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COMMERCIAL COOKERY
ASSESSMENT 2
1

Table of Contents
Part A: Three Role Plays............................................................................................................3
Part B: Evaluation of complain resolution.................................................................................7
Part C: Two case studies............................................................................................................9
Part D: Two case studies..........................................................................................................13
Reference list............................................................................................................................14
2

Part A: Three Role Plays
Role play 1 (Problem or fault with product or service)
Wait staff: Hello Ma’am. How can I help you?
Customer: There is a hair in my meal and I am unhappy with your service.
Wait staff: Ma’am according to the code of practice in acumen restaurant, we check the
quality of food before serving.
Customer: But I have found a hair in my meal, which is unexpected from you.
Wait staff: Obviously Ma’am, we trust you and we will take actions accordingly.
Customer: The service that I have received is very poor and I think you do not maintain
hygiene while preparing food.
Wait staff: you can be assured regarding our service. Once we take orders from customers
we proceed as per the policy of Acumen. We clear tables and maintain hygiene in the kitchen.
Customer: I cannot show you the hair as I have removed it but it was there. Whether it is
accidental or not but it is your fault.
Wait staff: Ok ma'am I can understand and it is quite natural to become offended. I am
feeling sorry for the unintended mistake that has happened from our end. You can lodge a
complaint regarding the incident that you have suffered, which I will record.
Customer: How can this help me?
Wait staff: This can help you to lodge a written complaint and help us to mitigate the issue.
According to our compensation guidelines, you will get replacement of the unsatisfactory
meal without any extra charge.
Wait staff: Are you satisfied regarding our compliant management service? Please provide
feedback.
Customer: What is the process of doing so?
Wait staff: You can provide verbally or fill up a feedback form.
Customer: OK I will do so, but improve your service in future.
Wait staff: Obviously Ma’am, in future, from now onwards we will try to replace the table
cover twice daily and hygiene in the kitchen will also be improved. Are you satisfied now
and did your issue solved?
Customer: Yes, it is. Thank you for your prompt service.
Wait staff: Welcome. It is my duty Ma’am. Have a nice day.
3

No. Date
and
service
period
Receive
d by:
Receiv
ed
from
Issue Action
taken
Outco
me
Follow-
up
require
d
Process
improv
ement
require
d
1 16th
July
2019.
Service
period:
15
minutes
Wait
staff
Custo
mer
from
table
numbe
r 15
A hair
was
found
in the
meal
that was
ordered
by the
lady
custome
r.
Replace
ment of
the
ordered
meal is
provide
d. The
custome
r was
soothed
and
grievan
ce was
noted
for
further
improve
ments
in
service.
Satisfac
tion rate
of the
custome
r
increase
d by the
prompt
feedbac
k
manage
ment.
No Improv
ement
in
maintai
ning
kitchen
hygiene
is
essentia
l.
Moreov
er,
replace
ment of
table
cover
should
be done
twice
daily.
Role play 2 (Incorrect pricing of services or product)
Customer: Excuse me! Are you the manager of Acumen restaurant?
Manager: Yes. Hello sir! Greeting from the management team of Acumen Restaurant!
Please tell me how can I help you?
4

