Training and Development

Executive Summary

I, have been hired by Cameron McCormick vice president of Paterson-Erie Corporation to conduct an in depth analysis of the problems that he is faced with pertaining to the Windham, Hamburger Haven restaurant. The goals and objectives of this analysis is to help McCormick make a decision on what will be financial best for the organization, at the same time keeping up the overall company moral.

Paterson-Erie Corporation (PEC) is a holding company, which owns and manages 50 Hamburger Haven restaurant, airport facility for private and corporate air crafts and luxury apartment buildings and other local real estate. William L Paterson is the owner and Cameron McCormick is the vice president and chief financial officer of Paterson-Erie corporations.

After going over some financial statements McCormick realized that the Windham hamburger Haven was in a financial loss. He realized the damage that this HH, was causing on the financial obligations, so he had to make a decision on what the best alternatives would be.

Based on the analysis, I have conducted various steps and charts outlining:

Statement of problems and Causes of problems: Long and Short term problem

Analysis of problems

Alternatives: close store and look for buyer, continue operations and look for buyers, and implement new marketing strategies

Key success factors: SWOT analysis

Financial ratio analysis

Implementation: will be done on a immediate, short, long term basis

The information that is provide has helped me weight the alternatives and come to a decision that would be best for everyone involved with the final results. The recommendations in this report should be used immediately to ensure implementation is a smooth process and also to have some immediate control over the financial situation.

Objective

The objective of this case is to decide an appropriate course of action Cameron McCormick, the vice-president and chief financial officer (CFO) of the Patterson Erie Corporation, should take in the financial situation of the Windham Ohio Hamburger Haven.

By considering all adequate information regarding Hamburger Haven Corporation and the Patterson Erie Corporation, along with additional information that was giving in the case, I will be able to analyze, determine and develop ideal alternatives and solutions that will be beneficial to Cameron McCormick and the Patterson Erie Corporation.

Analysis

The Patterson Erie Corporation (PEC) is a holding company located in Erie, Pennsylvania that was started in 1967 by William L. Patterson. In 1967 Patterson owned one Hamburger Haven franchise and throughout the years he continued to buy more Hamburger Haven franchises, by May 2002 in had ownership interest in 50 Hamburger Haven restaurants.

Cameron McCormick was hired by Patterson to be the vice-president and the chief financial officer PEC. Faced with the expectations that each restaurant should achieve at least a $50,000 in annual profits and also have a steady cash flow to be able to manage their financial obligations, McCormick needs to make a decision about the Windham Hamburger Haven restaurant that is not meeting the stated expectations.

In order for each restaurant to meet its expectations, PEC kept a close eye on daily operation and financial results of all the restaurants. They kept a close eye on the restaurants by having six operations managers, whom each was responsible for supervising six restaurants in the Pennsylvania and Ohio area.

Another obligation that PEC needed to meet was the expectations of Hamburger Haven Corporation; in maintain a consistent brand image. Hamburger Haven Corporation set out guidelines which require all the franchises to follow a set design, menu, uniform, suppliers and signage. Also HHC set out mystery shops to ensure that their strict guidelines are being met.

During a February mystery shop the Windham restaurant received a zero out of fifteen grade on employee friendliness and zero out of thirty grade on speed of service. The big downfall of these grades is that Windham is a small town and with one customer bad experience news will travel fast.

Now McCormick is faced with the decision of closing down the store and looking for a buyer or continues operations and looks for a buyer or introduces new marketing efforts to stimulate sales. Having the responsibility to make an effective decision that will be in the best interest of PEC, McCormick needs to figure out the appropriate course of action to take in order to solve this problem.

Stakeholders

The chart below identifies the stakeholders that will be impacted with the decisions that need to be made pertaining to the Hamburger Haven case.

Identifying Stakeholders Description

Cameron McCormick Vice-president and chief financial officer (CFO) for Patterson Erie Corporation. McCormick is a graduate from Ryerson Polytechnic institute in 1974 in business administration. He held numerous positions in the financial area, culminating in the role of group vice-president, finance and administration. He joined PEC in 1996 and then went on to become the vice-president and CFO in 1997.

Hamburger Haven Corporation (HHC) Fast food industry franchise restaurant. Opened in 1940. HHC strategy to achieve rapid growth was to achieve rapid growth without assuming financial risk. HHC maintains a consistent brand image with all of its franchise.

William L. Patterson Owner of Patterson Erie Corporation, which was started in 1967. He owns 50 Hamburger Haven Franchises across Pennsylvania and Ohio. He also owns other establishments. As of December 2001 PEC employed 1,479 employees and boasted $53.2 millions in sales.

Operation Manager (OM) The operations manager that is in charge of the Windham restaurant. OM needs to keep a daily log of the operations and financial