Restaurateurs' perceptions of location and design

The aim of this paper is to gather the perceptions of restaurateurs on restaurant location and design dimensions. In this study the researcher tested the perceptions of restaurateurs using thirteen layout and design dimensions evident in the independent full-service restaurant segment. The outcomes to be tested were presented to restaurateurs in a questionnaire uploaded on a web-based research system "survey monkey". This was emailed to 3 286 restaurateurs with 303 responses being received. Interestingly respondents perceive the ambience of a restaurant (M=3.34) and toilet facilities (M=3.34) to be the most important location and design aspects that influence customer satisfaction when dining out. This is significant because most restaurateurs spend the largest part of their marketing budget on promoting the food quality price

Technical competencies of restaurant managers in Pretoria: Employees’ and managers’ perceptions

The restaurant sector is a highly competitive industry, and factors affecting restaurant performance such as management competencies need to be explored. In order to determine the skills and knowledge needed to be a successful manager, management competencies should be addressed. Employees’ and managers’ perceptions of which management competencies are important could differ. The aim of this paper is to describe the perceptions of employees and managers of Pretoria restaurants with respect to technical competencies. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 47 restaurants in Pretoria. A six-point Likert scale was used to determine the perceptions regarding technical skills. A total of 49 restaurant managers and 131 employees completed the questionnaire. Employees perceived food preparation skills as the most important technical competency to possess in the restaurant sector, while managers identified the knowledge of operating kitchen equipment as an always-important technical competency

The skills profile of the hospitality supervisor in South Africa

The hospitality industry in South Africa is faced with challenges such as increased competition – nationally and internationally – economic recession, downsizing, the need to work smarter and not necessarily harder, but most of all, the challenge of managing diversity. The aim of this study was to determine the skills profile of the supervisor according to their own experience. A survey research approach was followed and research was conducted through self-administrated questionnaires that was based on competencies (core performance dimensions) related to the managerial aspects of a supervisor, namely – managing others (operational). Convenience sampling, comprising a population of hospitality supervisors working in hotels in South Africa was used. Six major hotel chains participated in this study. Responses were received from 141 hospitality supervisors. The researcher relied on descriptive and inferential statistical procedures to analyse the quantitative data. Results show that the performance dimension Guest and relationship is ranked as the most important performance dimension/attribute. This is not surprising as the responsibilities of the hospitality supervisor include a guest-focused culture