THE UNIVERSITY OF DA NANG

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS
🙠🙠🕮🙢🙢

PROJECT: A “BETTER VERSION” OF

THE CUPS COFFEE
Subject: SERVICE OPERATION MANAGEMENT
Teacher: Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ly
Class: 46K23.1
Student: Vo Le Nhu Minh
Doan Gia Han
Dao Thi Thu Phuong
Lam Thi Thu Phuong
Tang Thi Giang
Nguyen Thi Hong Oanh

Da Nang, 7th May, 2022

 MỤC LỤC

1. Overview of The Cups Coffee .................................................................................. 3

1.1. Introduction to the business ................................................................................. 3
1.2. Target market ....................................................................................................... 4
1.3. Target customers.................................................................................................. 4
1.4. Define the services that enterprises provide ........................................................ 4
2. Service spectrum ....................................................................................................... 5
2.1. Primary core services........................................................................................... 6
2.2. Secondary core service ........................................................................................ 7
2.3. Auxiliary services ................................................................................................ 8
2.4. Add or eliminate some services (if any) to improve the quality of services ....... 8
3. Customer flows ......................................................................................................... 9
3.1. Present customer flows ........................................................................................ 9
3.2. Proposed customer flows ................................................................................... 11
4. Physical environment ............................................................................................. 12
4.1. Old version ........................................................................................................ 12
4.1.1. Ambient conditions .................................................................................... 12
4.1.2. Facilities...................................................................................................... 13
4.1.3. Layout ......................................................................................................... 15
4.2. Facilities assessment .......................................................................................... 22
4.3. Suggest a “new version” .................................................................................... 29
5. Human resource management............................................................................... 30

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1. Overview of The Cups Coffee

1.1. Introduction to the business

The Cups Coffee is the first coffee shop branded coffee chain of Da Nang people
invested, built and managed by Vietart F&B Co., Ltd. on a large scale including 4
establishments. The first facility was built at the end of 2018 on Le Duan Street,
followed by in 2019 the business expanded to 3 more locations on Nguyen Van Linh
Street, September 2 Street and Nguyen Van Thoai Street. This is a food service business
with the main mission of constantly striving and perfecting to elevate the coffee industry
in Da Nang, proudly reaching further on the world map. The design is modern, simple
and sophisticated with mainly wooden furniture, harmoniously combined colors to
create a cozy and luxurious space.

The Cups Coffee at 233 Nguyen Van Thoai is one of four stores in Da Nang.
This place has an area of 80m2 under the management of 13 employees including
managers, full-time employees and part-time employees. The Cups Coffee provides the
core service of food service. This service was formed to serve The Cups Coffee's
customers with cups of coffee with strong flavor of pure roasted coffee, giving
customers a new experience but still close and keeping the values. local culture. The
Cups Coffee always wants to bring value to customers by taking customers' emotions
as the driving force for development, in order to do this, The Cups Coffee staff always
welcome and serve customers in a friendly manner. enthusiastic, thoughtful manner
while taking care of the space as well as quality drinks. In addition, The Cups Coffee
also focuses on the service process, each cup of coffee delivered to the customer is the
result of a rigorous working process from the careful selection of ingredients to the
roasting process at the factory. and prepare directly at the counter, the special thing is
that customers can directly observe this process. The Cups Coffee is not only a place to
bring special coffee flavor but also a place to bring relaxation to customers.

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1.2. Target market

The Cups Coffee is one of the rare coffee chains and it is the first to be founded
and branded by Da Nang people. The target market that this coffee chain aims to first
is the Da Nang market. These coffee shops are located in very expensive streets,
crowded, fun, and bustling as Nguyen Van Thoai.

1.3. Target customers

The Cups Coffee is commonly known as a coffee shop. The target customers that
this chain of stores targets are first and foremost young people. Or more specifically, it
is the customer who needs to find inspiration to work and where to meet the work
(such as Freelancer or office workers). More than that, it's dating. The proof is that
when entering The Cups Coffee, it will not be difficult to observe many customers
drinking coffee while working. Even the space that this coffee shop design is very
modern and sophisticated. This trait is very suitable for the younger generation who are
of working age.

