To: Taylor Smith
Date: Feb 06, 2019
Subject: Peer Review: Formal Report Proposal
Hi Taylor,
Thank you for submitting your Formal Research Proposal to our Team weblog: Last but Not Least... I am particularly invested in this report because as it has already been established we both work in the hospitality industry. Working at a restaurant I understand how much food daily is unfortunately wasted, and I am therefore very interested in your findings and whether or not Easls could adopt a similar solution. Below you will find my thoughts and suggestions for your proposal.
Overall: Overall, your proposal is well organized and it is clear that a lot of thought has gone into it. The only critique I have is that there is no section outlining your intended audience, I am assuming that your intended audience will include the GM of your restaurant and perhaps the AGM (depending on the size of your restaurant).
Introduction:
Your introduction is clear, concise and yet still informative. You explain the inherent dynamics of food waste in the business well: the fact while the restaurant has a clear motive for keeping food waste low, there is no such thing as perfect forecasting.
Something, I haven’t really looked into, however, could be interesting for your final report is whether or not if the restaurant could receive a tax rebate on any charitable food donations (which could give them some financial motive to do charity). I believe that there are some legality issues which prevent certain food industries from donating, however, certain businesses have succeeded in doing so (don’t quote me on this though; I am not super educated in this department).
Statement of Problem: I believe that your statement of the problem could be stronger and could have outlined the actual problem you are trying to solve more effectively. Your statement of the problem outlined how much money is wasted on food in the restaurant industry and how that affects a companies profits. While that is all true, from my understanding, it doesn’t seem like you are trying to figure out a method to lower profit margins, instead I believe that your statement of the problem would be more effective outlining the number of people who are hungry in the lower mainland. You could also effectively address the issue of how the restaurant industry is ‘under fire’ for how much food they waste, the solution giving to charity as an effective publicity stunt to give the hospitality business (or Milestones) a good name.
Solution: I particularly liked the solution that you came up with, it is effective in addressing the issue of food waste, and gives back to those less fortunate. I am also interested to see what barriers currently prevent the food industry from giving to charity.
Scope: The one critique I have for the scope is that I believe you should add to the scope a question regarding potential barriers the restaurant industry may face that may prevent them from giving to charity. This could include liability, added labour expenses, added shipping expenses etc…. I also believe this question is separate from or more specific than the questions posed on the potential ‘cons’ of implementing a charity program.
Methods: Your methods, if executed well, I believe will prove to be very effective. As a manager at your restaurant you have, the opportunity to put some, hard and hopefully well-tracked numbers to your report. Which frankly, I’m quite jealous of. I am interested in how these numbers, regarding last years sales, and expenses will translate into your final report. I particularly found you’re the fact you are not limiting your scope of research soley to the restaurant industry but to include the charitable organizations to establish a need, very effective.
Your Qualifications: Your qualifications to conduct such a report is very clear. You have worked at Milestones for a number of years and are currently in a position to implement real change. It is clear that your peers and the company value your years of work and respect your opinions as they have promoted you into a position of leadership. While you have not included this in your report, this also shows in their willingness to be flexible with your scheduling while you attend school (they clearly don’t want to lose a good employee).
I also liked how while you already are qualified to conduct this report (at least in my opinion), you added your academic experiences, as this is for an academic purpose in the end. Well done! 🙂
Conclusion: Your conclusion was very concise, yet very effective. It actually outlined the nature of your problem more clearly than your current statement of the problem. You clearly outlined what the company is doing well, and then how they could improve the system to benefit others.
My Final Thoughts: Overall I believe your Formal Report is very complete and well rounded. I found a few places in which your writing could have been more concise, and fitting within the language typically found within a formal report proposal. To give an example: in the Introduction “each and every day”, could be shortened to “every day”. This, of course, did not hinder my understanding of the report proposal and therefore is just me ‘nit-picking’ on style. I am hoping you have found some of my thoughts and suggestions useful, and I am genuinely looking forward to reading your final report.
All the best,
Lia Slager 🙂
https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99c-2018wc/2019/01/30/research-proposal-taylor-smith/
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