Customer: Actually, we are a regular customer of this restaurant and today, we have faced a
problem regarding unreasonable price of product. I think your wait staff must be asked about
the reason behind our anger. It's ridiculous!! Seriously!
Manager: Sir, it's my humble request to you to come down. Can you please explain the
matter once?
Customer: Obviously I can. But, remember, we are in a hurry and I have not eaten enough
food at lunch. We have ordered 3-course lunch special and told this girl that we must finish
this lunch within 1 hour as we have to attend a meeting after that. After finishing the first
course, we get to know that your kitchen has run out of main courses for the lunch special.
The waitress offers us an alternative with a surcharge of $15 per person. Now tell me if it is
in your company policy to cheat customers in this way?
Manager: I am extremely sorry for this inconvenience sir. Please calm down and let me
solve this problem.
Customer: What can you do now? We are running out of time and you are trying to get an
extra charge from us. This is really disgusting.
Manager: Sir, you just sit at your booked place and you will get the alternative food within
just 2 minutes at the same price that you have agreed.
Customer: Ok. That sounds good. Make sure you keep your words.
Manager: Certainly sir. I am promising you that you will not face this kind of conflict in this
place in the future. We will train our new staff about our company policy and pricing. This
time, we will love to serve you a special dessert as compensation from our side.
Customer: Great! I love dessert. Thanks for solving the issue so quickly.
Manager: It's my pleasure. Please visit again.
No. Date
and
service
period
Received
by
Received
from
Issue Action
taken
Outcome Follow
-up
requir
ed
Process
improveme
nt required
2 15th
July, 1
hour
service
The
manager
Sam J
and
George
K
A
surch
arge
of
Provisi
on of
alterna
tive
Customer
gets
satisfied
Yes Staff need
to be
trained
about
5

period altern
ative
food
food at
an
agreed
price
and 1
free
dessert
as
compe
nsation
company
policy and
pricing
categories
Role play 3 (Poor timing of supplying product or services)
Customer: Excuse me! Are you the manager of this terrific place?
Manager: Yes sir. How can I help you today?
Customer: Your staff has said that we can get lunch until 4 pm on Sunday. However, after
reaching this place, we got to know that it is the period for a la carte lunch and not for the
buffet. How can you misguide us? I need a full refund or a proper buffet lunch.
Manager: I am extremely sorry to hear that sir. Can you please look at a la carte lunch? It's
really delicious and you will not regret after having this. It's my guarantee.
Customer: No!! This cannot be the solution.
Manager: Please sir, forgive my staff for her mistake. You can get a la carte lunch at a 20%
discount. I will request you not to change our plan.
Customer: Ok. Let us try that. But tell me. What you are going to do to avoid this kind of
mistake from your staff?
Manager: They will be asked to provide full information to customers and I will monitor
their performance personally. Please share your feedback after lunch and visit again, sir.
(After the lunch)
Customer: I am quite satisfied with the conversation and you have really taken the
appropriate way to solve this issue. I must say, a la carte lunch was fabulous and the
discounted price is like the cherry on the top.
Manager: Thanks for your cooperation, sir. I will make sure that you never face this kind of
conflict at Acumen Restaurant. Have a nice day and please visit again.
6

No. Date
and
service
period
Received
by
Received
from
Issue Action
taken
Outcome Follow-
up
required
Process
improve
ment
required
3 17th
July, one
and a
half
hours
service
period
The
manager
Robert
Milner
Poor
timin
g of
suppl
ying
food
and
misg
uidan
ce
from
staff
Comm
unicati
ng and
offerin
g an
alternat
ive
option
at a
20%
discou
nt
Customer
was
satisfied
with the
solution
No Performa
nce of
staff
need to
be
monitore
d on a
regular
basis
Part B: Evaluation of complain resolution
For the conflict situation that occurred due to problems in product conflict resolution has
been done by adopting collaborating technique. As opined by McKibben (2017),
collaboration conflict management technique helps a party to work collaboratively with
others for achieving a win-win solution. A mutually beneficial result can be achieved by
adopting this technique of problem-solving. This technique has helped to increase satisfaction
rate of the offended customer as she has achieved fast service and her meal is also replaced
free of cost. On the other hand, acumen has also got essential feed about their service, which
can help them to get insights about their service. In future, this feedback can be incorporated
to improve the service process. The meal was replaced with no additional payment and it has
complied with organizational limits like budget. The solution did not consume great amount
as only one dish needs to be replaced. This can help to increase experience of the customers.
Increase in customers experience can help to retain a consumer (Young et al. 2016).
Moreover, in the compensation guidelines of acumen it is mentioned that in case of
7

