Restaurant Industry Is a Highly

¶ … restaurant industry is a highly competitive market today. Moreover, many entrepreneurs are facing significant constraints in the management of their restaurants with regards to loss of data, non-standardized products, uncontrollable employee behaviors, unverifiable accounting, complexity of each function in the restaurant and so forth. Despite these constraints, the restaurant industry continues to attract a constant stream of aspiring entrepreneurs based on the relative ease of entry in the industry and the small amount of investment compared with other business sectors. To be sure that they can operates their businesses successfully, these individuals need to have a thorough understanding of restaurant management and operations, and particularly the sales processes that are regarded as one the important issues that contribute to customer satisfaction. To improve the efficiency of restaurants, restaurant management systems have emerged as popular tools that can be used to support entrepreneurs. This study examines current operations in small- to medium-sized restaurants and how computerized systems can optimize their operations. This research also designed a structured custom questionnaire of employee perceptions regarding restaurant management software as well as a custom questionnaire of customer perceptions of service and quality to gain in-depth data concerning these issues. This study also interviewed restaurant owners or managers their experiences with their restaurant management systems. Based on the results of this primary data, the study conducted a cost-benefit analysis concerning the use of restaurant management systems. In addition, based on the primary data and secondary sources, the study developed the scope and design requirement specifications for an optimum restaurant management system that connects the cooperation between the front office related to the sales processes that directly contact customers such as meal ordering, table reservation, payments, etc. As well as back office operations that relate to food preparation. A summary of the research, important findings and recommendations are presented in the concluding chapter.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction and Background

Statement of the Problem

Aims and Objectives of Study

Importance of Study

Scope of Study

Rationale of Study

Overview of Study

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

Chapter 3: Methodology

Description of Study Approach

Rationale in Support of Methodology

Analytical Context

Limitations

Chapter 4: Data Analysis

Chapter 5: Summary and Recommendations

How Restaurant Management Software Can Improve the Efficiency of Sales Processes of SME Restaurants

Chapter 1: Introduction and Background

The restaurant industry was originally created out of necessity to feed people who were forced to be away from home, and the industry still satisfies that need today (Chmelynski 2004; Brech 1998; Pentecost 2002). Unlike most other industries, the restaurant industry in the 21st century is distinguished in many countries by containing the largest number of people who have, at some point or another in their lives, been employees in some capacity or another (Boggs 2007). According to Boggs, there are a number of reasons for this trend. In this regard, Boggs asks, "Why are so many people drawn to this industry?" And by way of answer emphasizes that, "It is romantic, creative, active, and fun-filled. It is one of few industries where an employee can enter at the bottom with no skills and leave at the top highly successful. Knowing how to cook is not even a prerequisite for being successful in this industry!" (2007: 36). This point is also made by Thiers (1999) who emphasizes that although many of the jobs in the restaurant industry "do not require high skills or command high wages, many do, and some of the lower-skilled jobs like travel clerk or kitchen worker can be stepping stones to more responsible jobs and better income" (32). Minorities in particular have taken advantage of the high level of mobility in the food service industry to achieve executive positions in recent years (Scott 2002).

Notwithstanding the ease of entry and high level of mobility within the restaurant industry, it is not easy work by any measure, with daily schedules of 12 hours for restaurant managers not being uncommon (Royle & Towers 2002; Lucas 2003). In addition, there is also a fundamental need for so-called "people skills" to succeed in the restaurant industry over the long-term (Douglas & Zivnuska 2008). In this regard, Boggs also notes that success "requires leadership, tenacity, hard work, flexibility, and a true love for people and the foods that tantalize them" (2007: 37).

Like almost every other industry, though, the food service industry in general and restaurants in particular have benefited enormously from the innovations in information technology that have been introduced in recent years. Although the goal of every good restaurant to deliver high-quality cuisine and beverages to their customers prepared in the manner in which they want it and when they want it has remained essentially the same, the management of these establishments has become increasingly complex as a result of increased competition as well as local, regional and national regulations that require compliance with a vast array of health codes (Abernathy & Hart 2004; Phillips, Elledge, Bazara, Lynch & Boatright 2006; Recurrent violations of the Food Code in retail food service establishments 2006), personnel issues (Gubman & Russell 2006), constantly changing governmental regulations concerning smoking in restaurants and bars (Dunham & Marlow 2004) and, of course, taxes (Boggs 2007). Moreover, from a public relations' perspective, the extent of restaurants' compliance with food health regulations is becoming increasingly available to consumers through the publication of potentially damaging inspection results and remediation efforts in online governmental venues (Almanza, Nelson & Lee 2003), making the need for effective and responsive restaurant management and leadership practices in the restaurant industry that can address food safety issues in a timely fashion more important than ever before (Jenkins-Mclean, Skilton & Sellers 2004; Nicola, Ray & Hatcher 2000). Indeed, restaurant managers represent the front-line in the delivery of food service that takes place in a hygienic environment wherein consumers can enjoy the ambience and service without worrying about the safety of the food and beverages that are being served (Jenkins-Mclean et al. 2004). This may seem to be a "no-brainer" for most restaurant managers, but the importance of providing consistently safe food and beverages -- and avoiding the concomitant public backlash when they fail -- cannot be overstated. For example, according to Bezich, "Governments [are] under pressure from taxpayers to cut taxes. However, taxpayers do not want to see any reduction in enforcement, particularly when it comes to health and restaurants" (1999: 23). Changing restaurant employees' routine and habits in substantive ways is an especially challenging enterprise that requires ongoing emphasis and oversight by top management to ensure that all restaurant employees adhere to proper practices in the food service workplace (Kassa 2001).

