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University of Cyprus

SERVICE MANAGEMENT

MBA 545.7

MANAGING SERVICES FINAL PROJECT

Name: Guy Muchineuta

Instructor: Professor Antreas Athanassopoulos, Ph.D.

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Table of Contents Introduction....................................................................................................................................................3

Background of the study...............................................................................................................................3

Definition of terms ........................................................................................................................................3

KFC Company ..................................... ........................................................................................................4

KFC store layout ..........................................................................................................................................5

Advantages of KFC service layout................................................................................................................6

Blueprint.........................................................................................................................................................7

KFC blueprint................................................................................................................................................8

Strengths of KFC and successful points......................................................................................................11

Weaknesses and fail points..........................................................................................................................12

Gap Model analysis......................................................................................................................................13

Recommendations........................................................................................................................................14

Blueprint of Shangri-la restaurant................................................................................................................16

Recommendations........................................................................................................................................19

Comparison of the blueprints.......................................................................................................................20

Frontline employee Interview......................................................................................................................20

Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................21

References....................................................................................................................................................23

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1.Introduction

The global fast food restaurant industry has managed to grow over the past five years despite

being weakened by global economy and society's increasing awareness of the health risks

associated with a diet high in fat, salt, and sugar. The industry's attempts to respond to changes

in consumer preferences have supported revenue growth. These companies are finding the best

ways to improve customer retention and increase their efficiency through service strategies.

2.Background of the study

This study sought to determine the service strategies that are adopted by companies in order to

satisfy one common goal of meeting the needs of their customers. In this study the researcher

will compare the service blueprint of two different companies in the same industry and compare

their service strategies. These companies are in the fast food restaurant industry and are the

world's most popular restaurants. The reasons why the researcher chose these two restaurants are

that restaurants have been used by people to eat food and relax and are also a point of meeting by

companies to hold meetings to mention but a few. It can be noted that people flock to restaurants

where they are treated well and provided quality services. In this research we are going to

examine the strengths and weaknesses of each restaurant by comparing and contrast their

activities in relation to bottlenecks and lines of weakness. The first restaurant is KFC and the

other one is Shangri- la restaurant in Harare Zimbabwe.

3.Defination of terms

-Customer actions which includes steps, choices , activities and interactions that customer

performs in the process of purchasing, consuming and evaluating the service,

-Onstage contact employee actions are steps and activities that the contact employees performs

that are visible to customer

Backstage contact employee actions are steps and activities that occur behind the scene to

support onstage activities

-Support processes covers the internal services, steps and interactions that take place to support

the contact employees in delivering the service.

-Line of interaction direct interactions between or within the customer and organisation

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-Line of visibility is a line which separates all service activities that are visible to the customers

from those that are not visible.

-Line of internal interaction separates contact employees activities from those of other service

support activities and people

4.1 KFC Company

Kentucky Fried Chicken, more commonly known by its initials KFC, is an American fast food

restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken headquartered in Louisville Kentucky. It is the

world's second largest restaurant chain in sales after McDonalds. The company uses the proper

method for facility location and layout analysis of new or existing outlets. Internal and external

layout of KFC outlet is attractive and charming all over the world with ideal color schemes,

pleasant lighting outlets. In addition to the above the company provides comfortable sitting

arrangement for their customers to relax enjoying their food.

Furthermore it can be stressed that these are customer service and attitude of service personnel,

cleanliness of staff and of the physical environment, price and food quality. From KFC, it can be

concluded that the features of a restaurant establishment are not equally important to guest when

evaluating their restaurant experience but rather the product itself and how it is delivered. The

main thing the company is delivering to its customers is not only the food but fully trained

employees and their proper work division to satisfy the customer needs and wants. It can be seen

that KFC offers a state of the art interior beautifications, speedy and appropriate cooking process,

special club/ block for kids are the vital characteristic of the company layout in terms of the

environment.

One of the most significant aspect to take into account is that KFC as a company operates in a

continuous process in order to deliver fresh foods to customers in a proper manner and they have

dry food supply and frozen food supply. The company managed to establish their own

warehouse for dry food supply like burgers buns and frozen food supply for example chicken

they have their own suppliers and spices for a better and quick way to satisfy their customer

preferences and needs. The process is illustrated in the diagram below how overally the company

operates.

