Industry Research Project: Employee Theft at Mrs. Parmas Restaurant

This industry research project focuses on the issue of employee theft at Mrs. Parmas Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia. The study investigates the causes of theft, which are primarily linked to employees' financial issues and the lack of robust security measures within the restaurant. The research employs semi-structured interviews and surveys to gather data from employees. Key findings highlight the impact of employee theft on the restaurant's business, including financial losses and customer dissatisfaction due to reduced service quality. The report includes a detailed literature review, a description of the methodology, and a presentation of the research findings through tables and figures. The report concludes with recommendations for reducing employee theft, such as installing CCTV cameras, implementing stricter management actions, and addressing employee financial needs through increased pay and timely payments. The research emphasizes the need for improved security and pre-employment checks to mitigate theft and safeguard the business.

Running head: INDUSTRY RESEARCH PROJECT
REDUCING THE OPPORTUNITY OF THEFT AT MRS. PARMAS
RESTAURANT
Akhil Sood (22645470)

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Executive Summary
This study highlights the major issue encountered by Mrs Parmas Restaurant, that is, employee
theft. Increasing case of employee theft at Mrs Parmas Restaurant is reportedly hampering the
business of the restaurant because the restaurant is losing a regular sum of money through theft.
Thus, the study is conducted in order to find methods to reduce employee theft at Mrs Parmas
Restaurant. Solving the issue of employee theft for Mrs Parmas Restaurant will allow the
management to reduce losses suffered by the business. The current issue encountered by Mrs
Parmas Restaurant is the increasing cases of employee theft that is occurring in the restaurant. As
a result of increasing employee theft, Mrs Parmas Restaurant is losing business and customers
due to unsatisfactory services to the potential customers. As the employees are stealing money,
the restaurant is unable to provide high-class services and facilities to the customers due to lack
of inventory. As a result, the restaurant is losing customers due to unsatisfactory service due to
lack of money. The restaurant has 15 kitchen staffs out of which three employees are full-time
cooks and 6 employees are part-time cooks. The restaurant also has 16 front staff out of which 4
employees are full-timers, 6 part-timers and 6 casual employees. Semi-structured interviews and
survey both were used for collecting data for conducting this research. The employees of Mrs.
Parmas restaurant were interviewed and surveyed in order to develop an insight regarding the
current employee theft scenario at the restaurant and ways to mitigate it. However, one of the
limitations encountered while collecting data includes an extra time required for interviewing the
employees. As the researcher interviewed all the employees of the restaurant, it was time-
consuming. Recording and analyzing the interview transcripts were hectic and time-consuming.

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The major findings of the research highlight that the financial issues encountered by the
employees are the main reason behind employee theft at Mrs. Parmas Restaurant. It has been
seen that the restaurant has been failing to fulfil the financial requirements of the employees that
is enforcing them to commit theft within the organization. As the employees are unable to meet
their living standards and fulfil their basic needs by working at Mrs. Parmas Restaurant, they are
stealing and misusing the assets of the restaurant in order to compensate for their loss. Another
major finding of the research includes the lack of safety and security that exists at Mrs. Parmas
Restaurant. As a result, the employees are receiving more opportunity of committing theft in the
restaurant. The suitable actions for reducing employee theft at Mrs. Parmas Restaurant includes
installation of CCTV camera, stricter action by the management and fulfilling the basic needs of
the employees by increasing their pay scale as well as paying them on time.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................8
Background of the study..............................................................................................................8
Overview of the industry partner.................................................................................................8
Introducing the problem..............................................................................................................9
Aim of the report.........................................................................................................................9
Structure of the proposal..............................................................................................................9
Problem Statement.........................................................................................................................11
What is the issue?......................................................................................................................11
Why it is an issue?.....................................................................................................................11
Why is it an issue now?.............................................................................................................12
What this issue shed light on?...................................................................................................12
Research question..........................................................................................................................13
Primary research questions........................................................................................................13
Secondary research question......................................................................................................13
Literature Review..........................................................................................................................14
Overview....................................................................................................................................14
Conceptual framework...............................................................................................................14
Employee theft...........................................................................................................................15

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Factors affecting employee theft...............................................................................................16
Theory of planned behavior.......................................................................................................17
Impact of employee theft on employers....................................................................................18
Methods of reducing employee theft.........................................................................................19
Challenges encountered in reducing employee theft.................................................................20
Summary....................................................................................................................................21
Methodology..................................................................................................................................22
Research Design............................................................................................................................22
Research style............................................................................................................................22
Sampling technique and sampling size......................................................................................22
Data collection technique..........................................................................................................23
Research tools............................................................................................................................23
Ethical considerations................................................................................................................24
Findings.........................................................................................................................................25
Survey........................................................................................................................................25
Semi-structured interview..........................................................................................................41
Interview....................................................................................................................................41
Discussions....................................................................................................................................43
Findings from the survey...........................................................................................................43
Findings from the transcript.......................................................................................................48

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Recommendations..........................................................................................................................50
Limitations.....................................................................................................................................52
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................53
References......................................................................................................................................54

