Restaurant Management: Customers, Operations, and Employees (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Robert Christie Mill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 24, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0131136909 | ISBN-13: 978-0131136908 | Edition: 3

Identifies the crucial elements involved in the operation of a restaurant, and their interrelationships that are necessary to achieve success. Structured around the three parts of the meal experience—the customers, the operation (consisting of food, beverage and the physical facility) and the employees—the book examines how to effectively manage an existing restaurant operation. This edition continues its strong coverage of marketing, promotions, and employment issues, and captures the essential elements needed to produce satisfied customers and a profitable restaurant operation. Offers fully updated material including: Updated figures and numbers, Longitudinal analysis of recent trends, The latest demographic projections and the implications for managers, Added section on ergonomics and its impact on layout and design and New material on energy conservation and cost savings. Strategies for using the Internet as a promotional tool shows readers how to use technology to run and increase their business. A focus on profitability addresses common reasons restaurants fail. Examines factors to success, such as concept, creativity, menu, pricing, productivity,  cost control etc. Restaurant managers. For anyone interested in “the meal experience,” or thinking about becoming a restaurant entrepreneur.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

PREFACE

In writing this book I wanted to identify the crucial elements involved in the successful operation of a restaurant and show their interrelationships. In providing what John Fuller, the former head of the Scottish Hotel School, called the "meal experience," the restaurant manager brings together three elements: customers, the operation (consisting of food and beverage items as well as the physical facility), and employees. The operator's task is to manage these elements to produce satisfied customers. How to do this is the thrust of this book.

In Chapter 1 we provide a financial overview of the restaurant industry while looking at the major factors affecting the growth of the business and considering the factors that make the difference between success and failure in running a restaurant.

In Chapters 2 through 6 we consider the first of the three elements of the meal experience: the customer. The eating habits of the various segments of the market are described in Chapter 2 and the major trends in customer behavior that affect the business are identified. Chapter 3 goes on to show how to develop a marketing plan to attract one or more of the segments identified in Chapter 2. The importance of promotion as a marketing tool is recognized in Chapter 4 as we consider how and when to use various types of advertising to bring people in the front door. The role of the menu as a crucial part of the marketing effort is covered in Chapter 5, with sections on pricing and design to develop the strongest possible promotional vehicle. The culmination of the marketing effort to the customer is the provision of high-quality service, the topic of Chapter 6. The features that make the service encounter unique are identified and strategies developed to provide service to the customer that will result in satisfied patrons who want to return and who will tell their friends to visit.

Chapters 7 through 11 deal with the physical facilities. In Chapter 7 we show how the front of the house can be designed to positively impact on the psychological needs and behavior of the customer. The effect on employee productivity of the design of the back of the house is also covered. Chapter 8 follows the flow of food and beverage items from supplier to customer through the various departments within the operation in developing procedures for effective purchasing, receiving, storing, and issuing of items used. The various production and service systems are compared within the context of developing effective cost control. Chapter 9 focuses on kitchen equipment and interiors. Guidelines are given on the proper procedures to follow in selecting, cleaning, and repairing kitchen equipment. Readers are shown how to develop a comprehensive energy management program. The importance of sanitation and food safety is stressed in Chapter 10. The major sanitation problems faced by restaurant managers are identified and procedures developed for preventing foodborne diseases. A program to build effective employee habits is presented. In the final chapter in this section, Chapter 11, we show how to analyze financial statements systematically to determine the profitability of the operation.

In the third section of the book we examine the role of employees. Chapter 12 deals with employee selection, identifying the work groups that managers will turn to increasingly in the next decade. The legal environment within which managers must operate is described and the steps involved in staffing the operation are noted and guidelines given on how to improve the quality of employees selected. The design of effective orientation, training, and development programs is covered in Chapter 13, together with tips on how to develop the skills necessary to be an effective trainer. The topic of employee motivation is dealt with in Chapter 14. Suggestions are given as to why employees behave the way they do, and techniques are developed that will allow managers to channel and maintain employee behavior through the implementation of various process theories of motivation. In the final chapter we examine the National Restaurant Association's report on the manager in the year 2000, indicating the major skills and knowledge that will be required of restaurant managers by the turn of the century. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to Professor John Fuller who, as head of the Scottish Hotel School, first brought the phrase "the meal experience" to my attention.

While the layout for the book languished on a piece of paper for over twenty years it was Prentice Hall's Robin Baliszewski who believed in the concept sufficiently to push the idea into reality. I am also indebted to the reviewers who gave their experience and knowledge to suggest excellent improvements: John D. Britto, San Joaquin Delta College; Stephen E. Carlomusto, Johnson and Wales University. Many thanks to Marion Gottlieb of Prentice Hall who oversaw production of this second edition and Patty Donovan of Pine Tree Composition, Inc., who, as a superb project manager, greatly improved this text.

Last, but by no means least, this book would not have been completed were it not for the heroic efforts of Michael R. Rogers, Jill Lamoureaux, and Terra J. Pugh, my research assistants, who updated quick bites, completed the index, and vastly improved the instructor's guide. I, of course, take full responsibility for any and all errors. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

The successful restaurateur coordinates front-and back-of-the-house, food and beverage, employees, and customers into what some have called the "Meal Experience." Successful managers plan, organize, and control all of these elements.

Restaurant Management: Customers, Operations, and Employees, Second Edition combines academic research with practitioner wisdom and presents the results in a way that is simple to understand and easy to implement.

Supplementing the core text material are practical vignettes illustrating each of the chapter objectives. Features on hot restaurant concepts and practical tips on management skills for the new millennium provide the reader with ideas and lessons on how to be successful in this most exciting and challenging industry.

Thisnew edition of Restaurant Management: Customers, Operations, and Employees equips readers with a blueprint that outlines the information required to operate a financially successful operation.

Readers of this book will learn how to:

• identify the factors that make the difference between success and failure in running a restaurant
• develop a marketing plan to attract customers
• design and price a menu for maximum promotional effect
• provide service to the customer that will make them want to return
• design the front of the house to add to the customer experience
• design the back of the house to increase employee productivitydevelop procedures for effective purchasing, receiving, storing, and issuing of items
• prevent foodborne diseases
• analyze financial statements systematically to determine the profitability
• efficiently staff the restaurant with quality employees

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (July 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131136909
• ISBN-13: 978-0131136908
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Restaurant Management-customers, Operations, and Employees, May 24, 2000

By 

Renee - See all my reviews

This review is from: Restaurant Management: Customers, Operations, and Employees (Hardcover)

I will soon be opening a cafe and have been desperately looking for a book like this. It is a detailed text book covering everything, plus hundreds of "quick bites" that offer tips and examples to help with understanding. I know its a reference that I will go back to over and over.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome in understanding all aspects of the restaurant, June 4, 2003

By 

F. Naeem (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Restaurant Management: Customers, Operations and Employees (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

It's been a year since we opened our restaurant in Chicago without any prior experience in the food industry. Having read this book helped me create and maintain our financial controls and understand our customer expectations. For less than 90 bucks, this book has provided me with invaluable, easy to understand and directly applicable concepts. A must read for anyone starting out in the restaurant business.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very usefull, March 10, 2006

By 

Pablo Montaldo (Uruguay) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Restaurant Management: Customers, Operations and Employees (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

Although this book is expensive, the quality of its contents justifies the aquisition. It's a comprehensive manual of all the aspects the you must take into account when you are running a restaurant or you wish to start one. Nobody should start a business in this industry without reading books like this.