Answer Happy

Steven, an immigrant from Peru, is a Room Service waiter at an AAA Five Diamond luxury hotel in Washington D.C. Guests in this hotel desire ex cellent service in elegant surroundings, not only the "best" service on a scale relative to other hotels, but "flawless" service on an absolute scale. Steven has been in his position for nearly ten years, the second-longest tenure within the Room Service Department. He is highly skilled in his profession, works hard, has an excellent command of the English lan guage, and maintains superior attention to detail. Within Room Service there is a distinct division of duties. The Room Service cashier receives guest orders, either by phone or via doorknob cards collected by the night staff. The orders are written down by the Room Service cashier and then passed on to both the kitchen staff and the waiters. Cashiers receive virtually no training and little on-the-job coaching or support. There is only one cashier assigned per shift, re gardless of variability in demand, and therefore the cashier is frequently overburdened at peak times. The cashier's only official duties are to take telephone orders and operate the point-of-sale system. During slack times when the cashier has nothing to do, managers frequently assign him or her to other duties within the department. If a rush occurs when the cashier is away from the station, the phone may go unanswered and Room Service orders can easily accumulate. Room Service waiters assemble the carts and pick up the meals from the kitchen, deliver the meals to the guest rooms, and return the signed guest receipts to the cashier. Until the waiter arrives at a guest's door with the ready meal, he or she has not communicated with the guest regard ing the order. Few of the waiters are cross-trained in the cashier's duties, so they are unable to assist in the cashier function This renowned Washington hotel has a reccurring problem with in correct Room Service orders and orders being delivered to the wrong rooms. The majority of such incidents involve missing items or items cooked differently than the guest requested. In a particular incident, Steven delivered breakfast to a guest at 6:30 AM. After knocking gently on the door and quietly announcing, "Room service," Steven waited sev eral minutes, then announced his arrival again, somewhat more loudly this time. He heard noise in the room, and an angry voice shouted. "Just a minute?" The door then flew open and a tall, middle-aged man in his bathrobe began to scream at Steven that he had not ordered room ser vice and was greatly disturbed by being awakened at this early hour. The order pad had listed the wrong room! The guest then slammed the door and called the front desk to complain. It took Steven and the cashier about 15 minutes to figure out the room number of the guest who had actually ordered breakfast. The breakfast order, now a bit old, was rushed to the correct guest, who scolded Steven for being late. Steven apologized and informed the guest that there would be no charge for breakfast. When Steven returned to the Room Service office, he started an al tercation with the cashier. "How could you get the room number wrong?" The remaining waiters joined in, and a major fracas occurred during peak serving hours. The manager reprimanded the cashier se verely in front of the waitstaff. Later that day, the Front Office Manager provided a free lunch to the erroneously awakened guest and his wife Despite encouraging words from his manager, Steven went home feeling discouraged and frustrated. One small mistake had resulted in two an noyed guests, three free meals, and increased employee tension. Manage ment did nothing to prevent the problem from occurring again.
1. What was the cause of this situation?
2. What were the costs involved in this situation?
3. What recommendations might you have to improve the system