Assignment:
Case Study 1-Banquet Gone Bad
Foster Newguy pulled out the banquet event orders (BEOs) for the weekend. His meeting with the general manager, Susan Truscott, was in ten minutes, and he wanted to make sure he was familiar with all the details of the weekend's events.
Foster had been hired as banquet manager for the High Hills University Club two weeks earlier. His first week had been spent reading employee manuals and reviewing club policy. The second week had been spent meeting staff and learning where things were kept in the facility. This weekend, Susan was going to work with him on each banquet, training him in the club's policies and procedures for banquets.
Just as Foster finished scanning the first BEO, his phone rang. "Hello, Foster? This is Susan."
"Ms. Truscott, hello! Where are you? Your office doesn't usually have this much background noise," Foster said.
"I'm at the airport. My father is in the hospital, and I'm taking the next flight to London so I can be with him. You'll have to take care of the banquets this weekend. It shouldn't be too bad. It's just a baby shower this afternoon, the Woodstone wedding this evening, and a poker tournament tomorrow afternoon. The wedding is a big one, but Mrs. Woodstone is a long-time member of this club, and is very supportive of our entire staff."
"No problem, Ms. Truscott, don't you worry about a thing. I'll have everything under control. I hope everything goes well with your father. We'll be thinking about you."
"Great, Foster, I knew we could count on you when we hired you. If you need anything, you have a very talented staff, and they should be able to help you out. Good luck," Susan said as she hung up.
Foster smiled. He'd left his previous position because there were few challenges. This weekend was just the sort of opportunity he needed to prove his talent. He picked up the BEO for the wedding and begun studying it as his phone rang again, "University Club, this is Foster Newguy."
"Mr. Newguy, good morning, this is Mrs. Woodstone. Cindy at the switchboard said I should talk to you about the wedding tonight. Is that so?"
"Why yes, ma'am. I'm the new banquet manager, and Ms. Truscott was called out of town at the last moment. What can I do to help you?"
"I'm afraid my daughter's been a little flighty trying to get prepared for the wedding tonight. She forgot to give me twenty-eight names of people who told her they would be coming to the reception tonight." Foster glanced down at the BEO. Mrs. Woodstone had guaranteed the reception for 300 people Thursday afternoon. Cornish hens were being served, and Foster was fairly certain that exact orders had been placed for the meal. At any rate, there wouldn't be enough for a ten percent increase. Valetta, a long-time, experienced banquet captain, walked into Foster's office and smiled at him as she pulled out one of the banquet order binders.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Woodstone," Foster said. "But I have here that you confirmed the reception at 300 guests. The club requires a 48-hour notice on the number of guests. It's the only way we can serve you what you want."
"What I want, Mr. Newguy," Mrs. Woodstone replied icily, "is for my daughter's reception to be perfect. That means that we're not going to call her friends and tell them they can't come. I know this club's staff is capable of serving an extra 28 people. Surely it's not a big deal to add them now. You have all day to prepare."
"Rules are rules. Could you hold for just a moment, Mrs. Woodstone?" Foster asked as he hit the hold button on the phone. Valetta had begun waving frantically at him. "What is it, Valetta?"
"Mr. Newguy, you can't say no to Mrs. Woodstone. It's early in the day; just make sure you tell the chef that there will be extra people. We'll figure out the seating for them," Valetta insisted.
Foster narrowed his eyes. He didn't like having a banquet captain telling him how to do his job, but he supposed she knew the members better than he did. "Thank you, Valetta, I'll tell her. Now, do you need anything else?" Valetta shook her head. "Then please leave so that I can finish this phone conversation uninterrupted."
Valetta frowned and left his office. Foster returned to the phone. "Mrs. Woodstone, thank you for waiting. I've just spoken with my staff and told them that we must do our best to accommodate you. Is there anything else we can do for you?"
Foster and Mrs. Woodstone reviewed the remaining details of the banquet. When they hung up, Foster basked in Mrs. Woodstone's profuse gratitude. He then began putting together a diagram for the evening's setup. Foster had noticed that very few BEOs had seating diagrams with them. That was one thing he planned on changing as the new banquet manager. He quickly sketched out where all the tables would go to fit 328 people in the ballroom.
He then went in search of Valetta. He found her pulling deep purple table skirting and tablecloths from storage. "Hello, Valetta, what an awful color!" Valetta gave him a half-smile. "It's the wedding's color. Unusual for summer, but if the bride wants it, it's what we'll do."
