Mega Bytes Restaurant
Review the Case Study 7.2 related to Mega Bytes Restaurant (Bordoloi, pp. 205-209). Mega Bytes is a restaurant that caters to business travelers and has a selfservice breakfast buffet. To measure customer satisfaction, the manager constructs a survey and distributes it to diners during a three-month period. Review the Case Study and answer the following questions in Case Study format
(https://essaypro.com/blog/case-study);
1. How is SSM different from Deming’s PDCA cycle?
2. Prepare a cause-and-effect or fishbone diagram for a problem such as: “Why do customers have long waits for coffee.” Your fishbone diagram should be similar to that in Figure 7.17, using the main sources of cause: policy,
procedure, people, and physical environment.
3. How would you resolve the difficulties that study teams have experienced when applying SSM?
Sample Solution
The Shewhart cycle (PDCA) and the soft systems methodology (SSM) are both problem-solving models developed by statistician W. Edwards Deming and social scientist Peter Checkland respectively for use in business operations. While similar in nature, there are some distinct differences between these two approaches which should be noted.
At a high level, the PDCA cycle involves four stages: Plan, Do, Check and Act. This method is often used to address problems or make improvements within an organization by establishing a process that allows for continuous improvement over time (Deming 1986). On the other hand SSM is focused on understanding complex social systems with multiple stakeholders involved; it emphasizes anthropological inquiry as well as analyzing how different components of a system interact together to create an overall outcome (Checkland 1999).
In addition, to these two fundamental distinctions another key difference between PDCA and SSM lies in their respective data collection methods. While PDCA relies upon quantitative measurements such as surveys or performance metrics to gather information about processes SSM relies more heavily on qualitative measures such as interviews or focus groups which seek to gain insights from people directly impacted by the system being studied (Bordoloi 2018).
Overall, although Deming’s PDCA cycle has provided organizations with a valuable framework for effectively addressing problems since its formulation in 1950 his later development of SSM provides additional tools for more comprehensive analysis when tackling complicated issues involving multiple stakeholders. Therefore depending on what type of problem needs solving businesses can select between one approach or the other based upon their specific requirements.
