Sales forecasting is an essential tool for the planning function of corporate restaurant management. Accurate sales forecasts allow functional areas, such as marketing, advertising, human resources, and finance, to effectively develop programs to advance the company. Examples of these programs include budgets, promotion and advertising campaigns, training programs, and capital equipment proposals. Research in restaurant sales forecasting will aid restaurant corporations in properly allocating resources for more efficient utilization. Utilizing a descriptive sales forecasting benchmarking model developed by Mentzer et al. (1996; 1999), and adapting the model into the restaurant industry, the research sought to determine the relationship that the dimensions of the sales forecasting benchmarking model (functional integration, approach, systems, and performance measurement) had with level of accuracy of the sales forecast and level of managers'; satisfaction with the sales forecasting process. The adapted model addressed two research questions. The first question was what is the relationship of the four dimensions of the sales forecasting benchmarking process (Mentzer et al., 1996; 1999) with the level of accuracy of the sales forecast in the commercial restaurant setting? The second question was what is the relationship of the four dimensions of the sales forecasting benchmarking process (Mentzer et al., 1996; 1999) with the level of managers' satisfaction with their sales forecasting process in the commercial restaurant setting? A qualitative research methodology combining McCracken's (1988) 4-step method of inquiry and Strauss & Corbin's (1990) grounded theory research methodology allowed investigation of this phenomena. Two propositions guided the research and a scheme was developed that allowed for analyzing the company participants based on the constructs of functional integration, approach, systems, and performance measurement, level of accuracy of the sales forecast and level of managers' satisfaction with the sales forecasting process. The analysis revealed that there was a relationship between the dimensions of the sales forecasting benchmarking model and the level of managers' satisfaction with the sales forecasting process. The analysis also revealed that the constructs of performance measurement and level of accuracy of the sales forecast might actually be one construct. Another dimension emerged, training, and scenarios were developed to relate training to the original dimensions. Recommendations were developed based on the research findings and hypotheses were developed based on the propositions. The findings suggest that there is a positive correlation between the dimension of the sales forecasting benchmarking model and the level of managers' satisfaction with the sales forecasting process. That is to say the more evolved a company may be in a dimension, the higher the level of managers' satisfaction with the sales forecasting process. / Ph. D.

The importance of environmental analysis in the strategic management process and the effects of economic value drivers on firm or industry performance have been discussed conceptually and empirically by researchers in corporate failure, and in the areas of finance, accounting, strategic management, and the hospitality industry in the past. The belief is that the more systematic and frequent the scanning performed by managers the higher the chances of improving the firm's or industry's performance. The present study is an attempt to identify economic value drivers that impact the casual theme sector of the restaurant industry and to ascertain the degree of the impact during the period 1994-2003. The statistical analysis was based on time series data, using Cross Correlation, Granger Causality, and Multivariate Regression. An exhaustive range of economic value drivers within ten categories were tested: commodity market; foreign currency market; labor market; inflation; stock market; national income and output; interest rate; government revenue, spending, debt, and taxes; money supply; and consumer spending. The unit of analysis was done at the industry level, and an index of operational cash flows of the casual theme sector of the restaurant industry was developed. Economic value drivers within the categories of commodity markets, labor markets, inflation, stock market, national input/output, government revenue/spending/debt/taxes, money markets, and consumer spending indicated co-movements with and causality to the index of operational cash flows per unit in the casual theme restaurant industry. A high variance in the operational cash flows in the casual theme restaurant industry was explained by a set of economic value drivers within commodity markets, inflation, and labor markets. In broad, practical terms, the study intends to support the importance of assessing the economic environment for better performance of the restaurant industry and to provide food service managers with a conceptual model to understand the unanticipated effects on the performance of existing or new strategies. In real terms, the model and set of economic value drivers in the model would help them decide what kinds of action or investment in a firm or industry's weakness should be taken to buffer future operational risks against value drivers within economic environment. / Master of Science