Restaurant Service Basics Free Essays

RESTAURANT SERVICE BASICS Serving means to be useful. The working life is full of market segments, products and service providers. Service providers are people who every day make use of their ability to relate to people, proper handling of vocabulary and perseverance. We will write a custom essay sample on Restaurant Service Basics or any similar topic only for you Order Now Service providers do not handle a physical product; they are people selling experiences and creating memorable moments for the client. This is the case of the servers who, despite being the intermediaries between the kitchen and the guest, are the front of the restaurant where they work, they are the image that represents the company, who make the customer experience become enjoyable. While it is true that a restaurant is renowned for the quality of its dishes, it is also true that if the servers do not provide good service, the restaurant will sell exquisite food, but poor service. Among other skills that a server should have are: the allocation of the tables, how to prepare the presentation of the tables and courtesies with guests like REMOVING the chair of the guests to sit, remembering the order to perfection, ensuring that nothing is missing while the guest IS waiting for his dish and of course, thank them for their visit and hope they come back soon. Servers are responsible to reflect a positive image, hygienic, reliable, and helpful. The servers fulfill tasks from loading trays and taking them to their respective tables, to ensure that the guest does not lack anything. In order to provide quality service, the servers must be trained and aware of the right way to serve the guest. In the world of restaurants there are seven forms of service. According to Sondra J. Dahmer author of â€Å"Restaurant Service Basics† in collaboration with Kurt W. Kahl, types that are serving in a restaurant are: French, American, English, Russian, Family-style, Banquet, and Buffet. Each of these services will depend on the rotation of the restaurant as well as the type of restaurant that they service in particular. Every restaurant has a unique identity depending on the amenities offered to guests; also the type of service will be defined by the consistency in menu, decor, uniforms, table settings, ambiance and cuisine. I would like to mention and share my reflections of the services. In my opinion, THESE are the most relevant and mentioned in the service sector, and of course in restaurants. The authors of this book share a brief description of those services which says: French service is a formal type of service enjoyed by the few who can afford the time and expense of meals served in this manner. This type of service is used in upscale restaurants, elegant hotel dining rooms, cruise ships, resorts, and casinos. In fact, French service not only is an expensive way to eat, but also is the most luxurious and ancient since the restaurants were created. On other hand they describe the Russian service as: Russian service is very formal and elegant, and the guest is given considerable personal attention; employs the use of heavy silver serviceware, and the table setting is identical to the French setup. There are many similitudes between the French and the Russian service; the main difference is the way they serve the food, more specifically, the utensils Russian service uses are more elegant than the French ones. In the same way we have the English style that says: English service is used occasionally for a special dinner served in a private dining room of a restaurant. The food is served on platters and the heated plates are brought from the kitchen and placed before the host at the head of the table. English service is also as formal as French and Russian, but this service has also a way to serve the plates which is to the left. The next service is the American which says that it is the most prevalent style in restaurants in the United States: American service: food is placed on the dinner plate. Food is served from the left of the guest, beverages are served from the right, and soiled dishes are cleared from the right. American service also is more casual than French, Russian and English service; probably this is the feature that has made the American service in the form of the most popular services in the U. S. and around the world. And last but not least the buffet service; the most common type of service in many restaurants with all inclusive. Buffet service, guests select their meals from an attractive arrangement of food on long serving tables. Buffet service is the most common in hotels because it does not need a very personalized service, plus it gives the customer the freedom of Selecting not limited and serving many times as necessary. There is much that must be considered to select the type of service in a restaurant, so the management must make it clear the restaurant concept and the way it operates, with the servers that can provide the best quality service and create moments that the client will never forget. How to cite Restaurant Service Basics, Essay examples