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Phases in the company operations

As illustrated by the diagram as we are focusing on operations management department in

having a clear view how they operate in order to provide a service through the food they offer, it

can be seen that the HOD supply chain give necessary instruction to manager chain and pass on

the instructions to supply chain executives to ensure adequate flow of information in providing

supplies.

Customer perceptions of service quality have a strong influence on both purchase intentions and

customer satisfaction and this in turn influences profitability and customer loyalty . Perceptions

can be defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets stimuli into

a meaningful and coherent picture of the world when guests perceptions of a service exceed

their expectations, they perceive a high service quality and when guests‟ perceptions of a service

fail to meet their expectations, they are dissatisfied. In this case we will design a diagrammatic

presentation of KFC layout to satisfy a service.

4.2 KFC Store layout

Designing a service delivery system is a creative process. It begins with a service concept and

strategy to provide a service with features that differentiate it from the competition. The various

alternatives for achieving these objectives must be identified and analyzed before any decisions

can be made. Designing a service system involves issues such as location, facility design and

layout for effective customer and work flow, procedures and job definitions for service

providers, measures to ensure quality, extent of customer involvement, equipment selection, and

adequate service capacity. The design process is never finished, once the service becomes

operational, modifications in the delivery system are introduced as conditions warranty

Raw

materials

from

suppliers normal storage

cold storage

Preparation and

packaging

Distribution to all the

branches

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counter

sitting area kids club

Exit

Entry car park

4.3 Advantages of KFC service layout

The major factors considered for service providers, is an impact of location on sales and

customer satisfaction. Customers usually look about how close a service facility is, particularly if

the process requires considerable customer contact. It can be seen that KFC has numerous

advantages in accordance to the their layout to meet their service strategy.

Reduces bottlenecks in moving people and goods

Kitchen Store room (( wifi))

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It can be seen that from the diagram one of the advantages of KFC service layout is that it

reduces bottlenecks in moving people or materials. This because the food is always prepared and

displayed on the warmer and once the customer places an order he or she does not have to wait

for a long time for the order.

Utilizes available space effectively and efficiently

One of the most advantage of KFC is that it provides free space for customers to seat waiting for

their orders and also relax with their families enjoying food whilst seating in the restaurant.

Facilitates coordination and face to face communication

KFC service layout allow customers to interact with the employees in case they need support or

help, also on the other coordination between employees is good because they work very closely

on the counter and the kitchen.

5.1 Service Blueprint

Christain (1990) defines a service as an activity or series of activities of more or less intangible

nature that normally, but not necessarily, take place in interactions between customer and service

employees and or physical resources or goods and or systems of the service provider, which are

provided as solutions to customer problems. Valarie et al (1996) incited that services are deeds,

processes and performances.

Blueprint is a picture or map that accurately portrays the service so that different people involved

in providing it can understand and deal with it objectively regardless of their individual point of

view. It provides a way to break the service into logical components and to depict the steps or

tasks in the processes, the means by which they are executed and evidence of the service as

consumer experiences it.

Customers are concerned about customer service and attitude of service personnel, cleanliness

of staff and of the physical environment, price and food quality. From the study, it can be

concluded that the features of a restaurant establishment are not equally important to guest when

evaluating their restaurant experience but rather the product itself and how it is delivered. It can

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is recommended that hotel restaurants in order to improve guests‟ perceptions of service

experience and loyalty, need to motivate and empower customer contact employees so that a

smooth service is delivered to the guests.

5.2 KFC Service Blueprint

F1 wait

line of interaction

line of visibility

F2

F

line of internal interaction

F3

Failed Points

Dining room and service area

((free wifi))

Backstage

employee

contact

clean tables

after

customer

departs

Customer

Actions

Physical

Evidence

wait

at

counte

r for

food

On stage

employee

contact

place

order at

counter

and pay

receiv

e food

Food

Items

Posted menu and counter

review

menu

items

Visit

website to

identify

location

advertising

website,mu

sic,lcd tv,

car park

website

Support

Processes

sit in dining room and eat food

leave refuse and uneaten food on table

departs restaurant

receive order/ collect payment

receives

food from

back area

deliver

food to

custom

er

prepare

food items

heat grills

etc

cook and prepare food place on heating trays

Reusable

items

washed and

stored

website provide information on KFC products, services, ordering etc.

