Case Study Analysis: Monitoring Work Operations and Efficiency

This document presents a series of case studies addressing various operational challenges within different business settings. Case Study 1 focuses on a tour company facing potential collapse, requiring solutions for monitoring driver work hours, vehicle maintenance, and ensuring customer satisfaction. It explores consultative processes, staff training, and delegation strategies. Case Study 2 examines a front office clerk's sexual harassment complaint, detailing the necessary procedures for handling such sensitive issues, including investigation protocols and legal responsibilities. Case Study 3 analyzes operational issues in a hotel experiencing increased dinner service demand, including equipment shortages and service delays, proposing short-term solutions and areas for investigation. Finally, Case Study 4 addresses a boutique hotel's operational challenges, including food and beverage service, and proposes solutions for optimizing operations and managing staff to meet customer needs.

ASSIGNMENT 2
CASE STUDY 1
1. Describe how you would monitor the work hours of the driver/tour guide and the
efficiency involved in those hours – this would also mean you need to identify relevant
problems associated with adjusting staff levels to attain the requested improvement.
This is a case of a tour company which is on the verge of collapsing if necessary
interventions will not be put in place. With competitors in the tour industry, the firm must
offer quality and efficient services with little or no complaints from the customers. Their
greatest aim is to ensure maximum customer satisfaction in the tours, meals and general
business logistics which involves their business. This question requires two steps. First is
to identify what is to be monitored and secondly is to establish how to monitor the work.
There have been cases of bus failures causing delays and overall dissatisfaction of
customers hence vehicles and drivers should be monitored as elaborated in the
subsequent paragraph.
Vehicles are an important component of the business. Good condition of the vehicles can
mean comfortability and safety of the clients. Therefore, vehicles should be monitored
before and after every tour. This should be mandatory for every vehicle with no excuses
tolerated. The company should maintain a logbook where the drivers or any assigned
personnel checks the conditions of the vehicle and even the fuel tank levels before and
after the tour.
The company should create and assign the staff in charge of the WHS1. This docket
should co-ordinate with the drivers (who also serve as tour guides) to ensure safety and
overall satisfaction of the customers. This person should understand the operations and
have the necessary skills and competence.
Each driver must be trained well on his or her task. They should understand what the tour
entails. This means that they should prepare adequately prior to the journey. They should
also have bus repair skills like tire changing. Their competence and performance should,
therefore, be monitored closely.
1 Work Health and Safety Act 2012 – No. 40 of 2012

The drivers can also be monitored by installing technological systems like GPS which
can track the position and condition of each driver and the passengers. This updates can
give real-time information on the tours and quick action can be taken in case of an
emergency.
On the case of snake bites and any accidents during the tour, inspections should be done
on tour paths and identify any aggressive animals or anything that endanger the lives of
the customers. Warnings can, therefore, be issued on customers and their behavior
throughout the journey controlled.
In conclusion, the general business operation should be monitored in order to overcome
this challenges and ensure customer satisfaction. This will attract more customers and
improve the profit margin of the company.
2. Show what consultative process was used to allow for procedures and systems
(including rosters new or amended service provisions) to be adjusted. Show that in this
area, quality assurances can be given so that customers will not be affected and indicate
the time frame involved in your changes.
The changes mainly affect the staff and the customers. This is key players that should be
informed and consulted on any proposed changes in the company. This processes of
involving them include:
Staff:
a) Notification of the staff on the proposed changes like installation of GPS
systems to assist in tracking vehicles. The opinions and suggestion of the staff
can be heard during this stage.
b) Implementation of the changes like installation of the GPS devices and
recruiting WHS personnel. The staff should be trained accordingly in order to
adjust to the new changes.
c) Evaluation of overall business after implementation of the changes.
Customers:
a) Notification of the customers of the changes in the business operation and
state clearly whether it has an impact on the charges. Confirm to them that
the changes are for the sake of their safety and comfortability.

