Read the following background about Uncle Joe's Culinary Career. Individually consider the discussion questions.

Background - Uncle Joe's Culinary Career

Your Uncle Joe is a wonderful chef and successful restaurateur. You've been eating at his restaurants all your life. Do you know his story? How he got started in the restaurant business?

Let's take a look at this through his early career, mid-career and today.

Early Days of Uncle Joe's Culinary Career

As a fresh grad out of culinary school in the early 1980's, Uncle Joe took out a loan to purchase a food truck that he ran on his own as a sole proprietor. Uncle Joe offered moderately priced up-scale casual dining items on the go - gourmet hamburgers and sandwiches, salads, fries and drinks.

In these early days, Uncle Joe had no staff - he was responsible for all functions of the business.

- He would spend his days sourcing supplies (ingredients, inventory), getting the word out about his business and finding out where the hot events were around town so that he could get a permit to operate his food truck business there.

- He spent most of his evenings working solo in the truck: taking orders from customers, working the grill and doing the clean-up.

Occasionally, at a really packed event, one of Uncle Joe's friends would volunteer to work the front of the truck taking orders and serving customers.

By the end of his first summer in business, Uncle Joe's food truck had become a local hit and he was able to hire a regular staff person to work the front of the truck with customers.

Discussion Scenario and Questions - Uncle Joe's Culinary Career Page

Uncle Joe's Mid-Career Experience

By the mid 1980's, Uncle Joe's food truck business was a hit - it was financially sustainable achieving an average annual growth of 15% in profitability and was well known around town.

By 1987, Uncle Joe was operating 3 food trucks year round, and up to six during the busy summer season - each with their own manager and 2 kitchen staff (grill and prep).

In 1989, Uncle Joe received an offer to purchase his food truck business that was significantly higher than what he thought the business was worth. He decided to accept the offer and sold the business. With the money from the sale of the food truck business, Uncle Joe was able to pay off all of his existing business debt and pursue his dream - to open an upscale, casual dining mid-town bistro.

In 1990, Uncle Joe was preparing to open his first brick and mortar restaurant. While he still wanted to spend at least half of his time behind the grill, as owner, Uncle Joe also became the restaurant's General Manager responsible for over-seeing all of the functions of the restaurant.

Three weeks before opening, Uncle Joe hired all his staff, including:

1 Assistant to the Owner & General Manager

2 Assistant Managers

1 Kitchen Manager

2 hosts

3 servers

2 table bussers

2 bartenders

2 bartending assistants

1 chef

2 line cooks

2 prep cooks

1 dishwasher

From his experience, Uncle Joe knew the skills in each of these positions were needed to ensure the success of the restaurant including the quality of its food, atmosphere and the overall dining experience.

Uncle Joe's Career Today

The bistro has been a resounding success!

Today, Uncle Joe's restaurant has grown into a chain of four restaurants around town, with Uncle Joe operating as the owner and President/CEO.

(The Assistant to the Owner and General Manager is responsible for supporting Uncle Joe with the business functions of the restaurant, including: Accounting (bookkeeping, invoices) Operations (permits, licensing), Marketing (local ads, sponsorships), HR (hiring, payroll), Sourcing, etc.)

Discussion Scenario and Questions - Uncle Joe's Culinary Career

Discussion Questions:

1. In 1987, when Joe was running three food trucks, what kind of traditional organizational structure was Joe's business likely to be? Briefly explain why.

2. Looking at the circumstances, staffing levels, and the stage of Joe's business when he was first planning to open his restaurant in 1990, briefly explain what type of organizational structure would you design for Joe?

3. What organizational structure type is Uncle Joe's business likely to be in today?