DEVELOPING GOOD BUSINESS SENSE
In restaurants the chefs are probably the most important employees who make sure that the customers get quality meals and snacks. Some of their day-to-day duties are: ordering food supplies, developing recipes, planning menus, determining servings and managing the kitchen operations. Executive chefs are involved in coordinating cooks and overseeing the preparation of meals to ensure uniformity in quality and presentation of meals. This calls for hiring and training of qualified and well experienced chefs. Hiring professional chefs helps in ensuring that the employees working for an establishment have the highest form of professionalism. Training on the other hand helps in ensuring that the chefs are periodically informed on emerging trends in their professions; this helps makes sure that an establishment stays relevant in the market. Waiters are responsible for handing menus to customers, taking customer orders and serving them while constantly checking if there is anything else they need. After the customers are done the waiter hands them the bill after which he receives payment and gives back the due change. The waiter then goes on to clear the table. Since waiters are the direct contact between the restaurant and the customer, it is paramount that they be as professional as possible. This has to do with their way of talking, dressing and service to the customers. They have to be courteous, patient and polite in nature. There has to be a supervisor who is constantly observing how customers are being served and if their needs are being met adequately. These supervisors ensure the smooth running of business and they also take care of customer complaints. McDonalds Corporation’s operating system involves quality management where the company uses computerized information systems and strict standards to maintain quality in their restaurants. They are supplied by many suppliers who ensure availability of raw materials because of their proximity to the restaurants. This results in supply of fresh products. In ensuring quality raw materials, McDonalds publishes specific guidelines that their suppliers have to abide by. A long term relationship with suppliers, laid out standards and frequent inspection of suppliers ensures consistent quality supply. McDonalds also does forecasting through written surveys from customers, employees and experts to come up with new meal selections, innovations and various ways of making customers happy. For example they came up with Made for You System and a Revitalization Plan. Their operating system would have to be flexible production which involves the use of an automated computer based operating system that allows mass production to achieve the benefits of small-batch production while reducing costs by use of computer-integrated manufacturing and flexible employees and work teams.
In hospitals it is important to have operation system in place because here you are dealing with people lives therefore utmost care and level of excellence is required. Hospitals have to train and hire qualified personnel in nurses, clinical officers, laboratory technicians and also doctors in various fields of medicine. This should be the work of the human resource department. The employees of the hospital have to be kind, patient, empathetic and trustworthy in character as they will be dealing with people’s private and confidential matters. They should also be ethical and professional in carrying out their duties. Ethics is fundamental in this profession based on the fact that the employees are dealing with human lives and this should not be gambled with. Patients should not stand in line for long without being attended to. Patients’ health should be the priority over money. There should be procurement and supply department within the hospital that will handle all processes leading to acquisition of anything the hospital needs. The equipment purchased for use has to be well sourced from quality and reputable suppliers to ensure no defects in the equipment. The suppliers should have or recommend qualified people who will service that equipment if and when need be. Medication should be adequately stocked and readily available to the patient. A variety of services should be offered to cater for the different needs the patients have. Operations seek to understand and improve labor productivity, reduce waiting time and promote the patient’s general experience while improving the hospital’s systems. In general operations are there to make all the systems in a hospital work in unity so as to give faster services and consequently giving the hospital a competitive advantage.
Operations in warehouses is fairly simple but in huge volumes. It is concerned with acquisition of materials, logistics and supply chain management. The employees have to be familiar with both foreign and international trade and various channels of distribution for the goods (Jones, 2007). The staff of warehouses has to be well trained in their areas of work including loading and offloading of bulk products and how to properly and safely store them. Operations in warehousing should however not be taken lightly as any mistakes may lead to huge losses for the company. For example the logistics need to be handled carefully to ensure that goods that came in first leave first; because otherwise goods will get spoilt while still in the warehouse. One thing that is also demanded of employees working in warehouses is honesty and integrity. This is because the easy access to the goods may tempt the employees to steal some for their own use or for reselling.
References
Jones, G. (2007). Introduction to Business. New York: Mc-Graw Hill
