CVF's application in Ming Palace

Introduction

A lobby manager of Ming Palace (the restaurant which the author had worked in as a waiter for 2 months) will be analysed with the help of the Competing Values Framework (CVF). In this article, firstly, the basic situation of Ming Palace-including the location, the main product, and the employment- will be introduced. And then, the organisation structure of Ming Palace and the way communication flows throughout the restaurant will be described. Moreover, with the help of the CVF, how the management roles and models may or may not be represented in the work of the selected manager will be clarified. Finally, according to the selected manager’s performance in the CVF, the ways for improvement in the restaurant will be analysed.



Part Ⅰ Basic descriptions of Ming Palace
Ming Palace, which is a Chinese seafood restaurant, located in Victoria Avenue, Broadbeach, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia [Australian Explorer Pty Ltd, n.d.]. Pacific Fair (a shopping centre), Jupiters Casino, and a beach are close to the restaurant; these attractions bring Ming Palace a big number of potential customers.

Ming Palace provides lunch, dinner, and supper to customers; particularly, as a Chinese restaurant, Ming Palace offers a traditional Cantonese service- Yum cha- which refers to the customers of eating small servings of different Cantonese foods while sipping Chinese tea at noon (normally from 10:30am to 3:00pm). Currently, Yum cha is not only a traditional custom of Cantonese in Australia, but also getting accepted by more and more local people. According to observation, everyday, at Yum cha time, at least 20% of the customers are natives.

There are 26 employees work for Ming Palace, including 3 lobby managers, 1 chef, 3 cooks, 4 kitchen hands, 13 waitresses and waiters, and 2 cashiers. Except the lobby managers, chef, cooks, cashiers, and 2 of the waitresses have full-time job, the others are all part-time employees.

Part ⅡOrganisation structure and the way communication flows

ⅰThe organisation structure of Ming Palace

As indicated in the figure above, Ming Palace has a flat hierarchy in organisation structure. There are only 3 levels in the structure model- owner of the restaurant (general manager), mid-level mangers (lobby managers and chef), and front-line staffs (waiters, waitresses, cashiers, cooks and kitchen hands).

Being similar with the other Chinese family-run businesses, in Ming Palace’s organisation structure, the owner is the general manager also; he does macro-control of the restaurant, for instance, makes plan for the restaurant’s progress, and decides the employment and discharge of mid-level managers. The lobby managers and chef are authorised by the owner to organise the two main section of Ming Palace- the hall and kitchen- respectively. They deal with daily managerial issues for Ming Palace and make hiring decision of front-line staffs.

ⅱThe way communication flows throughout Ming Palace
Communication in Ming Palace flows downward, upward, laterally, and diagonally. Specifically, downward communication refers to the communication that flows downward from the general manager to employees; upward communication refers to the communication that flows upward from employees to the general manager; lateral communication takes place among any employees on the same organisational level; diagonal communication cuts across work areas and organisational levels. [Robbins, Coulter, 2001, pp293-4]

For instance, when the general manager of Ming Palace assigns a goal (a special day) to his employees, he is using downward communication. He sends information to the lobby managers and chef; then, the lobby managers and chef convey the information to front-line staffs, or allocate specific task to each employee.

In the process of implementation, the front-line staffs need to send their feedback to the general manager; also, the general manager relies on feedback for ideas on how things can be improved. Thus, information from waiters, waitresses, cashiers, cooks, and kitchen hands are sent upward to the lobby managers and chef; then, it is sent to the general manager. However, sometimes, the mid-level managers also send their suggestions about the goal to the general manager.

In Ming Palace, because of the flat hierarchy, the communication is through only 3 levels- the general manager, the mid-level managers, and the front-line staffs. Hence, both downward and upward communications here are efficient.

In Ming Palace’s working environment, horizontal communication is frequently needed to save time and facilitate coordination. For instance, the two sections of the restaurant- the hall and kitchen- need to collaborate tightly in the processes of orders’ making, cooking, and dishes’ transit. Thus, the lateral communication is widely used among the front-line staffs and between the mid-level managers.

Sometimes, when a customer complains of dish, the diagonal communication is needed. The customer complains to a waiter (waitress), and then the waiter (waitress) sends the information to the chef. In this situation, the normally, the waiter (waitress) doesn’t communicate with the lobby managers firstly. “In the interest of efficiency and speed, diagonal communication can be beneficial.” [Robbins, Coulter, 2001, pp294]

Part Ⅲ How the roles and models be represented or not
The three lobby managers of Ming Palace- Leo, David, and Ken- work in pairs by rotation. For instance, every Friday, David works with Ken at lunch time, and then Leo co-operates with Ken at dinner time; every Saturday, Leo works with Ken at lunch time, and then he co-operates with David at dinner time.

Leo is a middle age male person (elder than David and Ken), who has worked in food and beverage field for more than 20 years; he owns abundant experience of management in restaurants. Hence, Leo is authorised to take more responsibility than the other lobby managers in the hall’s daily management.

As an experienced lobby manager, Leo mostly plays the coordinator role in the internal process model in his work [Quinn et al, 2006, pp16]. Normally, each week, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday are the most important days for Ming Palace; because Tuesday is the special day in this restaurant (all the food at Yum Cha time has a discount), and Friday and Saturday are in weekend. The turnover of these 3 days makes up the majority of the weekly income of Ming Palace. On the other hand, they are the busiest 3 days in a week. Leo is authorised to take care of these 3 days because of his abundant experience; he is on duty at the Yum Cha time on Tuesday, dinner time on Friday, and the whole Saturday.