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List of Tables
Table 1: Gender specification........................................................................................................25
Table 2: Employment duration......................................................................................................26
Table 3: Type of employment........................................................................................................27
Table 4: Safety and security is a priority.......................................................................................28
Table 5: Safety and security priority for business.........................................................................29
Table 6: Noticing employee theft..................................................................................................30
Table 7: Reducing employee theft.................................................................................................31
Table 8: Potential reasons of employee theft.................................................................................32
Table 9: Employee theft is due to the available opportunity.........................................................33
Table 10: Managerial actions.........................................................................................................34
Table 11: Actions for reducing employee theft.............................................................................35
Table 12: Significance of pre-employment check.........................................................................37
Table 13: Significance of inventory check....................................................................................38
Table 14: Improving security.........................................................................................................39
Table 15: Mitigating employee theft completely...........................................................................40

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Impact of employee theft...............................................................................................12
Figure 3: Gender Specification......................................................................................................25
Figure 4: Employment duration.....................................................................................................26
Figure 5: Type of employment......................................................................................................27
Figure 6: Safety and security is a priority......................................................................................28
Figure 7: Safety and security priority for business........................................................................29
Figure 8: Noticing employee theft.................................................................................................30
Figure 9: Reducing employee theft................................................................................................31
Figure 10: Potential reasons of employee theft.............................................................................32
Figure 11: Employee theft is due to the available opportunity......................................................33
Figure 12: Managerial actions.......................................................................................................35
Figure 13: Actions for reducing employee theft............................................................................36
Figure 14: Significance of pre-employment check........................................................................37
Figure 15: Significance of inventory check...................................................................................38
Figure 16: Improving security.......................................................................................................39
Figure 17: Mitigating employee theft completely.........................................................................40

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Introduction
Background of the study
This study highlights the major issue encountered by Mrs Parmas Restaurant, that is,
employee theft. Increasing cases of employee theft at Mrs Parmas Restaurant are reportedly
hampering the business of the restaurant, as they are losing customers due to unsatisfactory
behavior from the restaurant. As the employees are stealing money, the restaurant is unable to
provide high-class services and facilities to the customers due to lack of inventory. As a result,
the restaurant is losing customers due to unsatisfactory service due to lack of money. Thus, the
study is conducted in order to find methods to reduce employee theft at Mrs Parmas Restaurant
(Bond 2018). In Australia, the bar and bistro industry is highly in demand, as people regularly
gather dine out with close friends and family over drinks. The restaurant business in the
Australian market is highly competitive thereby, giving rise to tough competition. Thus, the
restaurants in Australia need to implement innovative strategies for surviving in the competitive
market.
Overview of the industry partner
Mrs Parmas Restaurant is one of first one of its kind Bar/Bistro pub in Melbourne
Australia that started in 2006. The restaurant specializes in Parma Giana’s and Victorian micro-
brewery beers. Mrs Parmas Restaurant is located in the middle of the city and this has helped the
restaurant to gain a lot of customer attention and expand their business quickly (Bond 2018). The
restaurant has 15 kitchen staff out of which three employees are full-time cooks and 6 employees
are part-time cooks. The restaurant also has 16 front-staff out of which 4 employees are full-
timers, 6 part-timers and 6 casual employees.

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Introducing the problem
The current issue encountered by Mrs Parmas Restaurant is the increasing cases of
employee theft occurring in the restaurant. As a result of increasing employee theft, Mrs Parmas
Restaurant is losing business and customers due to unsatisfactory services to the potential
customers. Lack of adequate inventory due to employee theft at Mrs. Parmas is preventing the
restaurant from providing adequate service to the customers. The service provided by the
restaurant is hampered in terms of quality and facilities of the food. As a result, the restaurant is
losing customers due to employee theft at Mrs. Parmas.
Aim of the report
The aim of the proposal includes:
 To identify the major issues that lead to employee theft
 To investigate the various methods to reduce employee theft
 To critically evaluate the techniques to avoid employee theft from occurring again Mrs
Parmas Restaurant
 To provide suitable recommendations for reducing employee theft at Mrs Parmas
Restaurant
Structure of the proposal
The structure of the industry analysis report includes namely nine sections. They are
 Introduction: This section highlights the context of the study along with briefly
introducing the problem and the aim of the industry analysis. Problem identification: This chapter identifies the rationale of the industry analysis in
detail.

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 Literature review: The chapter sheds light on the various theoretical approaches of
variable thereby, developing e deeper understanding of the topic. Methods: This chapter states the various methods for collecting data for the industry
analysis and justifies their selection. Findings: This chapter includes the data collected from primary sources and is
represented by graphs charts and figures. Discussion: This chapter includes the discussion and implications of the collected data
along with comparing the findings with literature review. Recommendations: This chapter provides suitable recommendations based on the
findings. Limitations: This chapter discusses the potential challenges encountered by the
researcher while conducting the industry analysis due to which the quality is
compromised. Conclusion: This chapter deduces a suitable conclusion based on the scope of the study,
the major findings, suitable recommendations and likely business improvements.

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Problem Statement
What is the issue?
Employee theft is a major issue as their own employees misuse the assets of the
employers. Employee theft is the major reason for the loss of business for the business
organizations that need to be reduced (Pierce, Snow and McAfee 2015 & Murphy 1993).
Why it is an issue?
Employee theft is an issue because it imposes a potential threat to the employers. This is
because the employers are exposed to the loss and misuse of organizational specific information,
data and inventory. As a result, its competitors threaten the market position of the business
organizations (Noon, Blyton and Morrell 2013 & Hair, Bush and Busch 1976). Additionally,
employee theft also results in loss of business, as the business organization loses its valuable and
confidential information that makes them stand out from their competitors.