Working for Catering has really given me perspective about organizations. I have worked there more than three years, and I have seen the organization work like a well-oiled machine, and I have seen it break down horribly. One way that it works effectively is in the staffing of events. There are algorithms that the company uses to do everything from scheduling students to booking events. For example, an event that has 120 people requires one buffet line. Any more than 120 guests and there must be two buffet lines. The same thing applies to bars provided. If there are more than eighty guests, two stand-alone bars are used. Less than eighty and only one is required. This works well because everyone in Catering knows these numbers, so everyone from the chefs to the servers knows always to accommodate for this.
When the organization breaks down, it is a headache for everyone. The biggest problem that happens involves notes about bookings. Rooms and events are booked months in advance, and each event is different and includes different specific notes about what needs to be done special. For example, there may be someone who cannot have dairy in any form, or perhaps the mother of the bride is allergic to a specific common flower. When these notes are not meticulously recorded and made common knowledge to the staff, problems arise. I have been to weddings where the bride was allergic to peanuts and the oil the chefs used contained peanuts. This sort of breakdown in communication causes the most problems for the staff, and those higher up are only chided for such hiccups. This has made it so there is not too much incentive to be meticulous on the part of the higher ups, while the staff is constantly alert of these problems.Transaction costs in Catering are the bulk of the costs passed onto the guests. The food is not made onsite, so there is a transportation fee. To have waiters serve the food versus a buffet line, a large cost is added. For special requests that are not standardly available, there is a large cost for the consumers. For example, I worked a graduation for a wealthy family. The grandfather of the graduate wanted to do celebratory shots of Maker's Mark with his grandson. This had not been ordered before hand. To provide the bottle of Maker's Mark, my manager had to phone a truck where the liquor is kept. A guy had to come unlock the liquor storage, a trucker had to bring it to the event, and a TIPS-trained (legally able to bartend) server had to come to serve the Maker's Mark. All of this made the bottle cost $112 instead of the retail price of about $32.
I believe that Campus Dining also runs the food service on the 2nd floor of the Union. The Ballroom, for example, used to have table service. but it went to Buffet instead as a cost saver. My experience as a consumer is that the architecture is more interesting than the food, but it is adequate for that purpose. I've had better food at some of the special events you mention.
ReplyDeleteIf you read Bolman and Deal, in the first few chapters they use the metaphor of an organization as a well oiled machine. It makes sense for the Military and as you suggest it makes sense for Campus Dining. I don't think it fits for the academic part of what the university does.
Attention to detail is critical in the Campus Dining situation. Seeing the big picture is more important for the academic mission. In both cases there is the issue of whether people can be too heads down about the work. I believe that is the source of many of the breakdowns you observed.