What General Steps Should Hank Follow in Setting up a Continuous Improvement Program for the Company? What Problems Will He Have to Overcome to Make It Work?

2. What general steps should Hank follow in setting up a continuous improvement program for the company? What problems will he have to overcome to make it work?

* Form a quality control council headed by the general manager

* Make a procedure book that clearly defines the quality missions and objectives of the company

* Start immediately a training program for the company's quality practices and procedures

* Form quality improvement teams

The problems he will run into are a possible lack of interest or drive in the general manager, employees unwilling to read or follow the quality procedure book, employees that are unwilling to change, finding people that are either qualified to be on the company's quality improvement teams or people that won't go to training to be qualified to be on the team, employees that aren't willing to go training, employees that go to training but aren't interested in learning so they get nothing out of it.

Chapter 1

1. How are in store orders taken?

I went to McDonald's and Steak-n-Shake and my family ate inside and did not go through the drive thrus. At McDonalds, you had to go up to the counter and place your order. At Steak-n-Shake if you go inside to eat, they sit you at a table with a menu and someone comes and takes your order.

2. Are the hamburgers prepared to order, or are they prepared ahead of time and delivered from a storage bin?

At McDonald's our burgers, except for the special order burger, came out of a food bin to a tray that we carried to our seats. At Steak-n-Shake our burgers were prepared after we ordered it and it was delivered to the table.

3. How are special orders handled?

At McDonalds, my daughter ordered a burger with no onions or pickles. The cashier started assembling our order on the tray, fries and our other burgers, and our drink cups while we watched them dress the hamburger bun and pull the hamburger patty out of some kind of warming oven and then it was wrapped and sent up front. The cheese wasn't even really melted. All our food was cooling on the tray while we waited for her special order burger. At Steak-n-Shake my daughter ordered the same thing, a burger without pickles or onions. All our food came out delivered to the table by the waitress at the same time. We noticed no difference other than the waitress confirming Dani's special order as they set her plate down in front of her.

4. How are the hamburgers cooked?

At both restaurants the burgers were cooked on a grill. But at Steak-n-Shake they came straight to us from the grill. It looks to me