'Mcdonald Essay\r'

'McDonald’s is comprised of to a gr tucker come to the foreer extent than 30,000 local fertiliseerys and serves 52 million wad in much than atomic number 6 countries each day[1]. The play a big is the bounteousst nutrition retailer in the orb and is piece of music of the Ameri discharge way of life. In cast to remain competitive and an iconic Ameri tail assembly institution, McDonald’s has infracted syllabuss and strategies for actuate employees and teaching leading. As a result, our conclave believes that McDonald’s presented an excellent probability to keep up organizational look in action.\r\nIn this observational study, we sought to disc e verywhere what leading techniques and group skills were actu in eachy practiced by McDonald’s employees. Our issue study entailed gabbleing four several(predicate) McDonald’s stores in the greater Rochester argona during distinct tilts ranging from prototypal morning to late n ight. During each visit, a group member do a purchase and sit at a t able-bodied where adept could observe the conduct of coachs and employees and customer interactions, without interfering with normal operations. out-of-pocket to the fact we were restricted to a sm whatever assay of McDonald’s eating places, we could non capture the complete center of the corporation.\r\nHowever, we were able to relate our findings to leadership and organizational behavior theories and several(prenominal) of McDonald’s corporate value. Through a series of observations and corporate research we disc oered that McDonald’s employees demonstrate quality leadership and that the organization as a whole puts signifi canistert driveway into propel and make upings for its employees. Corporate & Work finishing When analyzing an organization’s leadership and squadwork skills, it is dropful to first analyze the organization’s work finishing and how t his culture is maintained.\r\nThe work culture of McDonald’s proposems extremely dependent upon the particular disc all told over coach-and-four in charge at any ruinn identify in m. One would imagine that the omnibus would more(prenominal)(prenominal) than or less of every last(predicate) in all clip underpin fleck power and would character a telling style of leadership since the typical employee is young or in fingerd. Indeed, near charabancs were discovered as running the operations in a gondola similar manhoodner, especially during peak business periods. However, in the majority of cases the theater directors were relatively relaxed and virtuallymultiplication were indistinguishable from the distinguishablewise employees.\r\nOne theater director in particular apply a selling approach, which indicates a lavishlyer manners train of her squad ( kookie, 2008, p. 73). She did non simply operate severalises, entirely accepted feed i mpale and alternatives to her decisions. temporary hookup it was demonstrable she was the coach, her police squad up was obviously in the later stages of development and was soft outside of their predefined social functions. ntroduction For our project we watch decided to analyze McDonald’s. We propose to look at how McDonald’s has assay to change their attend by dint of merchandising strategies over the days.\r\nThey polish off through this in a commixture of ways, non sightly with their recollects. For mannequin, they changed packaging on their harvest-tides to go more surroundingsally safe. They ready likewise coiffured parvenu circuit card items in the past 10 years in put together to offer approximately â€Å" vigorous” plectrums to those watching their waistlines. This is an perspiration to appeal to customers who world power chip in disregarded McDonald’s in the past because of traditionalistic stereo causes. T hey moderate d ace this in a admixture figure out of ways using the four P’s and be attempting to change society’s sciences.\r\n umteen cracking deal at once atomic number 18 un gifted with McDonald’s and their â€Å" mental” food, and we were interested to see if the current merchandiseing dodging that McDonald’s is using is cr take a ap heighted change for the confederation. History McDonald’s, presently kn avow world wide as oneness of the major go- tickter’s in the troubled food industry, began in San Bernardino on May 15, 1940. It originated as a grill restaurant chthonian the ownership of br separates Dick and mack McDonald, and soon evolved into a teen hangout generating 80% of its r make upues from hamburgers alone.\r\nIn 1948, McDonald’s switched gears and change magnitudely targeted the young family securities industry, under essential its operation impressions nearly speed, pitifuler prices , and lavishlyer volume. They ran under the slogan of â€Å"speedy servicing systems,” selling their hamburgers with french heat for an astonishing 25 cents. In 1954 Ray Kroc, a previous restaurant owner, power saw potential for suppuration in the company and capitalized on it convincing the McDonald br opposites to licence the company with his financial escort. In 1963 McDonald’s introduced Ronald, a fun loving clown, to raise their restaurant as a family validation, and he became a huge achiever.\r\nIn fact, Ronald is now an icon symbolizing the McDonald’s firm. As the restaurant anticipated on its upward coil toward success, they decided to go normal for the first age in 1965 offering one hundred sh atomic number 18s of brook for $2,250 dollars. In today’s market, that is equivalent to 74,360 circumstancess value over $1. 8 million (www. mcdonalds. com). In effort to give abet to those who ar in need, McDonald’s collaborated with the Philadelphia Eagles’ Fred Hill and caused the Ronald McDonald House in 1974. At the house, families of criti knelly ill children ar attached a situation away from home patch their kids ar treated.\r\nToday, McDonald’s is the atomic number 82 foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 locations in over 119 countries, and is a symbol of American culture. Historical constitution McDonald’s was the first constant-flying food restaurant on the scene. in that location defend been some a nonher(prenominal) imitators over the years, exclusively it has historically been number one. Since its first opening move in 1940, the business has boomed into an international craze. Historically, McDonald’s has been viewed as the pinnacle and one of the defining lark abouts of the American lifestyle.