Outback Steakhouse Case Essay Example for Free

Outback Steakhouse Case Essay Outback has clearly defined strategic goals that give a clear sense of where the company is headed in the future. The company intends to drive its future growth though a four pronged strategy. First, they want to continue to expand in the U.S. with an additional 300-350 Outback concept restaurants. They also plan to develop a second system of franchise restaurants called Carabbas. After that, the founders may develop additional themed restaurants, and branch out into international franchising. To achieve these goals, several operational goals have been defined. The owners will continue to focus on the development of Outback, because â€Å"there is still a lot of work left to do there.† Also, expanding Outback to greater levels will provide a strong foundation for the Carabbas venture. As Joe Coffer said, â€Å"I see [Outback] as the McDonald’s of the future, except a step up.† The operational strategy right now is to continue expanding Outback operations, and continuing to build their reputation as the premier mid-level steakhouse. There are many standing plans outlined in the text, but two of note deal with the promotional strategy and staff training. All job candidates for the restaurant staff are required to pass an aptitude test that assesses basic skills such as making change. Also, every candidate is interviewed by two people, and undergoes psychological profiling. With regards to promotion, Outback does local advertising on billboards and TV, but most of their promotion is done through community involvement. Actions speak louder than words, and the founders know that – their community involvement helps â€Å"build friends and an image of great food at a great price.† A single use plan was put into effect when the company needed additional venture capital to fund Outback’s early stages. They planned to offer a portion of the company for public sale. A project schedule was developed, outlining exactly what was needed for the plan to be a success. They needed to raise at least 1.5 million to finance the purchase of equipment for the next year. They wanted to sell enough stock, priced at about 20% of the highest restaurant stock, to finance about 18 months of operation. Their well-defined project schedule paid off, and by 1994, sixty-eight million dollars were raised. 1. The Outback Steakhouse uses various types of controls that ensure high quality, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. One feedforward control has been the development of the Outback kitchen. Bob Basham designed the kitchen for peak efficiency, occupying 45% of the area of the restaurant. Bob decided that by overdesigning the kitchen and underdesigning the dining area, the restaurant is better able to operate during times of peak demand, while maintaining a high level of quality. Controls are also used while the restaurant is in operation. The ratio of servers to customers at Outback is much lower than at the typical restaurant, and this is the key to Outback’s outstanding customer service. Outback employees typically only handle three tables at a time, so customers are served more quickly, and don’t feel rushed when ordering. Feedback controls are used when a new restaurant is opened and new employees are hired. The restaurant staff has four practice nights when charity events are held or the local media are entertained, before the restaurant is actually opened to the public. This gives the new employees some experience, but also provides a basis for discussion afterwards. By discussing the events of the practice nights, areas requiring improvement can be identified before the restaurant is open to the public. In a way, this is both a feedback and a feedforward control. External controls are not used extensively at Outback because of the relati vely informal organizational structure. Of course, company policy and procedures would be outlined during the orientation process, but there is not always a manager or supervisor watching you. The closest thing to external control outlined in the case would be Tim Gannon’s meeting and training sessions – upper management ensuring that the front-liners are behaving in a way that is consistent with the Outback philosophy. Internal controls are emphasized at Outback, through self-directed learning and personal growth. Trudy Cooper calls it the â€Å"learn-teach-learn approach.† As Chris Suiilvan explains, â€Å"Outback gives people a lot of opportunity to make some mistakes, learn, and go on.† 2. Both positional and personal power are utilized at Outback. The attention that Outback employees get during the hiring and training process would fall under legitimate power. The people that are training the new employees are experienced, knowledgeable workers the new employees are clearly their subordinates. However, aptitude testing and one-on-one training would make them feel important. Such attention can be strenuous and intimidating, but in the long-run this attention would send the message that the company cares and wants you to excel. Referent power is one of the most beneficial types of power to have in an organization, but is also one of the most difficult to create. At the ten meetings per year that Tim Gannon holds with staff members, referent power is utilized because Tim sounds like a cool guy. Employees work hard for him because he earns their respect and people want him to like them. Also, experience power would be present because of Tim’s extensive management knowledge and experience. People respect him because of the years he has invested in Outback. On the positional power side, reward power is used almost exclusively. Outback has provided ownership opportunities at three levels: at the individual restaurant level, through joint venture and franchise opportunities, and though the employee stock option plan. The first two opportunities require an initial investment, but the return is excellent. The stock option plan, I think, is an excellent idea, because it benefits everyone, and rewards loyalty and hard work. You are rewarded in proportion to what you have contributed to the success of the venture.