Food items removed from storage

food items

received

from

suppliers

and stored

used food items

are totaled

when low, new

order is written

new

orders

given to

suppliers

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The blueprint of KFC shows the core concept of service design, a powerful approach that

examines complex interactions between people and their service experiences. It can be seen that

KFC's products and services are delivered through systems of touch points that cross channels

and blend both digital and human interactions. There are two dimensions in the blueprint which

includes the horizontal axis which represents the chronology of actions conducted by the service

customer and the kfc company. The vertical axis distinguishes between different areas of actions

and are separated by different lines.

Customer Actions

The customer journey mapping shows customer interactions with their product or service

overtime. The actor actions and physical evidences are shown by boxes, sequences of boxes

show action flow for each actor. In addition arrows between actors show communication flow

and the horizontal segmentations of actions represent actor categories. The actor categories are

customer , on stage employees, backstage employees, support and management. The four lines

segregate actors based on distance from and interaction with the customer and were in the

original conception of service blueprint.

The KFC blueprint shows that the first service they offer to their customers is their online

website which shows the company address, hours of opening, offers, direction and also the

contacts in need of help. The physical evidence include the physical location, website, car park ,

signage and also internal customers can be seen by the customer but cannot reach or

communicate with them. It can be seen that the customer can only interact with on stage

employee.

Visit

website to

identify

location

review

menu

items

place

order at

counter

and pay

wait

at

counte

r for

food

receiv

e food

sit in dining room and eat food

leave refuse and uneaten food on table

departs restaurant

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As the customer enters the Kfc restaurant there will be good counter setup with a 5 lcd menu

and a good sheeting arrangement, good system and better light decoration. In this case the

customer picks up the menu to choose the right food he or she wants.

The customer then place an order at the counter and pay and wait for some minutes while the

order is being processed. As soon as the order is ready it will then be delivered to the customer

and receives the food. Once the customer receives the food he or she sit in the dining room or

departs the restaurant with the food. It can be seen that through its provision the company offers

free wifi for its customers to browse when enjoying their food. In addition to the above after the

customer has finished eating the food he or she leave refuse and uneaten food on the table and

departs the restaurant

Onstage Employee Contact

The visible employee is separated from the customer by the line of interaction, those actions of

frontline contact employees that occur as part of face to face encounter are depicted on onstage

contact employee actions. Every time the line of interaction is crossed via a link from the

customer to a contact employee a moment of truth has occurred.

The onstage employee receives payment from the customer punch in the system and perform the

transaction. In addition to the above the employee then receives other payments whilst waiting

for the order of the previous customer to be processed. When the order is finalized from the back

stage then the employee prepares the food in the food tray and put the ketchup in the food and

provide drinks from the refrigerators then deliver it to the customer. The other onstage employee

will then have to wait for the customers to finish eating the food so that he or she can clean the

tables and prepare for other customers who want to use the tables.

Backstage Employee Contact

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The next significant part of the blueprint is the backstage contact employee actions separated

from the onstage actions by the very important line of visibility, everything that appears above

the line of visibility is seen by the customer , while everything below it is invisible. It can be

seen that below the line of visibility , all of the other contact employees are described , both that

involve non visible interaction s with customers.

Furthermore it can be seen that the backstage employee prepare food items, thaw frozen foods

heat grills from the support processes, cook and prepare food, place on heating trays and send to

the onstage employee when an order has been placed. The backstage then takes the used food

items to the support processes. The backstage employee is responsible of the reusable items such

as plates cups dishes and wash them, store them for use by other customers.

Support Processes

The fourth critical component of blueprint is support processes separated from contact

employees by the internal line of interaction. These are all of the activities carried out by

individuals and units within the company who are not contact employees but that need to happen

in order for the service to be delivered .

The support processes from the blueprint is responsible for the information systems of the

company taking for example its responsible for the creation of the website to for the comapny to

interact with its customers. The website provides information on KFC's products, services,

ordering, details and storefront locations.

