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Part I

Read the Wikipedia overview of Adobe Systems. (Note: Wikipedia isn’t usually considered a scholarly source, but the contents of this page are satisfactory for the purposes of this Case. You may search the Web for additional sources of information about the company if you like, but it is not necessary.)

Based upon your understanding of the Module 1 materials, answer the following questions:

1. How would you classify the company: as service, merchandising, manufacturing, or hybrid? Why?
2. Describe the company’s principle product, or product type. Does the product have tangible or intangible attributes, or both?

Part II

Chez Louise is a high-end French restaurant serving dinner only, between 6 and 11 p.m. six nights per week (closed on Mondays). The restaurant was recently purchased by a national chain, and underwent a complete renovation. The renovation—which cost $1.6 million—expanded capacity, increased staff, added menu items, and changed the motif from Provençal rustic to Parisian chic. It also substantially increased menu prices.

The information below summarizes the state and activity of the business for the three months before the renovation, and for three months following its reopening. The figures are the monthly averages of the three-month periods. The parameters are as follows:

Settings/night: The average number of place settings, or places where a guest could sit at any given point in time. The dishes and flatware are, of course, replaced between guests. This number is averaged over time, because the tables can be rearranged to accommodate parties. It’s also not the same thing as seats, because bench seating can accommodate more or fewer guests, depending upon conditions.

Guests/night: The average number of guests served between opening and closing, per night.

Returns/night: The average number of guests (per night) who have patronized the restaurant at least once in the previous month. This is determined from credit card records.

Income/night: The average total payments received from guests, minus operating expenses, per night.

Here are the operations numbers.

Calculate the following productivity numbers. Show your work.

Which of the gains would you consider most important? Least important? Why?

Assignment Expectations

1. There are no page limits. Write what you need to write, neither more nor less. Make each sentence count! (Having said that; it’s unlikely that one page would be enough, and very likely that eight pages would be too much.)
2. Ensure that your answer reflects your detailed understanding of the theory and techniques taught in this module.
3. References and citations are required. This requirement can be satisfied by citing the module home page, and (for the SLP) the DOD CPI Guidebook.