This document contains a research proposal for investigating customer satisfaction towards services provided by Anjappar Sdn. Bhd., a restaurant chain in Malaysia. The proposal includes an introduction to the food service industry and Anjappar restaurant. It outlines the research objectives of identifying customer satisfaction with services and factors influencing patronage. The methodology describes a survey of 100 customers using a questionnaire containing open and closed questions. A timeline is provided laying out the stages of the research from July 2013 to May 2014, including questionnaire distribution, data analysis, and writing the results.
This document contains a research proposal for investigating customer satisfaction towards services provided by Anjappar Sdn. Bhd., a restaurant chain in Malaysia. The proposal includes an introduction to the food service industry and Anjappar restaurant. It outlines the research objectives of identifying customer satisfaction with services and factors influencing patronage. The methodology describes a survey of 100 customers using a questionnaire containing open and closed questions. A timeline is provided laying out the stages of the research from July 2013 to May 2014, including questionnaire distribution, data analysis, and writing the results.
This document contains a research proposal for investigating customer satisfaction towards services provided by Anjappar Sdn. Bhd., a restaurant chain in Malaysia. The proposal includes an introduction to the food service industry and Anjappar restaurant. It outlines the research objectives of identifying customer satisfaction with services and factors influencing patronage. The methodology describes a survey of 100 customers using a questionnaire containing open and closed questions. A timeline is provided laying out the stages of the research from July 2013 to May 2014, including questionnaire distribution, data analysis, and writing the results.
Title: Customer satisfaction towards services provided by Anjappar Sdn. Bhd.
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Contents Research Proposal: ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Rationale: ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Research Methodology: ................................................................................................................................ 6 Balanced scorecard ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Time Plan....................................................................................................................................................... 8 References .................................................................................................................................................. 12 Appendices .................................................................................................................................................. 13
Research Proposal:
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Title: Customer satisfaction towards services provided by Anjappar Sdn. Bhd.
Rationale:
Food Service defines those businesses, institutions, and companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home. This industry includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many other formats. Commercial foodservice establishments accounted for the bulk of food-away-from-home expenditures in 2010. This category includes full-service restaurants, fast food outlets, caterers, some cafeterias, and other places that prepare, serve, and sell food to the general public for a profit. A restaurant is a business establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money, either paid before the meal, after the meal, or with a running tab. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance and offerings, including a wide variety of the main chef's cuisines and service model. Many restaurants are small businesses, and franchise restaurants are common. There is often a relatively large immigrant representation, reflecting both the relatively low start-up costs of the industry and the cultural importance of food.
The foodservice industry is divided into two segments. The commercial segment makes up 80 percent of the industry and includes operations in restaurants, catering and banquets, retail, stadium, airlines, and cruise ships. The noncommercial segment includes schools and universities, 4
the military, health care, business and industry, and clubs. There are five restaurant segments in the foodservice industry: Family dining full-service restaurants, casual dining full service restaurants, fine dining full service restaurants, quick service restaurants and quick casual restaurants. The leading sectors in the Malaysian consumer foodservice industry are the caf/bar segment, the full-service restaurant segment and the fast food segment. These three segments of the foodservice market account for over half of sales in both value and volume terms. However, there are opportunities to be found in the smaller sectors of the market as well. (Foodservice Malaysia, 2012) Malaysia has a strong tourism industry and this is reflected in the large number of hotels and resorts present in the country. The tourism sector is quite important to the foodservice industry as it is home to many five-star hotels (which usually have at least one full-service restaurant). This sector has been growing and is expected to continue doing so as the government has been encouraging expansion. It should be noted, however, that Malaysian tourism is recovering from a decline in 2009, caused by H1N1 and the global financial crisis. Anjappar Chettinad Restaurant is a privately owned and operated casual restaurant chain that operates primarily in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The first Anjappar opened in 1964 in Chennai. Since then, it operates over 30 restaurants in India, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Canada, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore. The Anjappar restaurants focus on producing traditional Chettinad food, a local cuisine from the Sivaganga region of Tamil Nadu, India . 5
