Question

"Many high-tech measures are being. Industry insiders believe that embracing big data and AI will become an important direction for the future development of the catering industry applied in our restaurants," said Hou Mingjing, marketing director of Shandong Camry Commercial Group. "Our staff has been cut from over a dozen to just four after the robot chefs were introduced, and we also have food delivery robots in more than 20 of our restaurants."

The robot chefs can automatically add oil and seasonings, take good control of the heat and fried rice can be ready in less than three minutes. The robots can cook over 30 dishes, including the most popular black pepper and garlic flavored beef fried rice, tomato fried Japanese noodles and spicy noodles. The whole dining process is touchless. Customers order food on their mobile phones or on in-store tablet computers and then take their own meals.

Industry insiders believe that embracing big data and AI will become an important direction for the future development of the catering industry. It is also an effective method to save costs and improve service quality.

A fast food company in Jinan went online to serve customers via a WeChat program during the epidemic. The move received a surprising welcome from nearby white collars, who no longer need to wait for food inside the eatery.

"We were inspired and planned to set up thermal cabinets in some office buildings. Customers can order food in advance and we will deliver the food to the cabinets," said Song Yefei with the company.

Many restaurant chains in China have also expanded their service online and stepped up efforts to develop semi-cooked or ready-to-serve food, as well as promoted their products in shopping malls or via live streaming to lure cooped-up foodies.

"We suffered huge losses amid the epidemic. But we are gradually recovering with more restaurants open these days. We stay confident in the future as the consumption market in China is very big," said Hou.

As the epidemic recedes and work and production resumption gains momentum, Chinese consumers' buying appetite inhibited by the epidemic is rebounding.

Question

1.Specify the Management dilemma, management decision question(s) and the research questions of this research project.

Answer 1

1.The management dilemma is about the popularity of use of big data and artificial intelligence in restaurant business. The restaurants are increasingly using robots for making and delivering the food that has led to keeping lesser number of human staff. The business with robots has shown good response as they can make foods but currently the business is hindered by the pandemic and restaurants are in a dilemma over rising costs and to the extent of use of AI and big data.

The management decision question is to whether continue using the robots in restaurant business in different functions that reduces the human touch and increases speed and efficiency of the processes.

The research questions of this research project are - Whether is it a right choice to use robots for cooking and for delivery instead of human beings in restaurant business as part of Artificial intelligence and big data initiatives ?