Observational Research Essay: Comparing KFC Service Delivery In Melbourne.

The observational research report requires students to consider the issues related to delivering high quality service consistently within dynamic hospitality settings. Students are required to make observations of real hospitality businesses, delivering the same style of product and service and consider variations in quality service delivery. Students will use their understanding of the impact human resource management and marketing play on the delivery of a consistent product. They will use theoretical frameworks to explain what they observe and extend their knowledge through recommendations.

Your task is to observe, compare and analyse the service delivery and experience offered to customers at two (2) hospitality businesses offering the same product. For example, two different Starbucks stores, or two different Papa Rich restaurants.

Using a Mystery Shopper technique, you are to construct a typical service encounter and repeat it at both locations.

Using the data you collect, based on ten (10) key points, you are to report on your findings. Your report must include:

• Introduction

• Overview of the company (including vision/mission and brief description of products and service style)

• Description of the service encounter (eg: size of party, time of day, order).

NB: The service encounter must be consistent in order to make a valid comparison and must include more than one person

• Outline of two (2) businesses chosen (size, location, layout, physical characteristics)

Ten (10) key service points (eg: how many minutes before the first service encounter; staff appearance; speed of service; taste of product; ability of staff to answer set question).

• What were the two (2) key similarities and differences in relation to staff performance?

• What impact did this have on the overall service experience?

• As an external customer, explain which of the two businesses provided a better customer experience. Why?
  
  
• What steps should the lesser business take to improve the customer experience on offer?

In the hospitality industry, the relationship between consumer satisfaction and consumer retention is regardedas having highest importance (Hennig Thurau, 2013). The factors that influences customer satisfactions arehave been subjects of multiple researches for a long time.In the resent scenario, satisfying ad retaining customers are becoming highly important due to the ever increasing competition (Sun, Wilcox & Zhu, 2014). It has been noticed that along with passing time, the hospitality industry is growing significantly and the consumer base for these industries are ever increasing. Hence, these industries are trying to excel in their service providing, innovation and maintenance (Torres & Kline, 2013). It has also been noticed that the hospitality sectors that are capable of attracting, maintaining and satisfying their customers are more likely to survive and succeed in the cutthroat competitive market. In addition to this, it has also been noticed that the organizations involved into the dynamic hospitality sectors are in need of maintaining consistency in their services (Zhang, Zhang & Law, 2013). The present report will hence focus the two different stores of a leading hospitality business. The chosen food chain is KFC, and the study will observe and compare two stores of KFC located in Melbourne.

Kentuky Fried Chicken, popularly known as KFC is a fast food serving restaurant chain that has its specialization in fried chicken. Initially, started operating in the United States, KFC has become one of the leading fast food chain in the global market. In the Australia, the brand has more than thousand outlets. The giant fast food chain thrives to deliver consistent and quality products to its consumers. The mission statement of the company specify their motto of selling fast food in a friendly environment and to appeal to the consumers who are pride conscious as well as being health conscious. Hence, it can easily be understood that the fast food giant not only aims to capture the consumer base who are health conscious, but also the consumers who are aware of their status. However, by analyzing the mission statement of the company it can be said that the organization has set up its primary focus on the products itself and does not focus on the market, technology, self-concept as essential component of the company’s mission. Hence, it is clearly understandable that KFC is more focused on product quality and uses it as their marketing tool. The offered menu consists of a variety range of fried chicken, sandwiches, wraps, bucket meals, desserts and beverages.

Key Points to Report

The present study hence will focus on the difference in service in two of the prominent stores of KFC located in Melbourne. To perform the research a group of five people has been made, who has opted for mystery shopping technique in order to perform service encounter of both of the locations. In both of the cases, the group has visited the outlets on two consecutive Wednesdays, during the lunch hours.The group has visited theKFC Bourke Street Melbourne on first Wednesday and on the second Wednesday; they have visited KFC Melbourne Central Food Court.In both of the stores, the group has ordered three Zinger and Chicken Big meal boxes, two Honey BBQ Chicken, one double crunch sandwich, one KFC Shrimp burger, three Oreo Milkshakes, one strawberry milkshake and one blue berry ice cream. In order to perform the research effectively and avoid any discrepancy, both of the visits have been kept similar. However, at KFC Melbourne Central Food Court, they were served with blueberry milkshakedue to unavailability of strawberry milkshake. As they fast food chain offers discounts on Wednesdays, the group has decided to opt for that day to monitor if these offers differs from one store to another. Another reason behind visiting these stores on Wednesdays is to monitor the services of both these stores during rush hours.

