The purpose of this study was to investigate the concepts of remote and task risks in relation to the structure of the casual theme restaurant industry, and to examine the performance consequences of their relationships. This study proposed a framework of analysis that will enable industry participants to develop an improved understanding of the relationships among environmental risk drivers, and of the influence of their strategic decisions on the environment-performance connection. Specifically, it was proposed that task risk factors could be identified, and that they would mediate the influence that some identifiable remote risk factors would have on the performance of the industry. It was also expected that this mediated relationship would be moderated by the influence of the structure of industry. The primary unit of analysis was at the industry sector level as the performance construct was operationalized using a portfolio of 24 casual theme restaurant firms. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the remote and task risk factors. The analysis suggested that three remote factors and three task factors represent the two environmental constructs: "Interest rates", "Expectations" and "Exchange rates" for the remote environment, and "Input quantities", "Input restaurant" and "Input prices" for the task environment. A number of time-series regression analyses were subsequently conducted for the 1993-2006 period to investigate the various proposed relationships. The results indicated that a number of significant direct effects of the remote and task risk factors on the cash flow returns on invested capital of the industry portfolio existed. Also, a significant mediated relationship was found: the "Input prices" mediated the influence of the "Expectations" on changes in the cash flow returns on invested capital. However, and despite numerous significant direct effects between the industry structure variables and the performance variables, no moderation could be established. The present study paved the way for future research on the relationships between the remote and task environment and the performance of firms. In particular, further research should be conducted that delves into the role of the cyclical nature of environmental risk factors. Besides, additional investigations of the influence of the structure of the industry should be conducted by attempting to compare more contrasted states of the industry. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify the perception and relationships between corporate entrepreneurship (CE) practices and management performance. The use of Morris and Kuratko's (2002) Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI) was used as the survey instrument for this study. A sample size of 1,200 unit managers, middle managers, and top management teams (TMTs) within nine casual dining restaurant organizations were surveyed with a response of 522 subjects at a rate of 44%. Responses of the CEAI results were studied using regression analysis and conclusions were drawn to support four out of the six hypothesis originally proposed in determining CE activity and management reinforcement. A post test analysis was also conducted in order to reinforce the previous results of the original study. This study concluded with the determination through an empirical analysis that forms of CE activity and enforcement are currently present within the casual dining restaurant segment. / Ph. D.

Abstract Customers are the main reason behind every companies’ survival in the market. And winning their interest has now become the concern for company owners and managers as well. However, many factors can affect the customer's satisfaction in the marketing environment. Among the determinants, service quality takes the most substantial part. Many Scholars have also identified the underlying relationships between these two constructs. Notably, the perception-expectation gap is a useful cue to determine their link. Thus, this research mainly relies on uncovering the customer's perception of service quality. As a result, the study is conducted in one of the biggest chain restaurant named Pizza Hut. And the author chooses the research location to be in Uppsala. Purpose This study has a two-fold research purpose in that it aims at measuring the perception of customers in the restaurant industry and examining the validity of DINESERV in Sweden's cultural context. Design/Methodology/approach The author has employed a convenience sampling technique to conduct the research and pre-developed questionnaires from the so-called DINESERV instrument. Additionally, factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to check the validity and reliability of the model, respectively. The gap score was also computed using the means. Then finally, a spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated to test the strength of the relationship between the customer's satisfaction and service quality dimensions. Finding The analysis carried out proved that DINESERV is a valid instrument to measure customer's perception of service quality in Sweden's cultural context. Besides, the correlation between service quality dimension and customer satisfaction were validated using a spearman's rho. Lastly, the result from the gap score indicates that the two dimensions (i.e., responsiveness & reliability) were perceived as inferior by the customers. Research implications The theoretical finding suggests that DINESERV is the right instrument to measure the service quality of restaurants in Sweden's context. And the practical implication approves that pizza hut in Uppsala has two inferior dimensions that need continuous improvement. Lastly, the demographic characteristics of the respondents show that most of the customers are categorized under the younger age group (i.e., 18-36), and this information can be used for marketing purposes by the company. Key Words – DINESERV, Service quality, Customer satisfaction, Restaurant

