Student Name: Stephanie Bourgeois
Student ID: 3225453
Assignment #1
Manager’s Organization: 895084952RC00001 operating as Sam’s Monkey Tree Pub, Diamantes Restaurant, & Diamantes Catering.

Steve Dinham, Manager and Co Owner of Canadian Business 895084952RC00001 or better known as Sam’s Monkey Tree Pub, Diamantes Restaurant, and Diamantes Catering, is truly a jack-of-all-trades. Strategic planning (food/liquor/dry goods orders), organization (scheduling, staffing), effective leadership (working the floor with the staff), and control (staying on target with budgets, communications, sales) with his business partner, employees, and suppliers are all a crucial part of the day-to-day operations needed for these businesses’ success.

Yellowknife, A small city located in Canada's Northwest Territories, is home to this growing hospitality food and beverage company. Yellowknife’s remote, albeit unique environment can be unforgiving when the cold winter months arrive; with blustering temperatures as cold as -60 degrees Celsius for several weeks at a time. During the challenging winter months, resource allocation and the ability to receive product shipments from southern Canada become the primary concern for businesses; as there are limited alternatives should an order not arrive on time, or even worse, arrive frozen solid and are deemed unusable. A city comprised of a primarily resource based economy, has suffered due to the volatility of the commodity market. The economic downturn resulting in the closure of DeBeers Snap Lake Mine in December 2015, locally referred to as "Snap Lake", resides 220km Northeast of Yellowknife, and has left over 180 members of the community without jobs (Quenneville, 2015). Sociocultural and legal trends, such as sustainable ocean wise fish, have resulted in people wanting to choose healthier lifestyles; creating an increased demand for healthier options in restaurants and the banning of smoking in all establishments (CBC, 2009). Positive changes in the restaurant industry have come throughout the years with advancements in technology. Steve played a key role in modernizing the company by implementing a Point of Sale (POS) system that allowed for electronic cost capturing and product counts that could be printed out daily, monthly, or annually for year end. Several years later a barcode scanning system was brought in to facilitate the liquor counts and to cut down on product loss and theft.

With a Bachelor in Business Communications (human) from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, NS and over 22 years in the hospitality industry (technical), Steve Dinham is more than equipped with the skills needed to run a successful multi business company (conceptual) with the goal of taking over as sole proprietor in June 2018 (motivation). His managerial role is a mix of all four types as he is a top manager, middle manager, first-line manager, and a team leader. Steve acts as a key ambassador at sponsored events, informs staff of changes and updates during meetings, and negotiates prices with suppliers. These responsibilities serve as examples as to how he acts in the interpersonal, informational, and decisional roles. Customers, employees serve as primary stakeholders while service institutions act as secondary stakeholders, such as the Legislative Assembly all depend on Steve to act responsibly in these roles to ensure that their Company’s best interests are achieved.

The internal culture for this company is as unique as the town it thrives in daily. A high pressure, family oriented environment, encourages staff to trust and rely on their owners as friends, as well as colleagues. Balancing this fine line of professionalism can be a daunting task to most, but Steve manages this with ease as he shows his staff unwavering support, while still helping them achieve their maximum potential. Having a strong team is important to this company as the customers and competitors are constantly changing and require close monitoring. Customers are a varied mix of local regulars, miners stopping through on their 2-week rotations, and business professionals from every walk of life. The competition of other restaurants and pubs is always evolving. Many businesses do not survive their first unforgiving northern winter, or fail in gaining the loyalty of the primary stakeholders. Suppliers and regulatory changes are not as closely monitored as southern Canada as the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) holds a monopoly over the liquor warehouse on a commission agreement, and the GNWT Department of Finance runs the NWT Liquor Licensing Board. As social media becomes a daily part of life for the average consumer, it is as important as ever to have the upper hand on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and Trip Advisor. In 2016 consumers now rely heavily on online reviews and recommendations. Comments on these sites must be monitored closely; if there are negative reviews then it is more than likely that your business will not be their first choice.

At the end of the day, success in this busy and diverse job scope boils down to Steve fulfilling his social responsibilities to his customers, suppliers, employees and community. It is Steve's responsibility to provide a warm place to meet friends with exceptionally good food, and service, while remaining a familiar name to the community. It is also imperative that Steve keeps abreast and adheres to regulations instated by the liquor board to maintain a safe, non-discriminatory atmosphere where operations can be carried out in the best manner possible. Steve also makes a point of sponsoring a variety of local sports teams every year; one of the many ways he has been a integral manager, committing countless days and nights to making this company a household name in his small community.

Bibliography
Quenneville, G. (2015, December 05). De Beers mine in Northwest Territories had water issues before closure. Retrieved February 17, 2016, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/de-beers-mine-closure-water-1.3352186

CBC, N. (2009, September 30). Anti-smoking efforts in Canada and abroad. Retrieved February 17, 2016, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/anti-smoking-efforts-in-canada-and-abroad-1.829014