Both of the KFC stores that the group has visited are located in the prime location of Melbourne. As a result, both of the stores enjoy huge crowd both on weekends and on weekdays. During the Wednesdays, the stores witness huge crowd during the lunch hours. The discounts offered by the stores are also being helpful in crowd pulling. In addition to that, the location of these two stores are also being helpful in the business. However, the primary difference between these two stores, which is noticeable even before visiting, is the difference between their working hours. The KFC store located in Bourke Street Melbourneremains open for a shorter span of time, if compared to the other one. The Melbourne central food store opens at 11 a.m. in the morning and closes within 8 p.m. whereas, the store at Bourke Street remains opens at 10 a.m. in the morning and remains open nightlong in the weekends and for the weekdays it remains open until 10 p.m. at night. This flexible timing of the Bourke Streetmakes it easier for the customers to opt for the store. In addition to this, the store at Bourke Street comes with the better parking facilities than the one at the central food store. However, it is noticeable that the Central food store, in spite of being smaller in size, has a good floor plan. In both of the stores, the entrance is wide and the counter for placing order and billing is near to the entrance. Both of the stores are spacious and the tables are placed keeping ample space for free movement.

Importance of Customer Satisfaction in Hospitality Industry

Based on the above survey, a thorough analysis of these two KFC stores can be done. From the above comparison, it can be said that the service encounters of these two stores are satisfactory and do not differ much from one another. By entering in both of the stores, the staffs greeted the group members cordially. Along with that, in both of the stores, the staffs were well dressed and the uniforms they were wearing wee neat and clean. It has also been noticed that the staffs maintained the necessary cleanliness while making the foods and delivering them. In order to nullify any chances of contamination, the staffs were wearing gloves and head masks. However, the Bourke Street food court could not maintain the cleanliness. After entering the store, the group has noticed that the waste baskets at Bourke Street Food outlet are overflowing. On the other hand, the Melbourne Central Food Court has maintained the cleanliness of the store. Though the group has noticed that at the Melbourne Central Food Court the staff members took time while cleaning the tables, it can be overlookedas the store was over crowded and the staffs had to tackle a huge number of customers at a time. In Melbourne Central Food Court, the group has experienced that the orders that have been made took time to bedelivered. Moreover, the store has lesser variety of food items if compared to the other one. In opposition to that, the KFC at Bourke Street has a very prompt service and greater variety of foods. While analyzing the difference between the these two stores, it can be said that in hospitality industry customer satisfaction is to be held as of highest importance. Issues such as cleanliness,prompt customer service and quick billing are some of the factors that create an immediate impression on the customer. Hence, after analyzing these factors it can be said that the KFC store located at Bourke Street, is better when compared to the Melbourne Central Food store.

After performing the survey and the analysis of the service provided by the two KFC food stores located in Melbourne, it can be said that the KFC store at Melbourne Central needs to focus more on providing better service to the customers (Sabir et al., 2014). The analysis suggests that prompt service helps in creating a quick impression on the customers (Boo, 2017). The store henceshould focus on increasing efficiency of the staffs. A thorough training can be providedto them regarding efficient and quick managing of during rush hours (Binsar Kristian 2014). In addition to this, the store must overcome its technical error in the billing counter. Along with that, the store must look after the matter of increasing the variety inmenu.

Conclusion

To conclude it can be said that the in order to satisfy and retain the customer base, any hospitality business should bring and employ strategies to satisfy the customers. Better service quality, prompt actions and quality products are the primary factors that can help in bringing customer satisfaction. In addition to this, the efficiency of the staff members and their professional approach helps in bringingcustomer satisfaction. A proper planning and strategic implementation are needed in this regard.

References

Binsar Kristian, P. (2014). Analysis of Customer Loyalty through Total Quality Service, Customer Relationship Management and Customer Satisfaction. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 3(3), 142-151.

Boo, H. V. (2017). Service environment of restaurants: findings from the youth customers. Journal of ASIAN behavioural studies, 2(2), 67-77.

Hennig-Thurau, T., & Hansen, U. (Eds.). (2013). Relationship marketing: Gaining competitive advantage through customer satisfaction and customer retention. Springer Science & Business Media.

Torres, E., & Kline, S. (2013). From customer satisfaction to customer delight: Creating a new standard of service for the hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(5), 642-659.

Sabir, R. I., Irfan, M., Akhtar, N., Pervez, M. A., & ur Rehman, A. (2014). Customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry; examining the model in local industry perspective. Journal of Asian Business Strategy, 4(1), 18.

Sun, B., Wilcox, R., & Zhu, T. (2014). Ignoring your best customer? An investigation of customer satisfaction, customer retention and their financial impact. Profit Maximization Through Customer Relationship Marketing: Measurement, Prediction, and Implementation, 87.

Zhang, Z., Zhang, Z., & Law, R. (2013). Regional effects on customer satisfaction with restaurants. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(5), 705-722.