Executive Summary
Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant noticed that tips that waiters were receving were on a drop off also wait times for meals were also taking 20 minutes instead of the normal 12 minutes during peak hours. Management conducted customer surveys during busy hours and received some unfavorable results. The problem with Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant is their service failures and a lack of a systematic approach to analyzing these services. Without a systematic approach to analyzing processes, Jose’s is dropping off on their services and not meeting customer expectations. In creating a systematic approach for Jose’s the service failures became clear. To solve this problem in the short term, the company needs to redesign their processes by hiring additional cooks as well as making sure that these new processes are implemented on a timely schedule. Long term the company should look into adding a proper waiting area where customers are more comfortable waiting for a table. They should also look into adding a bar where those customers who are waiting for tables can purchase drinks.
Description
Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant is a small restaurant that seats 58 (Krajewski et al., p. 154). The restaurant is located in New England in a business district that is on the edge of a large city (Krajewski et al., p. 154). They offer a wide variety of traditional Mexican cuisine (Krajewski et al., p. 154). Customers are usually seated immediately except for during peak hours on Friday and Saturday nights when they can wait up to 45 minutes (Krajewski et al., p. 154). Customers who decide to stay and wait have to wait outside of the restaurant, because there is no waiting area in the restaurant (Krajewski et al., p. 154). The menu consists of 23 main entrees that are assembled from the basics such as chicken, beef, rice, corn tortillas, flour tortillas, tomatoes, and lettuce (Krajewski et al., p. 154). The cook will prep the basics before dining hours begin and the meals are finished off once an order for them as come in (Krajewski et al., p. 154). On a typical night it takes about 12 minutes to cook a meal once it has been ordered (Krajewski et al., p. 154). On nights that are peak hours such as Friday and Saturdays it can take up to 20 minutes to complete a meal (Krajewski et al., p. 154). Customer surveys were conducted during a Friday and Saturday night and showed some unfavorable results (Krajewski et al., p. 154).
Analysis
There is a six step approach for analyzing performance (Krajewski et al., p. 121). When using this six step approach for Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant there are clear processes that are contributing to the problem.
Step 1- Identify Opportunities
The first question to ask about Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant is the customer satisfied? The answer to that question would be that 19% are not satisfied and are probably not coming back to the restaurant. The company is losing customers, because they are not delivering their services to the customers’ expectations. There is room for improvement in the processes which in turn will help reduce the percentage of customers that are not satisfied with their overall dining experience.
Step 2- Define the Scope In Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant the define scope is analyzing customer satisfaction surveys to see what the problem is with the servers or cooks that is causing a loss in business.

Step 3- Document the Process
Using a blueprint shows the interaction that the customer has with the services that Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant (Shostack, G. L.. 1984). This allows for the restaurant to be able to explore the issues in creating or managing the services they provide (Shostack, G. L.. 1984). Exhibit 1 is a blueprint that shows what services are failing for Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant. These service failures include: the wait time for a table, waiter service, wait time for meal, and quality of food served.
Step 4- Evaluate Performance
Using a Pareto Chart will show which service failures are happening the most frequently and should be addressed first. Exhibit 2 is a Pareto Chart that used the data from customer survey results that management had provided. Based on this chart the most problematic issue with Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant is the wait time for the food to be delivered once the food had been ordered. This failed service accounts for 33% of the complaints that customers’ reported on the survey. The second most problematic service was the overall dining experience for the customer not worth the money the paid for, this accounted for 21% of the complaints that customers’ reported. The Pareto Chart shows that these two complaints account for 55% of the complaints. The wait to be seated accounted for 17%, unsatisfactory food accounted for 15%, and unsatisfactory waiter accounted for 13% of the complaints reported.

Recommendations
Short Term
Step 5- Redesigning the Process
Based on steps 1-4 of the systematic approach in analyzing the processes of Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant it is clear that the problems in the kitchen is one of the main causes for the decrease in tips for the waiters. There needs to be a redesign of the services that have impact on the time it takes for a meal to be completed once the order is placed. Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant first needs hire additional cooks during peak hours. Additional hands in the kitchen will help this process become more functional and be able to handle more orders coming in. Once meals are coming out in an appropriate amount of time, the restaurant will be able to turn more tables during one night as well as reduce the amount of time it takes to be seated. Once these two problems are rectified it will account for 50% of the complaints. Customer complaints from their dining experience not worth the cost should also decrease, because two major problems are being addressed.
Step 6- Implement Changes
It is important that Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant takes steps to redesigning their processes to improve customer satisfaction. This may include costs such as better training for wait staff, cooks, and hostess as well as creating new jobs such as the hiring of additional cooks. Management of the restaurant need to make sure that the implementation of the redesign is going according to schedule (Krajewski et al., p. 123).

Long Term
It would be in the best interest of the restaurant to add a waiting area for their customers. The restaurant is losing sales, because customers have to wait outside of the restaurant up to 45 minutes during peak hours. Adding an adequate waiting area that would have a bar could lead to potential profit increases. Customers can purchase drinks at a bar while waiting for a table, which will create additional profits. Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant has the potential to become more profitable by adding a proper seating area as well as a bar.