Pizza USA Case Study: An Exercise in Translating Customer Requirements into Process Design Requirements
Here is what the paper is about:
Case Pizza USA: An Exercise in Translating Customer Requirements into Process Design Requirements
It is from the book: Operations and Supply Chain Management (15th Edition) by F. Robber Jacobs and Richard B. Chase on page 218-219
Term Paper Assignment Information and Instructions
This course covers a wide range of Operations Management topics facing contemporary organizations. The purpose of the Term Paper assignment is to synthesize learning from the entire course and to apply academic theory to real-world practice.
Your assignment must reference textbook and at least three scholarly / peer-reviewed articles. You may also use a company's website, printed literature, and personal interviews with employees as source material.
If you interview any company employees you will need to receive the approval of the Institutional Review BoardLinks to an external site. (IRB) prior to the interview taking place. The IRB can walk you through the approval process and answer your questions to help ensure that the interview will be conducted appropriately.
Assignment Description
You may pick any ONE case from the list found below that deals with Operations Management issues OR you can use the Webster Library'sLinks to an external site. article databases, internet search engines, or other resources to identify alternative cases. If you choose to NOT use one of the cases found below and use an external sourced case, you MUST submit a summary to the instructor for approval no later than the end of Week Three.
Your paper MUST follow the APA Style® (Links to an external site.) format and be approximately 10 pages in length; excluding cover page, diagrams, tables, references, and appendices. See layout requirements below. You MUST use Microsoft® Word for your paper's file format and use this naming convention lastname_casename.doc ( - 5 points for improper file naming).
If there are questions in the case, answer them. View the case as if you are the Operations Manager, or CEO of the company. Look up the company on the internet and research them. What kind of analysis tools can you use from your textbook to help you support your conclusions with the case? If the company is foreign-based, then how does it operate differently than a U.S. based company?
Make sure you review the Web Links found on the Homepage for additional resources in preparing your assignment.
The assignment is due no later than the last Friday of the term at 11:59 pm CT. ( - 20 points for papers submitted after the due date but before the following Tuesday; no papers will be accepted after 11:59 pm CT on Tuesday....a Zero will be entered for the grade.)
Assignment Learning Expectations
Communications: The written component offers substantive and concise description and clarity in content, language use, grammar, organization, sentence structure, and supported by APA formatted references.
Critical Thinking: Provides reflection and applications of business concepts, analyzes, synthesizes and expresses the complexities in a given business problem, and gives consideration to alternative systems of thought and solutions where applicable.
Problem Solving: Analyses the underlying causes of the situation by collecting and assessing relevant information, evaluates possible courses of actions, and concludes and defends appropriate solutions and recommendations.
Ethics: Considers concepts of ethical dimensions to the examination of the business problem and analyzes and evaluates ethical issues in defending solutions and recommendations.
Diversity: Considers the impact of cultural and economic issues as they relate to the business problem and explains the potential consequences of diversity in defending solutions and recommendations.
Integration: Integrates interrelationships of the business problem issues, ethics, diversity, and global aspects with analysis of the possible courses of actions and recommendations.
How will the assignment be assessed?
Each component of the Assignment content requirements - Title, Abstract, Introduction; Methodology; Results/Discussion; and References described in the APA Style guidelines will be assessed based on the Assignment Learning Expectations above. The grading scheme and assessment criteria are shown in the term paper rubricPreview the document.
Students who are discovered cheating or committing plagiarism will be awarded a failing grade for the course, and may be subject to discipline or dismissal.
If you have any doubt about the definition plagiarism, or need examples of plagiarism/academic dishonesty, please contact the Writing CenterLinks to an external site.. Ignorance of the definition of plagiarism/academic dishonesty, university policies, or course policies will not excuse students who commit plagiarism or academic dishonesty.
Webster University uses a tool called TurnItIn to help faculty identify plagiarism.
DO NOT submit your paper direct to the TurnItIn site, you MUST submit your paper via the button below.
