Term Paper on "Services America Holdings, Inc. "

Term Paper 15 pages (6628 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Services America Holdings, Inc.

The services provided by this company are unique in a number of ways, and America is probably the only country in the world that has companies of this size in such services spread all over the country. The company has been in the business for forty years, and that is quite a long time for service organizations. None of them remain on top for very long as the nature of business that is required to be on top changes. The services of the company have been to provide catering services, concessions, management and merchandizing services in many important avenues in America. (Centerplate: Creating something Special) The business is thus not for the facility itself, but from the fans and the guests who visit these grounds. At every level, the matter is dealing with individuals, and even the cause for the organizational troubles is due to individuals. All these make it interesting to know and understand about the organization.

Analysis

The nature of the service

Just when there is going to be a high number of people at a ground, it does not mean that there is only one thing that they are interested in. Certainly the main focus of their attention is going to be on the game, if it is a sports ground that is the reason why they have come. At the same time, they retain their human nature and would require all their normal facilities while at the ground and one of the primary requirements is food and drinks. Since the audience is enjoying themselves at that time, they would like to feel that they are the kings of all that they survey at that time. This reflects into their behavior and they would be expecting the best of foods and drinks. To serve them, the organization serving them also must have special expertise.

Earlier all individual grounds had their own facilities, and one could almost say which ground they were at through the food that they got. The nature of individuals has changed and most people are now exposed to international food and drinks, and they would think of their experiences in terms of their novelty in that respect. This situation is true not only for sports grounds, but also conventions and entertainment centers, and Centerplate has gathered a very high reputation for itself in their ability to serve premier, high volume food and drinks at such meetings. (Centerplate: Creating something Special)

The change of name question comes directly now, and that is why there is a discussion about Centerplate, when the discussion is supposed to be about Volume Services America. Volume Services America was known as one of the leading food and management services organizations for sports, conventions and entertainment centers, and has been so for more than forty years. In 2003, February, that organization became known as Centerplate, as per the announcement of its then chief executive officer, Mr. Lawrence E. Honig. The timing of the announcement was very appropriate as the annual national meeting of the company was going on then at the Louisiana Superdome. (Volume Services America is Now Centerplate; New Name Conveys Core Brand Identity)

This is again a ground where many activities of Centerplate or Volume Services America take place. The announcement of the new name was an occasion of great pride and pleasure for the company and there were many changes behind the change of name. The primary reason for the change of name was that it was supposed to reflect the strong commitment of the company to preparing dishes of the highest quality. The center of the plate is where the main items of the dish or meal are placed when the item is placed in front of the person for whom it is being served. This is thus the center of action and it was hoped that with the change of name, the company will also become the center of attention for the users whom it serves. The changed name is also expected to convey the types of venues where the organization serves and most of the places are sports and convention facilities. These are also the centers of the concerned communities.

The change of name was not an isolated event, as it also involved the development of different lines of activity of the company. The concerned different lines are still separated into catering, concessions, management and merchandizing. With the change of name, the aim was to make the company also the center of attention of the consumers in these areas. Separate units were developed and objective was to increase the expertise in each of these areas. According to Mr. Lawrence E. Honig, the aim of the change of name was also to tell the clients that the company was trying to develop in all these four areas. The development was to provide the best of qualities in these aspects. Though no specific developments had been made, the aim of the company was to soon develop along all four lines. The change of name was in a way a change of brand and this exercise took the better part of three quarters, having started from the middle of the previous year - 2002. (Volume Services America is Now Centerplate; New Name Conveys Core Brand Identity) The organization also has a number of prestigious operating centers among the total of 130 that it has for use. A large proportion is conventions and civic centers including the Sane Diego Convention Center and the Jacob K. Javits Center. Many other venues are also served by the company and they are inclusive of horse racing tracks, motor speedways, zoos and ski resorts. (Centerplate, Inc.: Overview)

The change of name is not an activity that could be done in isolation by the company, but there were many branding experts involved with the suggestion of changes. Naturally before each change, there were a lot of activities required for research in both internal and external spheres. Combined with the change was the use of a large number of tools that are used in marketing, as also those tools used for communication. Ultimately the change will affect all the accounts of the company that it has developed and acquired over the four decades of its functioning - a total of 130 in number. This sort of a change takes time and is expected to take the better part of several months. Only at the end of all this conversion are the results expected to be seen. (Volume Services America is Now Centerplate; New Name Conveys Core Brand Identity)

The company knows the importance of this change of name, and the announcement was made by chief executive officer, Mr. Lawrence E. Honig on the first day of the four day convention that was going on in the Louisiana Superdome. There were many attendees for the function and that means a total of 400 managers, suppliers and guests. It was a full show for which the company is famous and that is the reason why even a tradeshow was included and the tradeshow featured goods from 150 suppliers of Centerplate. The company is already well-known for providing catering, concessions, merchandise and facilities management in many of America's best known sports, convention, and entertainment and recreation venues. (Volume Services America is Now Centerplate; New Name Conveys Core Brand Identity) The biggest question remains as to what effectiveness the change of name had on the financial fortunes of the company.

The reasons for success

Most individual organizations that end up being successful ascribe the reasons for their success to some reason or the other. This is often not understood by individuals from outside the organization and they are quite often envious of the success of the organization. The truth is known to the organization, and according to Centerplate, they have a unique capacity to understand the specialty of each facility. This may also be called the spirit of the ground. Their trick for success is to add new items to the menu and make certain that some of the items are local favorites. Certainly there will at least some locals in the function, whatever it may be, and these individuals will be very happy to find some favorites. Even if the rest of the crowd does not know the specialty of that dish, these individuals will make certain that they know about it. For other items that are sold in the team stores and souvenir kiosk, there are also ordinary items and special ones. The ability of Centerplate is to produce special merchandize for every function. This requires a lot of effort, but a special item will always be remembered by the crowd and remind them about the service organization in the future. (Centerplate: Creating something Special)

Developing all this has not been easy as this is the objective of all organizations who are trying to service customers or attendees at similar events, and Centerpoint has to stand out among all of them… READ MORE

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