In addition to the above the support processes is the one responsible for food items removed

from storage for use. It can be noted that the receiving of food items from the supplies is

conducted by the processes crew and the receive food items supplies and store. When the lead

time reaches then the processes place new order to supplies or to the company warehouse is

discussed in the company service layout of KFC.

5.3 STRENGTH OF KFC AND SUCCESSFUL POINTS

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In terms of cleanliness of staff and of the physical environment, guests felt employees dressed

professionally and reflected the image of KFC and the restaurant environment was also

generally clean. These minor but contentious issues have a strong effect on the customer future

purchase intentions.

From the blueprint the company offers a quick service that does not require time to order food

and delivered to the customers within a short period of time of less than five minutes and

reducing waiting time for customers which the company can use as a service quality to fight

competition from rival restaurants around KFC

It can be observed that KFC, feedback is taken from the customer in order to know the customer

demands and then improvements are made in products and service. This has an advantage to

customers because they are involved in the service process to satisfy their needs.

KFC focuses on pure and fresh food in order to create a distinct and clear position in the minds

of customers. It has s strong brand name and they are leading the market in fried chicken which

is a strong competitive advantage.

In addition another strength by KFC is that they provide Kids room where kids can play when

the parents are eating or making an order, in this case this can also be attributed by kids meal and

also buckets with different types of meals. This has a strong advantage to the customers because

they feel a sense of belonging to the restaurant and feel appreciated.

As it is not enough KFC offer a home delivery of meals to all its customer and this is a strength

to the company because all its competitors are offering the same service. It can be seen that

customers need a quick delivery after placing the order and KFC is one of the companies that

deliver on time.

5.4 WEAKENESSES AND FAIL POINTS OF KFC BLUEPRINT

Failures in service process may be attributed to either the service provider or the customer. It is

possible that the service provider did not utilize resources in a way that best serves the

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customers' needs. Alternatively, service provider failures may be caused by mismanagement. For

example, an employee, who chooses to deviate from the script, may fail to serve the customer

correctly. Finally, failures can be caused by customers who do not understand the process and do

not know what they should be doing

F1

Fail points are part of the blueprint that might cause delay or bottlenecks and compromise the

quality of the service expected. It can be observed that from the blueprint that in terms the fail

point F1 in times of heavy volume, the wait at the counter can be excessively long leading to

extreme wait times and unsatisfied customers, This is mainly caused by poor forecasting and

demand which will end up causing bottlenecks as the onstage employee will be one taking orders

and making payments.

F2

The f2 illustrates a failing point where in times of heavy volume it is difficult to keep the volume

of food orders, additionally, it is important that cooks do not prepare too much food anticipation

of demand that might go to waste. This can be a failure to the company because it will bring loss

due to unsold food.

F3

It can be observed that as new orders are placed with suppliers, the system becomes dependent

on the ability of a different firm to fill the order. Issues unrelated to the company may impact the

company and causes delay.

5.6 Gap model analysis of KFC

Gap analysis refers to the process through which a company compares its actual performance to

its expected performance to determine whether it is meeting expectations and using its resources

effectively. It can be observed that from KFC the first gap to be investigated is the expected

service and perceived taking into consideration that there is no welcoming from the onstage

employee and also limited variety of food that the customer need. The attitude and behavior of

employees especially of those customer contact employees offer to the guest an assurance of the

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quality of service to expect from the restaurant. The manner in which employees welcome the

customers, recommend the dishes and beverages according to the customers' expectations and an

impeccable dress code represent just a few of the criteria a restaurant that aims to offer high

quality products and services to its customers needs to fulfill

Furthermore another gap is the expected service between management perception and customer

expectation. This can be attributed by high prices that a customer might seem expensive and

cannot afford and also some customers might be limited to delivery due to distance from the

company which might compromise the quality of the service.

