HR PRACTICES

HR practices in Irish Fast Food Industry

HR practices in Irish Fast Food Industry

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyzed hr practices in Irish fast food industry. Minimizing the packaging of food products presents an opportunity as well as considerable challenges to the food and drink industry as the main concern in the supply-chain is for food safety. Initiatives to reduce electricity and water consumption and to improve effluent quality did not individually carry the same potential for costs savings as the other areas. Consequently, these potential savings were given a lower priority within the companies. However, many electricity, water and effluent initiatives were implemented by fairly simple means and led to substantial savings. Changes in technology brought significant savings in manpower, as well as for materials and utilities. These savings are controversial in sustainability terms and attention has to be focused on ensuring that increased efficiency creates alternative work for people, as well as for equipment. Procedural changes often focused on auditing, material handling and staff training, and with low associated capital cost, these proved to be keys to success.The results from the Project have shown that there is a great potential for more sustainable production and consumption systems simply through improving dialogue between producers, retailers and consumers.

Table of Content

Abstract2

Chapter27

Literature Review7

Food production philosophies7

Industrial cuisine8

Fast food11

Fresh food14

The food and drink industry in the IRELAND19

Waste minimisation project in the food and drink industry19

Water and effluent21

Discussion of manufacturing site improvements for resource efficiency22

Discussion of supply-chain improvements for resource efficiency24

Chapter426

Methodology26

The relationship between industrial clusters and economic development28

The environmental value of increased resource efficiency30

The economic value of resource efficiency31

other raw material waste32

Chapter436

Result and Discussion36

Future developments41

Chapter545

Conclusion45

References47

Appendix52

Chapter1

Introduction

The food service market grows on average by 5 per cent per year; it is predicted that in 2007 in the USA alone, the 935,000 restaurants and food service outlets will generate US$537 billion in revenue (National Restaurant Association, 2006). With this growth, the scale of food production is continuously increasing. However, productivity (chefs to meal ratio) significantly varies between different types of operations. For example, on a cruise ship about 200 meals are prepared by one chef (Cruise Indstury News Quarterly, 2004). In a banquet setting, such as the Fairmont hotel in Montreal, this ratio is higher - 1,200 meals per chef (Urell, 2004); and in an institutional setting with a central production unit (CPU), such as the Anglican Retirement Villages (ARV) food services (Anglican Retirement Villages Diocese of Sydney, 2007), it is even higher - about 2,000 meals per chef. Apart from the style of service, quality and price, this broad variation in labour inputs is indicative of the degree of innovation and the use of technology. Technological innovation provides foundation for the both major strategic options for competitiveness - cost leadership and differentiation. Benefits include low costs, convenience, flexibility and safety (Alexander, 1999). Unlike a new marketing concept, a sophisticated technological configuration is difficult to copy or imitate. Many high profile companies with strong brand recognition but weak operations could benefit from an increase in technological/operational ...