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<OL> <LI> Identify the perceived importance and performance ratings of preparedness, implementation, response, and recovery. <LI> Identify the perceived importance and performance ratings of sanitation management best practices to protect the microbial quality of foods. <LI> Determine the impact of preparedness, implementation, response, and recovery strategies on organizational development. <LI>Determine the impact of preparedness, implementation, response and recovery on organizational effectiveness. <LI> Identify the leadership traits needed to facilitate the implementation of crisis plan.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The situation or problem the project addresses. There is a need to describe a crisis management plan in order to identify the crisis management process that may be in place when responding to a foodborne illness, or a biosecurity threat that may occur in the foodservice industry. The purpose of the project. The goal of this study is to determine the foodservice managers? perceived level of importance and performance relative to preparedness, implementation, response, recovery, organizational effectiveness, and organizational development related to resolving a food safety, foodborne illness, or food biosecurity crisis. <P>APPROACH: A survey research design was selected to fulfill the objectives of the study relative to crisis management plans, sanitary practices, and leadership characteristics. The sample population is the foodservice firms listed in the Foodservice Operators Guide of Chain Restaurants (2007). Each respondent, who was selected randomly, will be sent a cover letter and asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The proposed survey sections are as follows: (a) Importance and performance perceptions of preparedness, implementation, response, and recovery attributes; (b) Importance and performance perceptions of sanitation management best practices; (c) Importance of desirable leadership traits; and (d) Demographic profile of the foodservice operation and foodservice manager. An importance and performance measure will be used to identify the perceptions of the respondent for each of the categories. A Likert-type scale is used to measure the importance and performance attributes of each element. The data will be aggregated and reported in tables providing means, standard deviation, and frequencies for each of the sections related to: (1) preparedness plan, (2) implementation of preparedness plan, (3) response to the food safety crisis, (4) recovery from a food safety crisis, (5) organizational development, (6) organizational effectiveness, sanitation management practices, leadership traits, and (7) demographic profile. The personal demographic information related to the foodservice operation will be presented for each category in the form of one-way frequencies and percentages relative to demographics and foodservice operations characteristics. Factor analysis (principle component analysis) will be used to determine the underlying dimension for the crisis management dimensions relative to preparedness, implementation, response, and recovery. Regression analysis will be used to determine the level of organizational effectiveness in providing a crisis management strategy. The notion of organizational development (planned change) may be evident in the corporation's willingness to refocus and re-engineer their present crisis management program. The dependent variables are (a) organizational effectiveness, and (b) organizational development. The independent variables will be the factors derived for each section of preparedness (renamed factors), implementation, response, and recovery attributes. The results may indicate which attribute (independent variable) of each category that contributed the most to organizational effectiveness and organizational development, namely, the willingness to endure the process of organizational changes to safeguard the personnel and assets of the corporation.