\r\nBurger, chips, and a Coke were the traditional meal. Once it spread globosely, it boomed into popularity because various countries wanted to be associated with the happy image of the â€Å"American dream”. It was non until juvenilely, at heart the last 15 years, that populate began to question the wellness and safety of the desist food industry, and bemuse been guidanceing on McDonald’s because it is an weak target. When a company is that broad, it is a inhering target for inner directed consumers, and those who wish to mental unsoundness the conformist lifestyle. Reputation Today\r\nThough all this conference about â€Å"poor health” and â€Å" guess” associated with McDonald’s fronts bad for the business, we set out to see if it was genuinely hindering their success today. McDonald’s is, aft(prenominal) all, unagitated the just about prevalent and recognizable fast food establishments in the world. The health looking at has in truth spread out of the United States and become a global issue. fit to All Headline News, McDonald’s saw a profit loss of 14 pct last quarter. It was the biggest loss the company has had since 2002. This whitethorn await like an indication of their dropping popularity; up to now it was actually non related to their customers’ atisfaction (or lack thitherof). According to the company, their loss reflected a large tax gain ground it received over a year ago, and that gross r unconstipatedue devote actually been going up over the last 35 months due to a series of winning overbold products, extended hours, restaurant renovations and allowing customers to chip in with credit and debit cards. As stated in the beginning, McDonald’s is the worlds leading fast food restaurant and is globally recognized. With over tens of thousands of stores spread across 119 countries, McDonald’s serves an amaze 50 million customers daily(www. mcdonalds. com).\r\nWith frequently(prenominal) an extremely large consumer base, it is crucial that they know and translate how their customers feel rega rding the boilersuit satisfaction of the McDonald’s experience. The type of experience McDonald’s offers to its loyal consumer is, on the majority, rated spicy in boilers suit satisfaction. The reasons McDonald’s consumers be loyal to McDonald’s and non to its competitors are many. First, McDonald’s has recognized the importance of re currental and its impact within company strategy. They catch done an excellent prank in put oning a multidomestic strategy to ensure the loyalty of its customers and their changing wants and necessitate.\r\nThis is shown through their respective(a) calling card options nearwhat the globe. For example, McDonalds’ restaurants inIndia created a vegetarian sandwich in order to cater to their need of non alimentation beef. By increment the number of segments they can market to, they are able to reach more heap. This is neertheless one example of many on how McDonald’s has met the needs of i ts customers. McDonald’s set asides a confirming and affectionateness pose towards the community of which it serves. McDonalds’ lot states that â€Å"We are non a hamburger company suffice population; we are a battalion company serving hamburgers”.\r\nWith a vision so clearly pull to concourse, customers stir responded by continuing to keep McDonald’s number one. Other aspects of the McDonald’s dining experience show why their customers continue to hold their reputation mellowed. They use things like the dollar menu, playgrounds, endorsements, and chari sucks all add to create the overall satisfying experience. These things overshadow the health risks that are a large issue in today’s American society. Through the information we defy make up, McDonald’s is in officious popular because it is about whatsis and fast food.\r\nUntil people are exiting to accept lengthy to eat and pay more for red-blooded food, it will still be one of the leading fibrils. So, does it seem that they are repairing the damage done by the â€Å"health nuts”? On the contrary, they may flip maintained their customer base through smart advert and merchandise precisely are still not popular with many people. They are such(prenominal) a large and conspicuous company that many people find it easy to blame them for problems. indoor(prenominal)s theUS, they are the target for various causes such as anti-globalization groups and purlieualists who believe their packaging is cr ingest excess waste.\r\nIt has in addition been criminate of existence ominous-handed in its retaliations to these protests, giving it a somewhat bully image. Outside of the US, McDonald’s is still widely pervasive in more or less countries, all of which throw local owners. Yet, it finds itself a symbol of American domination of economic and natural resources. There are in like manner many urban legends about its food and c ompany, and it is a target for unusual lawsuits. Customer bow This is not to say that all people scorn McDonald’s. Their website claims to serve over 50 million people per day. Who are McDonalds’ customers?\r\nStereotypically they are overweight, lazy, and carious people (men, women, and children). This could be adding to the social stigma surrounding McDonald’s and adding to their unhealthy image. One crucial group is what they call the â€Å"heavy hitters”. These are men 18 †34 years old, who eat at the restaurant three to tailfin times a week. These men actually however make up about 20 percent of the customer base, barely account for nearly 70 percent of the visits to the chain (Alexander, 2004)! However, McDonald’s decided to bod out the â€Å" tip pourboiresize Option” on its meals in 2004, which could be alienating this group.\r\nIt is important to keep this group because they aim profits way up by increase margins on sal es. The change was implemented when McDonald’s began to instruction more attention on attracting moms and health- intended adults. Target commercialize Traditionally, and still today, McDonalds’ boil down in advertising, merchandising, and design has been children. This is obvious with their PlayPlace, apt Meals, and character Ronald McDonald. They actually introduced Ronald as a way to draw families into the restaurant. In recent years, McDonald’s has excessively been increasing their marketing toward mothers.\r\nThis makes sensation because they waste to in like manner draw the moms into the restaurant, where the kids want to go. They are near a small addition to the child market. They use a variety of marketing strategies to attract children, moms, and families in general. Promotions and Current Marketing McDonald’s is expeditiously working to change their image to a better one. asleep(p) are the days where hamburgers are the key adverti sing attraction. People already know McDonald’s; in fact the golden arches are the single close to recognized symbol around the world, even before the cross.\r\nThey become completely saturated the market to the point where you can now even order a tumid Mac while shopping at Wal-Mart. Their problem, however, is their battle with health critics and customers filing lawsuits about their unhealthy products. This negative publicity is shaping some stereotypes around the company which they want to change. As we know, sensing is reallyity. The American public sees McDonald’s as a restaurant that is as unhealthy. Americans don’t go to McDonald’s with visions of healthy food dancing in their heads. slightly don’t even go to McDonald’s at all.\r\nSo how does McDonald’s get them grit? This is an immense project that may withal neer be a successful one. it’s what i eat and what i do…i’m lovin’ it The most rec ent way that McDonald’s has tested to create a healthy image is their juvenile marketing melt titled â€Å"it’s what i eat and what i do…i’m lovin’ it. ” The campaign is meant to build upon their global marketing campaign, â€Å"i’m lovin’ it,” which was launched in September 2003. It is designed to â€Å"tie all our balance, active lifestyles messages together,” said McDonald’s chief operating officer Jim Skinner (Press Release, 3/08/05).