The essential characteristic of the future is uncertainty. A basic feature of the economy, and life in general, is that decisions are made under conditions of uncertainty-the future is unknowable. Having reliable guidelines or indicators that provide discipline and signposts to the future is required for the process of successful investing. Conditions are constantly changing, and there are no rewards for replaying the same old game over and over. To answer for this demand, continued from the previous studies (Choi, 1996; Choi et al., 1997a; Choi et al., 1997b; Choi et al., 1999), this study developed the restaurant industry business cycle models and examined financial practices of the high and low performing firms over the industry cycles. The U.S. restaurant industry demonstrated three cycles (peak to peak or trough to trough) for the period of 1970 through 1998. The restaurant industry peaked in 1973, 1979, and 1989. The industry troughed in 1970, 1974, 1980, and 1991. The mean duration of the restaurant industry cycles is 8 years (SD: 2) calculated by peak to peak and 6.5 years (SD: 2.08) calculated by trough to trough. Expansion takes an average of 6 years in the restaurant industry but declines sharply after it reaches the peak taking average 1.33 years. The restaurant industry experienced high growth (boom) every five years on average. The troughs of the growth cycles, contrasted to the peaks of the growth cycles, coincided with those of the restaurant industry business cycles in each case except one (1985). During that year a low growth phase interrupted industry business expansion but did not terminate it. Restaurant industry growth cycles, then, tend to be relatively symmetrical: since 1970 the average duration was about 2.25 years for both expansion (L-H) and contraction (H-L). In contrast, the restaurant industry business cycles in the same period show a strong asymmetry: the expansions lasted on the average 6 years; the contractions, 1.33 years. The expansions have varied in duration much more than the high growth phases have (the respective standard deviations are 2.58 and 0.95 years). This study supports the view that the cyclical fluctuations of the growth of the restaurant industry can be projected by measuring and analyzing series of economic indicators and each economic indicator has specific characteristics in terms of time lags, and thus can be classified into leading, coincident, and lagging indicators. This study formed a set of composite indices with twelve indicators classified in the leading category, six as coincident, and twenty as lagging. The high performing firms' financial practices regarding investment decisions measured by capital spending, and price earning ratio, and part of financing and dividend decisions measured by market value of common share outstanding are independent of the cyclical fluctuations of the industry cycles. But, their practices regarding dividend decisions measured by the earning per share, investment decision measured by cash flow per share, and financing decisions measured by asset value per share and long term debt level are dependent on the events (Expansion/Contractions) in the Restaurant Industry Cycles. Conclusively, high performers exercise their capital investment (reflected by capital spending) and equity management (reflected by common share outstanding and P/E ratio) independently while being less influenced by the industry swings. They exercise, however, their working capital management (reflected by cash flow per share), earning management (reflected by EPS), asset management, and long term debt management quite dependently while being more influenced by the industry swings. The financial practices exercised by the low performing firms are independent from the events in the industry cycle. Although some financial practices are related to the events in the industry cycle, the directions are opposite to the events in the industry cycle. Specifically, for all of the selected financial strategies except common share outstanding and long-term debt, the low performers practice them independently from the cyclical fluctuations of the industry cycles. Even for common share outstanding and long-term debt strategies, they practiced their strategies in opposite directions to the events (Expansion/Contractions) in the Restaurant Industry Cycles. It is expected that the above results can be used for improving investment performance through understanding the cyclical behavior of the economy and the restaurant industry. With that model, investors should be able to take part in the upswings while avoiding the cyclical downturns, and to structure a portfolio that keeps risk to a minimum. This should then presumably result in competitive investment decisions of firms, thereby improving the effectiveness of resource allocation. / Ph. D.

This research study examined the acceptance of the intranet in restaurant franchise systems. The widely accepted Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis (1986, 1989) was the basis for this study. TAM is an excellent model to predict information technology (IT) usage and is based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). Therefore, TAM was adopted in this study of intranet acceptance. Furthermore, this study attempted to see if the earlier results of TAM are still valid. The original model was modified to include one external variable, franchise support. Data were collected from franchise restaurant systems throughout the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Of 3,500 questionnaires distributed to individual users of intranet, 161 contained usable responses. The results of regression analysis confirm that TAM is valid for additional applications such as evaluating the intranet in restaurant franchise systems. / Ph. D.

