Growth of the Food Service Industry

The food service industry has come into its own recognition as a growing segment of the total food market. The author looks at the recent expansion of the industry in volume, diversification of restaurant types, and menu variety

The Food Service Industry: Beliefs Held by Academics

In his study - The Food Service Industry: Beliefs Held by Academics - by Jack Ninemeier, Associate Professor, School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at Michigan State University, Associate Professor Ninemeier initially describes his study this way: “Those in the academic sector exert a great deal of influence on those they are training to enter the food service industry. One author surveyed educational institutions across the country to ascertain attitudes of teachers toward various segments of the industry.” Those essential segments of the industry serve as the underpinnings of this discussion and are four-fold. They are lodging, institutional, multi-unit, and single-unit properties. For each segment the analysis addressed factors relating to Marketing, management and operating concerns: Marketing, operations, fiscal management, innovation, future of the segment Employee-related concerns: quality of work life, training/education opportunities, career opportunities The study uses a survey of academicians as a guide; they point to segments of the food service industry students might be inclined to enter, or even ignore. The survey was done via a questionnaire sent from the campus of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at Michigan State University to 1850 full-time faculty members in two and four-year hospitality programs in the United States. Through the survey, Ninemeier wishes to reasonably address specific problems now confronting the food service industry. Those problems include but are not limited to: reducing employee turnover, retaining staff, increasing productivity and revenue, and attracting new staff. “Teachers in these programs are, therefore, an important plank in industry's platform designed to recruit students with appropriate background knowledge and interest in their operations,” Ninemeier says. Your author actually illustrates the survey results, in table form. The importance to an employee, of tangibles and intangibles such as morale, ego/esteem, wages, and benefits are each explored through the survey. According to the study, an interesting dichotomy exists in the institutional property element. Although, beliefs the academics hold about the institutional element suggest that it offers low job stress, attractive working conditions, and non-demanding competitive pressures, the survey and Ninemeier also observe: “Academics do not believe that many of their graduates will enter the institutional segment.” “If academic beliefs are incorrect, an educational program to educate academics about management and employee opportunities in the segment may be in order,” Ninemeier waxes philosophically.

Public Service Motivation in Public and Nonprofit Service Providers: The Cases of Belarus and Poland

The work motivation construct is central to the theory and practice of many social science disciplines. Yet, due to the novelty of validated measures appropriate for a deep cross-national comparison, studies that contrast different administrative regimes remain scarce. This study represents an initial empirical effort to validate the Public Service Motivation (PSM) instrument proposed by Kim and colleagues (2013) in a previously unstudied context. The two former communist countries analyzed in this dissertation—Belarus and Poland— followed diametrically opposite development strategies: a fully decentralized administrative regime in Poland and a highly centralized regime in Belarus. The employees (n = 677) of public and nonprofit organizations in the border regions of Podlaskie Wojewodstwo (Poland) and Hrodna Voblasc (Belarus) are the subjects of study. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed three dimensions of public service motivation in the two regions: compassion, self-sacrifice, and attraction to public service. The statistical models tested in this dissertation suggest that nonprofit sector employees exhibit higher levels of PSM than their public sector counterparts. Nonprofit sector employees also reveal a similar set of values and work attitudes across the countries. Thus, the study concludes that in terms of PSM, employees of nonprofit organizations constitute a homogenous group that exists atop the administrative regimes. However, the findings propose significant differences between public sector agencies across the two countries. Contrary to expectations, data suggest that organization centralization in Poland is equal to—or for some items even higher than—that of Belarus. We can conclude that the absence of administrative decentralization of service provision in a country does not necessarily undermine decentralized practices within organizations. Further analysis reveals strong correlations between organization centralization and PSM for the Polish sample. Meanwhile, in Belarus, correlations between organization centralization items and PSM are weak and mostly insignificant. The analysis indicates other factors beyond organization centralization that significantly impact PSM in both sectors. PSM of the employees in the studied region is highly correlated with their participation in religious practices, political parties, or labor unions as well as location of their organization in a capital and type of social service provided.

Consumers’ Reactions to Sanitation in Casual Dining, Quick-Service, and Fine Dining Restaurants

Consumers’ concern about food safety, sanitation, and health has increased since food-borne illnesses still frequently occur in the US. This article explored consumers’ perceptions, emotions, and behavioral intention about the sanitation of the physical environment in three different restaurant settings, casual dining, quick-service, and fine dining restaurants. Disgust was the most strongly felt negative emotion, but no significant differences were found for negative emotional reactions to dirty conditions among the three types of restaurants. Positive emotional reactions were significantly different among the restaurant types. Behavioral intention was also significantly different among the three restaurant types as a reaction to dirty food. The findings help restaurant owners and managers understand how consumers feel and react to “dirty” food, service staff, or dining room tables in casual, quick-service and fine dining restaurant.

