Operations Management and Productivity

Part 1: Case Analysis

In its 30 years of existence, Hard Rock has grown from a modest London pub to a global power managing 110 cafes, three hotels, casinos, live music venues, a rock museum, and a huge annual Rockfest concert. This puts Hard Rock firmly in the service industry--a sector that employs over 75% of the people in the U.S. Hard Rock moved its world headquarters to Orlando, Florida, in 1988 and has expanded to more than 40 locations throughout the U.S., serving over 100,000 meals each day. Hard Rock chefs are modifying the menu from classic American burgers and chicken wings to include higher-end items such as stuffed veal chops and lobster tails. Just as taste in music changes over time, so does the Hard Rock Cafe, with new menus, layouts memorabilia, services, and strategies.

At Orlando Universal Studios, a traditional tourist destination, Hard Rock Cafe serves over 3,500 meals each day. The cafe employs about 400 people. Most are employed in the restaurant, but some work in the retail shop. Retail is now a standard and increasingly prominent feature in Hard Rock Cafes (since close to 48% of revenue comes from this source). Cafe employees include kitchen and wait staff, hostesses, and bartenders. Hard Rock employees are not only competent in their job skills; they are also passionate about music and have engaging personalities. Cafe staff is scheduled down to 15-minute intervals to meet seasonal and daily demand changes in the tourist environment of Orlando. Surveys are done on a regular basis to evaluate quality of food and service at the cafe. Scores are done on a 1 to 7 scale, and if the score is not a 7, the food or service is a failure.

Hard Rock is adding a new emphasis on live music and is redesigning its restaurants to accommodate the changing tastes. Since Eric Clapton hung his guitar on the wall to mark his favorite bar stool, Hard Rock has become the world's leading collector and exhibitor of rock and roll memorabilia, with changing exhibits at its cafes throughout the world. The collection includes 1,000 of pieces, valued at $40 million. In keeping with the times, Hard Rock also maintains a Web site, www.hardrock.com, which receives over 100,000 hits per week, and a weekly cable television program on VH-1. Hard Rock's brand recognition, at 92%, is one of the highest in the world. Source: Professor Barry Render, Jay Heizer and Beverly Amer.

Please turn in a paper of one to two pages (page counting does not include cover and reference list) discussing the following questions,

1. From your knowledge of restaurants and from the case itself, identify how each of the 10 decisions of operations management (from PowerPoint 1) is applied at Hard Rock Cafe.

2. How would you determine the productivity of the kitchen staff and wait staff at Hard Rock?

Part 2: Calculating Productivity

After reviewing the slides in background materials, now you need to try to calculate the productivity yourself. Don't feel frightened. Numbers are fun. If you have questions, feel free to contact your professor.

C.A. Ratchet, the local auto mechanic, finds that it usually takes him 2 hours to diagnose and fix a typical problem. What is his daily productivity (assume an 8 hour day)?

Mr. Ratchet believes he can purchase a small computer trouble-shooting device, which will allow him to find and fix a problem in the incredible (at least to his customers!) time of 1 hour. He will, however, have to spend an extra hour each morning adjusting the computerized diagnostic device. What will be the impact on his productivity if he purchases the device?

Hint: You may calculate the current productivity, then find out the productivity with computers. Finally you will know how much it improves.

Assignment Expectations

1. Answer questions with clarity.

2. Show depth and breadth in your paper to enhance the quality of your paper.

3. Try your best to search in our library to find some papers/articles to support your argument and show them in the reference list.

4. If you are choosing Part II, please ignore exception 2 & 3. Show the detailed steps for calculation instead.