TRIUM Assignment: Disruptive Hypotheses in the Food Industry

This essay identifies and analyzes high-level situations and clichés within the food and beverage industry, specifically focusing on cafeterias. It explores common practices related to product offerings, customer interaction, and pricing strategies. The author proposes several disruptive hypotheses, including multi-course meals, waiting staff table service, pre-booking tables, and alternative pricing models such as charging customers for time spent rather than food consumed. The essay also suggests separating tax from product prices in billing and potentially removing service charges to enhance customer satisfaction. These hypotheses aim to challenge established norms and create new value propositions within the cafeteria industry, potentially attracting a wider range of customers and fostering transparency in billing practices. This document is available on Desklib, a platform that provides a variety of study tools and resources for students.

Running head: NEED FOR DISRUPT
Need for Disrupt
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1NEED FOR DISRUPT
What do you want to disrupt?
I find out that High-level situation is the stable or dominant situation of the industry
or organisation that is constant for over a long period. In other words, this is the stable
structure of the industry followed by the organisations involved and is unchanged for a quite
long time. According to me, there are various things that are practiced by the industry and are
common and unnoticed due to their inefficiency. An example of high-level situation for the
matter is the works carried out in a parking station. High-level situation in that scenario are
the common thing such as loading or unloading things in the cars.
I have prepared this report to focus on the food and beverage industry, where the
organisations follow similar structure in every aspects of their operations. Cafeteria will be of
primary focus in this paper and the high-level situation observed in the cafeteria will be
discussed. My focus in shifted towards the particular section of the overall food and beverage
industry to due to the similarity it presents in every organisation around the globe. The
cafeteria is known for serving a wide line of beverages to its customers along with specific
food products listed under the snacks category. For example, McDonalds is popular for
serving a line of crushers and burgers to their customers and KFC is known to serve their
range of crushers and a number of chicken items to their customers. Similarly, Starbucks and
CCD are popular for serving different types of coffees along with their line of snacks. I have
assessed the other companies and understood that the cafeterias presents its customers an
elegant ambience to their customers. One more high-level situation observable in the
cafeterias is the large dinning hall they and absence of waiting staff table service. The
customers are to directly approach to the counter for ordering their meals. They are also
responsible for receiving their meals from the counter and find their own table in the large
dinning hall. The payment in this case is made prior to having the meal at the time of placing
their order at the counter. Another high-level situation that one can encounter in the cafeterias

2NEED FOR DISRUPT
is the payment that is made is for the food and services availed. The pricing is made
according to the production cost and service cost incurred by the organisations. The visible
service on the other hand is limited to the counter, where the employees takes and serves the
orders received from the customers. Other services offered by the cafeterias are the
washroom service, which is made available to the customers in all the cafeterias. Cleaners on
the other hand is associated for keep the tables ready for the customers as soon as a batch
vacant the table for providing satisfactory service to their customers. Though everything
seems to be going on fine, still I feel that some more changes like booking of tables after
placing the orders shall be done along with introduction of new and innovative products and
services for keeping the customers influenced and make them visit the store again and again.
What are Clichés?
Clichés are the practices carried by the organizations, which are commonly evidenced
around the organisationsinthe industry. According to me, there are a number of filters to
categorise and identify the clichés in an industry. They are primarily categorised under
product, interaction or service and pricing. These can also be identified in the cafeteria
industry selected for the study.
Product
A standard cafeteria serves one course meal. The products offered by a standard
cafeteria are the line of snacks and beverages. One course meals are those that are served one
time; whereas, a typical three course meal is comprised with starters, main course and
dessert. Unlike three-course meal, cafeteria serves one course that is snacks. From my point
of view, it is also necessary to introduce breakfast items so that the customers can visit the
store in large numbers as well as make sure that they can access a wide range of new
products.

3NEED FOR DISRUPT
The types of beverages and snacks are specific for a cafeteria. For example, Starbucks
serves a number of beverage items based on coffee. KFC on the other hand serves their line
of crushers as beverage item in all their outlets. Moreover, KFC focuses more on their snacks,
whichcaused them to line up a number of chicken items for their customers.
Interaction
Waiting staff table service is largely absent in the cafeteria industry. The customers
have to approach the counter for ordering and receiving their orders.
Customers have to receive their products from the counter themselves at the time of
delivery. I personally think that the customers should put their orders first and take their seats
on tables, and sufficient staffs must be available for delivering the ordered items at their
tables properly.
The customers have to locate and occupy their tables after receiving their meal from
the counter. There is no pre-booking service available in the cafeterias and the customers can
only approach and occupy their tables after receiving their meal from the counter. Neither the
service providers will offer the seat for the customers, nor will they help in identifying the
desired seat for the customers.
Price
The first identifiable cliché under pricing category is the charges paid by the
customers that is based on products and services provided to the customers. The customers
only have to pay for the product and service received at the time of billing. It is my thinking
that additional surcharges and prices must not be set while providing the bill because it could
not only make the customers pay a higher amount of money but would also make them
unsatisfied.

