During the high school years I got a chance to work at the number one food service retailer in the world. Though my job description didn’t include wide range of strategic activities, work experience in Mcdonald’s gave more understanding of global management from the inside. Currently McDonald’s operates in more than 100 countries and 33 000 locations worldwide, serving more than 64 millions of customers every day. According to the official information, for more than 50 years McDonalds has been providing high quality products and excellent service to its customers. This company is an excellent example of well-planned management, where the great executives rigorously and consistently apply fundamental management principles. (Bateman & Scott, 2009)
According to Bateman and Scott, planning refers to delivering strategic value and historically it was described as a process of establishing business plans. Some things have changed today, but the main idea stays the same: management needs to consider changing trends to define goals, set performance objectives and identify needed actions (Schermerhorn et al.,2005) After assessing planning as a function in McDonald’s, I believe it is very well performed. However, planning of social responsibility and public relations strategy should be improved. There are still many concerns towards natural origin of the products and high obesity, caused by fast foods. The company adapts its strategy to geographical differences, but maintains the same quality, innovation and sustainability. Convenient offer of locations, promotional campaigns and seasonally adjusted menu are the key drivers to reaching strategic plan.
Organizing function is about creating work structures and using resources effectively to accomplish goals and objectives (Schermerhorn et al.,2005). McDonald’s management strives to standardize processes, minimize time and labor needed to serve particular number of customers. Moreover, McDonald’s employees follow certain organizational division and need to go through a training program and gain experience in order to move up the career ladder. In my opinion, the company performs it successfully.
The third essential function, leading, is also presented well in McDonald’s. No matter what position an employee has, he is entitled to the same privileges and can reach his dream position in some time. I would say, that employer branding is very well supported in McDonald’s. Being a leader in food industry, this company encourages leaders to join the team and has a strong development programs to mobilize people.
And the last, but not the least, controlling function in McDonald’s is about monitoring quality of products and ensuring, that employees take corrective actions. The company’s promises are quality, service, cleanliness and value. Everything from the way hamburgers are cooked to uniforms is according to strict guidelines. Since McDonald’s has a very good training program and a strong brand image, it’s not disturbing for employees to be monitored all the time. Moreover, in order to be successful in the food industry, it is important to have outstanding reputation.
McDonalds had some failures that are connected to low quality, for example, in 1996 ArchDeluxe burger was launched. It failed soon after, because of high price and percentage of fat. Today people are concerned about their health, so the nutrition facts became a must in all restaurants and several vegetable menus were introduced to prevent obesity. Another important thing to consider is that McDonald’s runs as a franchising business, so it draws the need for constant quality controls. If the franchisor does not perform, the company might have to terminate the contract. When the McDonald’s restaurant on Champs Elysees in Paris gave mediocre service in unclean premises, the McDonald’s corporation stepped in and took over (Johansson, 2009).
Overall, McDonald’s management team performs four functions of management on exemplary level. McDonald’s successful system consists of not only the cooking method and serving procedure but also the training of the workers, their attire and attitude, and the management and bookkeeping system (Johansson, 2009). All of these components require smart management, where planning, organizing, leading and controlling would be executed on the highest level possible.
References
John R. Schermerhorn, James G. Hunt, Richard N. Osborn (2005), Organizational Behavior, 9e,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Johny K. Johansson (2009), Global Marketing. Foreign Entry, Local Marketing, & Global
Management, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill.
McDonalds corporate web-site
Thomas S. Bateman, Scott A. Snell (2009), Management: Leading & Collaborating in a
Competitive World, Eighth Edition, McGraw-Hill
“Top 10 failed McDonald’s products” by Xanthius, retrieved on 01/05/2012 from