Moreover, like many other businesses, restaurants are faced with constant changes in consumer preferences and tastes that require timely responses in order to remain competitive (Seidman & McCauley 2009; Farello, Mitchell & Alldredge 1999). In addition, the delivery of the end product of food and beverages to the customer's table is just part of the overall complicated supply chain that brings everything together, making effective enterprise systems a necessity rather than a luxury (Neely 2002). In this dynamic environment, restaurant managers around the world have sought information technology solutions to their management needs and the market has responded with a number of offerings that provide them with enterprise systems that can help them administer their operations more efficiently. Compared to other types of industries, though, there have been relatively fewer off-the-shelf software solutions developed by vendors that specifically address the types of needs that many restaurants routinely encounter, a problem that was the focus of this study which is discussed further below.

Statement of the Problem

Satisfied customers are essential to the survival of restaurants. Because restaurants are staffed by mere humans, though, the opportunity for failure is high and the costs that are associated with even a few mistakes can be devastating. Indeed, according to Gibbs, "Customer service is key to the food service industry" (2006: 43). As many restaurant patrons can readily testify, though, their dining experiences have been less than satisfactory in many cases with incorrect orders being provided, inordinately long waiting times to be served and surly wait staff who do not provide the level of customer service that is required to ensure repeat business and word-of-mouth advertising that can be the lifeblood of many small- to- medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In this regard, Reeves and Hoy emphasize that, "Given the tremendous dissatisfaction with service and the brutally competitive environment in which restaurants operate, restaurants that are able to differentiate their service from that of their competitors will gain a significant competitive advantage" (1999: 53). This is an especially salient point for full-service restaurants that are being edged out by their lower-cost fast food competitors (Rashad, Grossman & Chou 2006). For example, the results of a study by Brech (1998) concerning the percentage of meals consumed outside the home determined fully 93% of the respondents indicated that fast food was selected for their evening meal at least once or more times every week; in addition, 84% of the respondents reported having convenience foods for their evening meals at home at least once or more times per week; and almost all of the respondents (99%) indicated that their families prepared home-cooked evening meals at least once or more times each week (70% of the respondents prepared four or more evening meals every week) (Brech 1998). According to Brech, these trends do not leave much time -- or money -- available for dining at full-service restaurants. In this study, the respondents "reported their families ate at cafeterias, family or chain restaurants, or fine dining restaurants only once or less each week" (Brech 1998: 21). This is not to say, though, that the number of full-service restaurants in countries such as the United States has declined in recent years. To the contrary, during the period between 1972 and 1997, the number of full-service restaurants increased by 35%; however, the number of fast food establishes more than doubled during this same time period (Akst 2003). These trends represent a sharp divergence from consumer eating habits a few years ago, and it was not until 1995 that consumers spent more at fast food establishments than they did at full-service restaurants (Pardue 1999).

Not surprisingly, given the highly competitive nature of the restaurant industry, many full-service restaurants managers try to distinguish their board of fare from their lower-priced fast-food competitors in several ways, including going so far as to end menu prices with ." 00" rather than the ." 99" used by cheaper eateries (Parsa & Naipul 2007). Another way that restaurant managers can help differentiate their service from their competitors is by providing top-flight service, food and beverages that will compel their customers to return for more in the future and to tell their friends and families about their dining experience so they too will patronize the business. In today's highly competitive marketplace, though, achieving this level of customer service requires more than intuition and experience. Fortunately, restaurant management software can help managers achieve this level of customer service in ways that have not been possible in the past, an issue directly relates to the aims and objectives of the study which are discussed further below.

Aims and Objectives of Study

The overarching aim of this project was to support restaurants' owners or other people who are interested in how restaurant management software can support management of the small- to medium-sized restaurant in term of sales processes, for instance; order taking, table reservation, billing, inventory control, and so on. In addition, this study examined the scope of various restaurant management systems in order to determine which is best suited for assisting all employees' operations and managers' or owners' decision-making processes. This study can be applied as a supportive resource to create refinements in existing restaurant management software. This primary aim was supplemented by several key objectives as follows:

1. To deliver current research on the issues and situations of SMEs competing in the restaurant industry, including restaurant processes in both front and back offices, as well as representative restaurant computerized systems to develop an improved understanding of how these applications can facilitate sales operations.

2. Conduct a cost-benefit and analysis concerning the use of restaurant management systems and also conduct GAP analysis of the current and future of the restaurant.

3. Determine and discuss the possible solutions to improve the performance of restaurants.

4. Evaluate the triggers and barriers of implementing restaurant management systems.

5. Analyze and build the requirement specifications for optimum restaurant management software systems.

6. Draw relevant conclusions and provide recommendations for the progress and approach for the future implementation of restaurant management software that can be used as a best practice guide by restaurant managers.

