s perception of each
location’s performance. While improvements in
process times at the Elmwood and Knox Abbott
locations may be desirable, at present the
average service times measured at these two
restaurants are not resulting in additional waiting
time caused by customers queuing in the system.
Each customer is able to place and receive their
drink order before the arrival of the next
customer to the same seating area.
ProcessModel Diagram
5. 5
Analysis of Survey Data
Based on our surveys, we found that each location had varying
strengths and weaknesses. Our questions helped us gain insight into Lizard’s
Thicket customer satisfaction. The data shows that 86% of surveyed
customers were returning customers. We also found that Lizard’s Thicket
has a variety of customer groupings, of which students were the least
frequent customer base (Exhibit A). Although overall customer satisfaction
was high in most areas, Exhibit B shows that every location had a problem
with satisfaction of healthy dining options.
Looking at Exhibit C (following page) we are able to see that Elmwood has the highest satisfaction overall with
an average of 4.70, followed by Knox Abbott with 4.35 and Forest Drive with 4.02. The average of all three was a 4.34.
This data is interesting because the operations manager expected for Forest Drive to be the best followed by Elmwood
then Knox Abbott. Our survey data did not match his conclusions.
Family
25%
Other
36%
Couple
28%
Student
11%
Customer Groupings
Exhibit A
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Overall SaLsfacLon
Wait Time
SaLsfacLon Value of Meal
SaLsfacLon SaLsfacLon with
Number of Healthy
OpLons
SaBsfacBon Levels Across Different LocaBons
Average
SaLsfacLon
Forest Drive
Knox AbboX
Elmwood
Exhibit B
6. 6
Additionally, we surveyed the servers
and found data that did not align with the
operation manager’s conclusion again. We
discovered that Knox Abbott performed best
with an average satisfaction across all types of
4.78, followed by Forest Drive with an average
of 4.67 and ending with Elmwood with an
average of 4.50. These responses were not surprising to our team based on our experience during our visits. We found that
Knox Abbott and Forest Drive had more cooperative managers and that Elmwood was difficult for us to work with. One
Elmwood server mentioned that the servers get complacent. Comments from Knox Abbott servers included the need for
more healthy dining options and one said that certain wait staff needed to have a more positive attitude. Lastly, Forest
Drive servers reflected that the food temperature was often a problem, which could have a significant effect on customer
satisfaction. These additional comments do not give us much insight into which location is best but do help to pinpoint
some issues. By observing the interaction with customers we again found that Knox Abbott was the most personal with
their customers and all surveyed customers from this location had been there before. Comments from Knox Abbott
customers included good value, good food, clean restroom facilities, and friendly waiting staff. These comments support
our data’s conclusions. The only additional comments for Forest Drive just reiterated that customers want more options
for healthy food. Surprisingly, the additional comments for Elmwood discussed how much they love Lizard’s Thicket and
how friendly the staff is. These comments did not reflect the overall thoughts of Elmwood’s customers as seen in our data.
We also had questions that dealt with how the customers heard about Lizards Thicket and if they had considered
dining somewhere else. Our team found that most people had heard of the restaurant through word of mouth or had been
going there for so long that they could not remember. Our data supports this by showing that, overall, many of their
customers were returning. When asked if they had considered dining somewhere else, some said they considered staying
home, one said they had considered Miyo’s and three customers commented that they considered eating at Maurice’s.
This data shows which restaurants Lizard’s Thicket is competing with and could provide knowledge to help them better
guide their marketing strategy.
3.5
4
4.5
5
Average
SaLsfacLon
Forest Drive Knox AbboX Elmwood
Cross Category Customer SaBsfacBon
Exhibit C
7. 7
Overall, the analysis of our data shows that Forest Drive has the best waiting lines, Elmwood has moderate times,
and Knox Abbott is the slowest. Based on that analysis we would expect for the customers to show that Forest Drive is the
best, but our analysis did not support this conclusion. From this knowledge we believe that the amount of time customers
had to wait did not affect their overall satisfaction levels; they were more negatively affected by their food satisfaction and
the lack of healthy dining options.
