Research Paper Assignment Sample

Pages: 20 Words: 4928

Introduction

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Overview

Business world is becoming more dynamic and complex with time. Due to this reason the companies operating in diverse industries needs to focus on managing the different business operations effectively. Managing the service operations is a most important task for the businesses. The companies face different issues related to service operation management. In this research paper the researcher would be discussing the service operation issue faced by the company. For this Costa coffee is measured as the case corporation. In this study the investigator would focus on explaining the issue related to product shortages faced by costa coffee due to supply chain disruptions because of the covid-19 pandemic (Hernandez et. al. 2020). The global pandemic had affected all the business practices and operations across the globe due to which the firms are facing several issues related to operational management. In this research the researcher would conduct primary research with the managers of costa coffee for understanding the issue in detail and identifying the solutions for it.

Company Background

Costa coffee is one of the leading British coffee house chain which is offering high quality coffee to their customers. The company was founded in 1971 and now they are having stores in 31 different nations. Costa is the second major coffee house restraint all over the world and main in UK. The company focuses on using effective strategies for managing the business operations effectively for delivering high quality service to their customers across the world.

Problem Statement

Due to the supply chain disruptions because of the pandemic costa coffee is facing issues related to lack of proper supply of products. This is affecting their service operation management and creating issues for the company in meeting the customer demands. The pandemic had affected all the firms and had changed the business world to a greater extent. Costa coffee needs to focus on process improvement which can help them in solving this problem. For addressing the issue it is important to investigate the issue in detail so that the company can take effective action towards it and can statement the problem.

Aim & Objectives

Aim

The aim of this study is to examine the product shortage issues faced by Costa Coffee and need for process improvement for solving the service operational issue.

Objectives

To investigate the product shortage issue faced by costa coffee.
To understand the impact on product shortage on service operation management.
To analyse that how process improvement can help the company in addressing this service operation issue.

Gannt Chart

Tasks	Months
Plan of products and Services	2
Management of Quality	3
Process and Design of Capacity	3
Supply Chain management	5
Job Design & Human Resources	4
Inventory Management	2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Impact of Covid-19 on businesses

Covid-19 had affected the businesses at large and had transformed the way in which they are operating. The businesses across the world had faced a lot of issues in handling their operations in an actual manner due to the epidemic. Meyer et. al. (2021) had directed an researcher research for explanation the effect of covid-19 pandemic on the businesses. In this research the researcher had clarified that the companies had faced main matters due to the disruptions in the global supply chain. In the present global world the businesses are operating at international level and are highly depended on the global supply chains. Due to the travel and trade restrictions as an precaution measures for covid-19 the companies had faced a lot of issues regarding operational issues.

The statistics mentioned by World Coffee portal, (2021) shows the negative impact on the pandemic and travel restriction on the declining sales of coffee market. The decline in the sales had affected all the major coffee brands to a greater extent. The companies are experiencing reduction in the daily consumption of coffee which is affecting the entire market negatively.

The article mentioned by Lepitak (2021) explained that the pandemic had made major changes in the demand of coffee and sales of the company. But on the other hand costa coffee is looking forward for the global growth in the international market. The customer behaviour towards coffee had changed and not the company can focus on entering into new markets. Costa coffee is focusing on opening new stores into new markets for enhancing the sales and profitability of the firm.

Service operation issues faced by Costa Coffee due to pandemic

The research by Widman (2021) had explained the influence of covid-19 on the worldwide coffee market. In this study it was explained that that all the different consequences occurred due to the pandemic had affected the businesses operations differently. The study had stated that due to the pandemic the decline in the sales of coffee is being experienced and this is affecting all the global coffee firms. The lockdown and the social distancing measures had affected the hospitality industry significant and had declined their sales. The negative effect of the global supply chains and value chains is also an significant factor which had affected the global firms operating in the global coffee sector.

Costa coffee is an international brand and due to this reason they are highly depended on the global suppliers and global supply chain. Macckenzie (2021) had stated in their report that Costa coffee warns their customers that they are facing several supply chain issues which are leading to supply delays. The delay in the supply of the raw materials is due to the situation of lockdown and trade restrictions due to which the suppliers are not able to fulfil the order on time. As a result of delay in the raw materials the company is facing several issues in meeting the customer demands. Similar to all the other global food firms Costa coffee is also having all such issues due to the pandemic and the supply chain disruptions. Costa coffee is focusing on addressing the issues related to the supply side problems and managing proper demand and supply.

