Teamwork and the management of food service operations

Abstract

The food service business is a complex one. The food and drink that a restaurant offers form part of their total product and only partially explains why customers choose it. Other reasons may include service, decor and ambience. Although every restaurant needs people to deliver the product and service, the food service sector is characterised by a wide range of different management styles and human resource strategies. Owners and managers of restaurants need to balance the need for profit and customer satisfaction against the need for greater employee retention in a sector where staff turnover is common. This can create tensions between management control of work processes for consistency of service quality with the needs of employees for job interest and satisfaction. This article explores some of these conflicting issues in the food service business and looks at the role that teamwork may play in resolving them. In particular, the approach to teamworking in the UK TGI Fridays restaurant group is examined.

Citation

Ingram, H. and Jones, S. (1998), "Teamwork and the management of food service operations", Team Performance Management, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527599810214201