Analysis of Operations and Service Management at KFC (BM563)

This report examines the operations and service management practices of KFC, a leading fast-food restaurant chain. It begins with an introduction to operations management, defining key concepts and principles. The main body of the report delves into specific operation management techniq...Read More

Operations and service
management
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Operation management technique in selected company.............................................................3
Impact of Total Quality Management.........................................................................................4
Evaluate technology embedded in the process............................................................................6
Use of technology in operation management..............................................................................7
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................9
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
Books and journals....................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Operation management is the process of controlling production process and also ensures
efficient use of resources. KFC was established in 1930 by Colonel Harland Sanders Peter
Harman. It is an American restaurant. Key people of KFC are Tony Lowings (CEO and
President), Monica Rothgery (COO), Catherine Tan (CMO) and Staci Rawls (CCO). In this
report operation management is discussed (Betlloch-Mas and et.al., 2019). Impacts of operation
management are also described and how operation management is useful for the company. How
company uses technology in making their work easy and simple is also described. Evaluation on
the use of technology in operation management is also discussed. Further, how KFC works with
other supporting functions like marketing, finance, HR etc. is also described
MAIN BODY
Operation management technique in selected company
Operation management is the business practice which helps the company in creating high
level of efficiency. There are two main elements of operation management i.e., supply chain
management and logistics. It helps the company in converting raw material into finished goods
and services. Operation management helps KFC in maximizing its profit and how to use raw
materials efficiently. Operation management also helps in maintaining proper balance of cost
with revenue so that profit can be increased. Operation management includes how to properly
utilize resources, efficient use of staff and technology. Operation manager of KFC deliver goods
according to the needs and requirements of the clients. It handles various problems like, manage
level of inventory, raw material and work in progress, quality of the product etc. it is the duty of
operation manager to make proper and efficient use of raw material, staff and technology.
Operation manager of KFC give their best and try to make proper use of resources (Contreras
and et.al., 2020). They also check that there is minimum wastage of resources and proper
utilization of resources is being done.
Operation management also involves planning, organizing, supervision and controlling.
Its main focus is on delivering product on time and with minimum wastage of resources. The
main role of operation manager is to properly manage the activities starting from purchasing raw
material till the delivery of the product. Manager of KFC takes care that when resources are
required. In KFC proper planning is done and they make strategic plans to increase profit and
also waste minimum resources. They make proper and efficient utilization of resources. This
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helps KFC in increasing its profit. An operation manager should have motivational skill so that
they can motivate their team members to work efficiently. Operation manager of KFC should
have good communication skill, motivational skill and also be aware about customer needs and
requirements. Operation management is important for every organization.
One of the operation management practice is Total Quality Management. Total Quality
Management is defined as an approach which is helpful in customer satisfaction and helpful in
long term success. In total quality management, the main objective of all the members of the
company is to improve products and services. Total Quality Management helps the company in
enhancing market image. This TQM practice also helps in eliminating waste and reduce cost.
The main focus of TQM is on customer satisfaction (Liu and et.al., 2018).
Impact of Total Quality Management
Operation management is crucial for every company as it helps the organization in
improving productivity and efficiency. Productivity means the ratio of output to input of the
company. If the value of the ratio is high, then the efficiency of the company is also high. KFC
try to maintain its ratio good so that efficiency will also increase. Operation manager of the
company make proper plans and motivate staff members to achieve the target and work
efficiently. Manager also take care that resources are properly utilized and minimum wastage is
done. Operation management helps in reducing the cost of products.
Operation management also helps in reducing amount of investment. When all the
resources are used effectively then amount of investment will get reduced. This will help the
company in increasing its profits. Manager of KFC keep on checking that whether staff is
properly using the resources or not. If resources are properly utilized, then it will help KFC in
increasing its revenue. As more efficiency then more customers are satisfied and it will lead to
increase in profits of the company. An operation manager is also responsible for motivating its
team members to do some innovation (Saffar and Obeidat, 2020). If innovation is done in the
product, then customers will like it and it will lead to increase in sales and increase in revenue.
The reason behind applying Total Quality Management is to improve quality of the
products and services, customer satisfaction, performance of the employees, position of
competitors etc.
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Total Quality Management organizations should provide training to their employees so that they
can perform their task with better efficiency. Employees at KFC agree that proper training is
provided to them which help in increasing efficiency and complete the task with good efficiency.
Leadership plays a crucial role in Total Quality Management as it helps in employee
development, easily communicate with each other. As a leader is responsible for motivating
employees to work effectively and efficiently. A leader also gives decision making power to
team members. KFC is also applying this leadership practice to improve the environment of the
company and satisfy employees as well as customers (Saleh and Sweis, 2017).
Total Quality Management of KFC are:
 Bench marking: Bench marking is defining as the practice which is used for comparing
the company with its competitors. Bench marking practice helps the company in
evaluating various aspects of process of their company with the process of other
companies. KFC evaluates its performance and process, then compare it with other
companies. This help KFC in improving its performance and fight against its
competitors.