Recomendations
There are a few recommendations that we can make to management after analyzing all of our data. First and
foremost, the most obvious issue of the factors we surveyed is the need for more “healthy” menu options to choose from.
A significant portion of the customers surveyed were older age groups (50+) and families with young (<18) children,
which matches with the manger goal of creating a “family atmosphere of casual dining.” It makes sense that these groups
are more concerned with eating better as they age and with growing young children, respectively. As mentioned in the
manager survey, Lizard’s Thicket has recently added some grilled and low-carb options to their menu. First, we
recommend that management take some time to see if customer’s simply have yet to realize that these new menu options
exist, and this problem may correct itself without any intervention. However, if the new items are not being ordered,
Management should seek to either add completely new healthy options, such as vegetables that are not fried or cooked
with salt, or even better, improve current menu items. By creating an overall more healthy menu, instead of just adding
some new items, guests will appreciate old favorites that they always order, while simultaneously improving the
healthiness of the dish. Also, it may be beneficial to label them seperately on the menu or provide a small logo or icon
beside it, to indicate that it is a “healthy” eating option.
Another piece of information we gleaned from the surveys was the lack of one major demographic who
frequented the location: college students. USC has a student body of tens of thousands of students, who on average
probably eat out multiple times a week. Two locations, Knox Abbot and Elmwood, are just a couple of miles away from
campus. The prices of Lizard’s Thicket are very comparable to many local dining options around campus, and some
people may argue that the quality of food at Lizard’s Thicket would be much better than the majority of the places where
students eat every day. This is a largely untapped resource that Lizard’s Thicket could greatly benefit from if utilized
correctly. In order to do that, our recommended course of action is to have promotions geared specifically for USC
8. 8
students to incite interest. For example, Uncle Maddio’s Pizza, a relatively new restaurant located near campus, used a
free pizza promotion for the first hundred customres on its opening day. HUNDREDS of students showed up, and even
though the previous two restaurants that were in that location failed, Maddio’s was incredibly successful and is still a
favorite location for college students today. While giving away hundreds of free meals may not be the best option,
something that will generate excitement and discussion among the students could go a long way to bridging the gap to
bring those potential customers in, like a free entre with a drink purchase or a coupon booklet that is handed out at the
student union or somewhere on campus that gets heavy foot traffic.
In terms of the waiting line analysis, it is very difficult to recommend any surface level improvements. During
the time period in which data was collected, customers sat themselves and the restaurant locations were never full, thus
there was never any wait time to negatively affect their experience, so we can not offer any improvements there.
Typically the servers were at the table very quickly, more often than not less than a minute, and only in very few instances
did the customers not have their drinks within a five minute time period (another managerial goal). One issue that might
be considered is that because the customers seat themselves, they may unknowingly all sit in one server’s designated area,
which can cause the appearance of one worker working hard and keeping busy and the others hardly doing anything.
However, having the customers seat themselves allows them to choose their own seats. With no waits, this is probably the
better of the two options rather than attempting to evenly spread out the server assignments. Another point to consider is
that we did not take data for when the customers receive their food (entirely dependent on the type of dish ordered) and
when they received their check, which could have affected their overall experience and thus the rating they gave that
location. The only real recommendation that we can offer is that the servers, even while working a slow shift, need to
avoid being complacent and be even more attentive when the restaurant is less busy. It is easier for a customer to
understand why their food or drink is taking time if the restaurant is busy (and the server has many customers to handle),
but it reflects very poorly on the quality of service when hardly anyone is in the restaurant and the customer still has to
wait several minutes for a drink. Overall, the servers performed within managerial expectations; but it is entirely within
reach to eliminate any negative outliers, especially if there are three serveres on staff for only half a dozen customers,
which was frequently the case during our period of observation.