Week 3 Discussion
Reply to the following using at least 175 words per reply. Be professional and constructive in your reply. Be sure to use FULL APA references and in-text citations. Reply to each individually.
1. Leaders who bring empathy or any sense of emotional connection to the internal customers (employees) and the external customers is the key toward higher employee and customer satisfaction.
Integrating empathy when dealing with the customers and employees is highly effective. But, what is empathy, and do all leaders have it and/or more important, apply it? The ability of leaders, managers, and employees to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others is key in serving others.
Are you familiar with emotional intelligence (EI)? In 1995, the concept of emotional intelligence was popularized after the publication of Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.”
What is EI?
How is EI measured?
2. It is always fun to find relevant articles to support discussions, especially when I know the author! In Week 3, we shift specifically to customer service and process improvement. Since my background in in the food service industry, I thought this was a great article to share. My affiliation with a state Restaurant Association I was involved with the city water and waste program, specifically eradication of waste, so this topic is not new to me. The estimated economic cost of energy, fuel, water scarcity, labor, commodities, and miscellaneous for food waste is estimated as $2.6 trillion per year (The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States [FAO], 2014). Approximately 133 billion pounds of food is attributed to the food chain supply, one-third of that waste from restaurants. (Gollnhofer, 2017; Kowalska, 2017; Massow & McAdams, 2015). Granted there are some restaurant concepts that produce more waste than others and what is also important to note here is the type of waste. Grease is the worst! In the study by Blum (2020), the first step is to develop standardize protocols as a way to quantification measures. Specifically, restaurant leaders are encouraged to track and monitor food waste to identify where loss and waste is occurring. Strategies to reduce food waste and costs associated with waste include, but are not limited to, a system of regularly rotating food, using software inventory management, and waste recycling. Strategies to achieve waste reduction include setting measures, monitoring, staff engagement, and reduce overproduction (Blum, 2020). Restaurants are not the only operation that should be conscientious of food waste. What are some of the things that you do in your home to help with the reduction of food waste? Do you have any systems to share?
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2014). Food waste footprint: Full-cost accounting. http://www.fao.org
Gollnhofer, J. F. (2017). Normalizing alternative practices: The recovery, distribution and consumption of food waste. Journal of Marketing Management, 33, 624–643. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2017.1301982
Kowalska, A. (2017). The issue of food losses and waste and its determinants. Logforum, 13, 7–18. https://doi.org/10.17270/J.LOG.2017.1.1
Massow, M. V., & McAdams, B. (2015). Table scraps: An evaluation of plate waste in restaurants. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 18, 437–453. https://doi.org/10.1080/15378020.2015.1093451
Blum, D. (2020). Ways to Reduce Restaurant Industry Food Waste Costs. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology. v19 (1).
Ways to Reduce Restaurant Industry Food Waste Costs – Business – ProQuest. (2020). Proquest.com. https://www.proquest.com/business/docview/2453793152/A3214CF9C6B24593PQ/3?accountid=35812