 Employee Involvement: Next Total Quality Management practice used by KFC is
employee involvement. Employee involvement can be defined as participation of
employees in achieving company's goals and objectives. In today's scenario most of the
organizations focus on employee involvement. Employees at KFC are meeting outside
the workplace many times. If a company want to retain its employees, then they should
involve employees in decision making and employees can achieve company's mission by
using their own innovative idea. KFC involves its employees in decision making and also
encourage them to solve the problems in their own way. Employees can also give
suggestions to leaders (Talapatra, Uddin and Rahman, 2018).
 Continuous Improvement: Every organization needs improvement because daily new
trends and customer demands are changing daily. So, to compete with the fast changing
environment companies should make improvements according to the need and demand of
the customers. Customer satisfaction is important for the survival of any organization.
KFC provides fast service to its customers which helps in saving time and attract
customers. KFC focuses more on retaining customers.
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Evaluate technology embedded in the process
Technology used by KFC is ROS (restaurant based ordering system). This technology
helps KFC in taking orders from customers and informing to the chefs in the kitchen. Nowadays,
this restaurant based ordering system is used by most of the restaurants. ROS technology helps
the organization in placing advance orders and increase sales. ROS technology helps KFC in
avoiding the risk of missed orders. As orders are taken online, risk of miss order gets reduced.
Now, company is focusing on building good relations with customers. Technology plays an
essential role in building good customer relationship, helps in satisfying customers. It also helps
company in competing with the fast changing environment and aware about customer demand
and needs. Technology also helps KFC in measuring the performance of the employees.
Some total quality management techniques that are used in KFC:
 Six Sigma: This six sigma technique helps KFC in identifying the organizational
process. It helps the organization in improving the process. Six sigma strategy helps KFC
to improve the quality of the product and remove the defects. This technique is also
helpful in minimizing the waste and efficiently use the resources,
 JIT model: This model helps KFC to be aware of customer needs and demands. This JIT
model whelps in keeping the company updated about new technologies. KFC uses this
technique to increase efficiency of the employees. JIT model also helps in reducing waste
as only those goods are purchased which are required for the production. This model
helps KFC in reducing cost of inventory (Wolniak, 2019.). This model helps producers in
forecasting demand. Goods are produced according to the need and demand of the
customers.
 ISO 9001: ISO is the international standard which help the organization to provide
products and services according to the requirement of the customer. ISO 9001 is applied
for all types of organizations. This ISO standard will help the company in improving its
management process. ISO focus on providing a practical quality management system for
improving areas of the organization and this will help KFC in increasing its production
quality. It also focuses on improving efficiency of the company.
 Fish bone Diagram: Fish bone diagram helps organization in tracking the reasons for
failure or any imperfection. The fish bone diagram is a cause and effect diagram. Fish
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bone diagram will help KFC in identifying the reason behind the imperfection in the
product.
 Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point: This is a system which helps in identifying
and controlling chemicals for food safety. It is applied at KFC from the beginning stage
i.e., raw materials and till the last stage i.e., serving food to the customers. This is for the
safety of the customers. Customers should get proper food without any chemical.
Use of technology in operation management
Technology in operation management helps the company in reducing the cost, improve
quality of the product, focus on customer satisfaction. Technology help in improving business
process of the company, development of new products and new skills. Use of technology in
operation management helps in increasing productivity. Technology includes, online products
are available and members can communicate with each other through email. This online mode is
easy and simple and reduces cost. With the help of this online mode money can be transferred,
documents can be shared etc. technology helps companies in identifying customer demand in
short period of time (Mukhopadhyay, 2020). In today's scenario companies can connect with
customers from anywhere with the help of video conferencing. All the organizations are
integrating new technology which help them in developing new product and with better quality.
Technology helps in bringing innovation in the market and customer will get new products and
quality of the product is also good. Technology is also useful for KFC as it also uses online
mode for promoting its products. KFC products are available online so, customers can buy
easily. Various technologies that are used in today's world are computers, software, networking,
telephone systems, accounting systems, computer aided manufacturing systems.
Supporting Functions
Supporting functions can be described as activities that are carried by the organization to
facilitate the important functions. Supporting functions like finance, marketing, HR.
Human resource plays an essential role in every organization. Human resource has to perform
many functions in the company like, recruitment and selection, performance management,
learning and development, career planning, function evaluation, rewards, industrial relations,
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employee participation and communication, healthy and safe environment to employees,
administrative responsibilities and other responsibilities as well.
