Introduction
The McDonald’s corporation was started in 1940 and has since grown as a fast food entity, with restaurants and supply outlets all over the world. Maurice and Richard McDonald started the company that has its headquarters in Illinois, United States. The two brothers later sold the company to Ray Kroc, who grew its merchandise from hamburgers to all the available fast foods. It has many other affiliate companies and returns revenue of over $25 billion, five of which goes into profits. They have grown to a modern enterprise and have expanded its products to include salads and seafood. The company has over 1.6 million workers and is located in 119 countries in the world, coupled with 35,000 restaurants.
Alignment
McDonald’s aligns its formal procedures with values that are set to facilitate the ethical growth of the company. The formal procedures are outlined in a standard business conduct code that stipulates the way employees are supposed to behave. The company is founded upon values of dependency and honesty, which can be seen in their various anti-corruption campaigns. There is a free policy of communication between the employees, customers, stakeholders and the company. In fact, they have fostered efforts to improve their food quality through a social media campaign(Passikoff, 2014). The campaign will be an online question and answer method from customers and management. There are employee magazines that seek to address the issue employees’ face. There are media tools that have been set up for customers and other external forces for effective communication. Conference calls, on a frequent basis, create the room to address any issue that might occur. In addition, there is an online helpline program in the McDonald website that allows customers to access help. Because there is a free network of communication, the management can align the company’s code of conduct to the personal ethical practices of its employees. They have to pass through an ethical code test to determine if their values align with those of the organization. Such communication tools make it easier for the company to follow up on its aspirations and progress. Through the feedback received from its communication tools, the organization can have surety that its ethical procedures in the book are practiced to ensure consumer satisfaction. Dialogue to ensure professionalism is fostered through communication tools such as video conferencing. The methods chosen for communication allow for openness, which renders it easier for a company to facilitate the alignment of ethical values to the procedure put in place and enhance its aspirations.
Trust among stakeholders
Even though, McDonald’s has experienced critics about its health plans and mission, stakeholders continue to flock the company and further widen its success. The most essential way of building a strong stakeholder base is through gaining their trust. Trust has been facilitated by the company through various communication links and updates to its stakeholders. The stakeholders get feedback from the company and its customers through online links, internal conference calls, emails and the website. The communication enables the stakeholders to get updates on the ethical behaviors within the company. As such, the company does not involve hiding information in its policies, whether negative or positive to its stakeholders. They can know that they can trust the company to let them know about the crisis and call for meetings for solutions. It is ethical for a company to maintain trust within and outside its environs. The communication is also easily available because it can be found online. If there are any ethical concerns, the stakeholders will easily access the information from complaints made on the performance of the company by external sources. Such communication fosters a strong network that is built on trust. The communication is kept open, which means anyone can access the company. Shareholders can effectively communicate with the employees and management and give ideas that will foster good relationships among the employees, customers, management and the government. Because of the trust the stakeholders have, they can look past the accusations of McDonald’s contribution to obesity in America.
Participation in decision making
McDonald’s operates under a system of total quality management that is centered on the contribution of internal and external sources in the management. In this case, employees, customers and stakeholders are involved in decision-making, whether directly or indirectly. Through available means of communication, employees can give ideas on what aspects they feel need change or advancement(Facella&Genn, 2009). For instance, an employee is allowed to send management an email and express their concerns over the issue. In addition, the managers constantly hold physical and video conferences in a forum where employees are asked about their opinion of the issue. Stakeholders are invited for meetings where they make decisions based on opinions they receive. Customers can also participate in these decisions through established networks for communication such as Facebook and Twitter. In such a setup, it becomes easy to establish ethical values such as trust, reliability and commitment. Loyalty is also established from stakeholders because they are involved in the in every process that the company takes. All these are fostered through a communication system that is open to criticism and positive reinforcement. Employees get motivated to perform better, and customers get inspired when they know that their opinions have been put to consideration.