"No accounting for taste," Foster said. "I've diagramed how the tables need to be set up tonight. Please pass this along to your set- up staff."
"Yes, sir," Valetta replied. "Have you spoken with Chef Cohen about the additional guests, yet?"
"No, but I'll get to that soon. I'll be in my office if you need anything." Foster left, poking his head into the kitchen as he headed back to his office. He didn't see Chef Cohen, and decided he could return later to tell him. In the meantime, he was going to go meet a friend for lunch downtown.
Several hours later, Foster went into the ballroom to see how the set-up was progressing. He glanced at the tables and then pulled out his copy of the diagram he had done earlier. He was dismayed to see that the two didn't match. He immediately sought out Valetta to demand an explanation.
"What is the meaning of this?" Foster demanded once he'd found her. "I beg your pardon?" Valetta responded. "We're setting up for tonight's wedding."
"You're not following the diagram I gave you. Why not?"
"Oh, that," Valetta shook her head. "You weren't around when I came to talk to you about it. If we set it up your way, it would be too cramped. What we have to do in this room is..."
"Are you the banquet manager?" Foster interrupted. "It's not your job to decide how these tables get set-up. I know what I'm doing. Tear down these tables and set it up according to the diagram I gave you."
Foster briefly wondered if Valetta was trying to sabotage him and make him look bad before his boss just because he was the new guy. Maybe she'd applied for his job and hadn't gotten it. He quickly decided he needed to lay down the law with her, lest she get him into trouble.
Valetta had been silent for a moment, but now she spoke up again, "I've helped set up banquets for 15 years here. I know what this room is capable of. Your way doesn't work."
"Listen, missy, you do it my way, or I'll fire you."
"Oh no you won't," she responded. "Because I quit. I won't work for you. And when Ms. Truscott gets back, I'll tell her exactly how you've behaved."
"Oh, going to run and tattle to mommy like a 5-year-old?" Foster said, his voice rising angrily. "This isn't kindergarten anymore, miss. We have a job to do, and if you're not going to do it right, we don't need you here."
Valetta's face flushed with anger. She took her apron and name tag off and flung it to a table, before turning and walking out without another word.
Oblivious to the growing number of banquet employees that had stopped working to listen to his tirade, Foster continued, "Don't you just throw your stuff on the table. Come back here and put them away. And you," he barked at a near-by employee. "Follow little-miss-I'm-too-good-to-do-as-I'm-told and make sure she doesn't steal anything on her way out."
The employee stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, and then broke out in a run for the door. Foster was too angry to hear her call out, "Mom, wait!" He instead turned to the remaining employees who were staring at him, uncertain what to do. "Who's been here the longest?"
Pierre stepped forward. "I've been here ten years, not as long as Valetta." "Well, hopefully you're not as rigid as her either. Here's the way these tables are supposed to be set-up. Take care of it. This banquet is too important to screw up." Foster handed the diagram to Pierre and stormed out of the ballroom.
He realized he still hadn't gotten in touch with Chef Cohen. "Oh well," he thought, "weddings never have what they guarantee for anyway. It won't be a problem."
By the time the wedding guests began to arrive, Foster had calmed down and was again looking forward to the banquet. He walked down to the lobby as he saw the limousines pull up with the bridal party. He stood at the top of the stairs as the door attendant opened the door for the guests. Foster was quickly able to spot Mrs. Woodstone. He had looked up her photo in the club's files so that he'd know what she looked like.
He approached her with a smile and introduced himself. He then escorted her to the ballroom and pointed out the head table. Mrs. Woodstone told him she was thrilled with the decorations and especially appreciated him making the arrangements for their extra guests, "I'll be sure to tell Susan what a wonderful job you're doing," she said as she left him to join the receiving line.
Foster smiled and headed to the kitchen whistling. He complimented one of the banquet servers on the plate presentation and joined the line where they were rushing. After a few minutes of helping out, one of the servers rushed over to him. "Mr. Newguy, we have a problem. The tables are too crammed together and we can't get between them to serve drinks. The groom is complaining because his aunt's wheelchair can't make it to her table. Could you come talk to them?"
Foster hurried out to reassure the groom and help find a place for the groom's aunt. In the meantime, another server came in. Not finding Foster, she hurried over to Chef Cohen. "Chef, there aren't enough tables for the guests. There's about twenty people without seats."
