The front office
of Chris Michaels would be the dining and lounge areas, including the bar. We want each customer to feel very involved and in control of what they want provided. Therefor, in the front office, there is high divergence and high customer contact and involvement with a highly customized service.
As soon as the customer arrives at Chris Michaels, they are greeted by the valet so they do not have to worry about parking or walking to far to the restaurant. When they enter, they are introduced to the receptionists who asks their preference of seating location. Then when they finally sit down at their table, their is very high, face-to-face, contact with their server. Servers at Chris Michaels are encouraged and trained to check up on each customer regularly to make sure the customer is pleased. Also, to take care of any changes that need to be made or problems that might arise.
Chris Michaels is also very flexible to meet the expectations of each individual customer. Chris Michaels has a diverse menu offering a variety of food, but the customer can make changes to their order such as the way the food is cooked, prepared, additions, deductions and so on.
Chris Michael also likes to reach the preferences of all customers. That is why they offer sunday brunch, lunch, and dinner. Also, if people feel like staying out later, Chris Michaels turns into a lounge/night club at night. As if thats not enough flexibility, Chris Michaels has the ability to hold a wide variety of private parties. Such as corporate parties, sweet sixteens, anniversary dinners, weddings and bat mitzvahs.
The back office would be the kitchen area were the head chef and cooks work. The kitchen is located in the back of the restaurant and is not visible to the customers and the cooks have no contact with the customers at all. They receive the orders directly from the servers which are inputed by computer.
Resource Flexibility
The workforce is not very flexible. Chris Michaels delivers food of quality, so they hired Head Chef Diego Sanchez. Him along with his staff of cooks have been specifically trained and educated on how to cook and prepare foods of top quality. They have no other job requirements.
The servers as well as the bartenders only provide services directly to the customer and that is what they were trained to do. In the bartenders case, they have a license just for branding. There is no movement between work stations and job responsibilities.
When it comes to equipment, the restaurant has flexible general purpose equipment such as stoves, ovens, preparation tools, and grills. These general machines do have limitations but have enough flexibility to make changes to each customers order if necessary. The equipment is meant for low volume and high customization, keeping equipment and fixed costs low, while steal being able to meet customer demands.