dissatisfaction regarding a meal, it can be replaced without any extra charge. Hence, this
resolution has complied with organizational rules and regulations. So it is in the authority
level of the waiter. Trust of that customer can increase by this conflict resolution technique
that is applied in this case.
In the second role play, compromising strategy of conflict resolution is applied that has
helped to increase satisfaction rate of the customers. As said by Helms and Oliver (2015),
compromising conflict resolution strategy helps to find a mutually acceptable solution and
help in satisfying the needs of concerned parties involved in the conflict. In this case, demand
for customers are fulfilled as a solution and complimentary dessert dish is provided for
increasing their satisfaction rate. Adopting compromising technique of conflict resolution has
helped in faster resolution of the issue. This resolution has complied with different constraints
like budget of acumen restaurant. In the company policies, it is written that free dessert can
be offered to the customers. One dessert can be offered free of cost at a time to one person.
Hence, this will not impact on the budget of the company. However, regular implementation
of this conflict resolution strategy can impact on budget of this restaurant. Moreover, this
conflict resolution process has satisfied the needs and expectations of all the involved parties.
Needs of customers including alternative food of customers has been achieved through this
process of resolution. Moreover, they have obtained an additional dessert dish. As opined by
Beitler et al. (2016), faster conflict resolution helps in increasing the experience of customers.
Collection of feedback from customers will also help the staff to provide orders according to
their needs. Hence, the service process can be improved in the future.
In the third role play, it can be seen that miscommunication has happened between
restaurants and customers. This has created a conflict, which can impact on the reputation of
the restaurant if not solved properly. Smoothing conflict management technique was adopted
in this case. As said by Joireman et al. (2016), smoothing or accommodating conflict
resolution technique helps to put the concern of the other party at first. Accommodating
conflict resolution technique helps to protect most essential factors like reputation while
giving up minor factors like profit gained from one customer. It was seen in this case that
profit percentage on the product of la carte has been given up for increasing satisfaction rate
of customers. This technique can impact on budget of the restaurant but the other hand, the
reputation of this restaurant can be saved. Contingency plan of monitoring performance of
staffs was proposed, which can help to increase productivity of staff. Hence, this type of
faults can be eliminated in future and brand image can be increased. This resolution has
8

complied with the company rules and regulation as it is mentioned that up to 20% discount
can be offered in a meal to customers.
Part C: Two case studies
Case study 1: Dispute among work colleagues
Conflict resolution plan
Part 1
The conflict has taken place due to non-cooperation between the head chef of an Italian
restaurant and the front house manager. Gradually, staff of kitchen and front office got
involved in the matter. Front office is taking large orders at the busy evening hours and
kitchen staff is facing extreme workload due to this matter. As opined by Agnihotri et al.
(2017), misunderstanding between departments results in declining level of customer
satisfaction. All involved parties are causing damage to the reputation of the restaurant.
In this case, both head chef and the front house managers are responsible for this conflict as
they have not tried to cooperate. The front house manager is not taking orders according to
the normal capacity of the kitchen team. Staff of these departments is arguing with each other
and do not show positive attitude at workplace. Differences between viewpoints of these
teams are affecting performance of organization. Another possible cause is lack of effective
leadership approach within the Italian restaurant. A higher authority is not monitoring this
workplace conflict and the situation is going beyond control.
This conflict is creating excessive workload on kitchen team. On the other side, due to lack of
cooperation from the kitchen team, the front office staff are mentioning mistakes of the
kitchen team in busy hours. According to Torres et al. (2017), it is important to distribute
work as per capacity to maintain level of job satisfaction in staff. These staff can harm each
other due to their anger and insufficient job satisfaction may lead them to face acute
depression. On the contrary, Schepers et al. (2016) have mentioned that excessive workload
harms personal life of staff as they fail to maintain a balance between professional and
personal life.
This conflict is causing delivery of poor service and product quality. It means that this fact is
affecting brand image of this restaurant and dissatisfied customers may choose other places
for food. On the other hand, legal guidelines for maintaining workplace ethics and safety are
being breached.
Part 2
9