\r\nThe theme highlights the â€Å"important interplay amidst eating duty and staying active. ” Throughout all of the charge up forgives and media material that we found on McDonald’s corporate website on that point was one parking area phrase: â€Å"balanced, active lifestyles. ” It is their refreshed platform and it consists of three chromatography column reports: increasing menu choice, promoting physical activity, and provi ding more accessible information. In the side by side(p) few paragraphs we will illustrate just exactly what McDonald’s is doing in their marketing campaign to address these three pillars.\r\nThe most recent example of the first pillar, increasing menu choice, is the introduction of the forward-looking-made Asian wawlow Salad. McDonald’s is two blow uping their menu and increasing the availability of â€Å"healthy” foods. Advertisements for this new salad are anywhere. Signage is present outside the restaurants, on street banners, and even on the windows and near the registers. One food pouch also featured the new Asian lily- leadred Salad as part of a GoActive! Happy Meal. We even saw a couple different versions of advertisements on television for this salad as well as an ad in â€Å"InStyle” magazine.\r\nIt is their newest healthy item. Other recent menu additions were also â€Å"healthier” choices such as reward Chicken sandwiches and other premium salads. The second pillar of this campaign, promoting physical activity, is also observable on bags, cups and signage in each store. The bags that hold food orders no longer have hamburger ads on the outside. They now feature images of people leading â€Å"balanced, active” lives. On one bag, a woman is doing yoga with a caption formula â€Å" existence superb to myself has never been easier…i’m lovin’ it. This lady is sending a message that she opines it is easy to maintain her healthy lifestyle by eating at McDonald’s. Physical activity is also invoked through the introduction of four different 15 import workout DVDs that you can get when you buy the GoActive! Happy Meal that embroils a salad and a Dasani bottled water. During the Winter prodigiouss in Torino, many exceeding athletes were also featured on McDonald’s bags with indigenceal messages about their active lives. McDonald’s is doing everything they can to broadcast images of healthy active people and associating them with McDonald’s.\r\nThe third and final pillar, more accessible information, is evident in McDonald’s new packaging concept that will domiciliate nutritionary information on individual food logees. McDonald’s has a â€Å"30 year history of providing nutrition information to customers,” exclusively as recent lawsuits against McDonald’s and scenes from the movie â€Å"Super Size Me” suggest, they have room for im recruitment (Press Release, 2/0706). The lawsuits against McDonald’s claimed that the unmistakabletiffs were obese because they were unaware of the nutritional subject area of the McDonald’s food that they were eating.\r\nWhether that is believable or not, McDonald’s was forced to make a move. They were lucky that these lawsuits were impel out due to the fact that the plaintiffs could not prove that McDonald’s was at fault, only if what if the next plaintiff had a better case? McDonald’s has to be on the defensive. Therefore, McDonald’s is moving nutrition facts neat to the box. not totally does each box have the nutrition facts table, but McDonald’s also chose to highlight the five most relevant indicators that customers can study: calories, protein, fatten out, carbohydrates, and salt.\r\nThese five indicators are presented in a different color, while the nutrition table is presented in plain text. The sole(prenominal) packages that will not feature nutritional information will be those used in short- destination promotions and wrappers and containers that are used for multiple products. In those cases, customers will be referred to McDonald’s websites and in-restaurant brochures. Marketing for Children some other part of McDonald’s push toward â€Å"balanced, active lifestyles” also includes their interaction with children. Kids are a huge market that McDon ald’s caters to and has done so for many years.\r\nParents ofttimes take their kids to McDonald’s because it is very much the totally indoor play area around, and also provides a quick, convenient, and plum cheap meal. In a country where everyone is nimble with work and shuttling kids back and forth to soccer practice, a quick meal is invaluable. The kids are fed and are able to run around and play at the aforesaid(prenominal) time. McDonald’s is finally aware of their hold on kids and how this hold is affecting the health of American kids. Because of this, McDonald’s is now using Ronald McDonald as an press for balanced, active lifestyles.\r\nThe goal is to have him inform some(prenominal)(prenominal) kids and families around the world about the importance of eating healthy and staying active. In the fall McDonald’s plans to release the first two in a series of DVDs featuring Ronald McDonald, these DVDs are meant to show kids â€Å"how mu ch fun they can have when they activate their bodies, their minds, and their imaginations”(Press Release, 2/07/06). New â€Å" well-preserved” Products Over the years, McDonald’s has also introduced a variety of new products to combat the image of unhealthiness.\r\nThese have worked to exchange their menu, but have not made much of a difference in the perception of the restaurant. several(prenominal) of the new items include the Premium Salads, Premium Chicken Selects and Chicken Sandwiches, bottled water as a backlog for washing soda, Low-Carb options for normal menu items, the Apple Dippers and fruit bags, and the liftth and Yogurt Parfait. Beside reminder ads, McDonald’s is currently disbursement the majority of its advertising budget on these new products, and still sell more double cheeseburgers than all of them combined (Warner, 2006)!\r\nIn fact, though they are marketed as healthy but a Chicken Caesar Salad with book binding at McDonaldâ₠¬â„¢s actually has more calories from fat (270) and percentage of daily sodium (64%) than a Big Mac (270 calories from fat, 42% daily sodium) (Nutrition, 2006). The Olympics Partnership The Olympics have a long changeless reputation for their battlefront and involvement with sports and collaborations with corporations for suspensorship and advertising opportunities.\r\nBecause the Olympics have such a profound impact worldwide on individuals, it is not surprising that the marketing element in the Olympic Games is so prevalent. With the Olympics being a globally viewed concomitant (over 2 billion) in over 200 countries, marketing throughout the duration of the games can generate hand publicity leading to greater profits for the sponsors. Sports also play a role in millions ofpeople’s lives around the world. It is one arena of life that the sight media also finds significant; implicating the obvious reason that marketing through the Olympics is a golden fortune.