Some customers perceived that the price was unreasonable in some hotel restaurant, and they

negatively evaluated their experience with the restaurant. As Lim (2010) suggested, the price of a

product was highly related to its perceived value. Lim (2010) referred to perceived price as the

customer's acceptable, reasonable and fair judgment about a service's average price in

comparison to its competitors. However, customer may still not hold strong behavioral intentions

unless they are satisfied with their experience at the restaurant. As Donkoh et al (2012) notes,

customers were likely to come back again and again if prices were perceived to be fair. However,

if guests perceive that the price is unfair they will complain and finally defect to other

restaurants. Customers are therefore not willing to revisit a restaurant when they believe that the

prices on the menu were unreasonably high. Thus, Han & Ryu (2009) suggests that providing

pleasing and innovative atmosphere and high quality of service or food to restaurant customers is

necessary to improve price perception.

5.7 Recommendations

From the gap analysis it can be observed that in order to satisfy a service KFC has to employ a

lot of mechanisms that cater for its customers to add value in their service delivery. One of the

recommendation that the company has to do is to train its employees to welcome customers by

greeting them and ask how they can be helped, by doing so customers feel welcomed and ready

to make a purchase.

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In addition to the above it is of great importance to say that when customers enter the restaurant

there should be an employee who is within the entrance providing a menu to the customers and

by doing so it helps creating an impression that the company has a lot to offer in terms of variety

of food.

Linked to the above one can note that not all customers can afford expensive meals and it is of

great importance to break these meals in sizes to accommodate low income earners who can

afford it .However less price foods for middle class people will give a competitive advantage to

the company.

There is need for training and motivation of customer contact employees so that they develop a

service culture which would increase customer satisfaction and ultimately customer loyalty.

Customer contact employees need training in such areas as attitude training and up selling as

these help the waiters to develop confidence and believe in the product they are selling and also

make them proud to be working for the KFC restaurant. Motivation therefore would allow

waiters to execute their duties diligently as they know their efforts would be rewarded. Offering

some performance incentives can be used to motivate waiters, for example, an incentive for the

most outstanding waiter would motivate some waiters to perform their duties with all their heart

as they know their performance and contribution to the overall restaurant performance will be

rewarded

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6.1 Service Blueprint of Shangri-la Restaurant

Restaurant Entry hostess Waiting Table Menu Drinks Food Bill

Parking Way Stand Area Appearance Exit way

Physical Space customers {not good}

Evidence {waiting}

Customer

long wait

contact

person

(onstage)

poor service

Backstage

Support

Processes

Key Bottlenecks

6.2 Description of the blueprint Process of Shangri-la

Service blueprint is more than just a process control tool that serves as a platform for systematic

service innovation and improvement as depicted by the diagram above from Shangri-la

restaurant. The first observation from the blueprint is to see how the customer interacts with the

restaurant as soon as she or he arrives at the restaurant. It can be noted that there is a physical

evidence outside the restaurant which is shown by various tangibles of physical infrastructure

the customer passes through each phase. These include the parking area, porch, garden and

Arrive at

the

restaurant

Go &

sit at

the

table

sit and

wait name put

on waiting

list

Receiv

e

drinks

Get an pay

bill and

leave

restaurant

order

drinks

and

food

Welcome

and greet

customer

Walk

in receive

food

Takes

customer's

name

Deliver

drinks

Take drink

and food

orders

call

customer's

name and

take to their

table

Deliver

food Process

bill

Receive food

order

Waiting

List

Prepare

drinks Cook

food

Computer

registers the

bill

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hostess desk of billing counter. Tangibles are the appearance of facilities, equipment, personnel,

materials.

As the customer walks in the restaurant a line of interaction is drawn across chart which

separates the customer space or area and the employee on machines with the customer interacts

to stop. As soon as the customer enters the restaurant quickly the onstage employee will

welcome the customer and greet them as a way of improving customer service. The greatest

satisfaction can occur at this stage. From the observations made at the restaurant it can be seen

that the employee speaks to the guest very nice and wearing uniform. A simple name tag is

always on the shirt of the employee which helps to reduce the guest anxiety when interacting

this does not take a lot of time the customer will be directed to the hostess stand and puts the

name on the waiting list.

In addition to the above the customer after goes and wait sitting on the tables. Once seated, the

customer begin to review the menu and waits for the waiter for the placement of the order. The

waiter then takes the order and afterwards confirms to the customers whether all orders were

taken. When the customers confirm the order, the waiter then places the order on the order board,

otherwise ask the customers to repeat the orders. The chef then takes the order and reviews it. If

there are no clarifications to make, the chef proceeds to cooking the food, otherwise call the

attention of the waiter to verify the orders. After cooking the food, the chef prepares the food and

places it on the designated area and rings the bell to call the attention of the waiter.