Techniques to solve the problem,
- Meeting can be arranged for discussing this conflict. Attendees including the head
chef, the front office manager, and the senior managers must listen to both two
viewpoints.
- Common solution must be taken based on consent of both parties.
- The senior manager must limit the number of orders that can be taken in busy hours
based on the capacity of the kitchen team.
- Capacity of cooking team can be increased by hiring new cooking staff.
Two options to solve the conflict are,
Option 1: Limited orders can be taken by the front office.
This option is cost-effective as an extra resource is not required to be invested in case of
considering this option. However, earning of this restaurant will be limited and financial
growth will be limited as well.
Option 2: Hiring of more cooking staff.
The Italian restaurant needs to spend capital on hiring new cooking staff. However, Beatty et
al. (2016) have mentioned that hiring staff in specific departments can increase the capacity
of that department. This restaurant can earn more profit by increasing capacity of cooking
team in busy hours.
It is recommended to hire more cooking staff in the kitchen department as it can help this
organization to earn more profit. On the other hand, service and product quality can be
improved with more staff. Investment of fund is worthy in this case.
Two resources required for implementing the chosen solution are,
- Fund
- Efficient selection team
The founder of J. William Marriott has said that motivating, caring and providing training to
staff can serve better to customers (Trilyo.com, 2019). This person is an expert in hospitality
field and this thought of this person can help this Italian restaurant to manage teams and
increasing level of customer satisfaction.
Part 3
Two ideas of team building and social exercise are,
- An annual picnic can be arranged with the company for giving opportunity to the staff
of front office and kitchen department to know each other in a better way.
10

- Activities such as blind drawing, a truth, and a lie and other social exercises can be
arranged for these staff on the day of the picnic for helping the staff of both
departments to develop good bonding.
Suggestions of two changes to workplace are,
I. Asking front office staff to communicate with the kitchen team before taking orders.
II. Announcing reward based on collaborative performance of Kitchen and front office team.
Case study 2
Part 1: Report
Details of the conflict
This conflict has occurred between the rest of the team and two members of the work team.
Sarah and James always get weekend off, that create extra pressure on the rest of the team
members. Productivity of the team has decreased due to increased gossip and tension between
the related parties. Arguments have taken place between the related parties, which has
impacted the work environment.
Stage of conflict
There are different stages of conflict that include latent, perceived, felt, manifest and
aftermath Han et al. (2016). During manifest stage the conflict becomes observable and it
gets escalated. Both the parties indulged in arguments in this case and no one is ready to
consider another. Hence, it can be said that this conflict has reached to manifest stage and it
needs to be solved. A different instance of arguments and gossip has taken place that has
deteriorated the workplace environment.
Evaluation of possible causes of workplace conflict
There are different causes that give rise to conflict in the workplace. Misunderstandings are a
major cause that may occur between management and employees. Besides, this can also
occur between employees. Poor communication in an organization is another important cause
that escalates a conflict situation (Raines, 2019). Inefficient planning is another essential
cause of conflict that can create a crisis in a firm. Lack of organization can create stress
among employees and decrease their satisfaction rate (Detsimas et al. 2016). In this scenario,
this cause has escalated the conflict between the related parties.
Consequences of ignoring the conflict
Ignoring this conflict can destroy the working environment in this Italian restaurant. Improper
collaboration between team members can give rise to different problems like a decrease in the
quality of consumer service, low problem-solving abilities of the team and less unity and trust
11