Importance of Study

Although many entrepreneurs aspire to restaurant ownership, success stories are the exception rather than the rule and new restaurants come and go so fast that many consumers have trouble keeping track of what is currently available. In fact, Boggs (2007) emphasizes that fully 90% of new restaurants are unsuccessful. These failure rates may be even more pronounced during periods of economic downturn such as the one currently being experienced worldwide when people tend to eat at home rather than spending scarce money on food in a "sit-down" full-service restaurant, or spend what discretionary income they have available for outside food purchases at inexpensive fast food outlets. Indeed, the fast food industry has outpaced full-service restaurant growth across the board, and now accounts for almost half of all food dollars spent outside the home (Van Giezen 1999). According to this authority, "Over the past 20 years, [the fast food industry] has accounted for a larger proportion of food budgets, reflecting, among other reasons, greater spending power and changing lifestyles prompted by the increasing participation of women in the labor force and the rise of one-person households" (Van Giezen 1999: 25). These trends in the proliferation of fast food establishments have held true with countries besides the United States, including the United Kingdom (Hall 2003). Therefore, in order to entice people to patronize their restaurants, full-service restaurant managers need to develop a competitive advantage that can help them not only survive during such periods of economic doldrums, but grow their businesses as well. For this purpose, restaurant management software has been developed in recent years that is ". . . easy to manage, modular yet simple and easy to update, point-of-sale software is designed allowing smaller restaurants to install basic systems and software functionality with the ability to upgrade by switching on built in modules as and when business dictates" (Software shows accurate record for your restaurant & bar 2010: 3).

Scope of Study

This scope of this study extended to restaurant management in a number of countries, but with a specific focus on the restaurant industry and small- to medium-sized restaurants competing in the United Kingdom.

Rationale of Study

Because customer satisfaction is the key to success in the restaurant industry, identifying opportunities to improve the processes that provide superior service represents a timely and valuable enterprise. Although savvy restaurant managers recognize this fact, many of them may not know how to go about achieving superior customer service given the paucity of best practices in this area, particularly as they relate to the integration of software solutions to their restaurant operations. In this regard, Vernon defines best practice as, "Ways of conducting business processes that are generally agreed to be the most efficient or effective" (2002: 21) and suggests that identifying best practices in the restaurant industry can help deliver superior customer service. According to this authority, "Best practice has come to be associated with an ongoing management style that focuses on processes. The idea is that an organization should not be stymied by being oriented towards people or product. The argument is that best practice in processes is what delivers improvements in the most important business indicator, customer satisfaction" (Vernon 2002: 21).

Overview of Study

This study used a five-chapter format to achieve the above-stated aims and objectives. Chapter one of the study was used to introduce the issues under consideration and provide relevant background information, including a statement of the problem, the importance of the study, as well as its scope and supporting rationale. Chapter two provides a review of the peer-reviewed, scholarly and popular literature concerning restaurant management and restaurant management software systems and chapter three describes more fully the study's methodology, including a description of the study approach, the rationale in support of selected methodology, the analytical context in which the research was conducted and limitations to the study's methodology and findings. Chapter four consists of an analysis of the primary data collected during the research process and chapter five provides the study's conclusions, a summary of the research and recommendations for software solutions for restaurant managers today.

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

Introduction

This chapter provides a review of the relevant literature to describe the current environment in which restaurants compete and the factors that affect restaurant performance. A discussion concerning front and back office restaurant process is followed by an analysis of various restaurant management systems that are currently available and a brief summary of the research concludes this chapter.

Restaurant industry situation.

Although more and more people have been dining out and spending larger percentages of their disposable income on food consumed outside the home, in many cases, these meals are so-called "fast food" obtained from facilities that feature drive-through windows rather than full-service restaurants (Thiers 1999). In addition, many restaurants are faced with inordinately high turnover rates that adversely affect their ability to delivery high-quality customer service and which also require restaurant managers to expend scarce resources for recruitment, hiring and training of new hires (Mardanov, Sterrett & Baker 2007). According to these authorities, "Due to the nature of the restaurant industry, [restaurants] tend to experience a large degree of turnover and employee job dissatisfaction because of supervisor issues and availability of same-type jobs located within the industry" (Mardanov et al. 2007: 38). Besides being characterized by inordinately high levels of employee turnover, the restaurant industry has traditionally been highly competitive, and this aspect of the industry remains especially true today (Roberts, Lohrke, Frownfelter-Lohrke 2004).

Despite these constraints, there is money to be made if full-service restaurant managers know what customers want and are able to provide it in a timely and consistent fashion in ways that contribute to the customers' level of satisfaction. In this regard, Shields and Shelleman report that, "Restaurants are an important sector of small business with projected sales of $187.4 billion for full-service restaurants in 2008. With more [consumers] eating meals away from home, restaurant sales in 2008 were expected to grow 4.3% over 2007" (2008: 48). Some of the factors that have been shown to affect restaurant performance and customers' levels of satisfaction are discussed further below.

Factors that affect restaurant performance

The research to date concerning the factors that affect restaurant performance largely date from the past 2 decades or so. For example, there were a few studies that were conducted during the late 1980s and the 1990s which focused primarily on those attributes of the dining experience that determine customer satisfaction (Knutson 1988; Davis & Vollmann 1990; Dube, Renaghan & Miller 1994; Kivela, Inbakaran & Reece 2000). More recently, however, researchers have examined the precise linkage between customer satisfaction and restaurant performance, emphasizing the manner in which satisfaction affects customers' repeat purchases (Sulek & Hensley 2004; Soderlund & Ohman 2005; Cheng 2005).

