Overview/Background
Chris is a manager at Tim Horton’s, a high traffic coffee shop. The location is near a urban high school with over five thousand students enrolled full time. This specific Tim Horton’s operates twenty four hours per day with three distinct shifts. The restaurant is also directly beside a major roadway and surrounded by an urban residential area. There is a wide range of customers that frequent the restaurant along with many transients passing through the area. The restaurant is locally owned but part of the larger franchise. The most popular item on the menu is coffee but the restaurant also serves a variety of sandwiches, soups and other baked goods.
Questions
How long have you owned/managed this business?
She has worked at this location for over 4 years but was promoted to manager just this past year. She has been performing the duties of a manager for slightly over one year.
What is the mission of this business? Is there a mission statement?
The business’s mission is “making a true difference”. The company prides itself in sending kids to camp and giving back to the community’s children. The message is written in many of the company’s printed advertisements and slogans.
Who are your major competitors? How well do you compete against them?
The major competitors are other coffee shops, restaurants and convenience stores. This location competes with a two convenience stores, a small pizza takeout shop and a couple restaurants that are located a few blocks away. Tim Horton’s does not need to compete for the business of their loyal coffee drinkers. The major competition the restaurant faces is during the lunch rush and the late night snacking crowd.
What is your competitive advantage?
Tim Horton’s major advantage is the devote loyalty their coffee drinkers. The restaurant also has an efficient operating structure and a range of supplementary products. The major competitive advantage of Tim Horton’s is the established loyalty of their customers and the image the company has created as being a truly Canadian company.
Is there a market segment identified (age, income, education) that you seek to serve?
The targeted market segment is adults with a range of income and education levels that are regular coffee consumers. The company’s targeted consumer is not segmented by demographics but rather their attitudes and beliefs. A Timmy’s coffee drinker avidly enjoys their coffee and often brings guests who enjoy the range of other products available in the restaurant.
How many employees do you manage?
The amount of employees I manage changes throughout my shift. During the day shift I manage around 8 employees at a time but the restaurant employs over thirty employees. When I am doing scheduling duties I often make contact with most of the company’s employees. As a manager I often work evenings and weekends and supervise the remaining company employees.
What are your major challenges in managing your employees?
The majority of the challenges I face are minor in the day to day operations of the restaurant. The greatest challenge I face occurs when employees don’t show up for their shift. Last minute scheduling is a regular challenge. The last minute schedule changes often create a ripple effect as other team member needs to shuffle to accommodate the situation. Other major challenges include training new employees and maintaining the required supply levels.
Have you completed any recent employee or customer satisfaction surveys? If so what where the results?
We regularly survey our staff and customers for feedback. There is always a box seeking feedback from customers. But local management is not supplied with a key to access the contents of the feedback box. However, the results of the surveys are sent to head office.
What has been the effect of globalization on your business?
Globalization has had little effect on Tim Horton’s. We now offer free Wi-Fi. Some of our supplies are imported but the effect of globalisation has been minimal. The effect globalisation has had on our business is only on the surface. Our roll up the rim contest is available online. Our gift cards can be reloaded online. Potential employees can apply online. There are K cups available for online purchase. However, in our daily operations globalisation has little effect on our restaurant. At our location we don’t deal with international customers of suppliers.
Did the 2007 Recession have an affect on your business? How? How has the business recovered?
The recession had some affect on our business. Many more experienced workers joined our team during that period. Sales slowed slightly during that period but our business was quick to recover. The marginal decrease in our sales was quickly replaced by a local economy boom. Our restaurant felt a stronger affect when a couple of the large employers in our city went bankrupt then the 2007 recession.
What is your current outlook for the economy?
The current economy is alright. The restaurant is neither slowing down or extremely busy. I can’t see the current economy having much affect on the restaurant. However, I personally see the affect of the economy at the grocery store and when I shop online. There has been a great deal of inflation in the past few months.
What is one thing, from your viewpoint that could stimulate business demand and increase employment in your industry?
An increase in youth employment would benefit our industry. Youth are excellent consumers but many youth today in our area lack any form of employment. The summer job program is soon to start and this will bring a great deal of new jobs in our industry. According to unverified news sources this summer there will be more grants for summer jobs. That could allow us to hire and train many new employees for the next year.
What is the major reward of owning/managing this business?
The best reward of being a manager at Tim Horton’s is the opportunity to train new employees. Many of our new employees are either youth or experienced in another field. As a manager I have the opportunity of welcoming all new members of our team and training them to succeed.
Management Rating
In a scale of 1 – 10 I would rate the management of this business as a 7. The franchise creates framework of protocol that limits management in the way they manage the business. While most of the company’s management operations are highly efficient many minor changes could benefit the individual location. For example the customer satisfaction surveys could offer great deals of insight into the opinions of local customers but the surveys are sent to head office and little feedback is offered to the individual business.
