Description

KIMBALL’S RESTAURANT: The New Location 

Effectiveness and Efficiency

Management Information Systems, 7th edition By Kenneth J. Sousa & Effy OzPublisher CengageISBN 978-1-285-18613-9

Liz and Michael carefully reviewed the marketing, financial, and operational forecasts for expanding their business to the new lakeside location and closing the current location. They felt that their forecasts were reasonable. In January, they agreed to leasing terms with Shaun to move the restaurant into the former camp- ground location. They planned to take several months to complete the design and renovations and prepare for opening “Kimball’s by the Lakeside” in late May.

Tyler had convinced his parents to take their advisors’ advice and focus on operating their business more profitably before the move. This focus would also benefit them in their expansion, because they would need additional management to create efficiency in operations and build a more effective strategy for the restaurant. The increased number of customers at the new location would also require more employees, food purchases, and coordination with suppliers. If the back- house operations were not managed and controlled properly, the expansion could create more problems than it solved. If they can’t operate more efficiently in the new location, their profits could evaporate, even with the additional clientele.

Currently, Kimball’s marketing activities were limited to small advertisements in a local newspaper. Although they had a solid clientele at the current location, it would be important to extend their reach to the nearest metropolitan city, about 12 miles away. Tyler hoped to use the four months before opening the new location to develop new marketing and promotions to build their customer base.

Planning the Transition:

Operations and Marketing

Liz, Michael, and Tyler met to discuss the transition plan. Tyler had several thoughts about the operational changes that needed to be implemented. The company that sold Kimball’s the point-of-sale software used by

the servers had additional software available, although additional research needed to be completed. He wondered, “If reliable software was available, when would be the right time to install and use the new system?”

Since the expansion decision was behind them, he wondered if additional software to help the business could be installed before the move. Using this approach, the employees and management could use the system in the current location and gain more experience with it. Liz asked, “If we installed the software now, wouldn’t that be twice as much work to then reinstall it in the new location?” Tyler responded that the current hardware and software would need to be shut down, packed, trans- ported, and installed in the new location anyway. The purchase of any new software would be “carried over” to the new location without any additional expense.