A recent study by Gupta, McLaughlin and Gomez (2007) examined the association between customer satisfaction, repeat-purchase intentions, and restaurant performance. Using data from a national restaurant chain, the authors constructed a series of mathematical models that predict how the level of customer satisfaction with certain attributes of guests' dining experience affects the likelihood that they will come back. In turn, the model shows how guests' "comeback" scores and other variables affect restaurant performance (i.e., sales and entree counts). Robust and statistically significant, the models showed that restaurants that pay attention to food quality, appropriate cost, and attentive service have the greatest chance to increase guests' intent to return. In turn, that intent to return is a chief driver of increased sales (Gupta et al. 2007).

Restaurant processes

Front office. According to Thiers (1999), front office operations in most restaurants are the primary responsibility of the restaurant managers. This author notes that these managers "run the show in restaurants" and their front-office responsibilities include: (a) coordinating all aspects of food preparation and keeping the restaurant running smoothly; (b) ordering supplies; (c) selecting and pricing menu items; (d) hiring and supervising employees; (e) maintaining restaurant equipment; and (f) administrative tasks such as payroll and scheduling hours. In addition, Thiers notes that, "Restaurant managers usually are assisted by an assistant manager and often an executive chef" (1999: 33).

Back office. In his text, Jafari reports that, "The back office refers to the location of those procedures not carried out in full view of the customer. Work is allocated to the back office on the basis that there is no requirement for a direct contact with the guest. Developments in computing technology are blurring the distinctions between front and back office activities" (2000: 48).

Restaurant management system

Definition. For the purposes of this study, a restaurant management system refers to a computer-based system that integrates and automates all of the operations of a restaurant that are not directly required to be performed manually (for example, food preparation and serving).

Conceptual model. Although some aspects of restaurant management remain manual (i.e., order taking and passing it on to the kitchen, delivering the food to the table and so forth), recent innovations in restaurant management applications have streamlined the process greatly. The conceptual model for these applications involves features such as touch-screen menus, remote ordering and printing, automated billing, and guest account organization and staff supervision capabilities (Software shows accurate record for your restaurant & bar 2010).

Hardware devices. Restaurant management software applications vary in design and function, but most feature some type of point-of-sale hardware device such as the one featured in Figure 1 below that allows the users to capture all relevant data concerning the sale (including food items purchased, credit or debit card information, inventory control, and so forth).

Figure 1. Example of restaurant management system hardware device

Source: http://www.posqx.com/articles/Web-based-restaurant-software.htm

Software. Although the development of off-the-shelf software specifically designed for restaurant management has lagged behind some other industries, there are several viable solutions currently available and these are described further below.

Restaurant Management Software Vendors

One of the more interesting issues to emerge from the literature review concerned how few studies and articles have been devoted to this topic, and how quickly leaders in this specialty industry have faded from view, suggesting that there remains a lack of current information concerning what systems work best in which locations. Nevertheless, some indication of the off-the-shelf and customizable attributes that are available can be gleaned from the representative restaurant management applications reviewed below, beginning with an application that is offered by Optimum Control (http://www.tracrite.net/restaurant.php) which has the features described in Table 1 below:

Table

Features of Restaurant Solutions by Optimum Control

Feature

Description/Function

Food Recipe Costing

Determine the optimum selling price on every item on the menu by setting your desired cost percentage.

* Build Menu Items and Batch Recipes quickly and easily.

* Develop new menus in minutes, not hours.

* Identify portion costs and yields for precise recipe management on all batch recipes.

* Create recipe cards or menu books for all recipes.

* Identify how price changes on each menu item are impacting overall food cost.

Inventory Control

* Manage inventory in a fraction of the time.

* Slash inventory count and valuation time using printed count sheets or Windows Mobile-based PDAs.

* Know closing inventory values instantly using FIFO, Last Cost, or Average Cost.

* Save time by customizing count sheets to match storage areas using drag-and-drop functionality.

* Assign multiple storage locations and different inventory count units for more accurate stock counting. (e.g. Count mozzarella cheese in the cooler by the case, by the pound, or by the ounce in any storage area and Optimum Control will summarize all locations and counts automatically.)

Purchasing and Ordering

* Update stock levels, price changes and recipe costs.

* Work confidently as invoice will not save unless the invoice total is balanced.

* Search box can filter by name or order code.

* Detail general expenses such as delivery charges, utilities, etc.

* Request credits for stock "sent back" detailing amount and reason for return.

* Purchase multiple pack sizes from suppliers.

* Analyze unit costs between suppliers, know which is the best way to buy.

* Export purchase transactions to many popular accounting systems.

Catering and Buffets

* Plan and cost out an event with the easy to use Catering Wizard.

* Calculate the cost of an event based on your Selling price, cover price or cost percentage.

* Replace any meal options to achieve your ideal cost.

* Print out a confirmation with a detailed list of everything the client has ordered.

* Any special instructions will be displayed here.

* Keep a detailed file of every planned event.

* Prepare a shopping list of everything needed to order for this event.

* Users can see a detailed list of the cost to order these items.

* Users are able to extract all of the stock needed for this event out of inventory.

Aspen Systems, Inc. (http://www.aspen-systems.com/) is another self-described leading developer of fully integrated enterprise solutions for the food industry, including applications that can be used in restaurant settings. The company also has a proven track record of performance with food management systems installed in more than 200 locations in North America as well as providing customer service from both east and west coasts of the United States (About Us 2010). Although no confirmation was available to support the company's assertions that their restaurant management software was easy to learn, the company does cite a litany of user-friendly features that suggest there must be an intuitive element to the application's operation; moreover, Aspen has been in business since 1988, making it an old-timer in terms of software developers. In addition, Aspen emphasizes that all of its upgrades and improvements to existing systems are designed to be fully integrated without additional modifications to the legacy system, thereby providing a significant return on the initial investment for the restaurant management software and hardware package (About Us 2010).