You can submit your paper as many times as you like up until the due date then the last submission will be the graded submission.
Submitting to TurnItIn
TurnItIn creates an "originality report" that matches text from your submission to text from academic databases, the internet, and other student papers thus assisting the instructor to identifying if text is a direct excerpt from another source. This originality report is available to you, so that you can ensure all non-original content in your paper has been properly cited and quoted before final submission of your the paper for grading. You can resubmit your draft paper as many times as necessary to reduce the similarity percentage up until the due date. Assignments submitted for final grading with similarity percentage higher than 24% are subject to a grade reduction as determined by the instructor.
Please click herePreview the document for a step-by-step guide on submitting your term paper to TurnItIn.
You are highly encouraged to submit you paper to TurnItIn well before the deadline as the closer we get to the last day of class, more and more students are submitting papers for review so the longer the originality report takes to be generated and returned to you.
Writing Guidelines
Each page of your paper MUST include the title of the paper and the page number. Use the header/footer function in Microsoft Word to insert the required information at the top right corner, starting with the title page as page 1. ( - 1 point for each page in error)
Your paper MUST follow the APA guidelines and layout below, including types of headings, flow of information, and what content to include:
Title Page (5 points)
Abstract (5 points)
Introduction (30 points)
Begin with an introduction, including your thesis statement. The Introduction answers the following questions:
Provides background information
What is the thesis or main idea of the case study?
What are the relevant key points about the organization?
What are the relevant key points about the situation?
What are the ethical and diversity issues related to this case?
Method (60 points)
At a minimum, this is to be a main section and heading in your paper. You may use additional major headings if you wish, and you will probably also want to use subheadings. The Method section answers the following questions:
What is the situational analysis of the problem or issue? (A SWOT analysis is suggested here.)
What are the causes/effects of the situation or problem?
How did the problem or issue evolve (overnight or overtime)?
How can course concepts be applied to provide greater understanding of the situation?
How will ethical and diversity issues be addressed?
Results/Discussion (60 points)
At a minimum, this is to be a main section and heading in your paper. You may use additional major headings if you wish, and you will probably also want to use subheadings. The Results/Discussion section answers the following questions:
How can the problem or issue be solved?
What specific recommendations can be made for improving the situation?
Using course learning's, explain your rationale for these suggestions .
How will these recommendations, if implemented, enhance organizational effectiveness?
How will ethical and diversity issues impact your recommendations?
References (20 points)
Per APA, start the "References" section on a new page after the last page of your last section of the paper.
This heading is centered. List your reference materials in alphabetical order by author's last name using a hanging indent (first line of each reference is flush with left margin, and additional lines of that reference are indented as a group a few spaces to the right).
In preparing References, consider the following:
Have you used proper APA Style in your References section?
Be sure you have given credit to the source of ALL borrowed information, whether quoted directly or paraphrased in your own words.
See the following resources for additional information:
OWL Purdue (Links to an external site.)
OWL Purdue paper example (Links to an external site.)
View an annotated version of an actual BUSN 6110 term paperPreview the document
Appendix (if needed)
If the case was not on the approved list, provide evidence that approval was granted by week three.
If outside interviews were conducted, provide evidence of IRB approval.
APA Style Format (20 points)
In general, pay close attention to proper writing mechanics including language use, grammar, spelling and sentence structure. ( - 1 point for each error)
Before turning in your final paper, make sure:
Your key points are clear and the information is well-organized as described in the term paper rubric.
Have someone proofread the entire document.
Eliminate grammar errors, run spell check, review page formatting requirements, file naming requirement, etc.
Additional Resources
If you need assistance with writing your paper, you can submit your paper to the Online Writing CenterLinks to an external site. well in advance of the due date by clicking here (Links to an external site.). If you submit your paper for review by the Online Writing Center, budget several extra days for the review process and the resulting revisions. No students will be excused for a late paper due to the Online Writing Center's turnaround time.
