Departments in enterprises can benefit from visual management (VM) methods. This involves observing a framework of planning activities on a desktop. The information should be clearly visible and easy to understand to all involved. The VM framework used in this case really proved to be a great option in terms of clarity, motivation, process review, real knowledge of results, and correction procedures. The implementation of VM methods will bring to companies a cultural change. There will be some points of resistance to be worked; however, through the income statement, these will be overcame. Then, if we use an insight management (IM) platform, it is possible to cross all those data in diverse ways to produce several scenarios, which can be considered as visual analytics. This is relevant for the case in study, especially in order to explore new strategies based on the indexes envisioned to replicate the positive results throughout the entire restaurant group.
TopIntroduction
While operations management has been studied on its benefits and functions, the technique of visual management (VM) has not been systematically investigated (Kurpjuweit et al., 2019). Nevertheless, the best practices observed provide insights of its advantages and how to implement it (Yik & Chin, 2019).
Either strategic, tactical, or operational departments may derive benefits from a VM framework for planning their activities. One contributing factor is that it stimulates information sharing and dissemination. There are great advantages from getting all items involved in the same level of practice. For example, at a restaurant, if the manager visualizes the waiter’s work, he also captures the real preparation and confection conditions, timings, etc. Everyone can have the same knowledge from the visual framework. This way, every employee can have a holistic view of his work, and the way it integrates in the whole process.
The information should be clearly visible, easy to follow and understandable (Tonkin, 1998; Kurpjuweit et al., 2019). Also, the framework should have characteristics such as:
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informative – that transfers useful and motivating information to those who consult it
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beneficial – that enables an easy, fast, safe and satisfying service
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attractive - interesting and enjoyable for the viewers.
Moreover, the information can be displayed in various formats (figures 1, 2): tables, charts, panel data, banners, posters, electronic media (if using computer networks), etc.
Today, having quick access to information and answering time have become crucial issues for competitive advantage. From comparing practical studies (Costa et al., 2015; Ward & Dagger, 2017; Yik & Chin, 2019) that discuss VM, the present work aims at applying VM to the management of a modern restaurant. Thus, it is oriented to answer the following research questions:
These questions will be answered through a case-study conducted at a restaurant group (named Chelsea Pizza & Pasta). It is located at Faro, capital in the region of Algarve in Portugal. This region is relevant to consider, due to the type of customers, either residents or tourists. Europe often receives international tourists, due to a number of countries with focus on tourism growth. Portugal is a good example, with a growth of over 11% in 2017 (WTO, 2018).
According to the Algarve Cook and Oenological Report (Turismo Algarve, 2018) which addresses sustainability aspects in Algarve’s gastronomy, the travel and tourism sector contributed with about 10.2% to global economy and 6.6% to total exports (World Economic Forum, 2017). This sector has generated 292 million jobs and has exceeded 1.3 billion international arrivals in 2017 (Turismo Algarve, 2018). Regarding these data, companies need to be prepared to have an excellent service, delivering higher quality products and services.