Operational Improvement for Costa Coffee Shop Essay Example For Students

Operational Improvement for Costa Coffee Shop Essay Operational Improvement for Costa Coffee Shop | | Operational Improvement for Costa Coffee Shop Introduction Small businesses are mighty minnows, reflecting the competitive spirit that a market economy needs for efficiency; they provide an outlet for entrepreneurial talents, a wider range of consumer goods and services, a check to monopoly inefficiency a source of innovation, and a seedbed for new industries; they allow an economy to be more adaptable to structural change through continuous initiatives embodying new technologies, skills, processes, or products (Ibielski 1997, p. ). In this context, it is important to analyze the role of quality practices that can enable Costa Coffee Shop to pursue competitive priorities, such as flexibility and quality of services and goods. Andreichuk (1992) stated, Its a common misconception that big firms with extensive human and financial resources can do a better job of educating and motivating their workers to make quality improvements. The truth is that smaller companies can be even more successful at soliciting employee support and involvement because there are fewer management layers to permeate and fewer people to convince of the benefits (p. 29). Higgins (1994) suggests that there are specific transactions or activities that are involved in managing operations in small businesses. The process of managing a business consists of four major functions occurring in an overlapping cycle and directed toward achieving the particular organizations objectives. These functions are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Planning entails setting objectives; organizing encompasses preparation of resources necessary for placing the plans into effect; leading is the function of channeling employees and other individuals behavior to accomplish objectives; and controlling is evaluating whether the objectives have been met and devising alternatives for improving the chances of achieving those objectives. From this framework, three research questions can be framed to guide this essay on the issue of devising an operational management strategies for Costa Coffee Shop: (1) what are the improvements that can be suggested on the operations management at Costa Coffee Shop? ; (2) what are the operations management common in the coffee shop industry particularly those who have succeeded? And; (3) taking into consideration the resources and location of Costa Coffee Shop, what is the most appropriate operational management strategy? Gaskill, Van Auken, and Kims (1994) research on small business success has suggested that the development of management strategies contributed to firm continuance and growth. Because key components of strategic management as applied to the family business remain difficult to identify the purpose of this essay is to identify the operation management problems and issues faced by Costa Coffee Shop and identify possible strategies to address these issues. Furthermore, improvements on the operations of Costa Coffee Shop shall also be propose operational strategies to solve the problems and increase efficiency and profit. The recommendations shall take into consideration the socio-cultural dynamics within the community where Costa is located. Research Method This article conducted interviews on the customers and some of the staff of Costa Coffee Shop, a survey of the location of the shop and frequented the store to take note of the operations, the quality of services and goods offered at the shop. Furthermore, my observations were confirmed by conducting an interview with the management and some of its loyal customers (or as they claim to be). Consequently, some of the people within the area who does not frequent the store were also asked on the reasons why they do not patronize the shop. From this take off point, a survey of literature was conducted. Analysis There are several approaches that can be taken in planning effective operational strategies, but practitioners suggest a comprehensive approach that deals with cost, industry structure, market preferences, and internal capabilities(Mcleod, Miller, and Oh, 2001). Internal capabilities involve aspects of the management process such as the organizational configuration and environment and managerial characteristics. Merz and Sauber (1995) uggest that there has been a tendency to limit the study of business management to the broad functions of planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling. Efficient and effective processes require integrated tasks from product/service design to post-sale customer service. Quality has historically taken a process-focus at the front end, with programs like quality function deployment which turns the interfacing of customers and product design into a manageable system (Goodale, Hornsb y, and Kuratko, 2001). Censorship and the Internet: EssayDescribes or references the process(es), including roles, responsibilities, and authorities of management and staff for: Ensuring that work is performed according to approved planning. The identification of operations needing procedures, preparation, review, approval, revision, and withdrawl of these procedures; and policy for use. Controlling and documenting products and services. Assessment and Response. Describes or references the process(es) including roles, responsibilities, and authorities of management and staff for: Assesses the adequacy of the quality system at least annually. Plans, implements, and documents assessments and reporting assessment results to management including how to select an assessment tool, the expected frequency of their application to customer service programs and the roles and responsibilities of the staff on the customers. Determines the level of competence, experience, and training necessary to ensure that personnel conducting assessments are technically knowledgeable, have no real or perceived conflict of interest, and have no direct involvement or responsibility for the work being assessed. Ensures that personnel conducting assessments have sufficient access to programs, manager, documents, and records. Managements review and response to assessment. Identifies how and when corrective actions are to be taken in response to the findings of the assessment, ensuring corrective actions are made promptly, confirming the implementation and effectiveness of any corrective action, and documenting such actions. Addresses any disputes encountered as a result of assessments Quality Improvement. Identify who (organizationally) is responsible for dentifying, planning, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness of quality improvement activities and describes the process to ensure continuous quality improvement, including the roles and responsibilities of management and staff. Ensures that conditions adverse to quality are: Prevented Identified promptly including a determination of the nature and extent of the problem. Corrected as soon as practical, including implementing appropri ate corrective actions and actions to prevent reoccurrence. Documenting all corrective actions. Tracking such actions to closure. Encourages staff at all levels to establish communications between customers and suppliers, identify process improvement opportunities, and identify and offer solutions to problems. Conclusion Based on the findings of this exploratory investigation, there are a number of interesting observations and implications about operation management and flexibility at Costa Coffee Shop. Systematic collection of business performance information (sales, costs, and net income), measurement of customer satisfaction, and training programs for quality can be used to improve the operations of Costa Coffee Shop. Accordingly, these practices provide direction when employees are under shared management and require ambiguity absorption. This facilitates management of systemic flexibility (Covin and Slevin 1991) and therefore supports the attainment of the quality and flexibility we have earlier espoused. In summary, the results of this essay provide a reflection of quality management practices at Costa Coffee Shop and the operational management practices in small firms participating in dynamic markets. Furthermore, this article proposes that Costa Coffee Shop can best attain quality of service and product and flexibility in its operation if it shall perform some changes in its operations specifically targeting human resource and process flexibility and improvements in quality of service and goods. Recommendation It is important to note that there are limitations to this exploratory study. Although there was an attempt to be as nearly comprehensive as possible in specifying quality strategies and tools for Costa Coffee Shop to consider, he instrument can never achieve complete specificity. Future research in this area should focus on at least three questions. First, what impact do the various quality practices have on business success criteria such as sales growth, productivity, and profitability? Second, are there demographic differences such as geographic location, size, industry type, and age of the small business in the implementation of quality practices? Finally, what impact a re larger client organizations having on smaller firms and their strategic focus relating to quality?