McDonald’s Management: A Case Study
McDonald’s is a popular fast-food brand in the world. The organization encourages its employees who have played a vital role in realizing the company goals through recognition and rewards. Taylor’s theory states that if workers do not receive incentives even after working hard, they will be discouraged and demonstrate lower productivity. McDonald’s has a competitive wage and promotion program, which identifies and rewards hard work. The recognition may be a “Job well done” from managers or the acknowledgment of the Employee of the Month. McDonald’s offers specialized training to staff to improve their skills and service delivery. The company designed a consistent method where workers perform their duties individually. The restaurant ensures that every food item has the same taste and quality worldwide.
Within the organization, different roles are assigned to every worker. Job descriptions at McDonald’s, especially in the kitchen area, are similar to ensure the same taste and quality. The engineers in the company use a computerized methodology to eliminate the guesswork in food preparation and ensure consistency. The company has manuals developed by the management that provide rules and conduct of workers. For instance, various guides and checklists explain how to prepare milkshakes, fries, and hamburgers. Apart from cooking hours, specific temperature settings are defined for all products. Thus, each worker plays a crucial role depending on the job depiction at McDonald’s.
The most mechanized jobs are performed in the meal preparation area, ensuring uniformity of offered products. They have to cut fries to a specific design and cook meals at a given temperature and for a certain period of time. The less non-mechanistic jobs include management, customer care, and waiter service. Thus, it is evident that each role is equally important in the performance of the restaurant’s operations.
McDonald’s has a bureaucratic structure that defines the work of every employee. The jobs have clear communication structures and specific job descriptions. The bureaucratic structure is advantageous since it ensures that the organization achieves defined business goals at a minimum cost. The arrangement of the organization indicates each position in a hierarchal manner, subordinate or super-ordinate. Mcdonald’s organizational structure was restructured in 2015 to improve its global operations and achieve business objectives. The leadership structure at McDonald’s plays a key role in managing and seeking new markets. Under the contingency analysis scale, the highly bureaucratic structures include the managerial positions, while the non-bureaucratic jobs include those of the waiters, chefs, and customer care. The organizational structure at McDonald’s has established effective managerial patterns among the business areas. The corporate structure has enhanced success in corporate operations in the fast food industry.
Scientific management and bureaucratic structure at McDonald’s are defined, and each employee’s role is stipulated. At the restaurant, workers’ efforts are recognized and rewarded accordingly, depending on the results. Moreover, the same is witnessed in other outlets, including China. The leadership of the organization ensures uniformity of the business. The McDonald’s franchise is similar and produces the same food quality, regardless of the country. The organization structure does not change since an administrative officer leads every location and each division has specific departments, including IT, finance, and operations. The roles are hierarchal, from top executives to waiters and chefs at the lowest level.