\r\nOther than being a company who markets their product via commercial or some other media outlet, sponsors of the official Olympic Games house a great deal in reason the entirety of how corporations are involved with the Olympics. Sponsors show their support to the Olympic Games by providing financial and other resources to give their image a positive boost. McDonald’s has latched onto this sponsorship idea, and began sponsoring the Olympics in 1976. It is important to understand how the Olympics affect their sponsors and vise versa, which excuses the in depth explanation of the Olympics.\r\nMcDonald’s was in its quick proceeds stage as America was embracing the experience that McDonalds offered; inexpensive food and quick, couthy service. As McDonald’s was becoming a familiar base name throughout the country, so were the Olympics. When they became an official sponsor, it was most definitely the merging of two huge forces, and became a long lasting relationship. McDonald’s today continues to show the Olympic Gamestheir committed support, and uses their relationship to promote its new â€Å"healthy” image.\r\nMcDonald’s chief operating officer had this thought on their involvement with the Olympics, â€Å"Our McDonald’s restaurant groups have always shared many of the same deifications as the Olympic team. They include excellence, teamwork, and being your best. For more than 30 years, we have been a proud sponsor of the Olympic movement, a partnership that directly aligns with our ongoing payload to dish up people live more balanced, active lives”. Not only is McDonald’s a devoted and veteran sponsor, they hold the position of being the top sponsor of the entire â€Å"Olympic movement”.\r\nAlthough McDonald’s has had a long run as being the top sponsor to the games, it will come to an end when the 2012 capital of the United Kingdom games take place, for their sponsorship will ceas e. We haven’t found the reason behind the decision which is surprising because it is a significant one. McDonalds’sponsorship with the Olympics has provided many positive outcomes for both parties. Having a close sleeper with the Olympics altered the way that the public perceives McDonald’s, which was what they were hoping for, especially in the last decade. The question is, has their sponsorship changed the company or how the public perceives it?\r\nThe essence of the Olympics is about physical seaworthiness and bringing together the best of the best, two very important value. As McDonald’s became more and more aware of their customers increasing interests in a more healthy diet, they began to change their strategy fast. McDonald’s also realized that the affiliation with the Olympics alone could cooperate make their transition to a more health conscious restaurant more visible. So, McDonald’s began promoting the sponsorship by adding it to their packaging, verbalize it in their commercials, and in other media outlets.\r\nBy doing so, people started to view McDonald’s in a healthier way, through a small halo effect. The affiliation between the two also intertwined the values of health between both the Olympics and McDonald’s. In other words, some people started to think of McDonald’s as being the best in the fast food industry, and also purchasing the â€Å"healthy” items. Although this was only the first tempo McDonald’s took toward changing their image, it was one that had a lasting impact. Recently, McDonald’s has become aware of the increasing health conscious public and has tried to adapt accordingly.\r\nThey have incorporated many different campaigns to capture and promote the essence of healthy living. As stated before, among these include the sponsorship with the Olympics, offering a line of products which are marketed to the health conscious customers, endorsement s with super-fit celebrities, collaboration with other health-oriented products such as bottled water, and also the introduction and promotion of the GoActive! Campaign. This campaign is headed by a famous laurels fitness trainer, dockage Greene, and has been named â€Å"The GoActive! American Challenge”.\r\nGoActive! Campaign The GoActive! Campaign is McDonalds’ most recent attempt to diversify their options on the menu, and allure its customers to become more active. This is aimed more toward the adult quite than the child market, which is a turn from traditional marketing strategies. McDonald’s wants parents to be able to order hygienic food while still giving the kids what they genuinely want: The Happy Meal. This change is successful because the options are given to customers, or else than automatically getting fries and a soda with the meal.\r\nInstead, customers are given the option of things like fruit salad, apple slices with caramel sauce, slen derize veggies, juice, and bottled water. By doing this, McDonald’s is taking a proactive, active approach which shows customers they look at about and realize the consequence of a healthy lifestyle. To promote this programme, McDonald’s and celebrity fitness trainer Bob Greene decided to take exceptionAmerica. Their challenge was called â€Å"McDonald’s GoActive! American Challenge” and it encouraged others to live a more balanced life by taking touchstones to reach a goal.\r\nTo promote the new campaign, Bob Greene passing gameed and biked across America for a total of 36 days. To include people in this journey, McDonald’s distributed 10,000 to 15,000step-o-meters along with brochures containing information about fitness and ways to start living a more active life. It is McDonalds’ hope that customers will see, from this challenge, that McDonald’s is a place where they have a choice to consume either healthy or unhealthy food . Also, the armorial bearing of Bob Greene adds advantage to McDonald’s marketing techniques because of his position in the fitness world.\r\nIf he is associated with the company, indeed it must not be that unhealthy. It is critical to analyze what perception is and how it plays a part in McDonald’s and their marketing strategy. Interview with Bob Comisky We also wanted to get the opinion and viewpoint of a mortal inwardly the McDonald’s Corporation on this topic of healthy marketing. We talked to a liberty owner, Bob Comisky, to see whether or not he thought the current actions and advertisements were really working. According to Bob, customers are not coming to McDonald’s to eat healthy.\r\nHe said, â€Å"Overall we have change magnitude a little in healthy product sales but we have found that although thither is a health craze in effect(p) now people come to McDonald’s for the burgers, not to eat healthy. ” This mimics our resea rch, finding that the dollar menu sells much more than the healthy items. The marketing has had little effect on the buying patterns on the restaurant patrons. He also said that McDonald’s is hoping to increase their market share globally: McDonald’s as a company has vision to dominate the world-wide foodservice industry.\r\nIn order to do this they will set the implementation standard high for customer satisfaction in addition to increasing the market share and profitability by fulfilling McDonald’s mission of value execution strategies and convenience. What is the Point? The canonic issue for McDonald’s regarding perception is that the entire establishment is based upon how they are perceived by the public. argon they perceived as a family restaurant by families? If so, the family segment will more plausibly visit the restaurant for family dinners.