INTRODUCTION
There is no factor more essential in delivering efficient and hospitable service to guests than constant employee communication. These vital conversation skills need to be used between the front of the house and the and back of house to ensure quality and consistent service to guests. Equally as crucial, employees need to embrace a team-like mentality for this communication to be effective. Author John Katzenbach agrees and argues, “There is virtually no environment in which teams—if done right—can’t have a measurable impact on the performance of an organization” (p15, 1993). The ordering process from customer to server to back of house is the key time when communication and comradery must be in conjunction with one another in …show more content…
As a result, skeptics are unsure of the experience of automated ordering platforms due to factors such as increasing costs, job loss, and overall functionality of the devices (Manion and DeMicco, 2004). Journalist Galen Gruman, recently experienced an IPad based ordering system inside the Newark Liberty International Airport and was less than impressed by the new technology. Surely, he argues, these systems provide accurate visual depictions of food items, and allow for quicker service times, but they do not offer all of the services deemed reasonable to replace a human server. For example, some of these systems are increasingly difficult to order with, he found, due to complicated interfaces and settings. This, therefore, distracts from the main purpose of these tablets, which is to simplify and speed up the ordering process for the guest’s convenience (p1-3, 2015). Another concerning factor in this automation is the sheer costs of these applications. Peter Lucas (2003) studied the costs of these systems, and noted “the average cost has come down to between $850 and $950, which is still too high for most restaurants” (p16). Therefore, its truly the restaurant management’s decision on whether they believe human or physical capital would better suit their business. The most substantial argument against automation, however, is the loss of workers. To some the person to person contact is what hospitality exemplifies, and will continue to have the desire to be served by a human. On the other hand, others enjoy the quick service of a place like Eatsa (Miller, 2015). To those who believe automation is significantly hurting the job market in America, like Gruman this automation is a grave concern. He states that in order for these systems to be worthwhile they must have to be operationally accessible and user-friendly for there to be any incentive over replacing employees.
There is no factor more essential in delivering efficient and hospitable service to guests than constant employee communication. These vital conversation skills need to be used between the front of the house and the and back of house to ensure quality and consistent service to guests. Equally as crucial, employees need to embrace a team-like mentality for this communication to be effective. Author John Katzenbach agrees and argues, “There is virtually no environment in which teams—if done right—can’t have a measurable impact on the performance of an organization” (p15, 1993). The ordering process from customer to server to back of house is the key time when communication and comradery must be in conjunction with one another in …show more content…
As a result, skeptics are unsure of the experience of automated ordering platforms due to factors such as increasing costs, job loss, and overall functionality of the devices (Manion and DeMicco, 2004). Journalist Galen Gruman, recently experienced an IPad based ordering system inside the Newark Liberty International Airport and was less than impressed by the new technology. Surely, he argues, these systems provide accurate visual depictions of food items, and allow for quicker service times, but they do not offer all of the services deemed reasonable to replace a human server. For example, some of these systems are increasingly difficult to order with, he found, due to complicated interfaces and settings. This, therefore, distracts from the main purpose of these tablets, which is to simplify and speed up the ordering process for the guest’s convenience (p1-3, 2015). Another concerning factor in this automation is the sheer costs of these applications. Peter Lucas (2003) studied the costs of these systems, and noted “the average cost has come down to between $850 and $950, which is still too high for most restaurants” (p16). Therefore, its truly the restaurant management’s decision on whether they believe human or physical capital would better suit their business. The most substantial argument against automation, however, is the loss of workers. To some the person to person contact is what hospitality exemplifies, and will continue to have the desire to be served by a human. On the other hand, others enjoy the quick service of a place like Eatsa (Miller, 2015). To those who believe automation is significantly hurting the job market in America, like Gruman this automation is a grave concern. He states that in order for these systems to be worthwhile they must have to be operationally accessible and user-friendly for there to be any incentive over replacing employees.