b) Get the feedback from them.
c) Evaluate the customers' feedback and determine the way forward.
3. List the measures taken to ensure functional clean vehicles, and prevention of hygiene
issues
a) The vehicles should be cleaned regularly, preferably after every tour. This should
be done by competent personnel.
b) Conduct regular vehicle inspection.
c) Collect customers' suggestion on hygiene issues using a suggestion box.
d) Sensitize the staff on hygiene and make it a requirement for every staff to observe
hygiene.
e) Deploy a person to carry vehicle repairs and inspection before the tour.
4. In your new plan, you must show the delegation process that will be involved. Will you
need new job specifications to be written? If so, how many?
From the preceding answers, it is clear that new job specification will be needed to adopt
the new changes smoothly and ensure high performance of every staff. The staff will
have been notified of the changes and their opinions considered to arrive on a unanimous
settlement. To enable smooth changes, the staff should be asked if they are comfortable
in their respective position. The new job delegation will involve:
Table 1. Job specifications
Staff Responsibility
Drivers a) Driving during the tour.
b) Ensure Vehicle cleanness.
c) In charge of minor-vehicle repairs
Meal attendants a) Ensure availability of meals
b) Ensure hygiene in food
preparation, serving and
packaging.
Tour guides a) Ensure timely and safe travel.
b) Relay safety and any information
to the customers

5. Will training be necessary to accommodate the new jobs if this is the option you
recommend the owners to take? Estimate a budget for retraining should it be necessary.
Training for the staff especially drivers will be needed to ensure a smooth transition. In-
house training and workshops can be conducted for drivers and meal attendants. This can
be done by inviting an expert in the individual fields to offer the trainings. However,
experienced tour guides can be deployed and they can, therefore, come along with the
necessary skills.
Estimate the training budget.
Activity Budget
Inception meeting to identify the
requirements of each job.
$2,000
Materials and resource person $1,000
Training preparation $500
Actual training $ 1,500
Miscellaneous $ 500
6. Describe how day-to-day operations will not be negatively affected with your proposed
changes
a) Ensure pieces of training are conducted during weekends when there are many
operations going on and most of the staff are readily available.
b) Ensure vehicles are inspected, repaired or cleaned when they are not busy.
c) GPS devices should also be fixed when vehicles are not in use.
d) New recruits (tour guides) can work with previous tour guides (drivers) to induct
themselves before assuming their roles fully.
Case Study 2
Elena, the front office clerk has asked you for an urgent appointment to see you. On arrival
to the meeting, Elena explains to you that her supervisor in the front office frequently

makes silent offensive remarks and has stalked her on multiple occasions after work. It also
seems that he rosters her for the same shifts when he is rostered on.
(The document HR manual template may be referenced for this case study)
1. What appears to be the nature of complaint here?
Elena's supervisor is the opposite sex. Frequent stalking and offensive remarks are likely
indication that Elena may suffer from sexual harassment.
2. Which procedure should be followed to receive a complaint like the one from Elena?
Sexual harassment is a police case. However, before then, the company rules and
regulations should be used to handle the case.
The following procedure can be adopted:
a) Inform Elena that sexual harassment is a serious offense both in the company and
the country law.
b) Give Elena time to explain everything and note the information.
c) As a temporary intervention, ensure the supervisor's shift is never the same as
Elena's.
d) Conduct a secretive investigation and gather as much information as possible
from listening from other staffs conversations.
e) If enough evidence is gathered, summon the two and follow the company
regulation to arrest the matter.
f) Inform the police if the company regulations do not bear fruits.
3. Write a standard operating procedure that can be used to investigate a complaint,
including actions for e.g. EEO and sexual harassment matters.
This is a sensitive matter hence should be taken care with a lot of professionalism without
ringing bells. To investigate the matter, the following steps1 can be used:
a) Confirm to Elena that the investigation will resume immediately and will be fair2.
b) Collecting any evidence available like from CCTV footages.
c) Carry rigorous interviews on other close staff who might be having crucial
information.
1 A Code of Practice for Sexual Harassment [2019]. https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sexual-harassment-
code-practice-complaint-procedures
2 HR Manual Template [2019]. Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Bullying. Pg. 36-42.

d) Summon the supervisor for an interview and note his statement. This can even be
recorded.
e) Consult with legal personnel on the issue and hear his opinions based on the
evidence gathered.
f) Make a decision based on the evidence at hand and the legal personnel's opinion.
g) Make follow-up to ensure such incidences do not occur again.
4. Which legal responsibilities do have in your capacity as a manager in this instance?
a) As a manager, I should understand all forms of sexual harassment and the
accompanying laws that have provisions on how sexual harassment cases should
be handled. Such laws include the Sex Discrimination Act.
b) I should ensure that the company rules and regulations have provisions for sexual
harassment and other inhuman acts like racism.
c) I should report such cases to the relevant authority.
Case Study 3
You are the manager of the Ocean view hotel. During the last 4 weeks, the numbers of
patrons during dinner service on Wednesdays to Fridays have doubled. Although this is
good news for the operation, there have been associated with this a number of operational
issues which need to be addressed swiftly to prevent bad publicity in social media and on
trip advisor. During the 4 week period, the hotel had 12 complaints related to delays in
meal service, 16 complaints relating to poor or average quality of meals. A brief
conversation with sous-chef and head chef has indicated that the access to and lack of
capacity of some equipment are some of the main issues they are facing. In front-of-house
(F&B) the same staff has been rostered on the periodic schedule as usual, and staff does not
think there are any issues.
1. Provide a systematic approach for areas you will investigate
The fact that the staff at the front-of-house is not aware of any issue is an indication that
the problem might have emanated from somewhere else. A systematic way to approach
this is to start to from the kitchen where the chefs have complained about the low

