Sample product as sold by Boniface Kyalo Mutinda

1. General Mills Operation 1
RUNNING HEAD: GENERAL MILLS OPERATION
GENERAL MILLS OPERATION
CUSTOMER INSERTS HIS/HER NAME:
UNIVERSITY NAME:
Case Study Analysis

2. General Mills Operation 2
GENERAL MILLS OPERATION
Overview of the case situation
The case situation deals with disagreements that occurred between the management of
the General Mills Corporation which is one of the branches of Olive Garden Restaurants. It
was a dispute between a customer of the restaurant and the organization. The managers who
are faced with these issues are supposed to deal with the issues using good skills and also
with a lot of patience to enhance harmony between the customer and the managers.
A customer who wrote a letter to the president of Olive Restaurant Garden Division
complained of an unpleasant experience in the restaurant and wanted the president to help
solve the issue. The customer had gone to the restaurant with his family for a mid-evening
meal and was with his two daughters and his father. He accepted that he had great food and
great experiences before in the restaurant and he commented that the facilities of the
restaurant were good. At the time of the arrival, the customer was surprised to see that there
were few customers for dinner at the restaurant and there was no one to welcome and to greet
them at the entrance. No hostess was at their service and the customer decided to go and look
for one and found an annoyed hostess who did not want additional customers at that time.
The customer and his family were offered a table that they were not comfortable with
because his father was an amputee and could not walk to the table. After some arguments the
hostess gave them a table that was not cleaned off.
The other challenge the customer and his family faced was to find a waiter who could
take their order. After twenty minutes the meals arrived and to their surprise the meals were
cold, and his daughters did not want to complain and so they took the meals cold. The waiter
left after bringing the second plate of Cannelloni and the customer had to go to the bar to look
for an employee for a check. The customer got a chance to talk with the manager and he was

3. General Mills Operation 3
confrontational towards him. There was an exchange of words between the customer and the
manager and they were both angry.
Critical business and communication issues
One of the critical business issues that are evident in the case study is that there was
no customer satisfaction in the services that were given by the manager and the other
employees. The customer was not satisfied from the time he entered the restaurant until the
time he left. To get a hostess was a problem and later to get a waiter became a problem. The
cold meals also contributed to the disagreements and in general the services were not as
expected by the customer.
Another problem was that the time that was used to serve the customer was unusual
and was not among his expectations. When the complains were taken to the manager, he did
not deal with the problems or try to save the situation but instead he showed his frustration to
the customer who did not know that it was wrong for him to be at the restaurant at such an
hour. He did not demonstrate his leadership to the customer and instead he asked the
customer what he wanted him to do concerning the incompetence of the employees.
There was no good communication between the manager and the customer and that is
what led to a great misunderstanding between them. The managers are supposed to establish
clarity in any discussion between them and the customers. According to Blanchard, (2007),
an important issue in communication involves listening and not giving feedbacks that are not
meaningful. The employees of the restaurant were not ready to serve more customers at that
hour and it was not communicated to the customer directly which could have solved the
problem before it was amplified. If only the manager knew how to communicate with his
employees, then the disagreement would not have occurred because the manager could have
accepted their mistake and the issue would have been solved in the right way.

4. General Mills Operation 4
Key recommendations to resolve the communication problems
The president of Olive Restaurant Garden Division should emphasize to the managers
and to all the employees the need of customer satisfaction as illustrated by European public
administration network, (2008). Satisfaction increases the royalty of the customers which is a
key to retention of the customers. Lack of customer satisfaction for the restaurant will make
the restaurant to loose its customers to competitors.
The Restaurant should use customer relationship management database to deal with
the situation and also to avoid future disagreements between the organization and the
customers which may reduce the sales of the restaurant. The president of Olive Restaurant
Garden Division after receiving the letter from the customer is supposed to immediately seek
to communicate with the customer before the issue amplifies into a major problem. The
customer said that he was disappointed and still angry because of the experience and the
issues can be resolved quickly if the president deals with the customers concerns
immediately.
References
Blanchard, D., (2007), Supply chain management: Best practices. Pp 33-54

5. General Mills Operation 5
European public administration network, (2008), Customer satisfaction management,
(Online) Available from
http://www.eupan.eu/files/repository/document/customer_satisfaction/EU_Primer_English__
FINAL_LR.pdf Viewed on 23 May 2011