Most of the customers are between the ages of 24 and 35. They prefer space
that is airy enough, wide, and the sound environment is not too noisy so that they can
work in the most focused way. They still like comfortable seating, more light, power
outlets,...

1.4. Define the services that enterprises provide

First of all, we should learn the definition of the service: “A service is a

process consisting of a series of more or less intangible activities that normally, but not
necessarily always, take place in interactions between the customer and service
employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service providers,
which are provided as solutions to customer problems.” Gronroos (2000)

At The Cups Coffee, the services that this business provides to customers will
be divided into the following categories:

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 - Core products and services:
+ Core products and services: is a service that satisfies the main needs of
customers, is the main reason for customers to buy services. Contact The
Cups Coffee, the core service of this store is to serve drinks to customers
(including coffee and other drinks) through the core product is coffee and
the ingredients are other drinks.
+ Sub-core products and services: is a service that satisfies the secondary
needs of customers. Like The Cups Coffee, this business serves food like
pastries to customers.
- Additional products and services: are secondary services, provided to
customers to satisfy non-mandatory needs such as basic services but still must
have. In contact with The Cups Coffee, this service is shown in the following
services:
+ Customer service: Customer service is all the support activities that
businesses provide to customers both before, during and after purchasing
products or using business services to help customers get the best
shopping experience. Contacting The Cups Coffee, this coffee shop also
focuses on providing this service to customers for example, replying to
messages via fanpage, Provide information to customers about the store.
When customers call the menu and ask questions about the drink, the
consultant is quite enthusiastic,...Also typically when our team comes and
asks the staff to take a photo, the staff will coordinate all the way.
+ Payment service: Payment service is the bank providing the means of
payment and making payment transactions to customers. The Cups
Coffee has both cash payment services and credit card and bank card
payments,...

2. Service spectrum
Through the business survey, we found that The Cups Coffee possesses a broad
and diverse service spectrum, including many services that can relatively fully satisfy
the needs and increase the quality of customer experience. As well as many other service

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businesses, The Cups Coffee’s service spectrum is divided into four types: primary core
services, secondary core services, auxiliary services and component services.

2.1. Primary core services

- 1st product line: Traditional coffee
+ Black coffee (hot/cold)
+ Milk coffee (hot/cold)
+ White coffee (“Bạc xỉu”) (hot/cold)
- 2nd product line: Italian style coffee
+ Espresso (hot/cold)
+ Americano (hot/cold)
+ Cappuccino (hot/cold)
+ Latte (hot/cold)
+ Caramel macchiato (hot/cold)
- 3rd product line: Frappe drinks
+ Caramel coffee frappe
+ Matcha frappe
+ Chocolate frappe
+ Coconut coffee frappe
- 4th product line: Tea
+ Golden lotus seed tea
+ Lime tea
+ Lychee rose tea
+ Peach tea mania
+ Oolong tea with white pearl
- 5th product line: Hot tea
+ Ginger Chamomile Tea
+ Jujube Rose Tea
- 6th product line: Milk tea
+ Bubble Tea
+ Thai Green Bubble Tea
+ Chocolate Bubble Tea
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 + Taro Bubble Tea
+ Caramel Cookie Milk Tea
+ Brown Sugar Deerioca and Fresh Milk
+ Special Milk Tea
+ Special Thai Green Milk Tea
+ Special Chocolate Milk Tea
+ Special Taro Milk Tea
- 7th product line: Special coffee
+ Cold brew coffee
+ Salted caramel coffee
+ Almond latte
+ Egg coffee
+ Egg cocoa
- 8th product line: Vitamin Mix
+ Spinach, Pineapple, Apple, Mango, Milk
+ Pineapple, Apple, Mango, Milk
+ Mix Berries, Milk
- 9th product line: Other drinks
+ Blueberry/Passionfruit/Raspberry soda
+ Hot chocolate with almond
+ Blueberry/Raspberry/Passion Fruit yogurts

