Exploring the Organization Culture within McDonalds

McDonalds

Here I choose a McDonalds of New Zealand for my assignment. I choose this organization because it is very up growing organization of New Zealand. The biggest reason for choosing this organization is that because I am working here and I know much more about that.

A milkshake salesman by the name of Ray Kroc in USA in 1954 received an order from the McDonald brothers’ hamburger in California. He was fascinated by their operation – the menu was simple and cheaper and the hamburgers were good; the fries were made in-store with vegetable oil; and the shakes were thicker than usual.

The first restaurant in New Zealand is opened in 1976 in Porirua.  Today there are around 150 McDonald restaurants in New Zealand and McDonalds is serving around 1 million people in one week in New Zealand.

80 percent of McDonald restaurants are franchised by local business men and women who own and operate their restaurants as independent business.

McDonalds employees respect their customers and deliver them outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value (QSC&V).

Reference: – http://mcdonalds.co.nz/about-us/organisation

BUSINESS DEMOGRAPHICS

McDonald’s business model is based on providing regular levels of service and good quality products and quality, service, cleanliness and value is important to all those people who work for McDonald’s New Zealand.

For a successful business it is very important to fulfill the changing needs of customers. The way people eat and what they eat is changing – people are becoming more aware than ever of the importance of health and nutrition, McDonalds offer so many healthy choices to the customers such as salads, deli wraps, fruits weight watchers etc.

Customers are also becoming more interested in having information about their food, their production methods etc. McDonalds supply all the information to their customers very easily. Direct communication to customers is very important for McDonalds.

Some of the methods McDonald’s uses are:

Television Advertisements.

Brochures, tray mats.

McDonald’s website (www.mcdonalds.co.nz)

Magazine and newspaper advertisements

Public relations

Internal newsletters

Country-specific websites.

Reference: SSC (Shift Supervisor Course) Handbook

ORGANISATION GOALS

McDonalds want to make its relationship deep with customers by providing them great service and experience. There are so many different activities that make a good relation between customers and McDonalds.

Mission Statement: “McDonald’s vision is to be the world’s best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.

(http://www.samples-help.org.uk/mission-statements/mcdonalds-mission-statement.htm)

Vision Statement: To be our customer’s favorite place and way to eat.

McDonald’s Goals and Objectives:

1. McDonald’s vision is to be our customer’s favorite place and way to eat.

2. McDonalds is committed to maintaining and providing best food and fast service restaurant in market.

3. In order to deliver best and safe food, company has made so many commitments for food safety.

4. McDonalds have an objective to continual enrich and improve their menu. McDonalds time to time bring new items in its menu. This will satisfy their customers and give customers more reason to visit.

5. To be a socially answerable and responsible company.

6. To provide good earnings to its shareholders.

7. To provide its customers with food of a great standard, speedy service and importance for money.

Reference: – Shift Supervisor Workbook, Managing Shift (2006 McDonalds)

Organization Culture and Ethics

McDonald’s has a vision that includes employees and the surrounding communities. They believe that satisfied employees give best in quality customer service. McDonald’s also maintain promise to stakeholders. McDonald’s culture is to do the accurate thing for their employees, the community and the customers; this promise is as important to them as serving food. McDonalds also provide support to school and youth programs and the Ronald McDonald house provides support for the comfort of children around the world.

A program of conduct and beliefs is helpful to running any business. By encouraging this positive action allover the company they should be clear and include all people involved throughout the company. These policies should have a clear view on how to treat your customers in a respectful manner.

Community involvement

McDonalds is actively participated in New Zealand communities since 1976. Our restaurants and franchisees play vital roles in their local area, and we take responsibilities seriously to make sure we are a good neighbor and a good corporate citizen wherever we go.

Junior sport: soccer and touch rugby

McDonald’s New Zealand is a long-term sponsor of junior sport in New Zealand, joining with both junior soccer and touch rugby. Our supports help more than 150,000 Kiwi kids active playing sport each weekend.

Clean Up New Zealand Week

We want to keep New Zealand beautiful that’s why every year in September McDonalds participates in the cleanup New Zealand week.

