Peppercorn Dining

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Case Study: Peppercorn Dining

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Introduction
Peppercorn Dining is a restaurant located on All-American University campus. Square
One consulting has been charged by Drew Randal, manager of Peppercorn Dining, to observe the
working conditions of the restaurant. Drew believes that although there is great productivity at
his restaurant, there needs to be something more. He wants to improve his workers morale by
making Peppercorn a better place to work for and possibly attract more student workers.
The consultants at Square One consist of Erica, a former employee of Peppercorn Dining
and her two co-workers, Roger and Lynn. Each consultant takes on the task of interviewing and
observing the five different groups of workers, which includes management, full time workers,
union workers, temporary workers, and student workers.
During the course of three days, they notice the conflicts between the different types of
workers, management, operations, and lack of communication. Ultimately, they conclude that
the structure of their organization is what may be causing the problems with productivity and
morale.
1. Planned Change
Lewin’s planned changed model can be applied to the Peppercorn Dining case in a
number of ways. Lewin’s planned changed model consists of three steps. Unfreezing is usually
when recognition of a problem occurs. The organization members, in this stage realize that the
behavior exhibited by members is not the behavior they desired (Cummings & Worley, 2009,
p.24). This is evident in the Peppercorn case when Drew approached Square One consulting
group. Drew clearly understood that something was wrong within his organization. Although on
the outside the operation seemed to be running smoothly, Drew noticed that something was

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wrong. The second step is moving. It is the implementation stage (Lussier & Achua, 2010,...