Transparency
The issue of transparency was brought to light in McDonald’s by an internet incident that accused the company of making its chicken nuggets from pink slime. The only way to counter such rumors and to retain its customers was through transparency. The company has always appreciated the use of video as a means of communication. Therefore, it showed a video that went viral, which filmed the steps that are involved in the preparation of its products. Such transparency exhibited ethical values like honesty, which renewed the consumer’s trust in the company. The means the company uses to communicate with its employees, customers, and stakeholders leave little secrecy since all aspects of its activities are made available to these parties. The procedures that involve promotion and hiring are very clearly outlined in the company’s constitution and only qualified candidates are considered. Means of production, income and expenditure are also available for everybody to see. The company releases an annual report that reviews all its operations and requires reexamination of ethical conduct. The report is made accessible in the company’s website and hence gives it some form of transparency. Transparency facilitates feelings of fairness and provides confidence on the part of stakeholders. It embraces honesty and openness that is good for creating rapports with the employees, management, stakeholders and customers. The system makes customers loyal. Some feedback on social media has had customers testifying that they have faith in McDonald’s and believe they are getting the best fast food in America.
Accountability
The company is constantly faced with accusations of introducing children to diet deficient food and cause various diseases. The New York Times reported on various complaints from health professionals about McDonald’s promoting unhealthy eating lifestyles through its campaigns. The company is, therefore, accountable to parents, the general public, the government and its stakeholders. Accountability enables a company to produce quality products since they are under the scrutiny of the people they serve. Magazines such as Fortune have also weighed in on the superb communication at the company. The communication tools serve the perfect ways to be accountable to these parties and since there is feedback from both. The communication aspects require the company to take responsibility for unethical practices. The company is responsible for the code of ethics in the organization. Communicating their responsibility offers them a chance to give an explanation and avoid many scandals. The communication of their responsibility for an ethical crisis can be offered to consumers through their website, online social sites and annual magazine. In addition, conference calls and emails can be sent to shareholders to inform them of the situation. Employees in McDonald’s also partake in taking responsibility for ethical practices emanating in their departments through communication with the management. Accountability ensures that employees learn how to solve problems in a better way and work towards good ethical behaviors(Crane &Matten, 2010). The company, therefore, leaves open windows for negotiations on the way forward and does not battle on who should take responsibility. Because of the tools of communication embraced by the employees, means for taking accountability are provided.
Encouragement of efforts to identify dilemmas
The communication methods enable employees to identify ethical disasters. Because every aspect that is involved with McDonald’s has a chance to give their thoughts, employees can be able to identify the problems from the feedback. Because they are empowered with decision-making, they can identify ways of helping the organization counter the issues. Even so, McDonald is yet to take responsibility for any crisis that they have encountered. Identified problems, therefore, have to go to management to verify the source before action is taken. The identification part is very effective for employees. The problem emanates from solving the identified issues. Employees have access to the tools of communication such as emails, website stories, and social media news(Noe&Noe, 2012). They can access various forms of information that will enable them to identify problems, but lack the mechanisms to facilitate changes. The company does involve its employees in decision-making but has not empowered them to make corrections on their behalf. Therefore, employees can identify problems and communicate to the relevant authority about them.
Recommendations (conclusion)
McDonald’s should employ nutritionists in their company and adopt a healthy diet. The nutritionists can find a balance between fast foods and a healthy diet and merge the two together. The information on the new diet can be communicated through catalogues that will show the ingredients in their products as having improved. Because the company has an ethics code, they are expected to care about their customer’s well-being. Even though establishing a fast food enterprise that incorporates healthy aspects in its meals is a challenge, nutritionists and health professionals can help strike a balance.
In addition, the company can create an ethical hotline where people call to complain about any problems they have. Such a scenario can be managed by a communication department which will handle all the issues that external respondents might have. A hotline is a faster way to relay a message than when they rely on emails and magazine subscriptions. The most crucial origin of information is the customers. They are the consumers of the product, and their feedback should be accessed immediately. It will give a room for a quick response of solutions for the problems.
References
Crane, A., &Matten, D. (2010). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Facella, P., &Genn, A. M. (2009).Everything I know about business I learned at McDonald's the 7 leadership principles that drive break out success. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Noe, R. A., &Noe, R. A. (2012).Human resource management: gaining a competitive advantage (8th ed.; Global Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
McDonalds Corporation. (2014, September 10). New York Times, p. 4.
Passikoff, R. (2014, October 14). McDonald's Hopes New Social Media Q&A Will Modify Food Image. Forbes, 1, 5.