Reference: – Systems Management, Managing People Practices & Training (2007 McDonald’s)

Management of Knowledge Resources

By way of one of the leading companies in the world and attacking every country, there is no doubt that McDonald is the leader in fast food industry. This statement has been proven for so many years and this will not happen if the company did not apply any plans with their capitals and calculating their abilities.

The strategy may come in planning in the business setting. The process of developing and maintaining the goals and abilities is reflected to its changing marketing opportunities.

Resources and Capabilities of McDonald

For the company, the strategy is worried with matching a company’s resources and capabilities to the occasions that rise in the outside environment. The growing reputation on the role of resources and capabilities as the basis for strategy may come in to two factors. First, the business where the firm belongs became unbalanced so the internal resources and capabilities of the firm are given more focus in expressing strategies. And second, the mixture of the resources and capabilities of the firm became the higher competitive advantage and profitability.

The linking between the resource and capabilities of a firm in the area of business makes a competitive advantage. It is because the capabilities and resources allow the business to create value and gain some form of benefit from the competitors. The capabilities and resources may include the point of business cycle learning of the top of management team; placement of various forecasting resources, and broadcasting of macroeconomic information as well as timely decision making relative to competitor and a supportive organizational culture that supports the firm’s management activities.

By way of concern of knowledge management, McDonald’s companies are primarily affecting the McDonald’s system. The principle of systematization of knowledge is followed by every outlet with a detailed set of rules. So, the operating practices became part of every employee and given a detailed attention from the management through the training platforms.

Reference: – Systems Management, Managing People Practices & Training (2007 McDonald’s)

Group Dynamics

Actually, Group dynamics is a combined act by two or more people, in which each person contributes with different skills and states his or her individual interests and opinions to the unity and productivity of the group in order to achieve common goals.

The most effective teamwork is produced when all the individuals involved match their contributions and work towards a common goal

There is a saying that many hands make light work. The core of this statement is that more can be achieved as a collective than individually.

There are several benefits of Group Dynamics.

1. Creativity

As we all have different skills, knowledge and personal qualities. By consuming all of these different sides in a team, more ideas can be created. As more ideas are created, more creative solutions are generated, leading to better results.

2. Satisfaction

Shortage of job satisfaction is often one of the key things highlighted in surveys of employees. Individuals working together as a team to achieve a common goal are repeatedly developing. As they relate more energy and interest is created.

When this energy is utilized, it produces results which positively effects on motivation and leads to even more success.

3. Skills

Even the best skilled individual cannot have all of the skills to do everything. Some people best at coming up with the ideas. There are others who can be counted on when it comes to applying and follow through of a plan.

The important point is that when a team works together, it has a huge range of skills available that it can utilize to deliver extraordinary results.

4. Speed

Suppose that you have a project that needs research, drawing together a plan, financing it, fulfilling it and delivering specific benefits. If one person was owed this task, it could take months and maybe years to make it happen. By splitting up the project, work can move forward in similar and the ultimate goal achieved faster.

5. Sounding board

We all have a range of options open to us. If we are trying to number out what is best, we might never move forward. In a team, other team members can act as a sounding board, allowing us to cut through the options and get on with those most likely to achieve the desired goal.

6. Support

It is wonderful the amount of friendship that is created in teams, especially when the going gets tough. People will often go to what seems like extreme lengths when they know that they can rely on the support and encouragement of the team. Never miscalculate the significance of this in achieving results.

Reference: – Systems Management, Improving Operational Efficiency (2007 McDonald’s)

Meeting Management

Board Meetings

The Board of Directors sits at least six times a year. Extra meetings are arranged as necessary. The Chairman heads all meetings of the Board of Directors. The Chairman, in discussion with the CEO, establishes an agenda for each meeting. Agendas are set so as to ensure that the Board will be able to fulfill its oversight responsibilities. Directors can at any time suggest the addition of any matters to a meeting agenda or raise for discussion at any meeting any subject that they wish. The Secretary attends all meetings of the Board and records the minutes. The Vice Chairman, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel also attend meetings of the Board.

Restaurant Meetings

The McDonald’s management team has meetings every week where they reveal over what has occurred since the last meeting and discusses any problems. “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. This shows the purpose of having the meeting and it is clear McDonald follow this theory. The minutes and agendas are recorded for each meeting and if any managers are absent, they are kept up to date by the Store Manager who also distributes summaries of the meetings to everyone via email.

