Panera Bread – Four functions of management

Panera Bread is a restaurant and coffee house. The make breads, bagel, muffins, and other pastries in-house. They also brew gourmet coffees, teas, and specialty drinks. Panera also serves gourmet soups and sandwiches. The dining area has newspapers, some have televisions that play news channels, and leather chairs and sofas near the fireplace. There is also a sidewalk cafe are which is open during summer and spring. Planning – B, Panera is a franchise/corporate operation.

All stores are the same physically, and use the corporate baking and food preparation schedules. Each store orders its products and supplies through the corporate office, so there is no quality discrepancy from one store to another. Organizing – C, Employee functions include bakers, line cooks, counter personnel, and float persons who can perform all functions. The challenge in my store is coordinating dining room cleaning people. When the dining room is busy, float persons must assist with preparation and service.

After the rush hours, float persons are often assigned to baking and cleaning the cooking and service areas. Those look great, but the dining and restroom areas are neglected. Management needs to either increase hours or hire more personnel. Leading/directing – B, Employees cross train other employees. All employees know how to do at least one other job function. Therefore, if and when an employee needs to multitask or switch between functions, morale remains high and there are no questions as to what my job description is.
Controlling/coordinating – C, Mangers use customer feedback surveys to solve operational problems like the restroom and dining room issues. The problem is that managers will give customer discounts instead of giving employees direct orders to attend to facilities. Perhaps managers should offer incentives (like enough soup, sandwiches, and bagels to feed the family) to the employee who is most attentive to the facilities on a particular day.