P.F. CHANG'S RESTAURANT

P.F. Chang's Restaurant



P.F. Chang's Restaurant

Introduction

For a large multinational organization, such as P.F. Chang's, the manner in which everyday business is conducted is remarkable. The organization operates 97 full service bistros and 33 contemporary Chinese restaurants. One would expect an organization of this magnitude to be plagued with a swarm of problems pertaining to the performance of the staff. However, in the case of P.F. Chang's Restaurant, this theory does not hold true. The management of P.F. Chang's conducts everyday business in a manner in which employees and customers attain satisfaction. For managers, extracting positive attitudes and high performance from employees is normally a difficult task. However, for those in P.F. Chang's, this is a by-product of training and counselling of employees. At P.F. Chang's, culture of being involved in the problems of the employees has created an environment in which every employee strives to give his best. This causes declines in their performances. The management of P.F. Chang's utilizes this phenomena in order to help employees to stay on top of their game.

Discussion

The Management Style at P.F. Chang's Bistro

A close look at the working dynamics of P.F. Chang's reveals the management style that we call “Permissive Autocrat”. In this management style, the overall direction and strategic steering of the organization are set by the top management. However, the modus operandi and the tactical decisions are left to the people on the tactical level. This tactical level is actually the face of the organization. In other words, the Modus Operandi depends on the people who operate on the floor. Giving employees the freedom to make pivotal decisions is a very effective way to boost their morale and this, in turn, has a positive impact on their performance. Employees can make important decisions that can affect the level of services that they offer. If we take a look at some of the provisions of authority that have been delegated to the employees at the front end, we can note that the employees are allowed to take specific measures in order to improve their services and attempt to reach the level of delightment for the customer. One such example that can be considered is the authority of a waiter to scramble a busboy to purchase a certain product which can enhance the taste of the food according to the customer's requirement.

Let us take a closer look at the management style of the organization. We have identified the management style of P.F. Chang's to be Permissive Autocrat. This signifies that the overall direction is set from the top but the tactical decisions are taken by the people on the lower level. If we relate the behavior of staff with Maslow's need theory, we can note that the management gets involved in the problems of the employees in order to cater to their personal and professional needs. The management realizes that they way to keep their employees performing at their peak and in order to attain their trust and the customer's satisfaction ...