Public service motivation in public and nonprofit service providers: The cases of Belarus and Poland

The work motivation construct is central to the theory and practice of many social science disciplines. Yet, due to the novelty of validated measures appropriate for a deep cross-national comparison, studies that contrast different administrative regimes remain scarce. This study represents an initial empirical effort to validate the Public Service Motivation (PSM) instrument proposed by Kim and colleagues (2013) in a previously unstudied context. The two former communist countries analyzed in this dissertation—Belarus and Poland—followed diametrically opposite development strategies: a fully decentralized administrative regime in Poland and a highly centralized regime in Belarus. The employees (n = 677) of public and nonprofit organizations in the border regions of Podlaskie Wojewodstwo (Poland) and Hrodna Voblasc (Belarus) are the subjects of study. ^ Confirmatory factor analysis revealed three dimensions of public service motivation in the two regions: compassion, self-sacrifice, and attraction to public service. The statistical models tested in this dissertation suggest that nonprofit sector employees exhibit higher levels of PSM than their public sector counterparts. Nonprofit sector employees also reveal a similar set of values and work attitudes across the countries. Thus, the study concludes that in terms of PSM, employees of nonprofit organizations constitute a homogenous group that exists atop the administrative regimes. ^ However, the findings propose significant differences between public sector agencies across the two countries. Contrary to expectations, data suggest that organization centralization in Poland is equal to—or for some items even higher than—that of Belarus. We can conclude that the absence of administrative decentralization of service provision in a country does not necessarily undermine decentralized practices within organizations. Further analysis reveals strong correlations between organization centralization and PSM for the Polish sample. Meanwhile, in Belarus, correlations between organization centralization items and PSM are weak and mostly insignificant. ^ The analysis indicates other factors beyond organization centralization that significantly impact PSM in both sectors. PSM of the employees in the studied region is highly correlated with their participation in religious practices, political parties, or labor unions as well as location of their organization in a capital and type of social service provided.^

Trends in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry

By 1990 the quick sevice restaurant industry(QSR) achieved 54 percent of commercial food service market share. QSR has a significant role to play in the rapidly-growing global hospitality industry and is expanding into institutional food service to increase its market share. It is expected to be the dominant player in the U.S. food service industry. The authors include an analysis of current and emerging trends in this industry.

Solid Waste Disposal: Independent Food Service Practices

Solid waste disposal is a major concern today. This study seeks to identify the current practices and attitudes of managers of independent food services toward solid waste management and the characteristics of food services which were most likely to be involved with a solid waste management program

Manager-Customer Relationship in Food Service Commissary Operations

Documented reports of day-to-day decision-making in food service tend to emphasize technical aspects. However, this view does not represent completely the decision-making process managers go through. The author reports on the effect of the manager-customer relationship in decision-making by managers.

Strategies for Tomorrow's Hospitality Workforce

The hospitality industry has been facing serious labor shortages, especially in the food service area. As the proportion of younger workers shrinks, alternative sources of employees have to be sought to alleviate the labor shortage. The authors review alternative sources for facing the labor shortage and discuss strategies to attract the largest and potentially viable segment for the hospitality industry - the older worker.

Restaurant Service for the 90's

Much has been written about servicing the customer. In fact, every issue of Restaurants USA or Nation's Restaurant News offers an article designed to help restaurateurs more successfully service their customers. While the restaurant market has carefully zeroed in on the specific products and services customers require, no one has carefully addressed the heart of the issue. The authors discuss the "hospitality" in restaurant service.

Correlates of Non-Institutional Food Service Turnover

The high rate of restaurant employee turnover, particularly of the non-supervisory employee, is a continuing problem. The authors assess the possible correlates of this turnover and their relative strengths, ranking and comparing working hours, quality of supervision, chance for promotion, on-the-job training, pay, work of others, employees' attitudes, and management's interest in employees to present possible solutions for the high rate of turnover.

Competencies of a Recreational Food Service Manager

Recreational food service is a newly-identified industry segment. It represents over 3 percent of the total industry and has its own specific competency requirements, in addition to core food service management competency needs. The education, training, and development needs for professionals in this industry segment have not as yet been ascertained. This article is an effort to establish a benchmark for future research in this area.

Economics of Operating An Employee Food Service

The author, who has spent 30 years as an operations executive in the food service industry seeks to acquaint management with some of the basic economics of operating an employee food service. The article is designed to assist the executive in understanding the basic philosophies and concepts of providing a food service to employees, as well as the cost factors involved in giving that service.

Financial Planning by Contract Food Service Management Companies

Drugs in the workplace is a growing problem that threatens a valuable human resource - the employee. Managers in the hospitality industry can take a proactive stance in meeting the problem head on. The authors discuss what managers can do.

A New Look at Institutional Food Service Management

Institutional food service management, especially by contract management companies, offers unrecognized career opportunities for many of today's hospitality students. It is one of the best kept secrets in the food service industry. This article endeavors to provide a new look at and overview of the industry as it has evolved and now stands.