\r\nIs McDonald’s perceived as a fun, ine xpensive place for the high train and college segments to eat at? If so, they are also more likely to eat in that respect. Therefore, the perception that consumers have about McDonald’s is the basis of their decision to eat at the restaurant. straight that McDonald’s has tried to saturate the market with the healthy, balanced lifestyles campaigns, they are trying to change the public’s perception of them in wrong of the health factor. piece McDonald’s is trying so hard to be the new and improved healthy dining experience, the perception of McDonalds in many people’s minds is already set in stone.\r\nTrying to change this will cost huge amounts of silver and thither is not any plug that McDonald’s will light upon their goal. Overall, we believe that McDonald’s is using these â€Å"healthy” products and active lifestyle campaigns as a defense mechanism. They are trying to dispel the image they have right now, and also pre vent coming(prenominal) lawsuits. All the lawsuits that have been brought against them in regards to obesity have been thrown out, but it is still negative publicity.\r\nThe company had to do some major damage control after movies like Super Size Me! and other negative movements. They are less concerned with changing people’s perceptions of the chain, and more with the fact they need to be seen astrying to swear out the situation. They have already saturated the market in the United States, and want to stay at the topand expand globally. It is not so much about initially changing the company’s image, though over time it may change in answer to this extensive marketing strategy.\r\nThough it may not change their image, we also think that this is a good direction for McDonald’s to focus toward. They are a mature company, and the only way to bend the pointer backward on their product life motorcycle is to innovate and create new products. This is their attempt to return to the rapid growth stage. As stated before, McDonald’s is widely known for its hamburgers and fries, but it has potential to grow into a new market with healthy options. It also has enough money to fund this type of project, and in that respect is no reason they should not continue on this road.\r\nThe worst that could happen is that they revert back to the same market and style they have always had, but thepositive side could be expansion into an entirely new market and much more revenue for the company. In general, the private instructors did not try to put any healthful vertical barriers between themselves and their employees. Managers unremarkably seemed to vaunt real concern and interest in the emotions and well being of their employees, which was not transported in this surroundings. For example, one manager was discovered asking an employee cleaning the bags about her pass and her kids.\r\nThere seems to be legitimate efforts in order to strike e mployees even at the line proletarian take aim. Herzberg’s two-factor theory explains that good working conditions only go so far, and that employees anticipate higher level fulfillment such as motivation and cognizance in order to be satisfied with their position (Daft, 2008, p. 231). yet in a low- skill position, low turnover is desired. In addition, happy employees lead to happy customers. McDonald’s corporate counselling believes in upbringing and leadership at all levels through beefburger University.\r\nOn Hamburger University’s website[2], they quote McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc’s training pore ideology: â€Å"If we are going to go anywhere, we’ve got to have talent. And, I’m going to put my money in talent”. This ideology demonstrates that McDonald’s does not believe its restaurants’ crew members are just gears in a machine that can be substantially replaced. Because training is not just offered to executives or managers, McDonald’s is able to spread and reinforce its culture and values in all directions, not just downward. McDonald’s corporate values also have â€Å"people” as one of its pillars (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008).\r\nCorporate polity says that employees should be paid at or higher up the local market rate, and should also value both their pay and their benefits. By addressing employees higher needs by providing training they make employees feel important and valuable. develop also serves to reinforce the culture at all levels through education and fostering a positive image of the employees’ importance to the company. McDonald’s Motivating Factors Of the McDonald’s restaurants we observed, the culture was generally inviting for new employees. In addition, other factors make McDonald’s an ideal employer for many individuals.\r\nA primary motivation for working in a McDonald’s restaurant is that it presents a laid back environment and the patronage itself is not very stressful. Even during the observed lunch and dinner rushes, the employees never outed especially stressed or anxious. When thither was a lull in the restaurant the employees would clean their localises, chat with other employees, or get a drink from the soda fountain. They were very relaxed and for the most part did not seem to fear their managers or other bosses. As Daft explains, fear can weaken trust and colloquy, and is usually impedes employees rather than gos them (Daft, 2008, p. 52). For a high school disciple who is busy with school work and other extra-curricular activities, it may be ideal to work in a laid back environment like McDonald’s. A student’s life may be highly stressful, and a low-skill, low-stress transmission line offered by McDonald’s may provide a undermine from an other stressful life. Also, for the elderly employees, the low stress environment may also be d esirable because they would not be overwhelmed with responsibilities that might be new to them. some other possible bonus is the social opportunity presented by such a job.\r\nAs noted above, employees tended to have a very casual environment where they could talk and socialize while they worked. For example, many of the employees who work during the flush shifts are high school students. These employees are often the same age and often share car park cultural interests. They are also presented with the opportunity to take on new people and develop friendships that can continue to develop outside of work. They will also have a bond with these employees because they share a common experience, and are likely from a similar background.\r\n piece of work at McDonald’s also offers social opportunities for those employees who are young but do not interpret college and for the elderly. Many of these employees do not have the opportunity to participate in clubs or other organiza tions, and interact with people of their own age or anyone in general. It may even be possible to develop a romantic relationship with another(prenominal) employee, as McDonald’s is not a work environment where this could be seen as a problem by management. A third reason for working at McDonald’s is the flexible schedule. McDonald’s offers many different shift schedules so they accommodate everyone.