After cooking the food, the chef prepares the food and places it on the designated area and rings

the bell to call the attention of the waiter. The waiter then picks up the prepared food and serves

it to the customers. The customers then eat the food and subsequently ask for the check. After a

certain period, the waiter arrives with the check. The customer then reviews the check. If there

are no concerns, the customer pays the bill, otherwise verify the check to the waiter. After

paying, the customer finally leaves the restaurant.

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Looking first at the elements of the process map, the blue boxes in the process map represent the

start and end of the process. The first blue oval that is seen in the process map signals the start of

the process, while the last red oval indicates the end of the process. The blue rectangles on the

other hand, represent operations or work activities. Consequently, there are about 21 blue

rectangles in the process map, which show vital activities or tasks.

6.3 Strength of Shangri-la

It can be observed that the restaurant interact with customers and take their feedback when there

is a need to make suitable modifications on their service blueprint. The restaurant attracts

customers owing to its price and convenience ensuring repeat customers. In spite of having

repeat customers, it faces heavy competition from KFC, Chicken inn to mention but a few.

When it comes to information to its customers it can be noted that there is enough that the

restaurant provides in terms of products, prices and offers. All its customers are aware of its

offers and wide variety of options in the menu, the information is available online as well as in

store

Employees often assist customers to inform of other products available in their menus and the

payment procedure is simple and provides wide options on mode of payments such card, cash

and online payment. The ordering taking mechanism is adequate and the attendants also use

force functionality along with providing information to customers about various options in the

menu. Shangri-la customers have been actively involved because of low prices , standardized

product and partial employee behavior of the process in the system .

The chefs and the cooking equipments are situated in the kitchen where the food is cooked.

Similarly, the receptionist is situated in the arrival area, as she/he is responsible for receiving the

guest. According to Collier and Evans (2007), the fixed position layout is appropriate to service-

providing firms, such as the restaurant. In this regard, the current layout pattern of the restaurant

may be considered appropriate.

6.4 WEAKENESSE AND FAIL POINTS OF SHANGRI- LA BLUEPRINT

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Moving to the process time, each step in the process consumes a considerable amount of time.

For example, it takes about 10 minutes before the customers are taken to their seats. Upon entry,

the customers are held temporarily to allow the receptionist to get their names, which takes about

five minutes. Afterwards, the customers are again held temporarily while the table is being

prepared, which takes again another five minutes. Looking at the other stages in the process map,

chef's cooking time and the customers' eating time tends to be longest processes. It takes the chef

about twenty minutes to cook and prepare the food. Similarly, it takes the customers about 20

minutes to consume the food.

A closer look at the process would reveal that certain activities and operations in the process map

may be categorized as either value adding or non-value-adding. The value stream includes value-

adding activities that help in the creation of the product or the delivery of the service (Jones

2002).

Collier and Evans (2007) stated that non value adding activities in particular, refers to certain

activities such as transferring materials between two non adjacent workstations and waiting for

service, which generally lengthen the processing time, increase the costs, and in most cases,

increase customer frustration . In the process map for the Shangri-la restaurant, stages in the

process such as the customer waiting to be seated, to place the order, and to get the check are all

non value adding activities, which lengthens the process time and trigger customer frustration.

Consequently, these non-value adding activities constitute about twenty minutes of the process

time. For managers seeking to streamline the process, the purpose is to eliminate non value

adding activities in the process flow.

6.5 Recommendations for Shangri-la

Restaurant managers need to know that charity begins at home, therefore they first need to

create a loyal employee. A loyal employee can then help the restaurant to create loyal customers

and more business can be realized from loyal customers. Restaurant managers also need to

develop trust and confidence with their employees as they the ones who are in constant contact

with the guests. If a manager trusts his subordinates, they in turn deliver can deliver a service

that is next to none as they know that if they do not perform well that trust the manager has with

them will be lost. On the other hand employee empowerment is also crucial in the hotel

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restaurant. Employee empowerment gives privileges to some service personnel to handle guest

complains and not unnecessarily wait for a superior to come and solve minor service problems.