Most of the waiters and waitresses in Ming Palace are part-time employees; hence, the turnover of front-line staffs in the hall is frequent. Leo designs specific job for each waiter or waitress since he or she is brought into the restaurant. He asks a new waiter (waitress) to do simple work, such as refilling tea and washing glasses behind the bar. Then, with the growing of skill, Leo gives the waiter (waitress) more complex work, such as placing settings, dishes’ transit, and making orders.

As a person who has worked in food and beverage field for more than 20 years, Leo has an ideal interpersonal relationship among a great deal of Chinese cooks in Australia; also, because of his abundant experience, he won a good reputation and prestige in the restaurant. Thus, he is competent to communicate and negotiate smoothly with the chef in Ming Palace. For instance, he discusses with the chef about the new dishes frequently; also, sometimes, according to customers’ feedback, he communicates with the chef about dishes’ improvement.

Simultaneously, some of the other roles are more or less represented in Leo’s work. As shown in the CVF, belonging to the role which exists in the same model with coordinator, some competencies of monitor are also represented in Leo’s management [Quinn et al, 2006, pp16]. For instance, Leo monitors each waiter’s (waitress’) daily performance; also, he monitors the operation of the hall.

Sharing the emphasis on internal, the two roles in human relations model- facilitator and mentor- are represented in Leo’s work slightly [Quinn et al, 2006, pp16]. As an experienced lobby manager, he manages conflicts effectively with the help of his good reputation and prestige. Also, he communicates smoothly with the other people in the work place. However, his performance of building teams, using participative decision making, understanding self and others, and developing employees is ordinary.

The two roles in rational goal model-director and producer- share the emphasis on control with internal process model [Quinn et al, 2006, pp16]. Hence, Leo has some competencies of these two roles. He designs and organises each of his subordinate’s work well; also, he works productively and fosters a productive work environment. For instance, under his management, the hall of Ming Palace is in perfect order; every front-line staffs in the hall have their own clear job. Leo keeps each of his part-time subordinate is busy; if there is someone at leisure, Leo will give him (her) new task, or ask him (her) to get off duty [Robbins, Mukerji, 1994, pp472]. Nevertheless, Leo’s performance of developing and communicating a vision, setting goals and objectives, and managing time and stress is ordinary.

Leo is such a manger who takes stability and control seriously in his work. However, as indicated in the CVF, the model (the internal process model) be represented in his work is opposite to the open systems model; his management is plenty of consolidation and continuity, but lack of expansion and change [Quinn et al, 2006, pp13]. He demands that all his subordinates obey his rule; sometimes, he is bossy when staffs bring something new into work. Leo is very poor of living with change, thinking creatively, and managing change. Thus, he is not an innovator at all.

Because of sharing emphasises on flexibility and external with the innovator, neither is the broker role represented in Leo’s work well [Quinn et al, 2006, pp16]. Leo is a stubborn people to negotiate with. It is really hard to make him accept others’ opinions, except suggestions from the general manager and chef. Also, in Leo’s management, he prefers to ask his subordinates to implement with no excuse, but seldom present his idea to them and explain why they must do this. However, because of the strict managerial style, Leo’s performance of building and maintaining a power base is ordinary.

Part Ⅳ Ways for improvement
Currently, the world keeps changing for managers [Quinn et al, 2006, pp14]. As mentioned before, Leo plays a significant role in Ming Palace; however, if his managerial strategy is not effective any more in the changing situation, the restaurant takes a potential risk. Hence, both Leo and Ming Palace need improvement.

Although Leo is a good coordinator, it is not enough to be a competence manager in the changing situation. According to his role, as indicated in the CVF, his management is strong with stability and control, but weak with innovation and adaptation. For self-improvement, Leo should consider and pursue the values not only in the internal process model, but also in the other models (human relations model, open systems model, and rational goal model). Particularly, Leo should improve his management in the open systems model. In other words, his management need more innovation, adaptation, growth, and resource acquisition.

On the other hand, the effect of other styles of management can reduce the negative factors caused by Leo’s management in Ming Palace. For instance, Ken- another lobby manager-is a young person who is dynamic and good at innovation. He can be authorised more responsibility in Ming Palace; he can assist Leo’s work and restrict the negative factors of Leo’s management simultaneously. [Robbins et al, 1997, pp443-4]

Conclusion

Communication in Ming Palace flows downward, upward, laterally, and diagonally. The flat hierarchy in Ming Palace’s organisation structure makes it efficient to communicate downward and upward; also, the laterally and diagonally communications are beneficial for coordination and speed.

One lobby manager of Ming Palace- Leo- is authorised to take a significant responsibility because of his abundant experience. The coordinator role of the internal process model in the CVF is represented in his work. However, his management is poor of expansion and change. Leo should improve himself in the other models of CVF to become a competence manager in the current changing situation. On the other hand, to reduce potential managerial risk, another young lobby manager should be authorised more responsibility to assist and restrict the negative factors of Leo’s management.

References

Australian Explorer Pty Ltd, n.d., Ming Palace Broadbeach, viewed 1 Nov, 2008, <http://www.australianexplorer.com/restaurants/14544/profile.htm>

Quinn R., Faerman S., Thompson M., McGrath M., and Clair L., 2006, The competing values approach to management, Becoming a Master Manager: A Competing Value Approach, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the USA

Robbins S., Bergman R., and Stagg I., 1997, Managing change and innovation, Management, Prentice Hall Australia Pty Ltd, Maryborough, Victoria

Robbins S., and Coulter M., 2001, Organisational Communication, Management, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Robbins S., and Mukerji D., 1994, Controlling for Productivity, Managing Organisations, Prentice Hall Australia Pty Ltd, Australia