One of the more attractive attributes of the Aspen approach is the fact that all add-on modules have the same "look and feel" so that they are simple to learn after learning another, but they are also able to communicate with each other so that data is transferred when and where it is needed in a seamless fashion. The company's promotional literature also notes that the restaurant management software product is specifically designed for efficiency and reliability in real-world settings by streamlining the data processing methods used to administer and upgrade the system with no software interfaces needing to be revised (About Us 2010).

Another relevant software package for restaurant management purposes is Point of Success Premium offered by Point of Success (http://www.pointofsuccess.com/), which comes complete with the features described in Table 2 below.

Table 2

Features of Point of Success Premium Restaurant Management Software

Feature

Description/Function

Order Entry

Use a touch screen our mouse to take customer orders! Design the order entry screens to fit the way the restaurant works. Training new employees is fast and easy.

Order Tracking

Viewing orders in the system, creating orders for preparation at a future date and time and real-time manager statistics are a few of the futures offered in Point of Success.

Improving Efficiency

Employees can enter orders quickly and get order information, cash out orders and keep customers happy.

Preventing Theft

System security features help prevent employee theft, inventory shrinkage and more.

Reporting Needs for Business

Point of Success maintains history on orders, payments, deliveries, customers, employees and more. Use this information in system reports to help run a better business!

Effective Marketing

Many of Point of Success' features can help improve order frequency from existing customers, improve average ticket and analyze the effectiveness of customer-attraction campaigns.

Delivery Management

Keep your delivery drivers on the road and meet customer service goals with the help of Point of Success' delivery management features. Order status, delivery destination maps and driver queuing are all available.

Pizza Delivery Mapping

Point of Success works with inexpensive mapping software for delivery mapping and turn-by-turn directions. These additional features are designed to add the powerful capabilities in a restaurant or bar. These modules are priced affordably.

Online Ordering

Customers place their take-out, delivery or catering order on restaurant's Web menu. Increase ticket averages, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.

Inventory

Handles vendor ordering, recipes, food usage, cost reporting and more! Helps find and fix food cost and profitability problems like theft, poor portion control, spoilage, waste and under pricing.

Employee Timekeeping

Track and total employee hours worked for help in payroll processing.

Caller ID

Point of Success Caller ID makes caller information available on every order entry workstation. Find existing customers and create new customer accounts easily.

Employee Scheduling

Simplifies employee scheduling by tracking available hours, repeating schedules that rarely change, and helps control labor costs.

Table Management with Table Map

Manages reservations, wait lists and table status at the hostess station. Servers and bartenders can use a table map to select the guest check to create, edit or cash out.

Credit Card, Gift Card and Loyalty Card Processing

Makes every order entry computer in the restaurant a credit card terminal. Fast authorizations, accurate accounting records and gift card services are all benefits of processing credit cards though a POS system.

Fingerprint Login

Employee clock-in, order entry and sensitive financial transactions are all more secure.

Menu and Setup Training CD

Thorough, inexpensive training on desktop computer helps get the perfect POS ordering menu.

Central Office Reporting

No matter whether the restaurant is part of a chain, a franchise or an independent eatery, CentralPoint Central Office Reporting helps keep in touch with the financial details of your business.

Video Surveillance System Integration

Make the video security system even more effective through detailed transaction information embedded in the security video.

Next, the restaurant management software package offered by Restaurant Pos (http://www.restaurant-pos-software.com/Products/HospitalitySoftware.aspx) called "HOSPOS" provides the following features and self-described benefits:

1. The quality and choice of features available within the HOSPOS software makes this a product of choice that will meet the needs of not only the smallest of restaurants but provide the power and flexibility to manage large scale national and international restaurant chains. RPS understands that purchasing hospitality software is a big decision and offers a free 60 day trial rather than the usual 30 day. During these 60 days, users can evaluate the complete hospitality management software package before deciding which modules will suit their businesses best. Once the 60 days is up, or even during the 60 days, it is easy to upgrade and license the modules required using the online ordering page on the company's Web site.

2. The advantages of being able to pick and choose any combination of modules means a business only needs to pay for the specific software it requires, and companies can always come back and purchase further modules in the future.

3. The software has been developed and written using (vb.net) n-tier technology, allowing software modules to be added when new functionality is required.

4. Bespoke software modules are available on request and can be written to suit specialist requirements.

The additional modules that are available from Restaurant Pos's HOSPOS restaurant management application include the following:

1. Stock Management

2. Kitchen Management

3. Employee Reporting-Login Report

The available add-ons that can be integrated with the HOSPOS restaurant management application include the following:

1. Take Away

2. Restaurant - Till

3. Restaurant - Till cash

4. Reception Management HOSPOS

Finally, some of the more relevant features that are available from this vendor include the Kitchen Management add-on feature and others review below. The company's descriptions of the specific front and back office management attributes of this add-on at the Web page cited above are provided in Table 3 below.

