Peppercorn Issues Essay

How will you analyze the info collected? How will you make aw beness of the situation at pepper?This should credibly take a majority of the grade period, since how the consultants see the organizational issues will, in part, bound how the feedback process will be designed.Choosing a diagnostic/analytic nonplus is no sm any issue. thither is no test in the case that a incident diagnostic model is driving the entropy collection process (a voltage problem), and on that calculate argon at least deuce models that would meet. First, the consultants could use an individual based model such as the one describe in Chapter 6. For separately job at Peppercorn, the consultants could ask what their entropy reveals ab away toil identity, skill variety, task signifi female genitalsce, autonomy, and feedback in the place setting of Peppercorns social organisation. But this is a more limited perspective and non as good a choice.Second, and perhaps more relevant in this case, wou ld be an organization-level diagnostic model such as the one presented in Chapter 5.Inputs Based on their initial discussion with pull as well as data from the distrusts, we drop see that the tire out merchandise has gotten rattling tight. It is more and more difficult to queue up sueers and in particular student workers. This tightened marketplace has forced the dining services unit of measurement and Peppercorn to increase the pay judge twice (although with puny app arent effect). In a related category, we alike experience that a union represents full-time employees. It is this labor shortage that is driving more of the dynamics of the case.The primary customer, students with meal plans, suggests that in that location is niggling likelihood that price increases can be used to offset the labor scarcity. On a more general level, we jazz from data in the interviews that the food-service industry is cognise for its low wage levels and long and nonpareil hours. Desig n Components. The observation and interview data provides near information on each feature of organization design. In just about cases, at that place is much data of senior high school quality while in early(a) cases the amount of data (and its credibility) is thin.Strategy The missionary station and goals for the universitys dining unit lays out their purpose and operating goals. in that respect appears to be a broad interest in providing nutritious food, creating a good well-disposed and aesthetic atmosphere, and serving the economic need of the university. The goals reflect this broad interest by ringing customer satisfaction, facilities quality, management excellence, financial management, coalescency with the universitys mission, and industry leadership. at that place is little in the case suggesting that Peppercorns strategy is any different.Peppercorn, fit in to Drew, is difficult address the difficult labor market by providing an enjoyable place to work although the consultants note a certain disconnection mingled with what is said (decentralized and participative) and what is practiced (more centralized, less(prenominal) participative) based on their observations and interview data.engineering The overall transformation process is plum interdependent and fairly low on uncertainty. The key workflow issue seems to be the supply system. Supplies, in the form of food, aprons, cookware, and so on, are pieceed by dint of a computing machine system that isnt operative very well and resulting in betray outages of different items. Since this process sits at the summit end of the transformation process, its ineffectiveness is a key source of problems for the kitchen and service staff. In nigh way, the whole of Peppercorn is held guarantor by this computer system.Once the blunt materials prevail arrived, food is prepared neartimes as much as a day in advance according to meal plans and recipes that are well understood. Although some of the cooks seem proud of their recipes and interested in creating new ones, do you really requisite people to be very ripe in this situation? In some ways, this conflicts with the situation. The prepared meals are transferred to the serving dividing line where customers (students) are provided with their food. One of the consultants notes that there was no portion control at this stage and that a immense amount of customization hold outed as workers gave students a little more of some things or accommodated specific requests. After the meal, the leftovers, utensils and plates, and fighting are fed into the dish agency where plates and utensils are cleaned and recycled for use.Other processes also exist but are also comparatively low in interdependence and uncertainty, including order taking, cash exchange, hiring and staffing, and mark handling.Structure A formal organization chart for some(prenominal) the university dining services and Peppercorn are presented in the c ase. Drews spot is interesting because he leads two organizations Peppercorn as well as the brininess Mill and has a professional supervisory program (Larry) that is assigned from the university dining organization. Larrys affinity with the different employees draws some attention from the consultants and there is a mostly negative recognition of Larry and his skills.The case also points out a rather complex set of employee relationships. There are full time employees (union- represented), full-time fleeting employees (a non-union position that has been added to accommodate the problems associated with the declining verse of student workers), and student labor. The students have their profess management structure and supervise themselves as well as the full-time temporary employees (although these employees receive their training from the permanent staff) which has been the point of some contention. At best, it suggests that there may be two standards of work work at play . At worst, there could be some very divisive passion over preferential treatment.Measurement Systems There is no information presented about how employee work is measured (goals set, performance monitored and feedback), there appears to be no portion control on food served, and no financial information is presented. There is mention of a unrighteousness process, but no indication of grievance activity levels. If the computer system problems are added into this category, there would appear to be a pretty big hole in the sophistication of this system.Human Resource Systems The interview data reveals a number of complexities in the way employees are paid through the union contract and the motivational aspects of that system. In the initial interview between the consultants and Drew, he describes how some workers can actually be incented to call in sick, for example. The case also mentions that wage rates have been increase twice in recent months to address the lack of student issues .Alignment and military capability Roger reports that customer satisfaction is consistently substantiative with the one complaint being the heat energy inside the facility an apparent artefact of the dining room being build over the heating plant. There is no financial data presented, so we cannot colour on the profitability of the unit. There is, however, considerable data on employee satisfaction. There is a fairly consistent downward foreshorten across many of the employees interviewed, although there is a high degree of tenure among many of the full-time employees. There is also fairly consistent data with respect to tensenesss between the different types of employees.Within that effectiveness assessment, can we make any inferences with respect to bond among the organization design features? The presenting problem in the initial conversation between Drew and the consultants was a hiring problem and that has certainly been confirmed, the question is why?First, the strate gy for Peppercorn does not seem clear. Other than some instinct of doing the best we can with what we have, there are no clear goals for the restaurant and no clear sense of why people come there other than they have a meal plan. They are a fairly captive audience and theres not much in the way of competition for Peppercorn. Does this suggest a lack of external pressure that translates into all the things seemed pretty relaxed comments in the case?Second, the computer system is a big problem, and plausibly not under Peppercorns control. The University dining unit probably programs and maintains the system. There is a potential big contraband hole here since we dont know how the system works. The one potential issue here is that it may not be the system it may be Larry, so that has to be confirmed.Third, how much of the tension in the restaurant is the result of the structure where students supervise adults. Understanding the rationale for this fire and what the alternatives are would be a dark-fruited conversation.Fourth, and related to the strategy There appears to be very few measurement systems. How do employees know if they are doing well or poorly?