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Forecasting at Hard Rock Cafe Essay

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For the following case:

• View the Video Case for Chapter 3 for OMMyLab
• Bulletize the following (so that the case can be understood fully from your bullets and not have to read the case)
• Clearly articulate the question(s) you are answering before providing you answer
• Quantitative Issue
The manager is trying to evaluate how a new advertising campaign affects guest counts. Using data for the past 10 months (see the table) develop a least squares regression relationship and then forecast the expected guest count when advertising is $65,000. (Provide the answer to your boss and then provide the model as backup)
• Qualitative Issues
1. Describe three different forecasting applications at Hard Rock. Name three other areas in …show more content…

Lindsey fore¬casts monthly guest counts, retail sales, banquet sales, and concert sales (if applicable) at each cafe. The general managers of individual cafes tap into the same database to prepare a daily forecast for their sites. A cafe manager pulls up prior years' sales for that day, adding information from the local Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Board on upcoming events such as a major convention, sporting event, or con¬cert in the city where the cafe is located. The daily forecast is further broken into hourly sales, which drives employee scheduling. An hourly forecast of $5,500 in sales translates into 19 workstations, which are further broken down into a specific number of wait staff, hosts, bartenders, and kitchen staff. Computerized scheduling software plugs in people based on their availability. Variances between forecast and actual sales are then examined to see why errors occurred.
Hard Rock doesn't limit its use of forecasting tools to sales. To evaluate managers and set bonuses, a 3-year weighted moving average is applied to cafe sales. If cafe general managers exceed their targets, a bonus is computed. Todd Lindsey, at corporate headquarters, applies weights of 40% to the most recent year's sales, 40% to the year before, and 20% to sales 2 years ago in reaching his moving average.
An even more sophisticated application of statistics is found in Hard Rock's menu planning. Using multiple regression, managers can

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