Table 3

Add-on Features and Modules for HOSPOS

Feature

Description/Function

Employee Reporting

This Module manages all the Information about the Employees. So that it becomes easy to fetch information about an Employee. It also manages the Employees Attendance report automatically as the Employee Logs in.

Reception Management

This module can be used in the Reception to Reserve Rooms, Halls and Tables. This unique modular Design allows booking a Room, Hall or a Table within Seconds. This module requires the Information of the same to be updated in the Back Office Management.

Stock Management Module

This module maintains the stock report. Stock Management in Organization is very important. After Review the Purchased Products Admin have duty to add that Products to Inventory. Previous Stock Count can be adjusted with new Products. Each Product is separated by group. The feature of the Stock Adjustment is used to provide complete stock details. It has following fields that are Item Name, Location, Quantity, Price of each Item. Complete Stock Control is provided for all data in the stock levels for each Department.

Kitchen Management Module

This kitchen management module monitors all kitchen activities. The entire item request from the till menu is displayed to the Kitchen Manager. As the requested item is prepared and sent to the Till Menu an Acknowledgement is sent from the Till Menu to make sure the Item is received. Item information in also updated in the Back Office Management module, this makes it easy to automatically maintain all item information with the minimum of effort from the user.

Login Report Module - Employee Reporting

This module manages all Employee information employees by managing the Employees Attendance records, including times they arrived and left, users can also evaluate employee performance through viewing how many sales have been made and much more.

Take away till

This module-based is combination of till menu management and cash counter and provides ability to accept payment in different formats such as credit cards, travelers checks, cash and so forth for individual transactions with real-time reporting provided.

Restaurant - Till

This module is also referred as Front Office Management. Orders from the Customers are sent to the Kitchen Management. When the item is ready, a message is received advising the status of the item; the user can also view the available items from the Kitchen instantly when it is updated in the Kitchen Management.

Reception Management HOSPOS

This software module can be used in the Reception to Reserve Rooms, Halls and Tables. This unique modular Design allows booking a Room, Hall or a Table within Seconds. This module requires the Information of the same to be updated in the Back Office Management

Finally, the restaurant management software offered by Aplomb Technology (http://www.tootoo.com/d-rp24950594-Bar_Inventory_Restaurant_Management_Software/) provides the following features:

1. Multiple Company Creation

2. Multi-user creation with restriction

3. Graphical User Interface

4. Graphical Analysis of Tables

5. Tax Calculation and Graphical setup

6. Complete Account maintain

7. Restaurant and Inventory bills

8. Maintain Restaurant inventory and Bar Inventory

9. Table Reservation facility

10. Restaurants Employee complete pay slip with allowances and deductions

11. Also Employee modules that maintain employees details with photographs and many useful reports

12. Many analytical Reports like Daily Sale Graph, Monthly Sale Graph and many more

13. Many inventory related reports and Restaurant related reports

14. Also Back up Restore facility to current financial year and software

15. Many Account related Reports

16. Windows-based software and easy to use

17. Sharp Search facility in every screen with shortcut (Restaurant management software from Aplomb 2010).

Several specific attributes of this restaurant management application that would be of potential benefit to the SME restaurant include the following:

Restaurant:

1. Item Category

2. Menu Card

3. Bill Generation

4. Reserve Table

5. Reports

Inventory:

1. Item Category

2. Item Master

3. Item in

4. Item Usage

5. Purchase Register

6. Reports

Accounts:

1. Account Group

2. Account

3. Account Ledger

4. Expense Entry

5. Receipt Entry

6. Journal Entry

7. Day Book

8. Cash Book

9. Journal Book

10. Account Trial Balance

11. Account Group Wise Balance

12. Opening Balance Report

13. Balance Sheet

Employee:

1. Employee Master

2. Allowance Master

3. Deduction Master

4. Leave Master

5. Leave Register

6. Loan Register

7. Increment Master

8. Employee Pay Slip

9. Employee Attendance

10. Employee Left

Reports

1. Analytical Reports:

2. View Menu Card with Extra looking

3. Restaurant

4. Daily Sale Graph

5. Monthly Sale Graph

6. Bar Inventory

7. Daily Sale Graph

8. Monthly Sale Graph

9. Daily Sale Report

10. Daily Check Out Report

11. Daily Collected All Receipt

12. Head Wise Report

13. Daily Expense Report

A sample screenshot from Aplomb's restaurant management software package is provided in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2. Sample screenshot from Aplomb's restaurant management software application

Source: http://imgs.tootoo.com/9d/f6/9df66f5bf13d4173d1c3bfc1d8032d9c.jpg

Chapter Summary

This chapter provided a review of the most recent literature available in an effort to describe the environment in which restaurants are competing today as well as the factors that have been found to directly affect restaurant performance. The foregoing was followed by a description of front and back office restaurant operations as well as an analysis of various restaurant management systems identified as being readily available from online vendors. A description of the study's methodology is provided in Chapter 3 below.

Chapter 3: Methodology

Description of Study Approach

This study used a mixed methodology consisting of a review of the secondary relevant literature and primary data in the form of interviews as a qualitative method to obtain the required information in depth from the primary stakeholders involved in the restaurant industry who are the managers or owners which is frequently the same individual in smaller enterprises. The reason this mixed methodology was selected based on:

1. The need to review what is already known about restaurant management issues and how these can be facilitated through the integration of restaurant management applications.

2. The need to identify the scope of the foregoing problems and solutions from the people who directly manage, work and patronize restaurants.

