SHONEY'S

"We look for people who get excited about doing a lot of different things."
– Bernie Gray, VP, MIS

• IBM As/400 • RPG, COBOL, Cyborg •
• Restaurants • Medium-sized shop •

Shoney's, Inc., owns and operates 740 family-style restaurants and franchises an additional 1,100 outlets. Restaurant chains include Shoney's, Captain D's, and BarbWire's. Specialties include steak, chicken, and contemporary made-from-scratch dishes. Additional food-related products include the manufacture of salad dressings and coleslaw.

Founded in 1952, the company is publicly held and had 1994 revenues of $2.07 billion. Shoney's employs 31,000 people, including 500 at corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. Shoney's supports activity programs for inner-city youth in Atlanta, grants bootstrap scholarships to Tennessee high-school seniors, mentors elementary school students in Nashville, and provides corporate sponsorship to a minority leadership training program in Nashville.

Technology

Shoney's has an IBM AS/400 connected to a Novell Netware Local Area Network (LAN) with 500 PCs. Software development is in RPG and COBOL, with J.D. Edwards applications packages for fixed assets, accounts payable and receivable, and general ledger and Cyborg for payroll. An NCR mainframe is used for point-of-sale applications and Watermark is used as a PC-based imaging system. EDI and bar-coding systems will be rolled out next.

Job titles for the company's 35 computer professionals include Programmer Analyst, Director, and Vice President. Staff members recently implemented an automated ordering system from stores to warehouse with a Visual Basic application on store-based PCs connecting to the NCR 9700 mainframe point-of-sale system in commissary (regional) flat files for pricing and product information to be returned to the stores.

Culture

Computer professionals work in cubicles and offices in a smoking or nonsmoking environment. Standard office hours are 8 AM to 5 PM. A standard workweek is 40 hours to 45 hours; there is no overtime pay. There is a minimal need for travel. Shoney's offers low turnover and a varied technical environment.

Shoney's observes eight holidays. Employees earn one week of vacation to start, two weeks after two years, and three weeks after five years. The company pays for life insurance and tuition reimbursement. The majority of the costs for medical, disability, and dental insurance are paid by the company. There is a 401(k) plan and a stock purchase plan (employees pay 85 percent of the stock purchase price.). Employees can eat free at any Shoney's restaurant. There have been no layoffs in the last year.

Candidates

The company looks for technical skills matching the position being filled and an enthusiasm about the work. A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science is preferred. Current staff members have an average of 11 years of experience and Bachelor's degrees. The company does hire entry-level computer professionals. Summer intern experience is a plus.

The company's five new computer professionals a year are found through advertisements, employment agencies, and employee referrals.

Contact

Letters are preferred.

Mr. Bernie Gray, Vice President, MIS

Shoney's, Inc.

1727 Elm Hill Pike

Nashville, Tennessee 37210-5701

(615) 391-5201

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