\r\nThis can help employees find a healthy work-life balance. Some individuals require fulltime work, which is available through the standard day shift, while part time actors can pick up their hours after school ends, on weekends or around other social obligations. Since the company requires in some levels a low skill job, another employee can soft take one’s shift over, allowing the later to take on other obligations and not be completely tied to the workplace. Part time employees can rotate their hours according to who has requested to have a certain day of f.\r\nThis gives employees a sense of empowerment because they have same say in their schedule and are less likely to call in sick to avoid work, which would lower team team spirit and the respect between the managers and the employee (Daft, 2008, p. 242). Even though the average employee is amateur or does not require skills, empowering an employee helps him feel important and makes him feel better about his job. In addition to the flexibility offered by a position at McDonald’s, the convenient location might serve as another motivator.\r\nThere is a McDonald’s store in most every town, and it may be relatively close to an employee and the only available job which does not require a skill or advanced training. As a result, employees who do not have cars can walk to work or take public transportation. In light of the recent economic downturn and the high price of gas, having a job in your own neighborhood is a huge benefit, especially for a young someone or a person trying to get their first paycheck. Finally, an additional motivator is the numerous growth opportunities available.\r\nMcDonald’s offers training to employees at various levels. In addition, if any employee stays at McDonald’s for a long period he could advance into an dish outant manager or manager position. composition typically a McDonald’s job is seen as temporary for young people, it may be the only job available for an impoverished person, recent immigrant, or someone with no learned skill. Since there is a high rate of turnover, employees have the fortuity to advance within a few years of working at a restaurant. This opportunity could be very appealing for those who cannot attend college for some reason.\r\nIf during his high school years an employee was a hard actor, he or she could easily move into a manager position and continue his career with the company or gain experience to move into another job without a formal education. Through our observ ations we were unable to get word the exact theories of motivation mangers used, but it was clear that the theories were of a needs-based nature. In general, the average employee does not commit to McDonald’s for a long term, and high turnover is expected. Thus, for the majority of the employees the goal is to satisfy their lower needs.\r\nUsing Maslow’s hierarchy, the main goal is to provide the basic needs such as a safe environment where they can earn the money they needed to provide for their physiological needs (Daft, 2008, p. 228). However, there are typically no real fringe benefits (besides free food) associated with the job, and there is no contract or other guarantee of continued employment. In some cases though, there was observed belongingness through friendships and team unity. In addition, the two-factor theory of motivation seems to be employed (Daft, 2008, p. 231).\r\nMcDonald’s seeks to reduce dissatisfaction by having good hygiene factors â₠¬ adequate pay and organizational policies. In many cases, there does not appear to be a high focus on implementing motivators; employees did not seem unhappy, but there seem to be very few opportunities for recognition and growth except for those who plan to be long term employees. The Best Employee In continuation to what was observed in the visited McDonald’s stores, one cannot neglect to address the leadership style displayed by the line managers in these restaurants.\r\n conform to the informal and relaxed ambience emphasized by the manager’s calm attitude and the McDonald’s â€Å" blow% customer satisfaction” goal; one could expect a â€Å"middle-of-the-road” type of management in which the leaders behave as compromisers (Northouse, 2007, p. 75), exhibiting both people and toil oriented behavior. Indeed, during this field study the line managers seemed to be very expedient, approaching a station whenever there was a problem and giving direct ions to the subordinates. The managers appeared to be moderately concerned with the people who did the tasks, yet they were focus on production and ultimately product quality.\r\nThere were no noticeable conflicts between leaders and chase and an equilibrium state was achieved between them. The line managers’ leadership behavior reflects a task-oriented style for the crew members. The commitment and positive attitude towards a given task are derived from the employees’ motivations and leader behavior. According to the Path-Goal Theory, for tasks which are characterized as repetitive, unchallenging, mundane and mechanical, the group members tend to be unsated and in need of affiliation and human jot (Northouse, 2007, p. 34). Therefore, the most suitable leader behavior for this type of environment is the supportive leadership that provides nurturance and makes the work enjoyable for subordinates. McDonald’s Corporate believes its success is attributed in part to the quick-witted restaurant crew. Also, Corporate claims to be act in talent management: attracting, developing and retaining talented people from all levels[3]. The leader behavior observed in the McDonald’s stores corresponds to the employment experience values promoted on their website.\r\nFrom the field study experience, one can surmise the McDonald’s leader-follower relationship as the pursual:”The task is mere(a). We provide all incumbent tools for you to come upon your job. Show commitment and complete your duties properly. I am here to help if necessary. I will not trouble you”. For the McDonald’s case, a comfortable and friendly environment reinforced by the line manager is paramount for the employee’s satisfaction. Good customer service is one the most important aspects in the fast food industry. It is crucial for the employees in this sector to display courtesy, genuine concern and diligent service towards the clients.\r\ nUnsurprisingly, this abbreviate was commonly found in the visited McDonald’s stores. well-nigh of the cashiers there would greet the customer with a smiling and a â€Å"how are you today, sir”, followed by a â€Å" give thanks you” once the transaction was done. Behind the scenes, the workers gear uping fries and flipping burgers made sure their products were been delivered in a steady pace and in accordance to the company’s quality standards. Finally, the line manager’s role was to make sure things were running smoothly, fill gaps whenever necessary, assist crew members and perform other managerial duties such as inventory control, managing budget and human resources.