Conclusion

        The information systems involved in Chef’s International, and more specifically, Baker’s American Bar & Grille are essential for running all aspects of the restaurant. We studied and analyzed the various information systems connected to the structured sales process and dynamic marketing process at Baker’s American. As a result, our group was able to see what aspects of their information systems worked and which aspects should be modified or changed altogether.

        Chef’s International follows a service differentiation across a particular industry segment as their competitive strategy. They are a restaurant group similar to a chain restaurant parent company, but they give their customers a local feel and experience with their restaurants. They are able to do this since many of those restaurants are former family-owned restaurants which were staples in their towns with a lot of history and high customer loyalty. This is an attractive advantage for Chef’s International because they stand out among chain restaurants. Customers who want an individualized experience will choose to go to one of the restaurants within the Chef’s International family as opposed to a cookie-cutter chain restaurant.

        As part of the structured sales process, Baker’s American uses the Revel POS system to handle the sales of the food, drinks and gift cards generated in the restaurant as a component of their information systems. The Revel system is an iPad POS which means the hardware is the iPad in which the orders are entered into the system and the software; Digital Dining, allows for the different business processes to run. For example, besides handling the inputting of food and drinks, the software also allows management to generate sales reports, run end of the day processes and track inventory.

        The dynamic marketing process is based off their SMIS. This includes the use of Facebook, Instagram and each restaurant’s individual website to help promote the restaurant and interact with their customers. The manager of each restaurant is responsible for updating posts on their social media sites and responding to any questions or comments posted on the site. This is why the restaurant’s social media pages illustrate a social Customer Relationship Management. This allows both the manager and customer working together to create and process the content that is posted and commented on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

        While Chef’s International and their restaurants are doing well within a very crowded industry, we did find some issues which can be improved. There is new, more efficient software which can cut down on information silos as well as one that supports imports from the POS into Excel to cut down on human error. In addition, new technology can improve communication between the front and back of the restaurant and improve speed and efficiency to lead to a more enjoyable experience for the customers. We also found that due to lack of a uniform SMIS for all restaurants, Baker’s American is not using their SMIS efficiently and potentially losing out on customers. By creating a written and uniform Social Media policy with guidance on the type and frequency of posts, the restaurant could potentially increase their customer base. Through this process we gained a better understanding of the importance of information systems in business and how they can help improve the business process.