Based on the foregoing requirements, the use of a literature review together with an interview approach was deemed the most suitable method that satisfied both of these requirements. In fact, the need to review what is known about a topic under investigation before formulating opinions and views is an essential element in almost any type of social research project today (Neuman 2003; Woods & Ellis 2003; Silverman 2005; Fraenkel & Wallen 2001). The use of both secondary and primary data in a social research project is highly consistent with the guidance provided by Dennis and Harris who note that:

Secondary data are information that has been collected earlier for a different purpose, but which may still be useful to the research project under consideration. . . . Primary data are information that is being collected for the first time in order to address a specific research problem. This means that it is likely to be directly relevant to the research, unlike secondary data, which may be out of date or collected for a totally different purpose. Ideally, an effective research project should incorporate both primary and secondary data. (2002: 39)

In addition, a custom questionnaire was selected as the quantitative method to collect the necessary primary information from the other stakeholders involved, which are the employees and customers of restaurants. A custom questionnaire was considered to be the most suitable method to use to gather large amounts of information from customers and employees. Moreover, questionnaires are also easy to administer and analyze (Iorio 2004; Neuman 2003; De Vaus 1996; Chaudron 2008; DeMarrais & Lapan 2004; Dibble 1999; Leedy & Ormrod 2005; Ward, Evans & Boyer 2004; Todd, Nerlich, Mckeown & Clarke 2004).

This research was designed to study the feasibility of a new conception of restaurant management system. In order to obtain the information and identify the problem in the current situation, this research collected the primary data from both restaurant with restaurant management system and restaurant without restaurant management system by interviewing the managers in terms of the types of problems they routinely encountered in the restaurant in which they are currently working, including issues such as order fulfillment lead time (the period of time since the customer order the food until food is completely delivered to the customer), profit and cost questions and so on. In the restaurants that have installed the restaurant management system, the interviews will also include the key questions about the system performance in these categories; flexibility, cost, responsiveness, reliability.

To determine employees' feeling and perception towards the restaurant management software, the most suitable to achieve these questions would be structured questionnaire which consist a series of five-level Likert scale questions ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." The questions in this questionnaire consisted of perception and attitude of employees towards their existing restaurant management system. Another questionnaire was also provided to the customers of a restaurant that uses restaurant management software ("Restaurant a") and one that does not ("Restaurant "B) to assess their level of customer satisfaction in term of customer services and the quality of food and beverages they were served. To help ensure the creation of reliable custom questionnaires, the guidance provided by Grinnel and Unrau (2005) in Table 4 below was followed:

Table 4

Initial Steps and Factors to be Considered in Questionnaire Instrument Development

Steps in Questionnaire Research

Major Tasks/Factors to be Considered

Planning

1. Definition of the research problem area;

2. Definition of research questions and/or hypotheses;

3. Operational definition of variables;

4. Development of the survey design.

Development and Application of Sampling Plan

1. Definition of the population;

2. Identification of subpopulations;

3. Detailed sampling procedures;

4. Selection of the sample.

Construction of Interview Schedule or Questionnaire

1. Development of questions or selection of measuring instrument;

2. Development of anticipated analysis procedures;

3. Pretest of instrument;

4. Revision of questions (as often and to the extent necessary).

Data Collection

1. Implementation of interviews, questionnaires, inventories, tests, or observations schedules;

2. Follow-ups;

3. Initial tabulation and coding.

Translation of Data

1. Construction of category systems (this is done as necessary);

2. Technical preparation of the collected data for analysis.

Analysis

1. Separate analyses of questions, individually or in groups;

2. Synthesis, interpretation of results.

Conclusions, Reporting, etc.

Source: Grinnell & Unrau 2005: 273

Based on the foregoing guidance to questionnaire research, the guidance provided in Table 5 below by Proctor and Vu (2005) was used to develop appropriate questions for restaurant employees and customers.

Table 5

Survey Design Principles

Design Principle

Description

Is the language simple?

Write the questions so they will be easily understood by the target users. For example, "use" instead of "utilize." This is the case for both language and sentence structure.

Is the question clear?

Avoid using words that are ambiguous. It is also important to ask only one question at a time. If the item contains "and" or "or," there is a good chance that the researcher has inadvertently asked more than one question.

Is it short?

Long sentences are more likely to contain complex phrases and sentence structure. Furthermore, long questions are sometimes difficult to follow and increase the workload on the respondent.

Is there any bias present in the question or the response choices?

Do not bias the users' potential response by using leading language in the question. Do not introduce the user to new facts, avoid mentioning one side of a semantic differential scale, and lead users through the choice of response categories.

Does the question have the right level of specificity?

Response choices should not be so general that the user cannot possibly determine the answer; however, they should be specific enough to be useful for the study.

Is the question objectionable?

Each item should be reviewed for the possibility of either inappropriate tone or content. This is of particular concern when a survey is cross-cultural where the questions, sentence structure, and language may be perfectly acceptable in one culture but offensive in others.

Source: Proctor & Vu 2005: 311

The secondary data for the study was collected from the available resources in library which include books, printed journals, magazine and so forth. In addition, the study used reliable online resources such as EBSCO and Questia for relevant information as well as from electronic journals, Web sites, online magazines, etc. Finally, product descriptions of existing off-the-shelf restaurant management software products were also reviewed in order to identify the most important elements in order to design the requirement specification for an optimum restaurant management system.

