食品企业成本控制管理方法(英文)

食品企业成本控制管理方法（英文）Strategies to control costs and increase sales in food and beverage management1. IntroductionCost and sales are two critical factors that determine the performance of food and beverage department in hospitality management (Dopson and Hayes, 2015). In recent years, with more and more organizations do business in the food and beverage production, low cost and high sales would be favorable to the survival and development of food and beverage companies (Martikainen et al., 2014). One of the roles of a food and beverage manager is to maintain a healthy profit for the business by controlling costs and improving sales. In most cases, the strategies which are chosen by managers have great effects on the sales and costs of food and beverage business.The main aim of this study is to discuss the how to control the costs and improve the sales of food and beverage in hospitality management. The strategies discussed in this study may be helpful to the managers in the business. This essay consists of five parts: (1) strict control of food and beverage products with low quality; (2) Promotion activities; (3) Communication with rivalries; (4) Management of supply chain; (5) Internal communication.2. Strict control of products with low qualityAccording to the research of Board & Meyer‐ter‐Vehn (2013), sales of food products with low quality would seriously damage the reputation of a food or beverage brand in the market and limit the sales and sustainable development of food and beverage services. Based on the theory of quality iceberg, sales of food and beverage with low quality may cause moral crisis and damage the trust between producer and consumer. Food and beverage with low quality would not only waste the money of consumers, but also cause diseases and cause social problems. This is the main reason why many countries have zero-tolerance policy to food and beverage with low quality. So preventing the products with low quality is an important way to increase the sales of food and beverage industry.2.1. Establishment of consumer feedback loopCollecting feedbacks from consumers for the improvement of production process is one of the most efficient ways to increase the sales. In food and beverage business, managers could do the questionnai re or interview to collect the consumers’ comments on the products. Any comments relating with the low quality or consumers’ dissatisfaction could be considered by the managers (Kreng and Huang, 2010). In the management, appropriate measures should be taken bymanagers to eliminate potential risks. For example, if consumers are not satisfied with the product design, managers should cooperate with the department of R&D and provide more innovative food and beverage products. The consumer feedback loop strategy could help managers in food and beverage business understand what should be done to improve consumers’ satisfaction (Morecroft, 2015). Accordingly, with the improvement of consumers’ satisfaction, sales of products would increase.To apply the consumer feedback loop strategy in food and beverage industry, the interdepartmental cooperation between marketing department and production department should be enhanced. Managers should make sure that the feedback from market department could be truly used by production department or R&D department for products improvement.2.2. Production regulation by Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)Another way to prevent the products with low quality is regulating the food and beverage production according to HACCP, which is systematic approach to achieve food safety and improve food quality by preventing chemical, biological, and physical hazards in the food and beverage production processes (Pierson, 2012). Application of HACCP in food production is an effective way to improve the food and beverage quality and avoid potential safety problems. So this is a necessary way for managers to regulate the production in food and beverage industry by HACCP. Although application of HACCP may not directly improve the profits, it could avoid potential risks caused by low quality products and indirectly improve the sales.According to the regulation of HACCP, hospitality managers should devote much money to maintain the production process. In addition, if managers detect any risks in the production process, the whole batch of food products could not be sold to consumers. It seems that the application of HACCP could improve the cost. However, it could ensure that safety and quality of finished food and beverage products and improve the sales. So application of HACCP is an important strategy for the improvement of sales.3. Promotion activitiesPromotion activity is another important way to increase the sales. According to the study of Shimp and Andrews (2012), promotion activity is one of the major ways for consumers to know the products of a company. To increase the sales of food and beverage products, managers should organize promotion activities to introduce their product and business ideas to consumers. In recent years, with the fast development of Internet and social media, managers of food and beverage could consider the online promotion activities. For example, new food and beverage could be introduced to potential consumers on the official website. The online promotion activities could attract more consumers and improve the sales. Besides the online social media, some traditional advertisement media, such as TV programs, radios and newspapers, could also be used for the promotion activities. In the promotion activities, discount could be provided to consumers. The study of Winterich and Barone (2011)indicated that discount is the most effective way to attract consumers to try the new food products.Another issue in the promotion activities is that managers should collect the consumers’ feedback and comments on the food and beverage products and sent them to R&D department for the improvement of products. So the promotion activities not only introduce the concepts of products to consumers, but also get the comments of consumers. In this way, managers and consumers could know each other. Accordingly, the sale of food and beverage products is more likely to be improved.4. Communication with rivalriesThe food and beverage provide by rivalries could reduce the market share of a certain company in food and beverage service. This is the main reason why the theory of Porter's Five Forces requires the analysis of rivalries. In the management, managers could get the information about rivalries through communication and exchange. Based on the strategies of rivalries, managers could design appropriate strategies to compete with the rivalries. Not only the existing rivalries, but also the new corporate in this field should be explored by the managers in food and beverage service as well. In the communication with rivalries, managers could find out the strategies used in other corporate to reduce the cost and promote the sales. The study of Ellram et al. (2013) indicated that to compete with rivalries, the organization should understand the business strategies of its rivalries. In