2.2. Secondary core service

The Cups Coffee also provides:
- “Banh mi”, including four variations:
+ “Banh mi” with grilled meat
+ “Banh mi” with shredded chicken meat
+ “Banh mi” with BBQ meat and pork bologna
+ “Banh mi” with Vietnamese meatball
- Roasted coffee pack includes two product lines:
+ Strong Blend (200gr/500gr/1kg)
+ High Aroma Blend (200gr/500gr/1kg)
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 - Many types of pastry.

Picture 2.1. The Cups Coffee’s menu

2.3. Auxiliary services

- Ordering through apps: Grab Food, ShopeeFood, Baemin.
- Payment by credit card or debit card.
- Free WiFi network
- Free parking
- Toilets for Men and Women
Besides, The Cups Coffee also has some component services such as welcome
and check customer information, security service, and recommending suitable drinks
for each customer.

2.4. Add or eliminate some services (if any) to improve the quality of services
Adding points card service. When the business adds this service, customers will
be able to accumulate points and convert that point into money.From there they will
save a large amount of money for the next use. In addition, this service is motivating,
motivate customers to use food and other services at the business. Mechanism of action:
Customers come to the business and buy services (e.g. order a cup of coffee) The
customer will receive a point on the business's sales system. For every 10 points,
customers will be given a glass of buffet water worth less than 50 thousand.

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 Adding a roof so that customers can safely enjoy the drink at the store without
worrying. Mechanism of operation: customers come to the business to drink water and
use the free parking service. The customer's car will be put into the shade of the sun
curtains instead of the outside and directly exposed to the sun.
Adding services to sell heat-retaining cups, glass cups branded The Cups Coffee.
This helps customers have a more favorable view of the business and help the name of
the brand become more popular. This can be considered as a secondary core service of
the business. Customers can use this service even when using or not using the main core
service.

3. Customer flows

3.1. Present customer flows

The Cups Coffee has 03 working shifts a day: Morning shift (7a.m – 12p.m),
Afternoon shift (12p.m – 5p.m), Evening shift (5p.m – 10p.m). Each shift will include
04 staff: 01 cashier, 01 bartender, and 02 waiters. Each employee's specific tasks in a
shift include:

Staff Quantity Job description

Cashier 01 After receiving the order from the guest, the cashier will confirm
the information, print the bill, and give the bill to the customer for
payment, along with transferring the bill to the bartender. Finally,
bring the self-service vibrating card to the counter for guests.
Bartender 01 Prepare water according to the customer's request.
Waiter 02 Take care of guests. One staff is responsible for bringing drinks
to the counter and pressing the system so that guests are notified
when they receive drinks (standing area: the counter).
Take care of guests. One staff cleans the table after guests leave
(standing area: the entrance).
Table 3.1. Job description of The Cups Coffee’s staff in a shift.

As a result of the previous, we have a process flow diagram of The Cups Coffee:

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 Picture 3.1. Process flow diagram of The Cups Coffee.

According to the flowchart above, there are 04 key actions that take the following
amount of time to complete:

Activity Description Cycle time CT (s)

1 Receive order and payment 160
2 Prepare drink 180
3 Bring drink to the counter and press the vibrating card 40
system
4 Clean 60
Picture 3.2. License renewal process times at The Cups Coffee.

As a result, the flow diagram for the current process is as follows:

Picture 3.2. Present process flow diagrams of The Cups Coffee.

Flow diagram for the current layout (image 3.2), which identifies the bottleneck
operation as activity 2 (prepare drinks) with CT = 300s, limiting the current production
capacity of the system to 12 items/hour.