Online students can access Webster University's LibraryLinks to an external site. to search for/request books and articles. If you do not know your 7-digit Webster ID number needed to search databases, click hereLinks to an external site.. Examples of peer-reviewed journals include, but are not limited to: Harvard Business Review, Purchasing, International Journal of Production Research, Management, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, American Journal of Economics & Sociology, Journal of Economic Issues, The Sociological Quarterly, British Journal of Sociology, etc. See the Webster University Library “How To ArticleLinks to an external site.” on identifying peer-reviewed articles.
The following are examples of secondary sources (those relying on others for their evidence) and cannot be counted toward your three sources due to hearsay, opinion, or lack of factual evidence:
Time, Newsweek,
U.S. News and World Report,
Ladies Home Journal,
Reader's Digest,
New York Magazine, etc.
If you find information from secondary sources that would enhance your project, be sure to have the sources approved by your instructor.
Title of the Paper
Student’s Name
Name of Institution
Abstract
In today’s business world, managing processes requires acute focus on the most important people that makes an organization stay in business, customers. This is construed as, a requisite and a crucial recipe for a business success due reduced cost of operations and business’ ability to meet customers’ needs with a lot of efficiency. While it is not as easy as it sounds, finding out what a customer wants is quite a task but there is apparently no alibi to success than doing it the hard way. In this case, Pizza USA is in business to make profits and the only way to do this is to increase their sales. While sit-in and takeaway system has worked for the company, it is high time they embraced a new system in a bid to win more customers and increase their sales via a pizza delivery system in order to meet the growing demand for such services. This report highlights the case of Pizza USA in its pursuit to translate customer requirements into process design requirements of a pizza delivery service as it looks forward to increasing its sales and thus become a success story among a highly competitive market.
Introduction
Pizza USA is a chain of fast foods restaurant that offers both sit in and take away services. People have expressed that they like their meals, however, they would prefer delivery services. The main purpose for every firm is to make profits (Sheehan, 2017). If having delivery services can increase the profits for this firm, it is something worth risking. That means they would have to consider changing the design of operations and incorporating delivery services. It could be hard for a small firm to survive and remain in business in this monopolistic market because the kind of challenges they face are not the same as the more established firms that control the market. Delivery services come with a whole lot of challenges including ethical issues that may arise including issues with language used in a multicultural and diverse country like US. Nonetheless, Pizza USA has no ruse than to come up with a well-designed pizza delivery plan that will serve to increase their sales and ultimately their profits to see through its much needed success as explicated in this paper.
Method
In consideration of the SWOT analysis of Pizza USA, it is evident to say that despite enjoy a significant success in business due to its strength based on an exceedingly prevalent brand, the company faces several challenges including the changing customer loyalty. In the field of online food delivery services, the restaurant that offers more incentives earns the loyalty of the customers at the moment. If another firm comes up with extra goodies too, customers also shift. The competition is really high considering there are bigger restaurants like Mac-Donald’s, Starbucks and Ken Chic who are more established. There is sure way of maintaining customers’ loyalty. Entering this market without proper risk analysis and mitigation strategies can make a firm be forced out of business.
Secondly, they face the challenge of prices fluctuations. In this particular field, there is no certain way to maintain prices because they are determined purely by forces of demand and supply. Every firm has its breaking point that they know they can’t lower the prices more. For a smaller restaurant like Pizza USA, lowering the prices further can actually take them out of business. In addition, quality decline is also a factor that could be affected by food delivery. Food that is packaged in a box and delivered miles away cannot be compared to food that is serviced inside the restaurant when it comes to the taste. However, this can be taken care of by maintaining a smaller radius until they have the necessary equipment to deliver food in long distances. In as much as Pizza USA has not experienced any complains concerning quality of their food, venturing in the services of delivery can hurt their business in the sense that as food is moved, the quality declines.
In addition, they also face a lot of competition. Bigger e-commerce firms like Amazon and Uber have already started eyeing the market. They have established Amazoneats and Ubereats respectively. Competing with these giants can be a challenge in terms of popularity, resources and financial stability. To remain relevant in this market, they need preparedness and risk mitigation methods.
