CASE STUDY: CINCINNATI SUPER SUBS Cincinnati Super Subs is one of the larger Sup

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CASE STUDY: CINCINNATI SUPER SUBS Cincinnati Super Subs is one of the larger Super Subs outlets, a chain of 300 take-away restaurants in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. This outlet has a restaurant manager, an as ers. The restaurant manager rarely has time to serve customers, and frontline work by sists the restaurant manager with purchasing, accounts, managers is discouraged y the head office. The assistant manager serves customers for a couple of ours during the busy lunchtime but otherwise as hiring, and other operations. Most team leaders are college students and serve customers alongsido other employees, particularly from late afternoon to night closing. Most employees are al work part-time; a few are in high school. All regular staff earn minimum pay rates Cincinnati Super Subs has experienced below average profitability over the past 18 months, which h reduced the monthly bonus paid to the restaurant manager and assistant manager. This bonus is calculated by percentage of "wastage sales, the lower the percentage of wastage, the higher the bonus. Wastage occurs when employees drop or spill food, cut up more toppings than are sold, burn heated subs, prepare an order incorrectly, and eat or give away food without permission. When employees make mistakes, the expense is supposed to come out of their paycheck. Unauthorized eating and giving away food are grounds for immediate dismissal. However, team leaders are reluctant to report any accidental or deliberate wastage, even when confronted by the restaurant manager about the store's high wastage over the previous week and month One team leader who reported several accidental wastage incidents eventually quit after being snubbe by coworkers who attended the same college classes. (unsold, damaged, or unaccounted for food and drinks) relative to Cincinnati Super Subs gives employees a food allowance if they work continuously for at least four and one-half hours. Staff complain that the allowance is meager and that they are often ineligible for the allowance because many shifts are only three or four hours. Employees who work these shorter sh sometimes help themselves to food and drinks when the managers aren't around, claiming that their hard work justifies the free meal. Some also claim the food is a low company expense and makes up for their small paycheck, relative to what many of their friends earn elsewhere. Several (but not most) employees some of their friends generous helpings as well as occasional free soft drinks and chips. Employees y handing out free food to friends makes them more popular with their peers. Five months ago, the Cincinnati restaurants wastage (mainly deliberate wastage) had risen to the point here the two managers no longer received a bonus. The restaurant manager reacted by giving the food llowance only to those who work for six or more hours in a single shift. This action excluded staff from receiving the food allowance, but it did not discourage employees from eating or giving away almost 20 percent of the experienced college staff left for other jobs over the following two months. Many of those who stayed discouraged friends from considering jobs at Sup declined, which dampened the fun atmosphere that had been experienced to some extent Relations between employees and managers soured further er Subs. Morale in past times With relatively low unemployment, the restaurant manager found it difficult to hire replacements particularly people with previous work experience of any kind. T managers to spend more time working in food preparation and training the new staff. Their increased presence in the restaurant significantly reduced deliberate wastage, but accidental wastage increased somewhat as the greater number of inexperienced staff made more mistakes emporary staff shortages required the two manager were confident that the After three months, Cincinnati Super Subs' manager and assistant ituation had improved, so they spent less time training staff and serving customers. Indeed, they received a moderate bonus after the third month in the store. However, wastage increased again soon

Explanation / Answer

The following symptom suggests that something has gone wrong: Cincinnati Super Subs is one of the larger subs but it is continuously facing the decreasing profitability over the years The attrition rates among the employees are high Wastages, accidental and deliberate, have been increasing Staff morale is low and many have not received their monthly bonuses The main causes of the symptoms are as follows: Both the managers are busy in company official and operational work such as making financial reports, hiring plans, etc. which gives them less time to manage guests and supervise the team The bonuses linked to the wastages are going down, and the staff morale is low due to this The food reimbursement policy is relatively strict as compared to similar restaurant chains, so part-time staff working here are not satisfied Minimal control of the store operations as managers don’t have time for customer-facing activities Cincinnati Super Subs can take following measures to correct these problems: First, they should spend more time with the front line staff in training them so that they are aware how to best handle customers The food reimbursement policy should be made more generous so that the temporary staff is satisfied and their morale is high Deliberate wastages can also be stopped by starting necessary controls and strengthening processes Bonus schemes should be made more flexible and competitive

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