Developing Good Business Sense By Michele Rowley BUS/210 5/12/2012

The three companies I have chosen for my observation of employment processes are Panera Bread, Wendy’s, and McDonalds. These are all fast food restaurants although Panera Bread has been coined the upscale of fast food. I feel that their business components are similar and will compare these in order to find out how they work the same as well as how they differ. Working in the food industry, I find that it is in my interest to compare similar companies and to observe how these businesses relate in terms of task completion and business operations. I feel that developing good business sense is a personal goal of mine because I work in a management position and believe it is beneficial to learn all aspects of a different business and how they each function. While they are all similar in the kind of industry they are in, these three companies do have processes that are different. At both Wendy’s and McDonalds the food service is relatively the same in terms of how they prepare and serve their food. A lot of the time the food is premade and kept warm waiting for an order. Some items are made to order. They both offer drive-thru service as well as dine-in. Employees work primarily in the back of the house and everyone functions from behind the counter. At Panera Bread the processes are slightly different in the sense that the employees are more hands on where the food is delivered to your table after it is made fresh to order. They key component to this restaurant is the importance of an employee or manager being out front in the dining room making sure the business is running smoothly and clearing tables. In analyzing the differences in operations involved in the input, operations, and output stages of these companies, I have observed that while they may be the same in achieving quality in their product, their focus is different in the customer service aspect. McDonalds and Wendy’s have the name to sell the product, so I don’t feel that the employees have to work overly hard at achieving customer satisfaction. Panera Bread’s perspective is little different in the feel that pleasing the customer is more important in terms of associate interaction with the guests as well as the quality of the food they serve. While McDonalds and Wendy’s don’t focus on speed of service in production or steps of service at the cash register, Panera Bread’s standards are on the higher end of the spectrum with both of these items their goals and what they expect from their employees. All three restaurants are constantly striving to adapt with the economy and the way the business is run in terms of keeping up with competition and the times. The main kinds of Operations and Materials Management Costs these companies have are plant costs, labor costs, and raw materials and components cost. The way that these companies avoid high plant costs is by being franchisees, which is cheaper to have their franchises invest capital and make the money needed to operate. Labor costs is another cost that these companies treat very seriously in terms of how much labor they are using with employees working on the clock and how much they are paying out versus how much profit they are actually making. Another process of OMM is raw material and components cost. This is a way to bring product in at a smaller price. According to our text, McDonalds has purchased cattle ranches In South America to obtain low cost high quality beef. While Panera Bread does get everything local, McDonalds and Wendy’s use resources like purchasing suppliers in order to have better control over their supplies. In order for these companies to have a competitive edge over all the others, they must be able to take all of these costs into account and implement a plan that will give them the best advantage. They need to know what the customer wants in certain times and to be able to adapt. They also need to have a fresh perspective in order to have a product that will stand out. Panera Bread is known for their Pick Two selection on the menu where you can get a half item paired with a different half item. Just recently Wendy’s picked up this same idea because they knew this was what worked. Companies also need to know how to create a competitive edge by observing other processes in other companies in order to know what works best.

Hev Phoung