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Service Process Blue Print: KFC Case Study Analysis Assessment 2 Answer

Assignment Two : Service Process Blue Print Case Study Analysis

2. Individual Case Study Analysis - Service Process Blue Print

 Task Description

With reference to the concepts and theory learnt, students are required to draw a service blueprint of the service process that they have consumed recently and write a report on service experience improvement based on their analysis of service process. The blue print and report will be based on student experience and research:

(1)                Service Blueprint Requirements: ‘Consider a hospitality and tourism service that you have   consumed recently. Draw a service blueprint that describes the services process involved at each step. Identify fail points, process time, and activity time etc.in service delivery and document it in your analysis.

(2)                Report Requirements: Write a report analysing each step of the service process and making a series of recommendations for service experience improvement. The recommendation must be based on theory and concepts taught during the first 4 weeks of the semester and should not exceed more than 500 words.

Criteria used to grade this task:

1.  Examine challenges and complexities of the service operational management and deliverables

2.  Analyse the role of service delivery and the customer dimension for business  sustainability

3.  Understand the importance for a firm to be knowledgeable about its customers’ expectations

4.  Evaluate various techniques of collecting and using customer information and feedback.

5.  Evaluate the requirements for professional tourism and hospitality business relevant to service culture 

Estimated Student Workload: 6-8 hours 

See Separate Marking Rubric  for the detailed marking allocation

 Links to Subject Learning Outcomes: Learning outcomes 1 and 4 are assessed in this task

Submission Details 

Submissions must be online via the Turnitin submission link.

In the case of a group assignment, the report should have the below-

Cover Sheet with the Subject Name, Subject Code, Group Members Name and Student ID numbers. Also, the Assessment number and the Name of the Assessment Topic.

Answer

Introduction

The following report discusses steps of the service process (while identifying fail points, process time, and activity time etc.in service delivery). The report will also analyze the service blueprint of the service process which will be further used to recommend service experience improvement.

The selected industry is hospitality industry, within which a fast food restaurant, KFC has been selected. 

KFC Service Blueprint

The above figure depicts the flow process whereby the customer will either visit website to check menu or visit a physical outlet. After reviewing menu and deciding items, the order will be placed at the counter. The front-end staff will generate a bill and collect the payment and then forward the ordered items to back-end or kitchen staff. The kitchen staff will prepare the required items and then place them on a tray which will be passed to front-end staff. Then, the order will be received by the customer on showing the receipt.

On receiving the food tray, the customer can choose to sit in dine-in area and eat food or, the customer can take the delivery away. In case the customer takes away delivery, the process is complete. Else, after the customer has finished eating and leaves the table, the cleaning staff will have to clean the table and wash/replace reusable tray, cutlery etc. After this, the process will be over.

Additionally, the staff will have to take stock of inventory so as to place orders with suppliers when stocks are running low. Once received, the items will need to be properly stored (frozen, refrigerated, etc.) (Chand, 2020).

Challenges and Complexities

  • In peak hours when customer footfall is high, there is very high chance of long queues and long waiting time that can lead to customers leaving or being dissatisfied.
  • It may be difficult to maintain inventory from suppliers due to unforeseen reasons (lack of ingredients, disrupted supply chain, cost increase, etc.) Hence, there is a high dependence on third party suppliers. 

Role of Service Delivery & Customer Dimension

In today’s time, the life is fast and being a ‘fast food’ restaurant, customers will already have an expectation of quick service. Hence longer waiting time that leads to slower service delivery can prove to be detrimental for business sustainability. KFC will have to ensure that average waiting time is maintained around lower side only (Hummell & Murphy, 2015). 

Importance of Customer Expectations

The customer is the king and the demands and expectations of a customer are of prime importance in any industry, including fast food restaurants. Hence, the firm needs to have good knowledge about its target customers. For example, in morning business hours, a larger proportion of the customers will be employees running for work. Hence, the delivery needs to be swift. Further, the frequently ordered items can be prepped earlier (as far as possible), such as, coffee, donuts or sandwiches etc. The preparation for take-away should also be done in advance so as to avoid the rush as most of the people will prefer a take-away instead of dining-in.

Similarly, over weekends, the majority of customers will be families going for outing or just enjoying the weekend. Hence, dine-in area should be well prepared with reusable items (napkins, ketchup, cutlery, glasses etc.). Further, the kids can be expected so things such as, balloons, or play area or toys etc. should be ready for use.

If a restaurant understands the target customers, it can serve them much better and will miss fewer opportunities.

Collecting and using customer information and feedback

The feedback can be taken at the time of payment or feedback form kiosk can be setup. Further, the contact information provided can be used to gather data about the service experience.

Requirements for professional hospitality business

A professional fast food restaurant needs to maintain appropriate inventory levels and ensure quick and efficient service. This can be done through proper training of staff, front-end as well as back-end. Various aspects such as, food preparation, customer handling, maintaining hygiene etc. should be taken care of. The staff should also be trained to ensure that waiting time remains low. This can be done by training support staff in handling front-end aspects as well.


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