BSBMGT517 Manage Operational Plan

Coffee shops in recent years have been identified to be most popular since they offer a good environment for one to relax after a long stressing day from work. This has become a culture to most people who believe taking coffee relieves stress. One can also decide to dash into a coffee shop just to read a book or catch up with friends. For the coffee addicts, a coffee shop is always considered a necessity. Therefore, the increase in use of coffee alongside positive talks about cool environments that coffee is believed to offer, most restaurants set a space within their hotels to purposely sell coffee. Hotel Futura will have to put up a full espresso coffee shop at the designated section of the lobby as proposed by the management. The section is at the convenient location since there is no other coffee shop around the place unlike putting up the shop in an already existing coffee facility.

The initial estimated number of customers per week per lobby is 250; this will therefore require the hotel to set a section with enough space to host not less than 36 customers at the same time in the shop. The location of the shop also is strategic since it’s next to the hotel, some clients might decide to have coffee after taking a meal. This shows that the shop is likely to have more clients in a day. Therefore, the number of coffee shop attendants must be good enough and accommodative. These attendants are supposed to be the ones working in the hotel because most customers will just be the same ones that use the hotel. In addition, one extra food attendant will have to hire to specifically operate the coffee shop throughout the week to avoid confusion in daily sales. The other attendants will have to work in shifts of 2 hours each to avoid exploitation. Due to small space the sandwiches will be prepared from the room service kitchen and delivered to the pass in the pastry section of the main production kitchen which is located directly behind the proposed outlet. Gâteaux and pastries will be prepared and plated up by the pastry section. Timeframe for serving tea will be 2 hours only and the rest time will be for selling coffee so that time can be utilised well and every client is served. The pastry section in the hotel will be used as serving place for all outlets.

The coffee shop will be located next to hotel Futura directly behind the tea lobby area with 2 attendants working in the shop. The coffee shop will be fully owned by the management of Futura hotel. The shop will only serve coffee and some few snacks like sandwich and others.

The coffee shop will operate for only 7 days a week within the timeframe stated in the table below.

Monday	10.00 am- 12.00 noon 2.30 Pam -4.30 Pam
Tuesday	10.00 am- 12.00 noon 2.30 Pam -4.30 Pam
Wednesday	10.00 am- 12.00 noon 2.30 Pam -4.30 Pam
Thursday	10.00 am- 12.00 noon 2.30 Pam -4.30 Pam
Friday	10.00 am- 12.00 noon 2.30 Pam -4.30 Pam
Saturday	10.00 am- 12.00 noon 2.30 Pam -4.30 Pam
Sunday	10.00 am- 12.00 noon 2.30 Pam -4.30 Pam

The main aim of the operational plan for the coffee shop is;

• To achieve a cost benefit and maximise on profit
• To create a new revenue stream
• To offer the best espresso coffee services
• To offer quality coffee and service.

SWOT analysis of the business environment

Strength

• Convenient location that is easily accessed by clients without congestion.
• Favourable service time frame especially for the working class
• The owners have enough experience in operating restaurant since they own a hotel therefore getting coffee customer it will not be hectic as well as managing the coffee shop.
• Locating the coffee section far from other coffee outlets provides the management an opportunity to offer quality service than their competitors.
• Having a small sized shop also makes it easy to monitor employees and ensure they attend to customers at their best level.

Weakness

• Recruiting and training high quality attendants
• Close monitoring of employees will help to avoid room for failing to perform duties well.

Opportunity

• Offer other products like snacks that can be taken together with coffee.
• Ensure less entry barriers to allow for more business opportunities.

Threats

• Increase in the cost of operations
• Maintaining high sales volume
• Government laws, rules and regulations that should be conformed to.

Technology

Most businesses in the current world have fully embraced technology in their daily activities. Technology is identified as one of the most rapid growing resource in all sectors. For one business operation to be fast and efficient, technology should be fully in embraced in that particular sector. Therefore, for Futura hotel to outshine other restaurants in its new coffee section, the management should ensure all operations are carried out in a digital way.  (Bushati, Šehovi?& Binaj, 2015) They should have a system which is computer best to use in keeping the shops records, feeding in clients information like the order the client makes and get a system that a client can use to read what’s in the menu and make an order without involving use of the manual menu. Installation of CCTVs in the coffee shop can also play a great role in monitoring the employees and also the clients as they check in and as they leave the restaurant. Technology therefore is a very essential requirement that should be fully used in the hotel operations.

Organizations, institutions and other companies always have a human resource department. The department is important in every organisation because it takes care of employees and employers welfare and also helps in recruiting the best workers. Hotels and restaurants is not an exception because they also have employees and employers. The management therefore needs to include human resource department in its business to help in recruiting suitable employees and to help avoid organization conflicts. (Onamson, 2015)

Various implementation and renovation needs to be done for the hotel to start operating. If the management choose either of the options given, they will still have to incur some cost. The financial plan has to cater for;

Start up cost

 Since it’s a new business, they should set aside a good amount of money to cater for expenses of the shop and for purchasing the shop. If the cost of purchasing is found out to be very expensive, the management might opt for utilising the existing coffee facility from the coffee outlet shop.

Renovation cost to be used in setting up the coffee section. If the cost compared to utilising the existing shop is identified to be expensive, they can opt for leasing or purchasing then install a full espresso coffee section.

Hotel management system implementation cost. For the coffee shop operations to be run efficiently and effectively, they should fully embrace use of technology in their operations which definitely come at a cost.

Profit or loss, the management should plan well so that it fits in any outcome from the business in case of loss or profit.

Overhead cost, since it’s a new business some cost of purchasing furniture and utensils to be used in the shop should be properly planned.  

