Applebee's is the largest casual dining chain in the world with 1,970 locations throughout the United States and nearly 20 other countries worldwide. The menu features beef, chicken, and pork items as well as burgers, pasta, and seafood. The Applebee's CEO wants to make the restaurant more profitable. The CEO believes that customers will pay for a "tastier menu" which will generate more profits. (Management Information Systems, 13th edition, page 480).

However, Applebee's must deal with rising costs for labor and restaurant operating expenses such as insurance, taxes and utilities. Transportation and gasoline costs have risen and food products are more expensive. And, today's consumer is more aware of spending habits.

Assume you are the food service manager at a local Applebee's restaurant or you are a midlevel manager in one of the Applebee's regional offices. You have been assigned to a team of people to work on this "tastier menu" initiative.

Put your decision making skills to good use and respond to the following points and questions:

1.From a manager's perspective (which may be different from the CEO's perspective), briefly identify the problems identified by the CEO.

2.Do you see any problems other than just the menu in making the restaurant more profitable?

3.What pieces of data would Applebee's need to collect to earn more profits?

4.How might you use social media to collect data and information?

5.What kinds of reports would be useful to help your management make decisions on how to improve menus and profitability?

6.How would your team determine the success or failure of this initiative?

7.When you reply to your classmates, compare and contrast their findings and decisions with yours.