This branch, nestled in a cozy corner in the majority Indian enclave of Masjid Jamek, a sub locality of Kuala Lumpur, opened very recently in 2013. It caters to the taste buds of both foreign and local Indians alike, serving up a wide range of local and foreign culinary delights. With two other outlets throughout Malaysia, Anjappar Masjid Jamek is directed by Mr. Tas Mashoor. (Anjappar, 2013)
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Research Objectives This research is being conducted to investigate consumer perception towards services provided by the restaurant Anjappar Sdn. Bhd. The purpose for conducting this research is:
To identify customer satisfaction regarding general service provided in Anjappar To analyze and observe key factors prompting customers to patronize this franchise To identify key elements in order to improve the companys service levels
Research Methodology:
This research project is to be conducted on site, at the premises of Anjappar Sdn Bhd which is located in Masjid Jamek, Kuala Lumpur. A total of 100 diners who patronize Anjappar Sdn Bhd located in Masjid Jamek and dine at said location will be the target of this study. The participants of this study are required to be a minimum of 18 years old. This survey will include both sources of primary and secondary data. Primary data is original data, generally collected during the process of investigation, while secondary data is data which has already been collected by an external source and is readily made available through sources like the internet, a company data or research journals. The primary data used in this research project will involve gathering information from and interviewing the customers of Anjappar Sdn Bhd. This while be done using face to face contact with customers dining at the premises. A questionnaire will be presented to the diners, to be filled up at their leisure while they are waiting for their food to arrive. 7
In this questionnaire, there will be a total of 50 questions to be filled up by the respondents, 40 close ended questions and 10 open ended questions. These questions pertain to the customers attitude and perception of services offered at Anjappar Sdn Bhd, and the overall experienced enjoyed while dining at the restaurant. There will be questions related to the demographics of the customer, such as age, race, gender, and occupation at the beginning of the questionnaire. Secondary data will be collected from books, journals, magazines, interviews and online publications. Balanced scorecard
Balanced scorecard is used to measure the customer satisfaction towards services provided by Anjappar and customers expectation. Anjappar itself was clearly aware that listening to their own customers and analyzing the changing needs can help Anjappar to continuously render the best services to their customers and increase their sales forecasts. Customer perception towards services provided by Anjappar is important to Anjappar Sdn Bhd because it represents the quality of their services, and customer loyalty to them.
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Time Plan Month Week Items Remarks
July 2013
1 2 3 Discuss and find titles Done 4 Submit title and get approval Done
August 2013
1 Send invitation letter Done 2 Hari Raya Holiday 3 Preparing proposal draft Done 4 Draft being checked Done
September 2013
1 Final checking of proposal In progress 2 Proposal submission 3 Drafting table of contents 4 Break week
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Month Week Items Remarks
October 2013
1 SPSS class starts 2 SPSS class 3 SPSS class 4 SPSS class
November 2013
1 SPSS class 2 SPSS class 3 4 Preparing literature review
December 2013
1 Draft the questionnaire/Pre-testing 2 3 Questionnaire distributing and interview carried out Meet supervisor 4 10
Month Week Items Remarks
January 2014
1 Questionnaire distributing and interview carried out Meet supervisor 2 Examination period 3 Preparing for coursework submission Meet supervisor 4
February 2014
1 2 Chinese New Year Break 3 Chinese New Year Break 4 Questionnaire distributing and interviews carried out Meet Supervisor
March 2014
1 Data sorting and analysis through SPSS 2 3 4 Meet supervisor 11
Month Week Items Remarks
April 2014
1 Writing discussion and conclusion, abstract and references
2 Compiling, editing and checking 3 4 Further checking of project
May 2014
1 Submit the research for assessment 2 3 4
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References
USDA ERS - Food Service Industry. 2013. USDA ERS - Food Service Industry. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-markets-prices/food-service-industry.aspx. [Accessed 04 September 2013]. Anjappar. 2013. Anjappar. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.anjappar.com/. [Accessed 04 September 2013]. Welcome to the Restaurant and Foodservice Industry . 2013. Welcome to the Restaurant and Foodservice Industry . [ONLINE] Available at: http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_nra_foundations_1/154/39652/10151014.cw/index.html. [Accessed 04 September 2013]. Gordon Patzer, 1995. Using Secondary Data in Marketing Research: United States and Worldwide. Edition. Praeger. Mary B. Gregoire, 2012. Food Service Organizations: A Managerial and Systems Approach (8th Edition). 8 Edition. Prentice Hall. Robert S. Kaplan, 1996. The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. 1 Edition. Harvard Business Review Press. Mahmood A. Khan, 1999. Restaurant Franchising. 2 Edition. Wiley.
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Appendices: Location Map 1:
Road Map of Anjappar Sdn Bhd at Lebog Ampang, Masjid Jamek. (Source: Google Maps Malaysia (2013) [Online] Available from: http://maps.google.com/ [Accessed on 1 Sep 2013]
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Location Map 2:
Satellite Map of Anjappar Sdn Bhd at Lebog Ampang, Masjid Jamek. (Source: Google Maps Malaysia (2013) [Online] Available from: http://maps.google.com/ [Accessed on 1 Sep 2013]