capacity of some kitchen equipment. This should be investigated to ascertain this
information. An investigation on the inside and then outside of the hotel should follow.
2. Provide solutions for the shortfalls in equipment pointed out to you, given that the
new budget is still 5 months away and major expenditure was just completed to
finish the accommodation areas.
The description that the hotel had spent a lot of funds in the completion of
accommodation areas indicates that there is no ready money to procure high capacity
kitchen equipment. To provide a quick solution, customers should be encouraged to make
reservations before coming. The chefs also should optimize the available equipment to
ensure the equipment are not idle at any time.
3. Which aspects will you investigate in the food and beverage/service areas?
I will investigate the hygiene of the area in terms of the freshness of air, space,
temperature and aesthetic features.
4. Provide details for the staff who will be involved in the process.
The team preparing meals are the key team that will need to be trained in order to
improve the quality of the meals. The chefs also can do the research on the meals that are
more appealing to the customers yet they need little input in preparation. Generally, all
the staff should be trained on how to cooperate to make service delivery fast and meet the
customers' needs.
Case Study 4
You are working in the capacity of a manager in a trendy inner-city boutique hotel,
featuring 45 rooms, a gym and wellness area, a 60 seat cafe -bistro, an 80 seat restaurant
and seating for 50 customers in the mall.
The food and beverages are in line with using local produce and following trends, however,
you have noticed that due to a large number of part-time employment of students and, it
seems, lack of direction from the departmental supervisors, products and services are
always different. Not that there have been any substantial complaints, however beverages
are presented differently at different times, food presentation varies and it looks portion

sizes are not uniform, and the rooms are made up and arranged differently depending who
is in charge and on duty, accordingly.
1. Provide suggestions for a system that can be effectively developed and implemented
for each department and explain in detail what this entails for each department.
Your approach must include delegation at the appropriate levels.
This is a typical scenario where the manager has more than one departments to manage.
The manager must not only ensure that the departments run smoothly but also meet the
customers' satisfaction. Management and organization of the human resources within and
between the departments are very important in this case. For effective development, the
following suggestions should be adopted for the respective departments.
Gym: The staff working in the Gym should be sensitized and motivated to work together
as a team. The management of the Gym should relate well with the rest of the staff. The
staff should support the management and follow the policies guiding the operation of the
Gym.
Restaurant: Food preparation procedures and instruction should be given only by the
chefs-in-charge. This means that new cooks like student cooks can only cook meals
which they have been instructed by the chefs and under the chefs' guidelines. The same
cooking procedures should hold for all other part-time cooks. Also, serving procedures
should remain uniform and no new and untested techniques of the student will be
allowed. The chefs should be strict on cooking and serving procedures to ensure
uniformity.
Café-bistro: Sharing of responsibility should at no time compromise the consistency of
delivering drinks to customers. Roles should be organized by the immediate management
such that at any time there is uniformity and consistency in the beverage taste.
Service room: The approach should meet the demand of the customers at all times. Part-
time workers and students should be told about how to handle different customers
according to their needs.
Mall seating: Both the staff and the people who sit in the seating area should be informed
of the changes. Posters can be posted on the seating area can be mounted on the area to
inform any person in the area on the changes.

2. What are the implications for all existing staff as a result and how will you provide
for overcoming these?
The implications that can emanate from the changes include:
a) Confusion of both the staff and the customers on the new changes and what
necessitated their implementation.
b) Lack of motivation of worker following ineffective operations and results from
them which calls for changes.
c) The esteem of students and other part-time workers may be lowered because of
the sense of guilt.
To overcome such problems:
a) Consult the staff and the customers on the proposed changes and consider their
suggestions. In this case, the communication procedure should be clear to all in
case anyone needs to raise concern.
b) The staff can be prepared for the changes by training them on the new changes.
c) Assure the customers that any changes are aimed at providing better goods and
services to them.