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Thus, the system's current capacity is:
1 3600
CS = = = 12 items/hour.
𝐶𝑇 300

Present total direct labor content = 160 + 300 + 30 + 60 = 550 (s)

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡

Present direct labor utilization = (𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 x 100%
𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒)∗(𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠)

550
= x100% = 45.83%
300∗4

3.2. Proposed customer flows

With the present direct labor utilization, it is necessary to propose a different
service process to establish a job with higher productivity and a better work-life balance
for employees. The following suggestions are given in particular:

Picture 3.3. Proposed process flow diagrams of The Cups Coffee.

With the proposed process design as shown in image 3.3, a shift still contains 04
staffs but the structure has changed: 01 cashier, 02 bartenders, and 01 waiter. At this
point, the bottleneck operation becomes activity 01 with CT = 160s, limiting the
production capacity of the system to 22.5 items/hour. Meanwhile, activity 02 increased
the number of employees to 02, so the capacity increased to 24 items/hour. Activities 3
and 4 are combined to form a single task (the waiter, after bringing drinks to the counter
and pressing the system, can clean the area or the tables when the guests have left).

Thus, the system's proposed capacity is:

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 1 3600
CS = = = 22.5 items/hour.
𝐶𝑇 160

Proposed total direct labor content = 160 + 150 + 90 = 400 (s)

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡

Proposed direct labor utilization = (𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 x 100%
𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒)∗(𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠)

400
= x100% = 83.33%
160∗3

As a result of the proposed method, the system's processing capacity has increased from
12 items/hour to 22.5 items/hour, while direct labor utilization has increased from
45.83% to 83.33%.

4. Physical environment

4.1. Old version

The Cups Coffee is designed with a closed, luxurious and fresh space with two
brown - blue tones combined, bringing a close, rustic but equally sophisticated coffee
experience space for the customers. The Cups Coffee focuses on making full use of
natural light, surrounded by transparent glass walls, opening up an airy and harmonious
space throughout the four seasons.

4.1.1. Ambient conditions

- Location: Located at the "golden intersections" like Nguyen Van Thoai, prime
locations, The Cups Coffee is close to entertainment and entertainment venues
with well-invested space.
- Temperature: The space at The Cups Coffee seems to always keep the
temperature of 21°C, creating a cool and gentle feeling.
- Color: The main color of coffee shops is brown - blue tones, bringing a close,
rustic but refined coffee experience space. The light is also mainly golden brown
tone, in harmony with the design space of the cafe.
- Noise: Entering the cafe, customers seem to be isolated from the hustle and bustle
outside.
- Sound: The playlist played throughout the cafe is soft and gentle Vietnamese
ballad songs.

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 - Scent: Behind the door, customers are immersed in a quiet and gentle space with
the aroma of coffee in the air.

4.1.2. Facilities
- Customer service equipment:
+ Main material: Wood
+ Main colors: Brown - Green tones
+ The main wooden furniture from the floor, tables and chairs, shelf frames
are also carefully selected. The large and small tables are exquisitely
designed from monolithic slate wood with outstanding wood grain,
bringing rustic, close and comfortable features like at home. Not only the
usual tables and chairs, The Cups Coffee also impresses thanks to the
striking golden brown one-piece sofa design. And if customers go in
groups, there are still separate sofa models to serve groups.

Picture 4.1. Facilities of The Cups Coffee

- Equipment for production: The system of facilities for beverage production at
The Cups Coffee is fully equipped and modern, with machines such as:
+ Coffee Grinder: Includes 2 machines with different coffee fineness: 6 -
12/40 grind for making filter coffee, and 1-5/40 grind for brewing diluted
coffee like Espresso, Cappuccino, Americano…
+ Automatic coffee machine

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 + Kanchimer machine
+ Microwave
+ Electronic scale
These modern equipment make the beverage production process standardized
and professional according to a certain cycle to ensure uniform quality in each beverage.
And customers can watch this whole process right at the bar by the completely open
beverage production space.