4NEED FOR DISRUPT
Another cliché under this category is the time of billing, which is done at the time of
ordering of the products. The customers have to pay for the products and services at the time
they order their meal, which means they pre pay the price before receiving the products and
services.
Tax on the other hand, which is collected from the customers are included in the bills
presented to the customers. The overall pricing of the product calculates the tax imposed by
the government in accordance to the nation it is operating. Hence, the customer only see the
overall pricing of the products and services they are liable to pay.
Lastly, the company add both product and service tax in their products. However, the
service tax are optional for the customers and need to pay only after receiving satisfaction
gained using the service of the organisation. By setting the right prices of products, I would
be able to make sure that the customers would be kept satisfied with their needs and
requirements fulfilled and even the company would be able to maintain a sustainable position
in the market.
What are your Hypothesises?
By analysing the situations and various components of marketing mix, I have
developed the hypothesis to test certain business aspects and its feasibility to generate good
revenue or not. Hypothesis in disruption is the ideas that challenges the established clichés in
the industry, which reflects success in generating revenue for the organisation. It is the idea to
change the contemporary way of doing things. This challenges the successful practices in the
industry and replaces with completely new practice that might be perceived irrelevant at first
attempt. This section will propose hypothesises for the above-identified clichés by inverting,
denying and scaling the factors involved.
Product

5NEED FOR DISRUPT
It is my opinion that the Cafeterias can increase their courses from one course to
multicourse using scaling technique. This will provide them the opportunity to satisfy greater
need of the customers. Greater courses offered by the cafeteria will help them addressing
wider range of target customers with diversified need. My focus will be on how to introduce
new products and services to attract more customers and make them avail services from a
wide range of options available at the stores.
Secondly, the companies can offer wider range of product in their snacks and
beverage lines for attracting greater number of customers. For instance, KFC offers different
items on chicken, which can be increased using scaling technique. The company then can
offer various meats such as mutton, beef, pork etc. to the diversified customers with
diversified needs.
Interaction
Cafeteria can offer waiting staff table that will provide greater satisfaction to the
customers as they will not have to approach the counter for every order. The waiting time
should be reduced and it would be important to arrange enough staffs and make them
available to deliver the food items at the table for the customers who had placed those orders.
Hypothesis formulated from the next cliché using inversion is the order will be
delivered to the table. This can potentially increase the satisfaction level, as they will not
have to continue with the self-service practice in the cafeteria.
Lastly, the table will be provided at the time of booking meal. This will reduce the
burden carried out by the customers, as they have to look for an empty table after receiving
their meal in the hand. This hypothesis formulated using inversion technique. Instead of
customers looking for table, company will locate one for them.
Price

6NEED FOR DISRUPT
Using the deny perspective, the customers can be charged for the time spent in the
cafeteria instead of the food consumed. For example, a customer ordering only a hot coffee
will have to pay the same as the one with an order of coffee with snacks if they spend similar
hours in the cafeteria. This will help the organisation in quick transaction and avoid overtime
booking of tables.
The next cliché can be disrupted using the inversion technique, which suggests
charging the customers after their consumption. This will help in reducing food wastage, as
the customer in cafeteria tends to order bulk at a time without understanding their capacity to
intake.
Bill structured on the other hand can be inverted by separating the tax changed for the
products. This will enable the customers to understand the bill properly and help the company
in maintaining transparency in their billing system.
Lastly, it can be proposed to delete the service charge from the billing, which is an
optional for the customers. They shall only be charged if they perceive the service
satisfactory. This will help proposing greater value to the customers, which will again draw
greater customers. I also think that the charges are needed to be placed for the products and
additional tax and not for any hidden price amount, which is often placed by the companies.
This makes the customers pay much more than the actual cost of products and makes them
unsatisfied as well. I would like to make sure that all the stores put proper prices for the
products and services and make sure to influence the buying behaviours of the customers.
Proposed Hypothesises
H1– Cafeterias can charge their customers for time spent instead of charging for food
This innovation will help exploring new angles of product and service pricing, which
is expected to attract greater number of customers for the products and services offered.

7NEED FOR DISRUPT
H2– Cafeterias can nook table for the customers on booking meal.
This as mentioned above will help lifting burden from the customer of looking for
table with their meal in hand.
H3–Billing structure can separate tax from the product price.
This will help in bringing transparency in the billing process, which again will help in
value proposition. This will enable the customers to verify the price they pay for the product
received, which in turn increases customer satisfaction.
Hypotheses
What if the food items that are ordered have not been delivered to the customers right on
time?
What if the products’ prices are lowered by excluding the hidden charges and tax rates?
What if the company provides seats to the customers and options to book a table as soon as
the orders are placed?