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Operational Improvement for Costa Coffee Shop Introduction
Small businesses are mighty minnows, reflecting the competitive spirit that a market economy needs for efficiency; they provide an outlet for entrepreneurial talents, a wider range of consumer goods and services, a check to monopoly inefficiency a source of innovation, and a seedbed for new industries; they allow an economy to be more adaptable to structural change through continuous initiatives embodying new technologies, skills, processes, or products (Ibielski 1997, p. 1). In this context, it is important to analyze the role of quality practices that can enable Costa Coffee Shop to pursue competitive priorities, such as flexibility and quality of services and goods. Andreichuk (1992) stated, "It's a common misconception that big firms with extensive human and financial resources can do a better job of educating and motivating their workers to make quality improvements. The truth is that smaller companies can be even more successful at soliciting employee support and involvement because there are fewer management layers to permeate and fewer people to convince of the benefits" (p.29).
Higgins (1994) suggests that there are specific transactions or activities that are involved in managing operations in small businesses. The process of managing a business consists of four major functions occurring in an overlapping cycle and directed toward achieving the particular organization's objectives. These functions are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Planning entails setting objectives; organizing encompasses preparation of resources necessary for placing the plans into effect; leading is the function of channeling employees' and other individuals' behavior to accomplish objectives; and controlling