Picture 4.2. Facilities of The Cups Coffee

- Sales equipment:
+ Receipt printers
+ Stamp Printer
+ Point of sale POS machine
+ CCTV - anti-theft
+ Time attendance machine - Fingerprint scanner
+ Self-service vibrating card
+ Machine to receive shipping orders
+ Bank card swiping machine

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 Picture 4.3. Facilities of The Cups Coffee
The Cups Coffee is both a "glass cabinet" and a "factory" when the business
space is both a place to display material and immaterial aspects for customers to
perceive and a place to produce products and services.

4.1.3. Layout
The Cups coffee is a coffee shop located on Nguyen Van Thoai street near My
Khe beach, so the shop has a sign design for customers to easily find.

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 Picture 4.4. Group 1 checked in at The Cups Coffee
When coming to The Cups Coffee, customers can see that the parking lot outside
the shop is located on the sidewalk and alternating parking positions are areca rows to
help shade the sun during the day. Outside the restaurant is a row of neatly arranged
tables and chairs for guests who like the outside space and mainly guests who come in
the morning to have breakfast. The outside of the shop is decorated in a minimalist style
and interspersed with large bushes, helping to create a comfortable feeling for guests.

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 Picture 4.5. The outdoor area
The Cups Coffee has 2 entrances. The main entrance faces towards the
intersection between Nguyen Van Thoai and Tran Bach Dang streets, so it is easy to
see. The other entrance faces Tran Bach Dang street and is convenient for guests to
come to The Cups coffee by motorbike.

Picture 4.6. The parking lot of The Cups Coffee

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 Picture 4.7. The entrance of The Cups Coffee
In front of the main entrance is the menu of The Cups Coffee. After entering The
Cups Coffee by the main entrance, customers will immediately see a counter displaying
accompanying items such as coffee bags, cups, thermos bottles...

Picture 4.8. The counter of The Cups Coffee

After that is the drink ordering and payment area. The area for preparing and
receiving drinks is also integrated here. At the order counter, The cups coffee puts the
menu on the table and on the wall to make it easy for guests to order the room when
there are too many guests. Right to the right of the order counter is arranged a cabinet
for cakes, on the opposite side is a counter for drinks. Near the drink counter, there are

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shelves and cabinets to store the necessary items during the use of the service here such
as tissues, straws, etc. Beverage dispensing machinery and equipment are also located
at the order counter. so that customers can observe the process of creating beverage
products.

Picture 4.9. The ordering counter

The entrance to the restroom is located opposite the side entrance of The Cups
Coffee. This area is divided into 3 separate rooms for women, men and staff, outside is
a large mirror with 2 sinks and hand drying equipment.

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 Picture 4.10. Restroom area
The space in the restaurant is divided into many areas and tables and chairs of
various sizes are arranged reasonably. The Cups Coffee has maximized the space to
serve guests in peak seasons.

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 Picture 4.11. The indoor area

4.2. Facilities assessment

The facilities of The Cups Coffee are arranged according to the sequence of
stages in the customer service process: Customer → Service counter → Delivery
Counters.

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 Parking Enjoying area Ordering and preparing area Storehouse Self- WC
lot service

Indoor Frontage Outdoor Ordering Dispensing Cookie

area area area counter counter counter

Flexibility Relatively Relativel Easy to Easy to Easy to Relatively Easy to Hard to Easy to Hard to change
hard to y hard to change change change hard to change change the change the location
change change layout, change location but but we interior
(quantity decoration we can expansion or
and type concept change the modification
of tables) arrangement can
of furniture
in there

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Cooperati Slightly Very Very Very Very Very Very Extremely Quite Slightly
on cooperativ cooperati cooperative cooperative cooperative cooperative cooperative cooperative cooperative cooperative
bet.dep. e ve (with (with (with (with
dispensing ordering ordering dispensing
and cookies and cookies and counter)
counter) counter) dispensing
counter)

Accessibil Easy to Easy to Easy to Easy to Easy to Hard for Stunning Very hard for Very easy Very easy to
ity access access access and access access customers and easy to customers to to access access
stunning to access access access