Chef Cohen straightened his spine and inhaled deeply. Those who recognized the signs of his notorious temper quickly found somewhere else in the kitchen that desperately needed their attention. "That fool of a banquet manager!" Chef Cohen fumed, "He doesn't have a clue about what he's doing. I'll have to take care of it myself or it'll never get done right. You-go get me a head count of how many people are out there. Georgia-you have a brain. Take Phil and Tom and go set up another table on the dance floor. I'll send Sonya out with some additional place settings in a few minutes."
The employees scurried to do the chef's bidding. Chef Cohen turned to his assistant and shook his head. "For Foster's sake, I hope he just forgot a table and that there aren't that many extra guests. Because if there are, they'll have to go hungry. I only made twelve extra servings."
Meanwhile, Mrs. Woodstone joined Foster and the groom who were having a tense conversation in the corner. The groom was telling Foster exactly what he thought about his table settings, and Foster worked at keeping the defensive edge out of his voice. He turned to Mrs. Woodstone with a smile, hoping she had come to defend the club and take her new son-in-law back to the wedding festivities. His smile faded as she turned angry eyes on him. "Mr. Foster, what is the meaning of that!" She pointed across the room where three aproned employees were setting up a table on the dance floor and putting a bright yellow tablecloth on it.
"Um, I'd be happy to find out for you," he stammered.
"Well, let me inform you what your employees had to say. They said that there weren't enough seats for everyone and so they're having to set up an extra table so that food can be served. And that atrocious yellow is the only clean linen you have to put on the table. I called you this morning and told you we would have 328 people. We even had eight no-shows and you still seem to be utterly incapable of responding to the simplest of needs. I hope you have a good explanation for this!"
The following industry experts helped generate and develop this case: David Brown, CCM, General Manager, The Heritage Club, Mason, Ohio; and Sara J. Shaughnessy, Clubhouse Manager, Somerset Country Club, Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
This case appears in Contemporary Club Management, Third Edition, Joe Perdue and Jason Koenigsfeld, Editors, (Lansing, Mich.: Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Motel Association, 2013).
This case also appears in Managing Service in Food and Beverage Operations, Second Edition, (Lansing, Mich.: Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Motel Association, 1998), ISBN 0-86612-077-7.
Case studies are designed to encourage application of program or training concepts into the real world of club management. Case studies also create opportunities for increasing your oral and written communication skills. As you analyze and resolve the case studies, you should justify and defend your opinions and recommendations.
Questions:
1. What did Foster do wrong?
2. What should Foster do now?
3. How did Susan's actions contribute to the failure of the event? What should she do now to make things right?
After carefully reading the case, you should prepare a short one to two page response paper where you analyze and answer the above three questions. Be sure your paper is correct as to grammar and spelling
CASE STUDY WORKSHEET
Use this worksheet to help you develop the most appropriate solution of the various situations that are presented in the case study.
Title of the Case Study:
Identify the key problem(s) in the case. Avoid re-telling the symptoms of the problem.
How do you know?
Ramifications of the Problem: (Who is affected? What are the possible impacts?)
Alternative solutions: (list at least 2 options with the pros/cons for each one) Pros Cons
Final Choice: Why is this best option?
Case Study 2- Events
You should provide all of the following information. Format should be to number each part of the responses just as they are numbered below (1-7). If there are subparts such as in number 4 below, you must number each subpart.
1. Decide a hypothetical event (ex. Wedding, trade show, music festival, family reunion, etc.) that you would like to work
Case Study Two.
2. Research the type of event by finding and reading at least four sources of information about the type of event. These do not have to be research articles. They can be for example books about weddings or internet articles about trade shows. You do need to state in two or three sentences what you learned from each source. You must also reference the source according to APA style.
3. In a paragraph, describe your event (what it is, where it will be, who will come, what will happen, etc.).
4. State two items for each part of a SWOT analysis for your event. For example, if your event was an outside wedding in Olympic Centennial Park:
Strengths
(example) Large open attractive space allowing for a large number of people
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
5. You must have at least one food and beverage function at your event. For example the dinner at a wedding reception, a vendor dinner at a trade show, entertainer's dinner at a music festival, etc. For this food and beverage event, you must complete a detailed Banquet Event Order (BEO). You may use the textbook or the internet for examples of banquet event order (BEO) formats or forms.
6. List the steps of coordination/execution for your event. This is a rather extensive list. You might think of this as a check list of things to do for your event.
7. Evaluation of the completed event is very important. Explain how you could evaluate the success or failure of your event?