The importance of quality management system and leadership in the South African restaurant, fast food and catering sector – case of the Gauteng Region

Abstract: South Africa, being a developing country, experiences the impact of global competition which has pushed many organizations to develop plans to respond to a continuous competitive global market. The restaurant, fast food, and catering sector is broad within the service industry involving independent restaurants, quick service restaurants and fast food outlets, outsourced catering companies, just to name a few. This study’s objective is to establish the importance of focusing on the fundamentals of quality management practices and the usefulness of leadership practices in the management process of the above-mentioned sector. This study included a quantitative research method under which an empirical investigation was executed following the literature review. The study consisted of the analysis of data collected from questionnaires administered to 65 restaurants in Gauteng, South Africa. After results analysis and interpretation, it is concluded that the functions of management were not well integrated, mainly the leadership functions. Hence, a need to improve specific aspects of the foundations of management approaches in the restaurant, fast food and catering sector is required