An example: as a short term goal on the Christmas holidays , all staff has been sent memo’s and have been emailed on the importance of this weeks. The activities and expectations they are holding are made clear for them to set the example. If the communication had not been made clear to all staff from the beginning the communication would not have had an overall staff contribution to the expected success of the promotion.

STAKEHOLDERS

Each business has stakeholders – individuals, organizations or groups that have an interest in the organization and how it operates. Successful companies take into account the needs and supplies of their stakeholders.

Most of the Companies commonly accept if their sales are good, then their brand and reputation must be strong. But they don’t have a clear understanding of the ethics that drive brand and reputation and actually stand long-term profitability and growth. This leaves companies helpless to dangerous reaction between corporate values, and those of their stakeholders: customers, employees, shareholders, media, government, and community. Even well-known and successful brands and reputations have suffered from this criticism. Every stakeholder applies their personal and professional values to judge the performance of a company.

Stakeholders for McDonald’s NZ are:

• Customers

• Franchise holders

• Employees

• Supplier

• Community groups

• Shareholders.

Reference: – Systems Management, Managing Inventory (2007 McDonald’s)

Networks

McDonalds IT Limited can provide the following services:

* Audits

* Reviews

* Implementation

* Consultancy

* Design

Messaging / Communications

Email and instant messaging allows your business to keep in touch with the companies without them you cannot survive. Electronic communications have become an essential part of everyday life whether at work or at home. McDonalds IT supports by enabling cooperative messaging solutions that allows you to send and receive electronic collaborative communications, throughout your computer network and to other customers via the internet.

By Microsoft’s latest email offering, Exchange 2010, McDonalds IT provides the necessary elasticity for secure contact from any user, allowing teams to collaborate and communicate more effectively, regardless of location.

McDonalds IT also focuses in email migrations from other email platforms, including Lotus Notes, Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, 2003 and Exchange 2007. We have designed and applied one of New Zealand’s few Unified Messaging solutions.

Remote Access Solutions

1. Microsoft ISA and TMG

McDonalds IT has applied both ISA 2006 and TMG to our customers. We can modify these products to your requirements, be they web proxy, VPN or email protection. TMG can be scaled up to a Network Load Balanced configuration for an Enterprise client.

2. Microsoft Direct Access

By the application of Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 and IP v6, McDonalds IT can leverage Microsoft’s User Access Gateway (UAG). This method removes the difficulty that normal VPN’s have. It allows continuous access to the corporate LAN regardless of location.

Standout Features

File sharing supports public and shared folders with permissions

Free Drop box iPhone/ iPod Touch app available

Can sync across multiple computers

Syncs Windows, Mac and Linux computer

Unlimited undo available

Reference: – Systems Management, Transition to Systems management (2007 McDonald’s)

Conclusion

According to the findings, we came up with the conclusion that due to the different background and culture of the stay members and managers, language becomes a barrier as far as communication is concerned. Because most employees are from different culture and they are new in this work might hesitate to talk to the manager about their problems. In the meetings, employees are always asked by the managers are they satisfied with their jobs and with the environment of Mc Donald’s, which will ultimately motivate them to satisfy the needs of their customers as well. Indian and Chinese staff member hesitates a lot because English is not there first language.

We find that the level of satisfaction depends on the quality of service a customer receives. In this restaurant, both men and women deal with the customers because they are trained well before they join the staff. While dealing with different customers of different background they have to communicate accurately to satisfy the customer’s needs. In this family restaurant every staff member communicates well with the customers to fulfill the customer’s needs. They speak well in English.

Reference’s

http://mcdonalds.co.nz/about-us/organisation

SSC (Shift Supervisor Course) Handbook

Shift Supervisor Workbook, Managing Shift (2006 McDonalds)

Systems Management, Managing People Practices & Training (2007 McDonald’s)

Systems Management, Managing People Practices & Training (2007 McDonald’s)

Systems Management, Improving Operational Efficiency (2007 McDonald’s)

Systems Management, Managing Inventory (2007 McDonald’s)

Systems Management, Transition to Systems management (2007 McDonald’s)