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Field of Not limit Not limit Not limit Not limit Not limit Not limit Attracting Limit Not limit Limited when
vision visibility in viewed from
the cake ordering and
display area dispensing
areas

Use of Maximize Maximize Maximized, Maximized Maximized Maximized Maximized Maximized Maximized Maximized,
space d d, but still but still , but still but still
ensured ensured ensured ensured
spaciousn spaciousnes spaciousne spaciousness
ess and s and ss and and comfort
comfort comfort comfort

Movemen Convenien Convenie Convenient Convenient Convenient Convenient Convenient Convenient Convenient Convenient,
t distance t nt spacious

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Comfort Relatively Very Very Very Relatively Very Very Very Very Very
comfortabl comforta comfortable comfortabl comfortable comfortabl comfortable comfortable comfortabl comfortable
e ble e e e

Safety Relatively Very safe Very safe Very safe Very safe Relatively Very safe Quite safe Very safe Very safe
safe (1 (1 security safe
security guard)
guard)

Security Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good

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4.3. Suggest a “new version”

Picture 4.12. The old version of The Cups Coffee

The shop is towards a cozy space and has a luxurious concept. With an overview
of the entire region as above, we have suggestions to change a few points to have a
better version for customers.

Firstly, inside the space of the restaurant, we noticed the inconvenience of light.
The Cups Coffee uses color and light in harmony to highlight their coziness. However,
the inconvenience here is that the lighting is not guaranteed to affect the customer's
experience with The cups coffee, especially for the group of customers who come here
for the purpose of learning. So we recommend investing in upgrading the lighting
system to enhance their experience.

Secondly, currently customers coming to The Cups coffee are mostly students
and this trend is increasing gradually. The demand for group learning has increased, but
the tables and chairs at The Cups coffee are not enough to meet the learning needs of
this group of customers. Specifically, in the old version, there was only 1 large table to

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use. Therefore, we suggest that The Cups coffee should divide the area, change and
rearrange the tables and chairs reasonably. Besides, most of the desks here are quite
small in size, which is quite inconvenient for guests to work and study individually.

Businesses can consider replacing tables and chairs to better suit the needs of customers.

Picture 4.13. The new version of The Cups Coffee

5. Human resource management

Different from the service style of traditional coffee shops, The Cups Coffee
chooses a modern service style through the installation of self-service equipment in the
entire system. This helps to make customer service continuous because staff only need
to stand at the counter without having to go to each table to ask what customers want to
drink. Employees save time and energy to focus on making drinks.

Therefore, The Cups Coffee only needs 2 to 3 employees in each shift,

minimizing the number of employees in the shift.

- Tasks of staff in the shift: The number of employees in each shift is small, so
there is a rotation of duties between employees. Each shift will include 1 main

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 barista, and 1-2 waiters. At a busy time, all staff can work together to make drinks
to shorten the waiting time of guests, or all staff to clean up if the work is
overloaded. In the absence of guests, they will take turns in charge of the tasks
themselves. Such a rotation of tasks helps to limit employee boredom, when only
repeating a job, and avoids being passive in personnel arrangement when an
employee leaves unexpectedly. However, this leads to the inability to ensure
uniformity of quality when providing products to customers.
- Employee Requirements:

This is a job posting from The Cups Coffee. Based on this, we can see the
requirements of the business for each employee, and attitude is the most
important thing.

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 - Employee training: After completing the interview and selecting the right
employee, The Cups Coffee requires employees to learn 2 sessions and start a
probationary period. During the 2 apprenticeship sessions, employees learn skills
to prepare all drinks of the business, tasks to be done, location, equipment....
Before and after each shift, the store manager will advise and remind the
employees about the requirements and mistakes that the employees make….

However, one limitation that the team has seen at The Cups Coffee is that the
attitude of the staff is not really good: there are incorrect expressions for customers who
use the service for more than 3 hours. This needs the store manager to follow up and
remind the staff so that they won't do it the next time, because this is taboo in the service
industry.

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