HRIM 107 - Management Information Systems for HRIM Case Study for Restaurant Management System Evaluation by Mara

M. Delgado, Giesalyn de Ocampo, Early Empeno, and Janina Villanueva

A Evaluative Case Study on BUFFALO'S WINGS N' THINGS "Home of Champion Buffalo Wings, All American Chicken Fingers, Burgers, Burritos, Ice Cold Beers, Cocktails and More!!!"

THE COMPANY
HISTORY Buffalo's Wings N' Things is a Filipino restaurant chain with a highly Americanized theme. They started some three years ago with its first branch in Ortigas Home Depot, Pasig City. They currently have 6 branches located all around the metro: Makati, Nuvali, Quezon Avenue, SM Megamall, Alabang Town Center, and SM North EDSA. They have another one opening soon. They plan to expand to 15 branches by 2014.

RESOURCES Since the company is not yet operating for that long, its resources are still very limited. For their human resources, as the group has observed, during the time of our visit they only have one (1) server, around two (2) cooks and the manager. We thought that the reason for this may be because it was slack time when we went to the establishment so its not necessary at all to have more employees present at that time. The management had been very kind in accommodating our request to conduct an interview. The establishment is strategically located near the entrance of the mall therefore attracting customers who would want a place to eat and stay right away. The area though is not that big but it doesnt look crowded at all with the chairs and tables inside. Theres an open kitchen for the diners to see how their food is being prepared right before their eyes. The ambience of the place has this old diner feeling in it, from the materials used for their equipment to the design of the whole establishment. Their name is very new to the consumers since they are just starting but in the long run, if the management continues to be as pleasing as it is, we wont be surprised if the establishment will be more successful in the near future.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART As explained to us by the manager, he said that their organizational chart is just this simple. Since they are just starting, theres no need for more specific roles yet. Starting from the Director of the operations, the reporting system from one level to another is very direct. The Service Technician and Purchasing Manager are separated from the shown organizational chart below.

TYPE OF SERVICE Buffalo Wings N' Things employs full service.

RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

BRAND Buffalo Wings N' Things uses Restaurant Manager v18.1 for table assignments, ordering, and point of sale functions. The group found it interesting to see the exact software used in class being utilized by an establishment. The manager noted, however, that they used a different software just some months before: Chase.

FEATURES Buffalo Wings N' Things greatly utilized the functions of Restaurant Manager. CompuWare, the software company, modified the program according to the needs and preferences of their establishment.

COST The manager revealed that they purchased rights to the software for Php200,000, a one-time payment that came with customer support. Their hardware, Tysso, costs Php45,000. This includes the LCD screen, the cash drawer, printing mechanism, and the rest of the components of the restaurant management system. The total cost for the restaurant management system is Php245,000.

THE MANAGERS
DEMOGRAPHY The group have guessed that the management of Buffalo Wings N' Things take into consideration performance and ability of their managers. The manager we have conversed with have shared that he used to be a cook, until he moved up to Back of the House Team Leader, then Trainee Manager, until he was finally assigned as the Manager of their new branch.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS POINT OF SALE The manager confidently said that all persons in the staff can understand and use the point of sale function of their restaurant management system. By all the staff, he meant not only front of the house staff or servers, but also back of the house staff, the cooks. BACK OFFICE Although they have access to the back office as provided by the level 6 swipe card they are provided with, the manager admits to not having know-how in dealing with back office operations. Shall they need something added, removed, or modified in any way, they simply contact their software support provider.

UTILIZATION REPORTS The management takes advantages of the available records and reports that the restaurant management system can automatically provide based on its sales. They can view monthly, weekly, or daily sales reports which they then use to determine purchasing forecasts, something they then do manually. CONTROL TOOL

The management utilizes the available control measures provided by their restaurant management system. While it may have levels 1-9, the use only three levels for their scanners: LEVEL 3 for the servers, LEVEL 5 for the manager, and LEVEL 6 for back office access. The servers' LEVEL 3 access allows point of sale and operations. The manager's LEVEL 5 access allows complementary meals, senior citizen's discounts, front of the house and back of the house access, and the ability to render items void. The LEVEL 6 access is provided to them for back office access shall they want to modify things themselves. MANAGEMENT DECISIONS The restaurant management system does guide them in making managerial decisions, as it allows them to see a summary of what items are most sellable, at what time of day they are most profitable, and other records. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION The restaurant management system can be great help in determining customer satisfaction by through the sales reports. Looking through their sales, they could see which ones are the most ordered items on their menu. They could also see if how much these items have satisfied the customers. Another way is the speed of service it allows. Compared to manual computing and taking of orders, the system enables restaurant operations to go faster. Customers have to wait for shorter periods, ultimately making them more satisfied that if they waited for quite some time.

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
As with all expenses and capital outlay, management's concern is always whether or not the convenience it provides with worth the cash. In analyzing the cost-benefit trade-off of using their current restaurant management system - Restaurant Manager v18.1 - it would be interesting to first discuss their experience with the previous software. Prior to using the current system, they used a software called Chase. This software only cost Php100,000, way cheaper than the system they are using in the present. However, he related stories of transactional errors: senior discounts are sometimes wrongly computed which leads to problems, value added taxes are missing, and reports are inaccurate and incorrectly tallied. Further, customer service is hard to contact and their response measure is sending a representative which takes around a month to arrive. He then stressed the advantages and conveniences that the new system provided. The customer service support is always available at just a call away. The system is always connected to the Internet, thus the IT and software specialists can remotely access it and address any problems even within minutes of the call. Any modifications that require back office skill and know-how can also be requested of customer service and they would gladly perform the task.

Since they implemented the new system, there had been no significant error that harmed operations or sales. It had been smooth, and they are very pleased with it. With its reliable customer service and efficient and effective programming, their restaurant management system had been worth the total Php245,000.

FIVE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS LEARNED

When choosing an aid for the operations of a restaurant such as a Restaurant Management

System, it is important to think of the long-term benefits that the company or the restaurant will get from an investment. It is not advisable that management chooses cost cutting in terms of operational necessities because they are really worth it. It not only makes it easier for staff and management for service and management-decisions but it also helps in customer satisfaction.

2 3 4

Being extra accommodating to your customers entails some benefits in the future. It can be seen

as an instant marketing or publicity especially if the customers were really satisfied with the service.

When shown kindness, try to pay it forward so that other people will also feel happy and blessed.

It is not always easy to ask restaurants for an interview regarding confidential details about the

company or the store such as the system being used for the restaurant. We experience many denial of an interview by many restaurants. The reasons being they don't really do interviews or that the managers are busy doing the opening procedures of the store. Still even though we experienced a lot of rejections, there is still one that agreed and even let us try their food for free! It was an experience that made our day despite the previous rejections that made us feel down. See guys, just don't give up!

Determination and perseverance will surely bring you to a better place.

acknowledgements

The group would like to thank the extreme kindness and accommodation displayed by Mr. Darwin De Leon Matienzo, the manager of newly-opened Buffalo Wings N' Things branch at SM City North EDSA Annex. There is such a thing as free lunch - literally.