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SUNSET GRILL AT BLUE

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9B10D015

Jason Melhuish wrote this case under the supervision of Professors Dina Ribbink and John Haywood-Farmer solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors might have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2010, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation

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It always seemed to take staff longer than the owner expected to learn the ropes, and queues were endemic in the restaurant’s operations. On a recent busy weekend, Melhuish had been dismayed to discover that the queue of waiting customers stretched all the way around the street corner. He had darted outside and reassured customers that they would be seated within 15 minutes. Although many patrons groaned and decided to go elsewhere, many others stayed, because breakfast options in the vicinity were scarce and higher priced. Back inside, Melhuish saw that the kitchen had four meals waiting to be delivered to a table, with another six coming in the next 30 seconds. In the short time he spent contemplating this situation, three new orders came into the kitchen and were added to the pile of 25 waiting to be filled. Melhuish could not help but notice that the two servers he had recently hired