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I told myself, This is high school, try to make your Enron year best out of it! I started to get into trouble with the law, and had bad grades in some of my classes. My counselor called me out of class one day when I was in athletic. After have a short little meeting with my counselor, she told me that I wasnt going to graduate high school if kept doing badly in my classes. I went home and told my mom what my counselor had told me. During this point of my life, my lovely mother taught me a treasured and powerful lesson of being responsible for my own acts.The first thing needed for myself was to arrive at the party with drinks, ND alcohol. I couldnt party without drinks I needed beer to get me savage for the night. The party was hosted by Willie at his dads ranch. The ranch had tall grass on the field, and an old house behind the wooden area. The old house was rusty, sitting side way, and the windows were broken too. Also there were some old school cars just parked in the woods getting all rusty, and old ranch tractors. I brought my football teammates with me every time would go party, they were my body guards.My teammates were Joe, Henry, Willie and Marco. We all played together on the varsity football team. Joe was one of the top running backs in the nation. Joe was 18 years old, muscular, tall African American and his position was running back. Henry was 18 years old, really skinny, tall, Hispanic and his position was kicker. Willie was 19 years old, chubby, tall, Hispanic and his position was quarterback. Marco was younger than all of us 1 7 years old, muscular, tall, white, and his position was linebacker. We would all play, Beer Pong and that game would get us really drunk. It was the fun part of the party. Some random chicks would join our game and get wasted with us for the night. The party was at Willie dads ranch in Rose City, Texas. It was deep in the country, all I could smell was burned wood, and I could see a lot of smoke going to air from few miles away. Also, could hear a lot Of animals growling like goats, dogs, horses, pigs and chickens. Felt like was in the middle of the woods surrounded with tons of animals. It was three Oclock in the morning, Im on my way back home with my teammates from the party. I was drunk, and I decided to drive my parents car.When I started to drive, all I could see was blurry lights in my eyes. I Hough I was becoming blind or something was wrong with me. Kept looking at myself in the middle mirror of the car, to see if had anything in my eyes. I got on 130 highway heading home. I was swerving and switching lanes while cars were next to my lane. I almost crashed into a SUB. A car that was right behind me took a picture of my parents car, license plate, then called 911. People were that saw me swerving on the highway they flashed their high beam headlights. Was getting mad because they kept doing and it bothered my eyes while I was driving.A couple miles away from where people took picture of my parents car license plate, a state trooper officer turned his sirens and the lights on. The officer pulled me over to the side of the road on the highway. When saw the officer walking toward to my parents car, I got really scared to death, and area close to cry. My heart was pounding really fast like I Was going have a heart attack. Immediately, the state trooper started to ask me tons of questions. First, he asked me what my name was, and where I was coming from. Then he said, Have you been drinking? I replied, No, sir. With my words shaking. Officer aid, l can smell alcohol coming out of your mouth. Officer said, Please step out of the car. When the officer told get out of the car, was scared because I didnt know what they would do to me. The officer called for a backup to come and help him out with my teammates that were in the car. Six more police officers showed up with their lights on and got off of the car quickly. They all walked to my parents car. Each officer had one of my teammates and asked questions. After he had called for a backup, the officer did me a breathalyzer test.Meanwhile, the officer said, You are over the influence and o are under arrested. I was charged with a DID. The officer put me in the back of his car, and I saw my teammates getting arrested too. One person went in each police officer car, and then officer brought in a K-9 dog to see if we had any drugs with us. Next, heard the officer calling a tow truck to come pick up my parents car. A couple of minutes, later had arrived too local city jail. The officer that works at the station had booked me in. She took me a mug shot of me, and had a small board on my hands.On the board that had in my hands said, my name, and the date of birth. After I was arrested by the state trooper, I was really scared because didnt want my parents to find out what just had happened to me. I was speechless when I had to call my parents from jail. Had missed a week of school, and my football head coach kept calling my parents to see where I was. Coach asked Why your son hasnt been showing up to school. My parents had told him that I was still in jail, explained him what had happened. Few days later I came back to school from the biggest mistake Ive done in my life.On the day I went back to school, my football coach had just kicked me out of the team. He made me clear out my locker, while I was cleaning out my locker I had looked around, and I had seen my teammates locker that were with me that night. Their locker were clean out, and they didnt have their name tag at all either. Was supposed to get a scholarship, but then I ruined everything. Coach said, Mr.. Ventura, Im really sad for the acts you did, and you will not be receiving a scholarship anymore. Joe, was the biggest star on our football team. He was being scouted by multiple football coaches, from big universities.