In order to increase the share prices, attract and retain customers and reduce high employee

turnover, the restaurant should emphasize more on providing excellent customer service,

eliminating long queues, providing healthy menu options , training and revising employees'

wages to mention but a few.

6.6 Comparison of the blueprints

It can be noted that in order to have a clear comparison of the two companies we have to start

from the customer action and all the processes in the blueprint as illustrated by the table below

KFC SHANGRI-LA

Both online and physical ordering There is no online ordering or booking

No welcoming employee There is an employee greeting customers

Payment is done at the counter after

ordering

Payment is done after eating the food

The food is always ready on the oven The chef cook food according to orders

Time to wait for food is lesser Waiting time is high due to food preparation

Offer delivery of orders No delivery of orders

7. Frontline employee Interview of KFC

For the purpose of this study a convenience sample was drawn only from the one frontline

employee who was willing and available to take part in this study. The employee was selected

at KFC restaurant and was targeted for interview. All the restaurants used in this study share the

same characteristics which are; they are all city hotels, they attract the same clientele, that is,

business customers and they all belong to a hotel chain group.

Having conducted the interview with the frontline employee he stated that he is a counter

attendant and both cashier as he receives orders and making payments. The counter attendant is a

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term used to describe the job of the one who stand behind a counter and takes order. The

working counter attendant is required to stand on his feet for the entire shift and occasionally lift

heavy boxes so being physically able to complete these aspects of the job is necessary.

Furthermore the task entail taking customers' orders, clean, slice and trim foodstuffs, ensure

tables are correctly set, side stations are tidy and work is appropriately completed, resetting

tables with flatware and napkins, handling guest complaints and notify manager on duty

immediately. In addition to the above another significant aspect of the job is to provide and

maintain sanitation of the restaurant including floors, tables, ledges and counters

It can be seen that the job requires demonstrated ability to take and fill orders, first-hand

experience in cleaning and maintaining dining area and also

• Competent at preparing food and specialty beverages

• Effective skills in delivering food orders at counters and tables

• Special talent for maintaining cleanliness, clearing and wiping tables and sweeping floors

• Well-versed in stocking food products

• Adept at using point of sale system, making bills and receiving payment

• Excellent customer service skills

• Good interpersonal skills to deal efficiently with patrons, coworkers and general public

• Professional appearance and manners

• Ready to work in varied shifts, including weekends and holidays

From the interview the employee stated that the company to enhance employee motivation KFC

is using one to one meetings strategy and also they have staff incentive programs. In term of

communication the company sends email together with the memorandum to employees, the crew

incentive program to retain its employees and the company uses bottom-up approach and top to

down in strategic decision making.

In addition to the above KFC provides training to all the staffs and they offer each employee a

form entitled Training Needs Assessment. More so the company provide some basic training to

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staff and also incentive lectures. The employee furthermore stated that the company provides

comprehensive training in leadership development, coaching skills, culture, interaction

management, fire safety, first aid training, food safety, workplace and health and safety and

information systems which he values most important that is keeping him and enjoying his job.

Having said this the employee stated that lower employees are unhappy as most of the benefits

are only offered for qualified employees, qualified employees are very much satisfied with the

benefits offered by KFC. In addition every employees are very much satisfied with the health

insurance provided as compared to other fast food outlets

8. CONCLUSION

The findings from this study show that guests perceived the quality of service offered by

restaurants is generally high. It can be seen that comparing the service blueprints of KFC and

Shangri- la the differences are that Four themes emerged as the guests‟ criteria for evaluating

restaurant experience, these are, customer service and the attitude of service personnel, food

quality, cleanliness of staff as well as the physical environment and the price of meals. Amongst

these service quality attributes, customer service and the attitude of service personnel emerged as

the most dominant attribute used by guests in evaluating their restaurant experience. It can be

concluded that the features of a restaurant establishment are not equally Research journal's

Journal of Hospitality Tourism Vol. 2 | No. 4 August | 2015 10 important to guest when

evaluating their restaurant experience but rather the product itself and how it is delivered. On the

other hand, guests hold different perceptions towards restaurants depending on the previously

held experiences with the restaurants.

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