between team members. Ultimately this can impact on performance and competitiveness of
the restaurant.
Part 2
Steps and techniques of conflict resolving
Step 1: Gathering clarification from related parties regarding the point of disagreement
Step 2: Establishing a common goal for related parties to solve the issue.
Step 3: Discussing different ways to solve the issue. Collaboration technique of conflict
management can be used in this step.
Step 4: Discussing probable barriers
Step 5: Agreeing on the best way that can help to solve the problem
Communication techniques
Open and verbal communication technique can be used in this case for solving the conflict.
As said by Linton et al. (2016), open communication helps to identify differences in
viewpoints. Hence, appropriate decision can be taken based on these differences between the
two parties.
Possible solution
For solving this problem, it is essential to organize and plan employee roster wisely. Proper
scheduling of employee roster can help to solve this conflict. It can be seen that
discrimination has happened between the two parties that have decreased satisfaction rate of
the rest of the employees. Changing the roster by giving equal chances of weakened off to
both parties can solve the conflict. For this process, management must provide resources like
adequate time, arranging a meeting within workplace and documents like current roster of
employees.
Recommendations
● Two ideas of team building: Organizing regular team meetings can help to increase
collaboration between team members, which can help to eliminate tensions between a
team. Regular assessment of stress level of team members is another important idea.
As opined by Hoffman et al. (2016), regular assessment of stress level can help to
rearrange work allocation, which can eliminate any tension in a team.
● Change in workplace practice: Change in workplace communication is necessary
that can help to manage conflicts at lower stages. Different communication strategies
like open and formal can be adopted. Effective planning is another essential change
in practice that is required to eliminate any workplace discrimination that can give
rise to tension and conflicts.
12

Part D: Two case studies
I. Firstly, in the case of arguments in a table at the restaurant, the manager must interfere in
the situation to make the violent person understand that he or she is damaging the ambiance
of the restaurant. Secondly, McKibben (2017) have suggested that one warning must be given
to violent customer before ejecting for respecting his or her dignity. Thirdly, if still the same
situation remains, that customer must be requested to leave the place immediately.
II. If a customer breaches laws by becoming drunk then different actions can be taken. At
first, training needs to be given to the team to handle such situation because managing a
drunken customer is a responsibility. Secondly, actions like ignoring or serving must be
avoided. Then, before ejecting it is essential to ask the person regarding any companion like a
friend who can safely take them home. At last, a cab can be booked to eject the customer if
no companion is there with the person. Different activities need to be documented for future
references.
13

Reference list
Agnihotri, R., Gabler, C.B., Itani, O.S., Jaramillo, F., and Krush, M.T., 2017. Salesperson
ambidexterity and customer satisfaction: Examining the role of customer demandingness,
adaptive selling, and role conflict. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 37(1),
pp.27-41.
Beatty, S.E., Ogilvie, J., Northington, W.M., Harrison, M.P., Holloway, B.B. and Wang, S.,
2016. Frontline service employee compliance with customer special requests. Journal of
Service Research, 19(2), pp.158-173.
Beitler, L.A., Machowski, S., Johnson, S. and Zapf, D., 2016. Conflict management and age
in service professions. International Journal of Conflict Management, 27(3), pp.302-330.
Detsimas, N., Coffey, V., Sadiqi, Z. and Li, M., 2016. Workplace training and generic and
technical skill development in the Australian construction industry. Journal of Management
Development, 35(4), pp.486-504.
Han, S.J., Bonn, M.A. and Cho, M., 2016. The relationship between customer incivility,
restaurant frontline service employee burnout and turnover intention. International Journal of
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Helms, W.S. and Oliver, C., 2015. Radical settlements to conflict: Conflict management and
its implications for institutional change. Journal of Management & Organization, 21(4),
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Hoffman, K.D., Kelley, S.W. and Rotalsky, H.M., 2016. Retrospective: Tracking service
failures and employee recovery efforts. Journal of Services Marketing, 30(1), pp.7-10.
Joireman, J., Grégoire, Y. and Tripp, T.M., 2016. Customer forgiveness following service
failures. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, pp.76-82.
Linton, S.J., Boersma, K., Traczyk, M., Shaw, W. and Nicholas, M., 2016. Early workplace
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Raines, S., 2019. Conflict management for managers: Resolving workplace, client, and policy
disputes. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
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Schepers, J.J., Nijssen, E.J. and van der Heijden, G.A., 2016. Innovation in the frontline:
Exploring the relationship between role conflict, ideas for improvement, and employee
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[Accessed on 15th July 2019]
Young, J.C., Thompson, D.B., Moore, P., MacGugan, A., Watt, A. and Redpath, S.M., 2016.
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