Olive Garden case study analysis

Olive Garden

Oliver Garden is a U.S. based mid-range restaurant chain based in Florida, a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., and operating more than 750 locations worldwide. The chain specializes in Italian-American cuisine, and opened in 1982, at the time, part of the General Mills organization. It was, like Red Lobster, one of the fastest crowing popular restaurants, and y 1995, General Mills spun off its restaurant holdings into Darden Restaurants. Due to issues of cost-containment and popularity, most Olive Gardens in Canada have closed. Olive Garden posted a strong $405 million in net earnings as of May 30, 2010, up from the previous five years despite slightly declining sales (darden.com). However, as part of its 2011 Conference, the company announced its strategy of market expansion into the Middle East and Asia due to the maturity of the American market. The company also announced it would begin licensing franchising partnerships, a completely new direction for the chain. Darden also announced that it would the co-locating Oliver Garden and Red Lobster locations that will have separate entrances, but will share kitchen and support areas (Ruggles, 2011; Pedicini, 2011).

Problem -- In this case, the problems are many: lack of consistency in service, employees and managers with poor attitudes, a restaurant run rather poorly, and an attitude of anti-customer service. The facts are based, however, on a letter written by a disgruntled customer, we do not have a response or counter explanation from the management or staff.

Facts -- Dr. Mark Wallace, his two-daughters, and his handicapped father, selected Olive Garden as their dining choice on a Tuesday evening. Preliminary investigation found that most Olive Gardens are open Sunday through Thursday, 11am-10pm; and Friday and Saturday until 11pm. Dr. Wallace indicates he and his family arrived at the restaurant at 8:15pm, clearly 1 hour 45 minutes prior to closing. During his stay, he encountered the following:

No one waiting in the lobby to greet or seat; Dr. Wallace had to go to the bar to ask for help. They waited 10 minutes for someone to help.

The hostess became annoyed with Dr. Wallace for asking for help, as well as needing some extra help for his handicapped father.

The Wallace Party waited another 12 minutes for help; finally ordered a meal by someone who said "this wasn't their station."

Twenty more minutes passed; the meals arrived cold and the wine ordered was absent. The server said the bar was "out of wine." It took two additional requests for napkins and silverware.

Dr. Wallace asked to see the manager, who was clearly disinterested and said, "The meals were prepared properly, the server just forgot about them." However, another plate of cannelloni finally arrived.

More time passed, and it was nearly 10pm; coffee or deserts were out of the question, yet non-one brought their check.

The restaurant was not busy, only one other couple seated; so if there was a staff issue, it was because staff members had been fazed.

It took an addition seven minutes to get the check; and the manager was quite confrontational when this was explained to him; harking" Are you looking for a free meal or something?"

Solution- Immediately, as a CEO, investigates the number and quality of complaints within this restaurant, including but not limited to several ghost dining experiments at different times during the week. If warranted, fire the management team and bring in experienced staff with a can-do, customer oriented attitude.

Reason Attitude, the ability to empathize, and the "feel" within an organization, particularly a restaurant, flows downward. If the management is lax, so will the employees. Clearly, with over 750 stores and growing, Oliver Garden has a comprehensive store and employee manual. In every other Oliver Garden, someone opens the door, greets the customer, and advises the wait time, or shows the group to their table. Water and a server usually arrive within 3 minutes. Above all, business owners, employees, and most especially, individuals who rely on gratuities to make ends meet must understand that there are hundreds of dining choices, people go out to eat so that they can be treated well, greeted with a smile, felt welcome, and provided a hot and tasty meal under time expectations. Indeed, if a specific beverage is ordered, within 2-3 minutes, the server should have been back at the table offering other choices if something is out of stock. Quality control exists to ensure that meals are not left on the plating or hot racks; and if the food is prepared under proper presentation. Once the server was advised the meals were cold, they should have been removed from the table, and new meals expedited. Finally, regardless of whether the manager thought the Walker's wanted a free meal, what the Walker's truly wanted was to have their concerns addressed in a calm, empathetic manner that assured the customer that a positive experience was his/her main concern. With the plethora of choices, the least the manage could have done was to comp a portion of the meal and invite the Walker's back; or provided a coupon for a buy one, get one free, during the next visit. Further, the manager should have taken the Walker's personal situation to heart, assured them that he would deal with the employees involved in a private training situation. Instead, the manager showed the Walker's exactly why the employees have this attitude.