Psych Essays - Credit, Personal Finance, Credit Card, Credit History

Norkis Grant Zakiya Odoi ENC1101TR2:00pm 09/30/2012 Hard Times Will Follow I turn the TV up louder because now my mom is yelling on the phone to Chase about the bill she just received. She sounds as if she is in a war but the slamming of the phone lets me know she didn?t win. I was just out this morning with her and seen that her eyes were glued to a new pair of Burberry shoes. She persuaded herself that she needed them like the other millions of pairs she has jammed in her closet and found herself swiping that same card that she is now arguing with the bank over. How could she really put up any argument? People are in debt because they do not know the difference between priorities and desires. To begin, I believe the first cause of debt would be the helpless issue people have with saving. When growing up we are drawn to a very fancy life style through television and magazines which create a big hole in our pockets. Not everyone in life is born into a millionaire family or with doctors for parents so we must live a life of spending safely but we focus too much on what we want rather then what we need. The other night my best friend Zoie called me in panic around 1 am stating how she is stuck on the side on I-95 with her tank on E. Instead of putting priorities first Zoie decided to go out on a date with little money assuming that the guy was going to pay; little did she know, he didn?t. I warned her if she didn?t learn how to save she would pay for it and now she had bigger things to worry about: a car with no gas, a phone with little battery and no clue on how she was getting to work in the morning. And not being able to get to work means you don?t get paid and neither do the bills. Sometimes such a little sacrifice can save for weeks of headaches. However I believe people get swallowed by debt because of our bad habit of not being able to say no when shopping. When you enter stores like Marshalls, Ross, or TJMAX people can never walk in just for one thing and walk out with just that. Those stores surround customers with alluring items that you may not necessarily need but does catch your eye. I worked in a retail store as a cashier and every time I got a customer they always said the same thing: ?Oh, I think it?s so funny that I always come in here just to return something and end up picking up more things on the way out.? With notebooks, chips, wallets, kid toys, even drinks in case they?re thirsty as the customer waits to be rung up, I don?t have a hard time believing that. The more we shop the less we save. Another reason why I think we fall into debt is because of the overloading of responsibilities we put on ourselves. As a college student my biggest worry is to have to get a loan for school. With no financial aid help I feel as if choosing to go to a major college without scholarships or grants would be completely insane but not impossible. Loans are offered as long as you are attending school but are expected to be paid back after graduating. However going to school for many years doesn?t guarantee a good job to assist you with the money to pay the balance due. So if you are busy buying the latest fashions you may have a hard time keeping up with the payments. Although everyday people are applying to credit cards it is one of the biggest reasons for debt. Banks are there to help but our society seems to be too dependable on a credit card which is money that isn?t ours and needs to be paid back. People don?t understand the seriousness of this problem, which is it affects our credit score. Like a professor once told me ?Your credit score is basically the governments? way of telling how responsible you are without them even seeing

The eNotes Blog Ten Summer Reading Picks Whats On YOURList

Ten Summer Reading Picks Whats On YOURList We should read to give our souls a chance to luxuriate.   ~Henry Miller Ahhh†¦ summer. I do a lot of heavy reading during the year and I love it. But when summer comes and I spend hours and hours in the Texas heat at the local pools, I often want something lighter to read.   I still demand good writing, no matter what the topic, however.   Here are some of my favorite choices and a few from friends for you to stick in your beach bag. 10. Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte I found this wry and touching book at a used bookstore a few years ago, and have bought it again for at least four people. Tarte’s true tale of moving from the city to the country and acquiring more and more animals is unforgettable, especially if you are an animal lover or have ever dreamed of living a quieter life.   Publisher’s Weekly says: â€Å"With dead-on character portraits, Tarte keeps readers laughing about unreliable pet store proprietors, a duck named Hector who doesn’t like water, an amorous dove named Howard, a foster-mother goose, patient veterinarians and increasingly bewildered friends. Tarte has an ordinary-Joe voice that makes each chapter a true pleasure, while revealing a sophisticated vision of animals and their relationship to humans.† 9.   Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris At first, I was disappointed that Sedaris’s new book would not be a collection of essays from his real life and family.   But the humor works here in this anthropomorphized series of human foibles and vanities. Remember, however, that despite the adorable illustration, this is in no way a children’s book. Some of the animal stories include a dying lab rat, a cat who goes to AA meetings, cheating dogs, and a mouse with a pet snake. Christopher Muther of the Boston Globe says Sedaris is a â€Å"connoisseur of human nature at its worst.† Enjoy! 8. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell Going on a road trip? Take along Sarah Vowell’s delightfully funny and informative look at the places, people, and situations involved in the assassinations of three American presidents: Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Bruce Handy of the New York Times aptly notes that Vowell â€Å"made the commercially courageous decision to avoid the catnip that is the Kennedy name† and says Assassination Vacation is â€Å"a learned, engagingly discursive, funny, sometimes even jolly ramble - literally - through the landscape of American presidential assassinations.† 7.   Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs This is a recommendation from a friend who says, â€Å"The book series inspired the television series ‘Bones† but the books are different. The protagonist (like the author) is a forensic anthropologist who works between Montreal and North Carolina. I get murder, travel and fun filled macabre facts. 6.   American Gods by Neil Gaiman Another recommendation from a friend, who says, â€Å"I have read it several times, but the first time I read it I finished it on a trip to Orlando. Anything Gaiman is an excellent read.†Ã‚   Laura Miller of Salon.com praises American Gods, saying it   â€Å"is a juicily original melding of archaic myth with the slangy, gritty, melancholy voice of one of America’s great cultural inventions - the hard-boiled detective; call it Wagnerian noir. The melting pot has produced stranger cocktails, but few that are as tasty.† 5.   Life by Keith Richards Lots of rock musicians have gone on to that Great Gig in the Sky, many of them Richard’s contemporaries: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and dozens of others. Betting people probably thought the odds of Richards being among their numbers a good pay off. But Richards has survived, and his tales of writing and working with the other members of the Rolling Stones is fascinating. Listen to his interview about the book with NPR’s Terry Gross on Fresh Air here.   Particularly interesting is the story of how both the music and lyrics to the classic song â€Å"Satisfaction† came to him in a dream. 4.   The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt Another recommendation from a friend who finds this novel engrossing. Michael Christy  reviewed the novel in his â€Å"Afterword† column in the National Post. He writes: This novel follows two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, infamous assassins sent on an errand to kill Hermann Kermit Warm, an ingenious (and, as it turns out, extremely likable) man, who is accused of stealing from their boss, a fearsome figure named the Commodore. Luckily for us, the genre permits deWitt to turn his considerable powers loose, allowing him to rummage the treasure chest of English with much less constraint than a story staged in the contemporary world†¦ There is a delightful irony generated between this over-formal, old-timey way in which the characters speak, and the horrific subject matter they are often aiming to relate. 3.   The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace I read this book years and years ago (on a beach, in Jamaica†¦don’t hate).   The tale of these two twins who never spoke to anyone as children, not even their parents, but developed their own language, intelligible only to themselves, fascinated me as did their joint arson attacks in their later years. Library Journal says: This true story focuses on the young adult years of identical twin girls. June and Jennifer isolate themselves from family and society, sinking into a world of interdependency, fantasy, and obsessive game-playing, until an arson spree lands them in a hospital for the criminally insane. The fascination of this tale lies in the discrepancy between the twins’ silent, emotionless facade and the rich creativity and passion that spills out endlessly in their writing. The author has reconstructed their story from their extensive diaries, in which they compulsively explore their lives and the condition of the world as they perceive it. Again and again, they express both their love and hatred for each other and their desire yet inability to become separate individuals. This book is written by a sympathetic journalist for a general audience. 2.   The Colour of Magic (The First Discworld Novel) by Terry Pratchett Want to really lose yourself to a completely different world this summer? Get hooked on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. If you are totally unfamiliar with the 26 novels, here is a brief overview and review of the first book from Fantasy Book Review: The Colour Of Magic is set on a world sitting on the backs of four elephants hurtling through space. Rincewind, the wizard and Twoflower, the Discworld’s first tourist encounter DEATH and Hrun the Barbarian on their journey through the Discworld. †¦ This novel is very different from most fantasy novels and a is breath of fresh air. A beautifully imagined world and wonderfully described characters, when added to the mix, make this a must read novel. This book can stop you from taking life too seriously. 1.   Bossypants by Tina Fey I don’t often recommend books by comedians. Too often, they are just re-hashed versions of their stage shows, television bits, or information you’ve heard in interviews a million times. You probably have heard the accolades about Fey’s book and they are deserved. Fey is funny and revealing, recounting stories about her life (yes, she tells about how she got that scar, something she is very reluctant to do) and her career (much harder and longer than most people think) and is honest about her relationships with fellow actors like Amy Poehler and Alec Baldwin and her former boss at Saturday Night Live, Loren Michaels. If you have been looking for something to read this summer, I hope these suggestions help. Please do leave your own suggestions for others to enjoy. Happy reading!