Rationale in Support of Methodology

The use of both qualitative and quantitative elements in a study is highly congruent with the recommendations provided by numerous social researchers (Neuman 2003). For instance, Gratton and Jones emphasize that, "Blending qualitative and quantitative methods of research can produce a final product which can highlight the significant contributions of both. For example qualitative data can be used to support and explicate the meaning of quantitative research in terms of providing some explanation to quantitative measurements" (2003: 25).

Analytical Context

The qualitative data that was developed during the interviews with restaurant managers was synthesized with the quantitative data that resulted from the administration of the quantitative questionnaires of restaurant employees and customers. The quantitative data analysis was accomplished using SPSS Version 11.0 for Windows (Student Version) with the results presented in tabular and graphic form, and interpreted in a narrative fashion.

Limitations

Because of the relatively small number of interviews (i.e., two restaurant managers who currently use restaurant management software applications) and the small number of respondents to the restaurant employee questionnaire (i.e., 37, gathered from more than one full-service restaurant competing in the United Kingdom) and customers (i.e., 33, 15 from the restaurant using restaurant management software and 18 from the one that does not), the results of this study may not be generalizable for other restaurant managers, but were considered to represent a valuable snapshot of current perceptions of these stakeholders in ways that contributed to the development of an optimum restaurant management software package.

Chapter 4: Data Analysis

4.

Interview data from restaurant

Table 6

Restaurant and Management Overview

Restaurant No. 1

Restaurant No. 2

Approximate size

5,000 square feet (25 tables plus bar area)

3,500 square feet (22 tables plus bar area)

Average customers per day

Profit per month.

Not available from proprietor

$12,000 (varies)

Restaurant management software in use

HOSPOS by Restaurant Pos

Optimum Control

Manager age, profile and experience

Aged 33 years, married, three children, associates degree in food service, 11 years experience in the food service industry and 7 years in current position.

Aged 40 years, single, high school diploma and some college; entire career has been in food service with the past 12 years being in this restaurant.

An overview of the two restaurants using restaurant management software systems is provided in Table 7 below. These two face-to-face interviews have been edited for conciseness and clarity only.

Table 7

Interviews with Restaurant Managers Currently Using Restaurant Management Software Applications

Interviewee

Question

Summary of Response

Restaurant Manager a

How have your restaurant's operations improved since implementing your management software?

Let me tell you up front that all of the benefits that we are getting from our system were hard-won and didn't just fall out of the sky. The implementation process didn't go as smoothly as the vendor assured us it would and we still had to operate a business while we were trying to get the thing up and running. More than once, we wanted to give up on the whole thing and go back to what we how to do best already. Everything works great now, so yes, I can say that our operations have improved since we implemented the software, but we would probably do it different in the future but I'm not sure what we should do differently. Maybe they've worked out the bugs we encountered. I hope so because we've come to depend on this application for everything.

What have been the primary constraints to the use of your restaurant management software?

Like most restaurants, I guess, we have our fair share of turnover, especially among our support crews. Even though our software is easy to use, there is a learning curve involved and getting newcomers up to speed takes some time. We offer training CDs to help new hires learn how to use the system as quickly as possible, but it still takes some longer than others, especially if they haven't used computers before.

Has your software package proven satisfactory concerning issues such as order fulfillment lead time (the period of time since the customer order the food until food is completely delivered to the customer), profit and cost questions?

All of these metrics have improved significantly since we implemented our management package, including our profits. I'm proud to say that our restaurant has been doing more with less and our customer satisfaction levels are higher than ever. We are able to keep the quality of our food very high since we are able to track our inventory and order just what we need when we need it.

Does your software package provide all of the features you feel are necessary in terms of flexibility, cost, responsiveness, and reliability?

That's a good question. All in all, I like what we have in place right now but anything can be made better of course. We've looked at the other modules that are available from our vendor and we've installed everything that we believe we need. In fact, we've created a true networked system that ties everything together in ways that weren't possible in the past.

(Follow-up question if appropriate.) if not, what additional features would you like to see integrated in your software package?

It would be nice to be able to track the reasons for workers quitting so we could see if there is a trend or specific cause.

Do you have any observations, insights or comments concerning the use of restaurant management software that might help others?

Unless a restaurant is so small that everything is done by just a few people, it just makes good sense to invest in a software package to help operate the business.

Restaurant Manager B

How have your restaurant's operations improved since implementing your management software?

I think the most important thing our software has done for us is to help us get the product to the table quicker and more accurately every time. That's the bottom line, of course, and we encourage our customers to provide us with their comments to monitor how we are doing. Our software has really helped us with that.

What have been the primary constraints to the use of your restaurant management software?

We've all learned how to ride this bicycle by now, so the biggest constraint I guess is remembering how to do things we don't do all of the time.

Has your software package proven satisfactory concerning issues such as order fulfillment lead time (the period of time since the customer order the food until food is completely delivered to the customer), profit and cost questions?

Oh yeah! We've made it easy for the front and back office to communicate and order status and so forth is automatic. The system keeps track of how long we take to complete an order and even though it seems like a harsh taskmaster, it does motivate everyone to take care of business in an efficient way.

Does your software package provide all of the features you feel are necessary in terms of flexibility, cost, responsiveness, and reliability?

We priced several packages and chose the one we have based on its lower price because it had all of the features that we thought we needed at the time, and we saw that other expansions were available in case we needed them.