Effects Of Deforestation :: essays research papers

Effects of Deforestation The subject of deforestation and the effects that it has on the environment have been heavily debated for a long time; particularly over the last few years. Governments and large lumber companies see large profits in the mass deforestation of forests and state that their actions are having few, if any, harmful effects on the environment. Most people disagree with this and think that the environmental effects are devastating and will become irreversibly disastrous in the very near future. Whether or not the pros outweigh the cons will be hotly debated for years to come but the fact is that deforestation is harmful to the environment and leads to declining wildlife populations, drastic changes in climate and loss of soil. The loss of forests means the loss of habitats for many species. Current statistics show that as many as 100 species become extinct every day with a large portion being attributed to deforestation (Delfgaauw, 1996). "Edge effects" are the destruction or degradation of natural habitat that occur on the fringes of fragmented forests. The effects for the animals include greater exposure to the elements (wind, rain etc†¦), other non-forest animals and humans (Dunbar, 1993). This unnatural extinction of species endangers the world's food supply, threatens many human resources and has profound implications for biological diversity. Another negative environmental impact of deforestation is that it causes climate changes all over the world. As we learned in elementary school, plant life is essential to life on earth as it produces much of the oxygen that is required for humans and other organisms to breathe. The massive destruction of trees negatively effects the quantity and quality of the air we breathe which has direct repercussions on the quantity and quality of life among both humans and animals alike. With this reduced amount of vital plant life comes the increase of carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere. With these increased levels of CO-2 come unnatural changes in weather patterns both locally and globally. "The removal of forests would cause rainfall to decline more than 26%. The average temperature of soil will rise and a decline of 30% in the amount of moisture will evaporate into the atmosphere" (Delfgaauw, 1996). This leads to the global warming phenomenon which is also directly related to the declining amounts of forest areas on the earth. Soil erosion caused by deforestation is also a major concern among even the most amateur environmentalists: "When rain falls, some may sink to the ground, some may run off the surface of the land, and flowing down towards the rivers and some may evaporate.

“How to Say Nothing in Five Hundred Words” by Paul McHenry Roberts Essay

Paul McHenry Roberts’ 1956 article, â€Å"How to Say Nothing in Five Hundred Words,† deals with the common traps faced by many young writers while writing essays. His advice includes tips on making a dull subject exciting, engaging the reader with unexpected topics and arguments, and developing a fully thought out essay that will be sure to earn a good grade in the classroom. Roberts says to come up with a list of arguments off hand and write them down but do not use any of them, as they are most likely overused and predictable. Instead he suggests to take the path most people would avoid, since it will most likely be easier to make your writing interesting. In addition, do not overuse generalities by never truly getting into a subject. Include facts and stories to get readers interested, instead of a dull sentence with your point of view. Roberts says to get rid of the extra words that fill papers and really give no extra value to your writing. He calls this â€Å"padding† in your paper. It is just a way to reach your word goal without saying much at all. Come up with more real content and take out the extra. Give your ideas and then prove why you are correct. Whatever you need to say, say it without apologizing. Roberts advises writers to avoid overused, common expressions such as, â€Å"over my dead body† or â€Å"under cover of darkness†. He says even the best writers cannot avoid them all together, but they should only be used when nothing else seems to fit, as they add nothing special to the paper. The last of Professor Roberts’ recommendations is the importance of using â€Å"colorful, colored and colorless words.† Using colorful words paints the reader a picture and describes a subject further, although sometimes there may be no need to do so. Colored words are words that everyone can associate with, or would have mutual feelings towards. These include certain people, places or things anyone can relate to. Writers must be careful when using words that lack a strong emotional association with their audience, as failure to do so will send the wrong message. Similarly, colorless words are words that are common and have a very general meaning. They fail to add much when used to describe a subject and are recommended to be avoided when possible.

Employee Compensation - 3762 Words

EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION According to Gary Dessler compensation refers to all forms of pay going to employees and arising from their employment. The phrase all forms of pay in the definition does not include non-financial benefits, but all the direct and indirect financial compensations. Compensation is a systematic approach to providing monetary value to employees in exchange for work performed. Compensation may achieve several purposes assisting in recruitment, job performance, and job satisfaction. Compensation systems are basically developed to reward employees behavior so that they are lead to accomplish organizations overall goals and objectives. How is compensation used? Compensation is a tool used by management for a variety of†¦show more content†¦Conduct a job analysis of all positions. †¢ Conduct a general task analysis by major departments. What tasks must be accomplished by whom? †¢ Get input from senior vice presidents of marketing, finance, sales, administration, production, and other appropriate departments to determine the organizational structure and primary functions of each. †¢ Interview department managers and key employees, as necessary, to determine their specific job functions. †¢ Decide which job classifications should be exempt and which should be nonexempt. †¢ Develop model job descriptions for exempt and nonexempt positions and distribute the models to incumbents for review and comment; adjust job descriptions if necessary. †¢ Develop a final draft of job descriptions. †¢ Meet with department managers, as necessary, to review job descriptions. †¢ Finalize and document all job descriptions. Evaluate jobs. †¢ Rank the jobs within each senior vice presidents and managers department, and then rank jobs between and among departments. †¢ Verify ranking by comparing it to industry market data concerning the ranking, and adjust if necessary. †¢ Prepare a matrix organizational review. †¢ On the basis of required tasks and forecasted business plans, develop a matrix of jobs crossing lines and departments. †¢ Compare the matrix with data from both the company structure and the industrywide market. †¢ Prepare flow charts of all ranks for each department for ease of interpretation and assessment. †¢ Present dataShow MoreRelatedEmployee Compensation3771 Words   |  16 PagesEMPLOYEE COMPENSATION According to Gary Dessler compensation refers to all forms of pay going to employees and arising from their employment. The phrase all forms of pay in the definition does not include non-financial benefits, but all the direct and indirect financial compensations. 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