Thursday, August 25, 2011

Balancing Demand Capacity

This is the last school day before Lebaran holiday! Yeeeey!

I have understood it a long time ago that we have to match the demand of our product with the production capacity of our company. But, in the service industry, production is done right away when there's demand! Still, demand should be match with the capacity.. Not only with the human resources (as the main production source) but also the physical capacity of the supporting facilities and equipment, like the storage, parking lot and air conditioner.

From the service blueprint that we have learned last week, we have to determine the overall capacity of our business before deciding the number of customer we aim for. Hungrylicious has a seating capacity of 75 people, the kitchen equipment, utensils and china wares are all limited, that's why we cannot serve a demand higher than 75 people all at the same time. Bringing in additional tables without adding to the equipment and personnel will result in low-performance service and unsatisfied customer that will backfire the restaurant. So, we'd better stick to this capacity and give the best for our customer!

It was our group's turn to present the case study of Shouldice Hospital. Basically, the hospital is only specialized in treating patients with hernias in Toronto, Canada. They have their own method in the operation, the facilities are exclusive and what's very unique is their idea of patient encouragement to do things themselves right after the operation! There are way too many patients who come from USA to get treated, that's why it would be better to establish a new branch in USA to get higher exposure of the huge US market.

Adventure

I have always wanted to go out and explore the world! I wanna visit countries, live in different cities for several months and learn their culture, lifestyle and just share.. However, this is quite impossible for me since there are just lots and lots and lots of things that I have to do.. There are school activities, projects, summer classes and many other things that hinder me from my adventure!

Well, since I can't go anywhere for the time being, I will just share some of the places I plan to go when I have the chance..

1. French Polynesian islands (Tahiti, Bora-Bora)



Clear blue ocean, white sand, kayak, sunshine, sea turtles, seafood! OMG!!! This place seems like heaven to me! Just simply astonishing! I absolutely gotta book this for my honeymoon! LOL....


2. Jeju Island, South Korea



The landscape, history, culture, foods and the story that I've watched in Korean dramas.. This place definitely captures my interest! Ooooh, one more thing, I have to go here sometime in spring. The flowers will bloom... Soooo pretty!


3. Switzerland



The nature, mountains, snow, waterfall.. Everybody will agree with me that Switzerland in picture perfect!


4. Greece (Athens, Santorini)



What I really wanna see is the white buildings contrasting the deep blue ocean and the sky.. More than that, there's still the romance, museums, Greek legends, olympic games and of course tzatziki!!


5. Taipei, Taiwan



It will be exciting to just walk around, get lost in the city, feel the vibe, go wherever people are going, eat the street snacks and imagine myself accidentally bump into Wu Chun or Evan Yo on the street! Unbelievable... hahahahaha...

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Getting Busy

Lately I've been EXTREMELY busy with my Restaurant Operation Management project. We have to open a restaurant with just two week planning period.

Apparently, I was chosen to be the general manager to lead the group. The feeling of being trusted was really good, I was so thankful that my team members have faith in me and appreciate all the decisions that I made, despite the fact that I am the youngest member in the team.

However, sometimes, just out of the blue, I felt like I'm shivering!! I realize how big my responsibility is and wonder whether people will forgive me when I get careless and made a wrong decision. Well, I am always so confident about myself and my abilities but I am still a human being who will make mistakes.

It has been a very stressful and emotionally challenging two weeks! But, you know what, I really learned a lot!! I learned about time management, people management, I learned to not give up, to do my best, make priorities and control my emotion. I even get to know my team members even better!

Tomorrow is the Grand Opening, there are still so many things to do. I have to be in the restaurant at 5 AM to prepare for the breakfast at 8 AM. I pray that God will show me His ways, guide me and help me to make the right decisions and become wiser. I hope that everything will come into place, everything will work out just fine and the breakfast and lunch services will be smooth!

Last but not least,
Don't forget to visit Hungrylicious at THM Restaurant (Universitas Ciputra Surabaya, plaza, beside the marketing office)!
We open for BREAKFAST (buffet, all you can eat) from 8.00 to 10.00, Rp. 40,000 per pax and LUNCH (a la carte) from 11.00 to 14.00
Hungrylicious.... Come hungry, leave happy!