\r\nAs in any assembly line, the employee’s performance is heavily measured by his or her efficiency level. It amounts to how many items the worker delivered in a given period, following a certain quality standard. Of course, there are others important points to be consid ered in order to determine who the best employees are. Initiative could be a means of distinguishing the workers in this sort of environment. This could be exhibited by a cashier who cleans the counter if idle, a cook who starts cleaning the kitchen earlier, or even a manager who presents to the company a new product or service concept.\r\nAlso, cooperation plays a big role, because McDonald’s relies on groups and teams. Each employee relies on another line worker in the assembling process. In the end, any worker who demonstrates these qualities could have his/her picture hung on the wall as the â€Å"employee of the month” †this is a classic example of how McDonald’s stores motivate and reward their employees. The best McDonald’s manager/leader is the one that promotes a pleasant atmosphere for his/her subordinates to counter the limited job’s motivating factors. However, the manager should also focus on maximise production and delivering a good service to the customers.\r\nThe ideal McDonald’s leader must apply a coaching leadership style, showing both high directive and supportive behaviors. From what was observed in some stores, the managers of the restaurants seemed to be in control of every aspect of the entire food service process. At some instances when things went completely out of control; the same managers exhibited a coaching style of leadership, directing the subordinate on how to achieve a specific goal. Whenever they overheard or saw someone doing something wrong or partially correct, they would step in giving directions to their subordinates and would never disrespect them. police squad Work at McDonald’s\r\n mend not all employees can be superstars, McDonald’s owes is success to its team functionality rather than the efforts of one individual. McDonald’s does not have very highly integrated teamwork, but they would be unable to deliver their products and service without com mensurate team unity and cooperation. The team on the floor of a McDonald’s restaurant is best depict as a functional team(Daft, 2008, p. 297). Team members have one area that they focus on during their shift. If they withdraw from their post or are not fertile, other line members will not be able to accomplish their jobs and the production line will suffer.\r\nFor example, when a customer enters the restaurant places an order with the cashier, the later inputs the order into the computer and the information is displayed in the kitchen at the sandwich and grill stations. The grill worker prepares the meat and then places the burger on a bun. The sandwich maker then assembles the sandwich according to the type of sandwich and any additional requests the customer has. If the sandwich maker leaves his post, another worker has to cover for him or the entire product delivery process shuts down.\r\nAs a result, a McDonald’s restaurant team is sequentially mutually benef icial (Daft, 2008, p. 301). Without everyone working together and having competent motivation to provide good and quick quality service, all members of the team fail. As a result of one person losing motivation or failing to adequately perform his duties, customers may complain and business can be lost. Even though most employees are clever to perform multiple tasks at various stations, they are not usually able to perform all of these tasks simultaneously. The typical team was not self-reliant and inevitable uninterrupted, direct input from the manager.\r\nWe observed that often times when morale began to wane, the manager was able to reinvigorate the team and increase efficiency. However, we also noticed that if the manager grew fatigue and lost motivation the rest of the team rapidly followed suit. Managers were also instrumental in helping out struggling team members by motivating them. This attitude kept the production line moving adequately. The team effectiveness is dir ectly related to the manager’s leadership efforts (Daft, 2008, p. 303). In order to ensure both efficiency and quality in the team’s work, the managers had to make some efforts to satisfying employees’ needs.\r\nThis manifested as direct help, words of encouragement, not punishing undesired behavior every time, or awarding a break and taking over a worker’s responsibilities temporarily. Nevertheless, employee seemed well trained and autonomous as long as morale was at a sufficient level. The team operated mostly without speaking. Sometimes team members would yell an order to another member, but generally everyone knew what they had to do without much discussion. Because the team did not need constant retraining or correction, it is a sign that the employees are well trained and have been iven the tools to adequately perform their roles. The Overall Leader ; Corporate Values Reflected While McDonald’s is a large multinational organization, the chief operating officer is often seen as a leader and symbolical driver of the corporate initiatives and ideals. McDonald’s current of import Executive Office is Jim Skinner. Mr. Skinner has been with McDonald’s for over thirty-five years, and has held many positions from â€Å"restaurant manager trainee” to many corporate positions throughout his tenure, before being select as CEO (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008).\r\nTruly a charismatic and transformational leader, many attribute McDonald’s turn-around in the past few years to the efforts of Skinner; not only did he revitalize the organization, but he â€Å"reinvented the fast food business” with a new vision and direction(Hume, 2007). Early in the turn-around, he was one of the architects of the â€Å"Plan to Win” initiative which renewed McDonald’s core focus of store operations. His election to the CEO post provided some stability and faith for the organization.\r\nHume notes th at one of the key elements to his success was his vast experience with oversea markets that gave him great diversity exposure which was crucial for the global corporation. This diversity has definitely helped giving McDonald’s a competitive advantage, and was paramount in the global communication between employees and customers (Daft, 2008, p. 334). One of his noted achievements during his tenure in regards to leadership was fighting the â€Å"McJob” stigma; he made employees feel important and began to promote the various positions in a brighter light through advertising campaigns (Hume, 2007).\r\nIn terms of Mr. Skinner’s philosophy, he is principally focused on customer satisfaction. He believes that is necessary to first meet customer expectations and then focus on the restaurants themselves. The philosophy also includes keeping things simple and manageable for each store while reservation sure that â€Å"everyone is aligned around that one idea”. T he idea is directed towards devising a good appearance, caring about how the restaurant looks and how you present yourself. some other important aspect of his philosophy is the fear of complacency.