Linear Programming Case Studies

Paper Summary:

The paper applies the concepts of linear programming to two case studies regarding the same restaurant business. The first case-study attempts to determine how many meals a new restaurant should prepare each night in order to maximize its profitability from the venture. The second case study relates to changes in the business which may or may not increase profitability. The paper considers staffing requirements, dietary concerns of customers, and reduction of waste to reduce overheads. The paper also focuses on an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of advertising, the impact of reducing labor input and finally the impact of increasing the sale price of the dinners. The paper explores operations research in the restaurant industry and concludes with recommendations for the restaurant. Tables and a graph are included with the paper.

Outline:
Operations Research in the Restaurant Industry
Determining the Number of Meals to Prepare
Conclusions and Recommendations

From the Paper:

"The use of 'scientific management' in the restaurant sector is a concept which stemmed originally from Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911. This used scientific and mathematical techniques to demonstrate how the different service elements could measured, predicted and therefore tailored to requirements. It is the application of these techniques from the 1950s onwards which has seen the successful development of many of the fast-food chains, such as McDonalds. This concept was further developed by Sasser in 1976, who described the importance of these scientific techniques for balancing supply and demand (Chase & Apte, 2007)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Banker, R.D. & Morey, R.C. (1986). Efficiency analysis for exogenously fixed inputs and outputs. Operations Research, 34(4), 513-521.
• Brusco, M.J. & Johns, T.R. (1998). Staffing a multiskilled workforce with varying levels of productivity: An analysis of cross-training policies. Decision Sciences, 29(2), 499-515.
• Chase, R.B. & Apte, U.M. (2007). A history of research in service operations: What's the big idea? Journal of Operations Management, 25(2), 375-386.
• Gattoufi, S., Oral, M. & Reisman, A. (2004). A taxonomy for data envelopment analysis. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 38(2-3), 141-158.
• Gimenez-Garcia, V.M., Martinez-Parra, J. L. & Buffa, F.P. (2007). Improving resource utilization in multi-unit networked organizations: The case of a Spanish restaurant chain. Tourism Management, 28(1), 262-270.

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