Human resource function
In KFC human resource management is responsible for all the functions of HR which
includes. Policy and procedures, performance evaluation and other responsibilities. Human
resource is also responsible for recruitment and selection. In KFC application process is like,
firstly search the job, then select job, register for the job, then fill out the application form. After
that quiz will be conducted, then KFC gets in contact. Next, interview is taken and finally offer
the job to the appropriate candidate. Selection is based on physical test, working capacity,
confidence, behavioral test, communication skill, body language etc. KFC has its own
recruitment tool which helps appropriate employees to apply for the job. Training at KFC
includes the following points:
 Workbooks
 Quiz
 On the job training
In KFC employees are motivated to work as a team and in a group. To motivate employees one
to one meeting is used by KFC. To motivate employees, KFC provides rewards which includes,
promotion, incentives, free meals etc. Rewards depend on the performance of the employees.
Financial benefits are also given to the employees of KFC. Performance appraisal is also done in
the company, it is done to check the efficiency of employees and which employee is niot
performing well can also be checked.
Finance function
A finance manager is responsible for managing finance(money) for the company. Few
functions of finance manager are; estimating amount of capital required, determining the capital
structure, select source of funds, calculate profit or loss, manage cash properly.
In KFC finance manager is responsible for collecting financial information, preparing a budget
keeping in mind previous year budget. Manage the cash in the company and maintain a proper
register. A finance manager is also responsible for advising stakeholders. A finance manager
calculate the amount to be borrowed from outsiders. Finance manager of KFC analyses the
market and also provide information about its competitors (Deng and et.al., 2020).
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Marketing function
It is the responsibility of marketing manager to promote the products and services of the
company. Marketing managers are responsible for attracting customers to buy the product of the
company. There are some functions of marketing manager, pricing, distribution, selling and
promotion of the product. Marketing manager is also responsible for planning, organizing and
controlling the activities that are done for promoting the product. KFC also promotes its product
through advertisements, bill boards, newspapers, social packages and sales promotion. KFC can
promote its products through coupons and provide discounts to attract new customers. KFC sell
its product at cheaper prices so that customers can buy the product easily. KFC do its marketing
in very creative and innovative way. KFC mainly focus on geographic segmentation which
includes America, Europe, Asia and other countries. KFC provides vegetarian as well as non-
vegetarian items to its customers. KFC provides fresh and pure food so that a clear position can
be set in customer’s mind. KFC apply cost based pricing strategy which includes fixed cost and
variable cost.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that, operation management helps KFC in
planning, organizing, controlling the activities of employees. Operation management also helps
the company in increasing profits and reducing the waste. KFC uses Total Quality Management
practice which help in improving quality of the product, customer satisfaction and minimizing
the waste. The focus of KFC is on attracting new customers and retaining the existing customers.
KFC is applying restaurant based ordering system which helps the company in taking orders for
customers and fast delivery of the product is provided to the customers. At last, how other
functions help the company is being discussed.
Recommendations
KFC should integrate total quality management to be systematic. Do PEST control.
Provide good quality of the product to the customers. KFC should engage in Corporate Social
Responsibility. The company should focus on attracting new customers. KFC should focus on its
competitor’s strategy. The company should introduce new and healthy recipes.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Betlloch-Mas, I., and et.al., 2019. Implementation and Operation of an Integrated Quality
Management System in Accordance With ISO 9001: 2015 in a Dermatology
Department. Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas (English Edition). 110(2). pp.92-101.
Contreras, E., and et.al., 2020. Advances in the Definition of Needs and Specifications for a
Climate Service Tool Aimed at Small Hydropower Plants’ Operation and
Management. Energies. 13(7). p.1827.
Deng, G., and et.al., 2020. Study on the Ecological Operation and Watershed Management of
Urban Rivers in Northern China. Water. 12(3). p.914.
Liu, X., and et.al., 2018. Distributed operation management of battery swapping-charging
systems. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. 10(5). pp.5320-5333.
Mukhopadhyay, M., 2020. Total quality management in education. SAGE Publications Pvt.
Limited.
Saffar, N. and Obeidat, A., 2020. The effect of total quality management practices on employee
performance: The moderating role of knowledge sharing. Management Science
Letters. 10(1).pp.77-90.
Saleh, R. A. and Sweis, R. J., 2017. The relationships between soft/hard total quality
management practices and operational performance in Jordanian manufacturing
organisations. International Journal of Management Concepts and
Philosophy. 10(4).pp.345-377.
Talapatra, S., Uddin, M. K. and Rahman, M. H., 2018. Development of an implementation
framework for integrated management system based on the philosophy of total quality
management. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management. 8(06). p.1507.
Wolniak, R., 2019. Operation manager and its role in the enterprise. Production Engineering
Archives. 24(24). pp.1-4.
Online
Kenton, W., 2020 Operations Management. [Online]. Accessed Through:<
https://www.topmba.com/mba-programs/what-operations-
management#:~:text=Operations%20management%20is%20chiefly
%20concerned,outputs%20in%20an%20efficient%20manner. >
About KFC., 2020 [Online]. Available Through:<http://dbpedia.org/page/KFC>
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