GBU ALL!!!!
Kiss from Miss J!

Service Blueprint

In general, blueprint is a detailed plan that's usually being used by architects or designers. I didn't even know that service also has a blueprint! Well, frankly, I understood it better as service rundown. It describes what happens to the customer, what happens to the supplier and what happens when they meet until they're finally separated. I didn't really understand the example graphs shown by Mr. Sandy earlier at class. But fortunately our group was able to make our own version of service blueprint graphs.

What I learn today is that it is really important to imagine and lay down all the things that both the customer and the supplier will encounter before making any plans or strategy. We have to plan it from the time when the customer was just a potential customer to the service encounter itself until the time the service is finished. This way, details will not be missed and as we put ourselves both in the shoes of the customer and supplier, we will know exactly what's best for both parties.

We also did the same thing on our Restaurant Operation Management project, we made a rundown or a blueprint from when the customer comes to our restaurant door, ordering the food, eating, paying and leaving the restaurant. We jotted down the things that the servers need to do to cater to the customers' needs. This service marketing subject really helps a lot in our ROM project.. Thanks to you, Mr. Sandy! hahahaha.. In fact, I almost forgot this assignment since my brain is overloaded with the restaurant opening tomorrow.

Today, we also discussed about a case on Jollibee, a famous fast-food restaurant from the Philippines. We discussed about its Filipino appeals (from the menu, family gathering concept, nationalism priority), its other restaurant branches and its growth in other countries. What I can conclude is that, Jollibee wins over McDonalds and any other fast-food restaurant chains in the Philippines because of its Filipino cultural understanding thus its growth in other western countries may not reach a maximum result.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Service Consumer

Well, I can say that today's marketing class was quite entertaining and fun! The lesson that we learned was about service expectations. I didn't realize that indeed, every one of us is a customer to services and products. We use our blackberry service, internet connection service, electricity service. But, yet, we also buy clothes, gasoline and foods which are considered as products. We learned that service promises made by business, word of mouth and past experiences contribute in the creation of customer expectation.

When Mr. Sandy talked about customer's perception about a business establishment, it just felt like dejavu! Hahahaha... Of course, I may be a business woman, an entrepreneur who wants to please customers but at the same time, I am a customer to other people's businesses too, right? So, I can just clearly understand and relate to every theory that he told us. We can simply put it as 'do to others what you want them do unto you!' When you're planning a service marketing strategy, then put yourself in the customer's shoes, think about what would they want to have, how they would wanna be treated and so on then you will immediately get the answers! As simple as that!

Today's topic was very important to us because our project in Restaurant Operation Management (ROM) is to open a restaurant of our own. The timing was just perfect! The dead lines given by the lecturers were a little crazy because all proposals should be done within one week and the restaurant should be open in two weeks time! A stressful period for me, indeed.... So again, the topic on service quality gave us some clues on how we will treat our customer when we open our own restaurant for the project. I hope, other students will also apply these theories that we've learned into the ROM project. Fingers crossed!!!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

New Perspective in Service Marketing

Today was the very first day of Service Marketing class. I was sooo excited to know that Mr. Sandy was the lecturer because he can always make the discussion interesting!
This semester, our challenge is to work together with the whole class to generate ideas and brain storm about a new super hotel concept! Can't wait to work!!! Hahahaha..

I've never thought that service industry varies greatly and takes up almost 70% of the total business sectors. What more is, it is constantly developing from time to time following consumer demand, globalization and changes in trends. Now we can say that we're in the right path by taking Tourism and Hotel Management major that focuses on service! hahahaha...

This subject is the 'extension pack' of last semester's Introduction to Marketing subject. Last semester, we studied the 4Ps in marketing, but now in Service Marketing we have another four elements added, they are productivity and quality, people, physical environment and process.. Something very new for me! Let's see how this will turn out....

I am super excited about 5th semester! The challenges it presents, the new projects and becoming a tutor in Culinary Business... I'm seeing a bright future ahead! Yeeeey! hahahahaha...

One thing that will remain true for me: "NEVER AIM FOR MEDIOCRITY!"