Finance For Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Finance For Managers - Essay Example Top managers use budgets for the company as a whole while middle managers traditionally focus on the budget performance of their department or division. Normally the types of budgets used in different units pertain to expense budget, revenue budget, cash budget and capital budget. And expense budget focuses on anticipated and actual expense for each department. When actual expenses exceed budgeted amounts, the difference signals the need to managers to identify whether a problem exists. It could highlight inefficiencies or leakages or in retrospect if expenses are below budget, it could signal exceptional efficiency or failure to meet some other target, e.g. sales. Revenue budget lists forecasted and actual revenues of the division and / or the organization. Cash budget estimates receipts and expenditures of money of a daily or weekly basis – it shows the level of funds flowing through the organization and their nature. Cash budget is very important for liquidity management of the company for daily business activities. Capital budget is for planned investments in major assets. It not only have large impact on future expense, it is for investments designed to enhance profits of the organization. Capital budgets needs to be monitored in order to evaluate whether the assumptions made about return on such investments are holding true. Many traditional companies use top down budgeting which means that the budgeted amounts for the coming year are literally imposed on middle and lower level managers. The managers set departmental budget targets in accordance with over all company revenues and expenditures specified by top executives. Although there are some advantages to the top down process, the movement toward employee empowerment, participation and learning encourages the adoption of bottom up budgeting – a process in which lower level managers anticipate their departments’

The great debaters Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The great debaters - Assignment Example debate team proved to be a reflection of black sentiment at that time; with each of them having unique experiences and goals, all were united for the cause of racial equality and an end to racial discrimination. Washington’s The Great Debaters highlights with the Wiley Debate Team facing the Harvard Debate Team, with the former winning the debate, although racial slur continues to haunt them back home despite their victory. Their coach, Melvin B. Tolson, symbolizes the need for action beyond education, with him balancing the complexions being a college professor and a tenant farmer organizer at the same time. Meanwhile, James Farmer represents the unique struggle of black adolescents in the 30’s, balancing the act between puppy love and ambition with a growing outrage against racial discrimination. Samantha Booke also displays the unique struggle of black women, carrying the double burden of gender and racial discrimination. Hamilton Burgess also shows the contradictions of the struggle, with his family not approving the growing radicalism of

Expansion strategy of Starbucks

Expansion strategy of Starbucks Introduction: Starbucks as a corporation started its business from the year 1971 in the city of Seattle in Washington. In its early stages Starbucks opened four stores in the city and the business was looking good. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). After some major changes and alterations the company opened about fifty outlets by 1989. The focus of the company was not only expanding the number of stores but also at the same time educate the consumers .(Starbucks Corporation, 1997). But at that situation the owners were reluctant of entering into the main industry. But in the year 1984, the company management acquired another coffee retailer called the Peets Coffee and Tea. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). Since then the company adapted many significant changes in order to establish its brand in the international market. Supply Chain and Expansion Strategy: With various competitors the industry is a monopolistic in nature. For that reason a strong player like Starbucks is has to depend on the product mix and strategic locations as the main differentiating factor in order to influence effective consumers demand for their products. For that reason the marketing strategy that Starbucks adapts targets only one particular segment of customers. This marketing strategy for years has yielded great results for the company. Starbucks can be considered as the market leader with over $1.3 billion in sales in the year 1998. Due to the complexity of the network it is important that the management locates the cost centers and allocates the resources accordingly. In order to evaluate the supply chain issues it is important to realize the expansion strategy of the firm. The expansion strategy adapted by the firm is mainly increasing the market share in the retail segment and for that reason t focused on increasing the number of stores.(Berger, Buchman, Chase, Hsu, N.d). It is important to note that Starbucks followed a pattern of store opening strategy in order to form a network. The company adapted a hub and spoke model for its regional expansions. Starbucks at the initial stage selected a large city in the region which will serve the purpose of a hub; and tried to open as many as twenty or more stores in the hub city itself in the first two years. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). After opening the targeted stores in the hub city the other stores are also being opened in the surrounding areas which are considered as the spoke stores. In the year 1995 alone, new stores opened generated average revenue of US$700,000 in their first year, which is far more than the average revenue figure of US$427,000 in 1990. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). The growth in the sales was mainly due to the growing brand image of the firm. With the increase in the number of stores the complexity of the supply chain increased and this lead to the various security issues for the firm. For that reason a security team is being introduced in the system which is called the Enterprise Security Platform and it keeps track of the critical facilities , operations at the retail outlets and the also monitors the activities in the international market. This centrally integrated supply chain model helps the company management to keep track of the proceedings and predict demand so that they can adjust their expansion strategy accordingly. Critical Issues and factors affecting import and export: The Company faced some obstacles in the last two years of operation. The global economic crisis has reduced the disposable income of the mass and for that reason the spending in the industry has reduced. (Starbucks Recent Same Store Sales; Implication for future growth, 2009). The store closing has its other implications. The negative sales figure actually got compounded each quarter and it is mainly contributed by the sudden decrease in demand and the increasing cost component as the company focused on sustaining the expansion strategy. (Starbucks Recent Same Store Sales; Implication for future growth, 2009). It has to be noted that about Eighty four percent of the revenue for the company was realized from the retail stores and thus the expansion strategy remained as the core business strategy of the firm. (Berger, Buchman, Chase, Hsu, N.d). Before this drop of the net revenues the company was experiencing a steady increase of 27% per year. In the years 1998-1999 in North America, the company launched about two hundred and ninety three stores was opened and the retail sale immediately went up by twenty five percent. The other segment of business apart from the retail sales also flourished during that period. (Starbucks Company 10K, 1998). The major concern for Starbucks is their cost of sales. It has been noted that the cost of sales is as high as 78.8% of the sales revenues and the problem multiplied as the labor cost increased which increased the operating expense of the stores by 37.6%.(Starbucks Company 10K, 1998). In order to handle this situation Starbucks transited its grocery business to Kraft which automatically resulted in lower of the operating expenses and as a result there was a net increase in revenues in the specialty sales division by 20%. The main strength of the firm is in the specialty coffee market and for that reason it targets a particular segment of the population while at the same time maintaining its niche. The extensive opining of stores has led to market cannibalization in certain regions of the world. The employee training and development program have ensured quality service throughout the globe. There are industry level factors that drive the operations of the firm and there is a constant level of risk which affects the business operation of the company. The lack of ownership in the coffee supplier segment in Central and South America is a crucial factor which affects the import of the company. This makes the variable cost to go up and hampers the net profit. Over exporting and concentration of retail outlets at some regions hampers the sales per store figure of the company. The major exporting countries for Starbucks are Canada and countries in Europe, while the importing countries of the company are mainly countries of eastern Africa like Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. Qualitative Techniques: The qualitative studies for forecasting will use various sources of data and information in order to ascertain the current position the firm. The two qualitative method used in this study are secondary market research and the Delphi method. Market Research: Coffee as an industry has now great global level demand and all the coffee companies through out the globe provide employment to more than twenty million people. (Coffee in the 21st Century, 2009). It is being observed that coffee as a commodity alone occupies the second position to petroleum in terms of the dollars traded throughout the world. (Coffee in the 21st Century, 2009). A market research results found out that over four hundred billion cups of coffee is being consumed every year. In the country of Brazil itself over five million people are involved in the industry of cultivating coffee beans. The overall sales premium of specialty coffee in United States of America has now reached a multi-billion dollar level. (Coffee in the 21st Century, 2009).But Starbucks particularly does not operate in coffee industry alone but the industry can be identified as the Specialty Eatery Industry. This industry can be regarded as the part of food and beverage industry which occupies the largest segment of disposable income. (Berger, Buchman, Chase, Hsu, N.d). This indicates a huge potential market to capture. The level of competition also increased due to the huge scope available after the year 1990. (Berger, Buchman, Chase, Hsu, N.d). The year 1997 recorded an estimated eight thousand specialty coffee outlets in the United States. According to the industry analysts the beverage industry at that particular point had enough space for about two or three national players, maybe even more. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). The closest competitor at that time for Starbucks was a Canadian franchisor with many stores in Canada but when compared the size it was less than one-third of the total size of Starbucks. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). The other national level competitor was Gloria Jeans which was also a franchisor of specialty coffees, and its stores are located in most of the malls throughout the United States of America. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). T he other rivals did not have more that two hundred and fifty stores, but there were about twenty small local and regional coffee shop chains that aspired to grow into rivals of Starbucks, most notably New World Coffee, Coffee People, Coffee Station, Java Centrale, and Caribou Coffee. These coffee shops together captured a considerable portion of the market and made the competition tougher. (Berger, Buchman, Chase, Hsu, N.d). The company (Starbucks) also faced huge competition from the nationwide coffee manufacturers like the Kraft General Foods, Procter Gamble and Nestlà ©, the company who were known for distributing the coffees mainly through supermarkets. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). For that reason the market structure thus can be considered to be a monopolistic one as there are several competitors present in the market who are at the same time offering almost similar kind of products and services. This reveals the competitive nature of the market both domestically and internationally. The competitors used certain parameters to gain the competitive advantages. These parameters are mainly strategic store locations, the product mix and most importantly the store atmosphere. The last parameter actually does influences to a great extent in building loyal customer base. Now there are certain other influences which affect the overall industry. Large coffee producers like Nestle and Kraft are constantly being pressed to introduce a voluntary levy on raw coffee beans which is considered as part of a greater move to promote sustainable development of coffee throughout the globe. The Worldwide Sustainable Coffee Fund headed by the members of the coffee industry has put forward a proposal to levy one dollar on every sixty kilograms bag of beans at an International Coffee Organization meeting held in London. (The Future of Coffee industry, 2009). This proposal got informal backing from the seventy per cent of coffee-producing countries all over the world. Delphi Method: A controlled group of executives were interviewed in order to understand the opinions for them regarding the future prospect of the firm. The questionnaire was designed in order to reflect on the opinions of the executives regarding the future and the strategies of the firm. A total of twenty five members were selected for this controlled session. The first statement of the questionnaire stated that the sales revenue of the company will certainly take a positive turn. About forty eight percent of the respondents agreed to the statement. The findings also reveal that there are forty four percent of the respondents who are unaware of the future so provided a neutral view. This may be due to the sudden dip in the sales revenue observed last year, the employees are now not certain of the dramatic comeback. Figure 2: Percentage feedback on question number 1 The statement asked about more of a strategic issue for the firm. The question asked whether the operating expenses of the firm are hindering the performance or in other words controlling the same would improve on the overall turnover. Figure 3: Percentage feedback on question number 2 The feedback suggests that the selected executives of the firm do not accept the fact that the operating cost is the main determining factor which is hindering the process of growth. They consider that due to the complexity of the business model of the company minor variations are observable in the period of economic downturn; otherwise the operating margin is quite satisfying for them. Figure 4: Percentage feedback on question number 3 The response to the third statement is a mixed one. The question was regarding the aggressive store expansion strategy adapted by the company. It is being observed that a major percentage of the employees under the control group are not in favor of the aggressive strategy adapted by the firm. Thus the overall qualitative forecasting using the Delphi method suggests that the closed group considers that the sales figure to go up but does not really support the aggressive expansion strategy adapted by the firm. Reasons for selecting the methods: The two qualitative methods used for the purpose of the study are secondary market research and the Delphi methods. The first one is useful for gathering information regarding the industry and the competitor analysis of the company which are essential parameters for determining the future or forecasting the sales. The second one is the Delphi method where the responses are summarized in order to understand the