International Comunicaffe, (2021) had mentioned a report regarding the supply side issues which are faced by costa coffee. In this report it was mentioned that the company is facing issues due to logistic issues and supply chain disruptions which are resulted due to the restrictions due to the pandemic. The company is facing sharp rise in the prices of raw materials and this is increasing additional cost for the company. The logistic issues is affecting the firms significantly and due to this reason the company is going out of stock.

Strategies for solving the issue of product shortage and service operation issues

Gursoy and Chi (2020) had stated in their study that when the organisation is facing any issue then it is crucial for them to emphasis on emerging better plans that can enable them in addressing the issue. Service operation issues are generally being faced by the businesses but the company should focus on understanding the issue in detail and then applying effective models and processes for solving the issues. Along with this the organisation needs to focus on identifying all the factors which are contributing to the issue then only they can solve the issue in an appropriate manner.

Bhandari et. al. (2021) stated that the industries need to use active policies and methods for solving the issues faced by them due to the pandemic. The article explained that six sigma is one of the effective tool or the model which can be used by the businesses for accepting the new changes and managing the different issues faced by them due to supply chain disruption and other factors. The companies can focus on process improvement that can help them managing the pandemic in an efficient manner. Six sigma is an effective tool that can help the companies in improving their operational efficiency and capabilities of the business processes. This model focuses on five different factors or elements which are define, measure, analyse, improve and control. Businesses operating in different industries are making use of this model. The companies are using this model and focusing on technology and intelligent automation which can help them in addressing these issues and improving their working processes.

IQPC, (2021) had mentioned in their article that Costa Coffee is focusing on making changes in their organization so that they can manage the pandemic effectively. The company is focusing on following all the rules made by the government and while operating they would be focusing on all the safety measures properly. Costa coffee had invested higher capital for enhancing the safety measures while offering the services to their customers. The company is concerned for the health and safety of their employees as well as the customers. The CEO of Costa Coffee had mentioned that the company would be using different safety measures in different nations as per the spread of the disease. Also they would ensure that their employees should follow all the safety measures while offering in store services to their customers and managing the service operations as well.

In an report by Fineextra, (2020) it is stated that the costa coffee is focusing on going cashless during the pandemic. The company had started using online payment methods and going complete cashless. The coffee house is making significant changes in their working process by changing in store environment in respond to the pandemic. From this it can be said that the company is concerned for the safety and well being of their customers and trying to offer them better service.

Forsdick (2020) had mentioned that Costa coffee is focusing on making better use of technology for solving the operational issues. The global pandemic is having both short term and long term effect on the day to day business operations. Costa coffee is focusing on going cashless which is helping them in being more effective at managing the risk. Due to this reason it is significant for the firms to focus on process improvement and increasing efficiency. Costa coffee would be using different strategies for focusing on people and productivity in an efficient way. The human resource is having an important role to play in the service processes due to which the company would be focusing more on them. Whenever the company faces issues related to service operations then it is having a major influence on the customers.

METHODOLOGY

Methodology is defined as the changed procedures and models which can be used by the investigators for directing the study (Snyder, 2019). In this study the investigator would be focus on leading a detailed research with the help of effective tools and techniques.

Data Collection

Data collection is defined as the procedure of data collection with many methods in the research. In this study the investigator would be focusing on collecting reliable data related to the study for these both primary & secondary data collection methods. For understanding the service operation issue the researcher would be gathering information from the different literature sources for collecting the secondary data connected to the study topic. On the other hand the researcher would also conduct the field research for collecting the actual and more accurate data regarding the research topic (Samuels, 2020). For this the investigator would be directing survey survey with the manager of the case corporation. This would help them in understanding the problem which is being faced by Costa coffee and how they are managing the issues. Using the mixed data collection method will help the researcher in understanding the issue and studying its consequences in an appropriate manner.

Sampling

Sampling is the method which is being used by the researchers for selecting the candidates for the research topic. There are different types of sampling methods, but in the current research simple random sampling method would be used. In this technique all the managers are having an equivalent chance to get selected for this particular study. For this research the researcher would be selecting 5 managers working in different outlets of Costa Coffee in Malta. Conducting questionnaire survey would help the researcher in analysing that how the company is managing the issues faced by them related to service operation management.

Data Analysis

Analysing the data is the most important task. Several methods which can be used by the researcher to analyse the data. In the current research the investigator would be using thematic analysis for analysing the results of the research study. This will enable the investigator in analysing the data appropriately and connecting it well with the literature as well (Terry et. al. 2017). In this analysis method different themes would be developed which would help the researcher in representing the findings in an appropriate manner.