the communication, the managers may get information about the food management in other corporate and improve their own management system. . Communication with rivalries could also promote the cooperation in this industry. For example, different food service agencies could share the supply chain. In this way, the cost of maintaining the food supply could be reduced. In addition, communication could alleviate the fierce competition between these rivalries and bring more business opportunities. These business opportunities may increase the sales.5. Management of supply chainSupply chain management is a type of management of the flow of products and services, such as the storage of raw materials, delivery of finished products, work-in-process inventory, and so on. Efficient supply chain management could reduce the production cost and delivery cost. In most cases, the storage periods of food materials are short. Any delay in transportation and delivery of raw materials and finished products could cause the deterioration of food materials and products. According to the study of Chen and Cheng (2012), in somefood factories and food service agencies, more than 25% of food materials and products are wasted in the inappropriate transportation. The huge waste has caused serious problems in the management of food and beverage industry and service agencies. So controlling the waste in transportation and delivery is important to the reduction of cost.Some strategies are listed as follows. (1) Frequent contact with the food materials suppliers could help managers of food and beverage know the time schedule of food materials suppliers and make full preparation. In this way, managers could try to make sure that all the food materials could be obtained by food service agencies on time. Accordingly, the problems caused by food materials shortage could be avoided. (2) Scientific prediction of demand on food and beverage could avoid the excessive storage of food materials in warehouse and reduce the waste of food materials during storage. At present, managers could use the digital devices, such as computers and prediction software, to do the prediction.In the operation of food and beverage service agencies, it was observed that the strategies of suppliers of food materials may impact the operation of the whole company. For example, if a supplier improves the price of food materials, the cost of food and beverage would be improved. As a result, the sales of food products may be negatively impacted due to the increase of cost. To avoid the negative effects of certain supplier on the food and beverage service, managers should try to establish cooperation relationship with more suppliers. In this way, the effects of one supplier on the food and beverage service could be reduced to a lower level. These strategies could promote the cooperation between departments and reduce the mistakes in management. Accordingly, operation cost of food and beverage production could be reduced.6. High efficiency of internal communicationIn the research of Verčič et al. (2012), it was discovered that in a food service agency, to provide consumers with delicious food and beverage, various departments should work together. For example, R&D department should design food and beverage according to consumers’ expectation and production department should organize staff to make the food and beverage and make effects to reduce the production cost. At the same time, marketing department should holdpromotion activities to promote the sales of food and beverage and collected consumers’ feedback. The research of Dozier et al. (2013) showed that the internal communication between different departments is critical to the reduction of cost. In an organization with efficient internal communication, some potential risks could be avoided. To achieve the efficient internal communication, managers should take some measures. Firstly, a forum for the internal communication should be established. On the forum, managers and other employees in different departments could share the information. Given the high communication efficiency on Internet, the forum could be favorable to the internal communication. Secondly, regular meeting should be held to promote the internal communication.8. ConclusionsBased on the discussion above, some conclusions are listed as follows: (1) reduction of cost and increase of sales are critical to the sustainable development of food and beverage service; (2) Managers in food and beverage service should control the food quality by applying consumer feedback loop strategy and HACCP management system; (3) Promotion activities could be held online or using other media. In the promotion activities, interaction between consumers and managers could promote the sales in the future; (4) Communication with rivalries is another good way to improve the competitiveness of food and beverage service and improve the sales; (5) Management of supply chain could prevent the waste in food transportation and limit the negative effects of uncertainty in supply chain on the production cost. The appropriate management of supply chain could effectively reduce the cost of food and beverage; (6) Internal communication could promote the cooperation between departments and prevent the management mistakes, which may seriously increase the cost and reduce the sales.ReferencesBoard, S., & Meyer‐ter‐Vehn, M. (2013). Reputation for quality. Econometrica, 81(6), 2381-2462.Chen, W. J., & Cheng, H. Y. (2012). Factors affecting the knowledge sharing attitude of hotel service personnel. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(2), 468-476. Dopson, L. R., & Hayes, D. K. (2015). Food and beverage cost control. John Wiley & Sons. Dozier, D. M., Grunig, L. A., &Grunig, J. E. (2013). Manager's guide to excellence in public relations and communication management.Routledge.Ellram, L. M., Tate, W. L., &Feitzinger, E. G. (2013). Factor‐market rivalry and competition for supply chain resources. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 49(1), 29-46.Kreng, V. B., & Huang, M. Y. (2011). Corporate social responsibility: Consumer behavior, corporate strategy, and public policy. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 39(4), 529-541.Martikainen, A., Niemi, P., &Pekkanen, P. (2014). Developing a service offering for a logistical service provider—Case of local food supply chain. International Journal of Production Economics, 157, 318-326.Morecroft, J. D. (2015). Strategic modelling and business dynamics: a feedback systems approach. John Wiley & Sons.Pierson, M. D. (2012). HACCP: principles and applications. Springer Science & Business Media.Shimp, T. A., & Andrews, J. C. (2012). Advertising promotion and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. Cengage Learning.Verčič, A. T., Verčič, D., &Sriramesh, K. (2012). Internal communication: Definition, parameters, and the future. Public relations review, 38(2), 223-230.Winterich, K. P., &Barone, M. J. (2011). Warm glow or cold, hard cash? Social identity effects on consumer choice for donation versus discount promotions. Journal of Marketing Research, 48(5), 855-868.。