Baldrige award winner to present 31st Shugart Lecture April 28 at K-State
Tuesday, April 12th, 2005
MANHATTAN — Thom Crosby, chief executive officer of Pal’s Sudden Service, a Tennessee-based restaurant chain, will present the 31st Grace M. Shugart lecturer at Kansas State University.
Crosby’s lecture, “How to Thrive Against Strong Competition,” will be 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 28, at the K-State Student Union Forum Hall. The public is invited to attend.
Under Crosby’s leadership, Pal’s Sudden Service became a 2001 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner for excellence in small business.
Pal’s is the first foodservice operation ever to win this prestigious award.
The president of the United States presents the Baldrige Award to business, education and health care organizations judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management and business results.
Crosby attributes his company’s success to the rigorous and continuing training process for employees at every level. He also takes full responsibility for every decision and says this accountability helps avoid mistakes and improve the company.
One result of Crosby’s leadership has been a decreased employee turnover rate, declining from almost 200 percent in 1995 to 127 percent in 2000. The company’s order handout speed has improved by more than 30 percent since 1995, with the average order now completed in only 20 seconds.
Deborah Canter, head of K-State’s department of hotel, restaurant, institution management and dietetics, said Crosby was selected as this year’s Shugart lecturer for his outstanding accomplishments.
“He has proven that a program like the Baldrige process can work in even the most unlikely of business environments,” Canter said. “Because the Baldrige National Quality Award is so prestigious and the process for determining ‘what is quality and how do we get there’ is so incredible, I hope people will come away inspired by Thom’s story.”
Crosby also hopes to provide the audience an understanding of the strengths of the Baldrige process.
“I want people to see how valid and important a process the Baldrige Award process is … to see how a small hot dog and hamburger operation in Tennessee is using it and becoming a major force that is much copied within the restaurant industry,” Crosby said.
The Shugart Lecture series began in 1975 as a tribute to Grace Shugart, who was retiring as head of the department of dietetics, restaurant, and institution management, as the department was then known.
“When Mrs. Shugart retired, her wish was to endow a lectureship that would bring to campus outstanding leaders in dietetics and foodservice management to speak to students, faculty and professionals in the field,” Canter said.
The early speakers were leaders in dietetics, but since the department’s scope has broadened, the speakers now are selected from the hospitality industry as well. Alumni and friends support the lecture series with gifts to the Shugart Lecture Fund.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 12th, 2005 and is filed under Events.