Using current trade equipment prices, purchasing a section and then installing it will be very expensive; therefore, the best options the management can take is utilizing the existing section of the coffee outlet and renovate it to a high quality coffee shop.

Develop a business operation concept, in this stage, the management first have to describe the products they want to offer, the main competitors offering the same products and identify the intermediaries and suppliers of your products. The key aspect under this stage is identifying competitors to know how they offer their services in order to come up with a way of outshining them. (Thomas, 2018)

Acquiring information that is necessary, this is acquired through research, obtaining information from experts and carrying out field tests about the product. The information obtains helps in planning on how to operate the business and also to identify the dos and don’ts in the business.

In this stage, the management has to determine and define the business goals to show the main aim and where the business will be in the near future in connection to the challenges the business is likely to face. The new business is also prone to cost and expenses challenges such as underestimation of some cost and renovation expenses. Through proper operational planning, such challenges can be avoided. In addition, the management can set aside some amount of money to cater for any unplanned expense that might occur. For every industry to be successful, it should go through hurdles that can only be managed through identifying the challenges and know how to get rid of them.

Timeframe required to implement the project is a span of 4 months in order to offer enough time for detailed research about the business, the challenges it might face, total cost it will incur and its target customer’s availability.

The management however has to do some extensive consultation from the experts to determine the appropriate time frame, the right requirements and the provisions needed.

Data collection through observation is one of the main evaluation methods the management should use in order to measure performance aspects of the project. Through conducting a keen observation of how other coffee shops operates and what it takes for such business to be successful.

Part B

Question 1

Processes and procedures for planning and managing physical and human resources

Organizations usually set up objectives and strategies to help the management have a better guidance in managing and planning for both physical and human resources. In this case, the management should first identify what is needed for them to start a coffee shop and ensure it operates effectively. After identifying the requirements, they set a strategy that they should follow to achieve the plans (Levenson, 2014).

Survey persons available

An organization should carry out a survey which will determine the probability of the number of people or customers likely to be available. This enables management to estimate appropriately resources required for efficient operation of the business. For instance in this case, the management should first carry out the survey to help determine the number of coffee making machines, shop furniture and utensils to purchase and number of attendants to employee.

Every organization always identifies its competitors and research on what to do in order to gain a competitive advantage. Some other external environment such as political factors, economic and social factors should also be scanned well by organization and find ways of preventing these factors from affecting their business activities. (Justino & Tengeh, 2016)

Findings

From the research carried out with the executive chef and food and beverage managers, I have observed and found out that, for the coffee shop to be successful, best measures has to be put in place by the management. These measures include;

• Setting up strategies and objectives for effective business operations.
• Employing high quality Attendants.
• Scanning both external and internal environment.
• Put in place proper procedures to manage resources.

Observations

From detailed discussions with the 2 staffs, I have identified major drivers that determine the standards of a high quality food and beverage shop. The first one is the management, it’s the back born of the organization since it’s the management that plans for everything in the organization. That is from, operations, resources, employing and giving new ideas. Secondly, the employees also play a great role in maintaining and ensuring quality services. (Hoch & Dulebohn, 2013) The coffee shop should therefore focus more on the type of management that manage the shop and the attendants employed to operate the shop.

Question 2

Standard operating procedure that should be put in place to ensure legal requirements are covered is privacy and accessibility. The SOP should ensure that there is privacy in information shared and everyone only receives information that belongs to them. SOP also ensures smooth operations in the shop through proper employee training, efficient production and equipment maintenance. (Ashbrook, 2014)

Question 3

• Cleaning of restaurant and utensils
• Welcoming guests in the restaurant and interacting with them as the attendant takes their orders
• Act as an intermediary between the cook and the customer
• Collecting of cash and cheques
• Suggestion for and helping customers in choosing their preferred drinks

The coffee shop management will need to include the duty of record keeping that is to be performed by attendants the attendants to be helping clients in choosing beverages from the menu.

An overview of the strategies to ensure quality performance by shop attendants

• Providing incentives to the attendants
• Increasing the attendant’s salary if they do good work so as to motivate them.
• Offering promotions to the best attendants after a certain timeframe of working.
• Motivating employees by giving them gifts and shopping vouchers (Burkett, 2010).

Ashbrook, P. (2014). Standard Operating Procedures. Journal Of Chemical Health And Safety, 21(5), 29. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2014.07.006

Burkett, H. (2010). Research, tools, and strategies for achieving high-quality performance results. Performance Improvement, 49(10), 2-2. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pfi.20185

Bushati, B., Šehovi?, D., & Binaj, I. (2015). The Importance of Information Technology Use in Business Management. Academic Journal Of Interdisciplinary Studies. https://dx.doi.org/10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n2p487

Hoch, J., & Dulebohn, J. (2013). Shared leadership in enterprise resource planning and human resource management system implementation. Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), 114-125. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2012.06.007

Justino, M., & Tengeh, R. (2016). Role of external environmental factors in the failure of small enterprises in Angola. Environmental Economics, 7(2), 86-96. https://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ee.07(2).2016.9

Levenson, A. (2014). Organization design and talent strategies for emerging markets. Organizational Dynamics, 43(3), 205-213. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2014.08.007

Onamson, F. (2015). DEVOLUTION OF CORPORATE MANAGERIAL POWERS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS. Corporate Board: Role, Duties And Composition, 11(3). https://dx.doi.org/10.22495/cbv11i3art6

Thomas, R. (2018). The US Federal Tox21 Program: A Strategic and Operational Plan for Continued Leadership. ALTEX. https://dx.doi.org/10.14573/altex.1803011