Bill & Jean’s Restaurant 

Mother’s Day is Bill & Jean’s Restaurant’s busiest day of the year. The restaurant has seating for 350 guests. On a normal Sunday the restaurant will serve a total of 1200 guests. Five years ago the original owners of Bill & Jean’s Restaurant, Bill and Jean, decided to try something different on Mother’s Day. On Mother’s Day the restaurant converted to all buffet service. The Mother’s Day buffets were an instant success and have been continued every year with the number of guests served increasing every year. Bill & Jean’s is well known for its elaborate Mother’s Day breakfast, brunch and dinner buffet. 

The Mother’s Day buffet also becomes something looked forward to by all of the restaurant’s staff. A tradition had been established the rst year when Bill and Jean invited the immediate family members of all staff to be their guests for the breakfast buffet. A staggered schedule was even established that allowed the staff member to have 45 minutes to eat with their family. 

Last year between 8am and 8pm the restaurant served 2800 guests, 50 of which were staff and their family members, up from 2550 the previous year. Bill and Jean decided to retire shortly after Mother’s day last year and sold the restaurant. The goal of the new owners is to increase the number of paying guests by fifteen percent this year for a total of 3048 paying guests. They have reviewed the previous year’s Mother’s Day sales and profitability. It is clear to them that the impact of the free meals for the staff member’s families on profitability and extra labor cost for the special scheduling has to be stopped. The cost is just too high. 

The key to success on Mother’s Day at Bill & Jean’s has always been planning and execution of the plan grounded in a foundation of teamwork. Planning for the buffets began the week after Mother’s Day. Bill and Jean had started the planning process with the Mother’s Day team (better known as the MDT) of the managers and chef before leaving. After their departure the new owners, Ron and Jeff, took over the planning personally. They quickly made it known to the previous members of the MDT that there would be no “family comps or staff member eating with family” on the upcoming Mother’s Day. 

Ron and Jeff know that too succeed in their goal on Mother’s Day the level of teamwork throughout the restaurant must be high. They are 1 month away from the big day and worried. Everything they have tried to maintain and increase the level of teamwork has failed. The staff just does not seem to have any enthusiasm for either the day-to-day business or the upcoming “big day.” A number of staff members have indicated that they are not willing to work overtime to do prep for or on Mother’s Day. Ron and Jeff have even heard rumors that members of the management team, including the chef, are looking at jobs with other restaurants. 

Based on what you have learned from previous chapters and the content of this chapter answer the following questions. 

Case Study Analysis Questions 

• What is the overall reason for the challenges occurring in Bill & Jean’s Restaurant?  

• What are the primary fundamental causes for the challenges occurring in Bill & Jean’s Restaurant?  

• What specific steps could have been taken to avoid the current situation occurring in Bill & Jean’s Restaurant?