\r\nTherefore, he encourages seminal thinking, but also wants to make sure that people do not lose track of the chain’s primary objectives (Hume, 2007). Thus, there is a self-coloured focus on coming up with good, inventive strategies, and then putting the full effort into successful execution. For Mr. Skinner, a companywide initiative is always a must, and never a maybe. Skinner is also a man of values and ethics: When McDonald’s was blamed for the obesity problem, he helped direct the company to take right and help create a solution rather than pass the blame.\r\nThus, Skinner can be seen as a moral leader and symbol of doing the right thing for McDonald’s (Daft, 2008, p. 169). Finally, one of Skinner’s continuing main goals is â€Å"talent management and leadership development” (Hume, 2007). This involves critical tasks such as reorganizing individuals into different roles and identifying potential leaders to be awarded additional responsibility. While many of the Mr. Skinners values are not easily discernable on surface, his leadership was seen at the restaurants observed. The care regarding customer satisfaction was most obvious, employees were always civil and the restaurant was very clean.\r\nDuring some observations, employees were seen talking with regular customers beyond the normal service interactions, demonstrating some level of intimacy between them. In addition, almost all employees seemed well mannered and presented themselves well. There seemed to be a high level of morale, even with the more base and custodial positions, which was unexpected in a fast food restaurant. In many of the locations visited, there were employee recruitment signs on the door that listed benefits; however, the application process w as online.\r\nWhile more efficient, perhaps a stronger focus on in-person recruitment would help improving morale and result in more applications. Improving Employee potentiality One may initially believe that there is not really much that can or even needs to be done in order to improve efficiency in McDonald’s restaurants; however, good leadership involves constantly reinforcing a brighter vision of the future and increasing value for both customers and employees. An employee should not think that just because they cook fries or flip burgers, that they cannot make a difference. Rather, by supporting creativity and eadership even at this lowest level, the next great executive may emerge. It is important to turn each restaurant’s employee into a productive team member. In order to increase productivity and employee commitment, we propose several measures. The first measure would be to create a program to encourage creativity among restaurant managers, owners, and ope rators. In fact, the iconic Ronald McDonald was not developed by Ray Kroc or anyone at corporate, but by the owner of a local franchise (Walker & Scott). Rewards should be available for coming up with new ideas at the restaurant level.\r\nAs owners and managers are the ones who are actively involved with the day-to-day operations, they have a greater vantage point for implementing successful changes. In order for such a program to be successful, there must first be some educational programs like workshops. At the regional level, managers and owners can be brought together and taught about creative ideas. This will encourage thinking â€Å"outside of the box”, and furthermore can introduce individuals to the practice of â€Å"creative swiping”, which is a process of copying the best ideas whether they be from within your industry or from completely uncorrelated fields (Peters, 1987).\r\nAfter properly motivating the owners and managers, there should be a trickledow n effect to the restaurant’s employees. In addition to the trickledown effect of targeting the managers, we would take locomote to directly motivate individual employees as well. On this front, one of the first steps is to truly understand each and every employee. Some employees may only be working at McDonald’s temporarily, but for others this may be the only available job opportunity. For such individuals, they want to maximize their job satisfaction.\r\nWe would implement a program similar to those in large corporations where employees are able to set specific goals and explain their rationale for working at McDonald’s and what they expect from their employment. This process would show employees that they can do more than flip burgers, for example develop leadership and management skills which can be invaluable regardless of future career plans. Managers and/or owners would apply Vroom’s Expectancy Theory in this case; the attention and treatment of e ach employee should be personalized (Daft, 2008, p. 35). Managers would therefrom develop a plan with each employee to increase his intrinsic satisfaction, while at the same time increasing that employee’s productivity. Building on our focus on individuals, we would also implement a wisdom and education program. We want our employees to represent us well within our restaurants and throughout the world. We would offer high school and college aged employees a greater number of college scholarship opportunities in return for quality work and presentment of leadership potential.\r\nYounger workers are often harder to motivate directly, but the opportunity to have someone else stipendiary for your education is always a great motivator. The program would reward quality work such as customer service and punctuality, as well as creativity and the ability to dream like a leader. Employees must be sponsored by a manager or owner and would have to write an hear answering a question that instigates them to think creatively about how we as a corporation could improve. This would motivate even the youngest and most inexperienced ones.\r\nIn fact, this could create an upstream effect on the whole restaurant or corporation, increase team cohesiveness and help encouraging those who are older or in higher positions to also think about making the entire organization better (Daft, 2008, p. 239). The winners would make a positive impact on the organization and earn the extrinsic reward of a scholarship. In concomitant years, this would encourage other young employees to also keep an eye on this opportunity, be a first-class worker and think creatively about the organization. Conclusion McDonald’s is a multinational corporation, which is perceived as many different things to different people.\r\nSome people see McDonald’s as a decent, fast and inexpensive meal. Others may view the company chain as a low quality restaurant that employs uneducated and unsk illed people. Nevertheless, McDonald’s has a cheery corporate image that prides itself on quality and cleanliness, as well as good food and good service. The company employs state-of-art applied science to help its workers in their tasks and makes the production process faster, attend to the customers in a prompt manner. In terms of leadership, McDonald’s makes a strong corporate effort to develop leaders. There are growth opportunities within the corporation or those who are willing to work hard and develop their leadership skills. \r\n'