They also face the challenge of not having enough employees. Success in this business requires reliable and enough number of employees. However, due to factors like inadequate salaries, pouching, bad weather, lack of employees benefits, lack of training, these employees keep leaving, so hiring is usually an ongoing process all the time. Lack of sufficient employees at particular time can lead to late deliveries. Customers always prefer deliveries on time. This can make customers lose trust in this particular firm.
Notably, Americans spend approximately $11 billion in delivered to door pizza services. This means firms that do not offer this service are experiencing a big profitability disadvantage. This presents a gap or an opportunity for Pizza USA to exploit and realize its potential. In the case of Pizza USA, they can maximize the profits in this sector by upgrading point of sale system. This entails having a ready phone to take orders that is in a secluded area that sit in customers can’t hear. This ensures that one is able to take orders without interrupting anyone eating in the restaurant. It also ensures that one can hear the clients clearly. The point of sale system should be upgraded in a way that one can see time spend on the road, on time deliveries, late deliveries and time spend to get deliveries at the door. This statistic helps to know where the firm is doing okay and where they are going wrong. This way they will be upgrading every day.
The issue of not having a delivery system means that the company needs to come up with a delivery application. This will ensure diversity in the sense that most customers really in this type of technology. It also ensures steady supply of clients. Taking time to design a user friendly application is necessary. People nowadays are ordering from their computers and phones. It’s more convenient for most clients because it doesn’t matter where you are, you can order form by touch of a button. Phone calls can be tedious at time. The millennials are the market target in this particular sector. Most of them order food and other things online using their phones, (Shepherd & Amlani, 2019)
Pizza USA needs to assemble delivery cars. Hiring drivers who drive their own cars looks cheaper at first but it’s more expensive in the long run. This is because the firm has to ensure that they have the necessary insurance covers. On the other hand, purchasing company cars in the long run is cheaper. The firm can also customer Mize the outside appearance of the cars with stickers to advertise the firm. In addition, a restaurants car will be visible and easy to identify during delivery. Cases of delivery employees being mistaken for intruders are common in the USA. This actually improves the security of delivery employees.
Pizza USA employees also faces the problem of order mix up. So the employees need to cross check orders before packing. Unlike dine-in clients whereby in case of mixed up orders, it will be returned to the kitchen and fixed right away, to door deliveries can be tricky. To minimize chances of order mix up, the drivers should always cross check the order. They can also spice up the delivery with incentives like pepper plates and napkins. Good hospitality ensures customer satisfaction.in addition, some customers have allergies to certain ingredients. An order mix up can be another whole hassle in case of a client reacting to wrong meal. The restaurant can even be sued.
Pizza USA is also faced with the problem of delivering cold food. They should therefore ensure that the packaging has good insulation and ventilation. Customers prefer their food served hot. Delivering cold food can make customers lose trust in a restaurant. There is usually a variety of really decorative packaging outside there. When choosing, the restaurant should ensure that they are not deceived by the look of the packaging but choose one that has acceptable insulation. More so, packaging should be in a way that incase of food being tampered with like driver taking some, the customer can know. Moving food can be quite a problem.
Pizza USA could also faces challenges when it comes to safety issues. They need to train drivers on safety. Drivers on delivery experience challenges that the restaurant can help them cope with. These includes giving them protective wear e.g. safety boots, clothes with logo for easy identification, ensuring they carry change, instructing them to deliver only in well-lit buildings, in case of a hotel to deliver at the lobby, not to enter clients houses etc. Delivery is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the USA.
Advertising is also another issue. When you start delivering, make sure customers aware of this service. Share this information on social media, websites, signboards and through other ways such as TV advertisement. They can also include promotions and other incentives to remain competitive. Being known outside there goes a long way in ensuring you remain in business.
There is also the need for an online application which is accessible in mobile phones. In this situation, millennials are the main target. In this time and era, most people can do almost anything from their phone and food ordering is not an exemption. Having an online...
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