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo la elaboración del Plan de Negocios para la empresa “SAMI Peruvian Food & Drinks”, la misma que se dedica a la elaboración y distribución de comidas bajo el sistema del delivery. El objetivo de la organización es satisfacer la demanda de aquellas personas que buscan obtener un servicio que cumpla con todos los protocolos de bioseguridad establecidos, dada la pandemia a raíz de la llegada del COVID-19. Dichas personas mantienen la necesidad de compartir momentos agradables junto a familia, amigos y demás; sin embargo, la actual regulación en el país impide la atención de forma presencial, además del creciente temor social. Es por esto qué, se considera una excelente oportunidad de negocio el brindar gastronomía peruana dirigida a distintas personas y grupos con características y necesidades similares mediante el reparto a domicilio. El proyecto iniciará atendiendo operaciones en Miraflores, para lo cual se rentará el espacio con la capacidad instalada en cocina; únicamente para la elaboración de los pedidos. Dada la ubicación, se iniciarán las operaciones atendiendo en dicho distrito y los distritos límite: Barranco, Santiago de Surco, Surquillo y San Isidro. La recepción de los pedidos, así como la publicidad de la organización se manejará a través de medios digitales, tales como las redes sociales, puesto que éstas representan el menor costo posible para el inicio de las operaciones, además de ser en la actualidad un medio masivo de difusión y captación de clientes. / The goal of this work is to prepare the Business Plan for the “SAMI Peruvian Food & Drinks”, which is dedicated to preparing and distributing meals under the delivery system. The objective of the organization is to satisfy the demand of those people who seek to obtain a service that complies with all established biosafety protocols, given the pandemic following the arrival of COVID-19. These people maintain the need to share pleasant moments with family, friends, and others; however, the current regulation in the country prevents attention in person, in addition to the growing social fear. That is why, it is considered an excellent business opportunity to provide Peruvian food and drinks focused on different people and groups with similar characteristics and short-term needs through home delivery. The project will begin with operations in Miraflores, for which the space will be rented with the installed capacity in the kitchen, only for the preparation of orders. Given the location, operations will begin serving this district and the bordering districts: Barranco, Santiago de Surco, Surquillo and San Isidro. The reception of orders, as well as the advertising of the organization will be handled through digital sources, such as social networks, since these represent the lowest possible cost for the start of operations, in addition to being currently a means massive dissemination and recruitment of potential customers. / Trabajo de investigación

Annual turnover for hourly employees in the hospitality industry averages 102%. The costs associated with hiring and training new employees are estimated at 150% of an employee's salary for businesses with more than 30 employees. The purpose of this case study was to examine the personnel selection strategies used in the casual dining sector. The sample for this study was 6 casual dining restaurant managers in the central Georgia area. Three of the participants used online selection strategies and 3 participants used intuition-based strategies. The objective of this study was to compare the similarities and differences between each respective personnel selection strategy. The conceptual framework employed is a resource-based view of the firm. Data were collected through semi structured face-to-face interviews. Data analysis occurred through coding and theming and revealed common themes between both groups. These themes were related to assessment of the application, applicant experience, applicant skills, traits, and abilities (online), and interviewing of the applicant. By implementing the recommendations from this study, managers in casual dining restaurants could affect social change whereby selecting employees who fit the restaurant environment and would demonstrate a higher self-efficacy and a better work-life balance. Promoting traits of self-efficacy and work-life balance would also create retention among hourly employees, saving restaurant organizations millions of dollars.

This research is done by designing a set of sustainable tableware to give customers a sustainable dining experience and promote restaurant sustainable practice. Through the exploration of new materials, the result is an innovation of tableware, thus sustainable restaurants will have a completely sustainable dining environment. At the same time, when customers experience sustainable dining customers, they will be promoted by sustainability and behavior more sustainable. With increasing environmental degradation, the United Nations published the sustainability goals to reduce the damage of the environment and build sustainable awareness. The restaurant brings lots of environmental issues like food waste, energy waste, and air pollution. Until now, there is not an ideal solution for tableware. The ceramic and porcelain manufactory overexploitation of natural resources and release harmful gases. The design process is an attempt to use new and degradable materials to design sustainable tableware.

The purpose of this study is to investigate franchisee turnover practice and empirically test the relationship between franchisee satisfaction and turnover behavior. A total of 402 franchisees of a quick service franchise system were surveyed by using two sets of structured questionnaires. Sixty-seven current and 24 terminated franchisee participated in the study, yielding a response rate of 29.8%. Based on the objective and research questions, two hypotheses were established and tested. The testing of the hypotheses indicated a significant difference between the satisfaction of terminated and current franchisees on service support, social interaction, and general satisfaction. Also, there is a relationship between franchisee’s satisfaction and his or her future intention. Through factor analysis two critical factors were identified closely related to the satisfaction and future intention of current and terminated franchisees. / Master of Science

The building, combining the production of wine, accommodation and restaurant is surrounded by vineyards overlooking the Novomlýnské reservoir and Palava Hills. Part of the proposal are too small constructions in the landscape, which offers its users an added value in the perception of the cultural landscape. The basic idea itself winery is an intersection that connects the four routes, each of which is determined by another user.