view of the employees regarding the future. The point of view of the employees is essential as they reflect on the actual picture of the firm. While the market research surveyed the external environment the Delphi analysis helped in realizing the internal point of view of the employees. Time Series Analysis: Apart from the qualitative methods of forecasting quantitative analysis are also required in to estimate and forecast the exact figure of sales that can be estimated. Two time series analysis methods are applied in this case in order to predict the sales figures and also the relationship among the various parameters. Moving Average Method: This method simply takes the average of the previous figures and forecast the next figures. Figure 5: Sales Forecast for the year 2010 and 2011 In this case a span of six years has been taken in order to forecast the sales figure. The forecasted figures for the year 2010 and 2011 come to be 8.2 billion and 8.7 billion dollar respectively. It should be noted that these figures is much less compared to the peak sales figure of 10.4 billion dollar that the company achieved in the year 2008. But due to the certain dip in the market conditions and United States economy the net revenue of the year 2009 also dropped. Due to the late drop in the sales figure the forecasted figures of the year 2010 and 2011 are low and it will take certain time for the firm to achieve the previous level. Though the last trend is increasing as the forecasted revenue for 2011 is higher that of 201 Linear Regression: This method of forecasting is used for determining the causal relationship between predicting parameters and the variable which is depending on the others. Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.9952172 R Square 0.9904572 Adjusted R Square 0.9840953 Standard Error 256.28309 Observations 6 ANOVA df SS MS F Significance F Regression 2 20451290 10225645 155.6865 0.000932 Residual 3 197043.1 65681.02 Total 5 20648333 Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Lower 95.0% Upper 95.0% Intercept -58.491328 663.0271 -0.08822 0.935262 -2168.54 2051.557 -2168.54 2051.557 Operating Income 0.8536555 1.104188 0.773107 0.495786 -2.66036 4.367675 -2.66036 4.367675 No of Stores 0.5670203 0.048045 11.80197 0.001308 0.414121 0.71992 0.414121 0.71992Figure 6: Linear Regression analysis using figures from the year 2004 to 2009 In this particular case the sales revenue is the dependent variable, or the variable which will be forecasted, while the operating income and the number of stores are the predicting variables. The results show that the value of the adjusted R-square is 0.9840953 which means that 98% of the variation of these two parameters explains the variation in the sales revenue. This reflects on the high predictability rate of these two parameters. Now the forecasting equation that is being derived from this analysis is given by Y= -58.5+ 0.85 OI + 0.57 N Where Y is the sales revenue, OI is the operating income of the firm and N is the number of stores. This provides the model with which the future sales figures can be forecasted. This model provides the causal relationship among the parameters. Recommendation: According to the industry analysts Starbucks was a company which can replicate the giants like Nike or Coca-Cola in its own industry segment. In the period 1998 StarBucks was the only company with almost national market coverage in the United States of America. The immediate objective at that time for the firm was to have about two thousand stores in operation by the year 2000 and this target was fulfilled in time. The long term objective was to become the most recognized and respected brand in the world. This goes well with the actual value proposition of the company. The companys efforts to greatly increase its domain were stimulated by the joint ventures with Pepsi and Dreyers and its move to sell coffee in supermarkets. (Starbucks Corporation, 1997). The company was also thinking of a possibility of marketing fruit-juice drinks and candy under the Starbucks label. But prior to any expansion that the firm must adapt, it should consider two crucial aspects. Firstly the cost component being so high the company cannot afford radical product line of store expansion in the given situation. Secondly if the company tries to expand its target customer base, it may dilute it overall brand and the customers as well as the employees (who have been a major asset for the company) may see this as a shift from the overall value proposition of the firm. This is bound to affect in a negative way. For that reason whichever among the two possible options that the company chooses to increase its sales revenue, it must analyze the long term growth and prosperity of the company. Conclusion: The Company must continue on its expansion strategy as it is only way they can increase the sales revenue. Shifting the target base or shrinking the network will cause equal harm for their brand which will again hamper the future sales. Though the threat of competition is huge, still every time the company came out with successful marketing strategy to overcome the situation and it continues with its aim of continuous expansion plans. Quality product delivery along with increasing the network is what the company mainly works on, and for that reason it is expected the company will certainly overcome the current situation and its stock market figures will show positive trend again in the future.