Points: 175 Assignment 2: Professional Development Program Proposal Criteria Unacceptable Below 70% F Fair 70-79% C Proficient 80-89% B Exemplary 90-100% A 1. EI and Motivation The description does not address how motivation and reinforcement would be used to influence members of the organization to resolve the issue. Examples are not provided. Partially describes how motivation and reinforcement would be used to influence members of the organization to resolve the issue. Makes loose connections between theory and solution. Examples do not fully support solution. Satisfactorily describes how motivation and reinforcement would be used to influence members of the organization to resolve the issue. Makes logical connections between theory and solution. Examples support solution. Fully describes how motivation and reinforcement would be used to influence members of the organization to resolve the issue. Draws compelling, logical connections between theory and solution. Examples are strong and support solution. The description does not explain how the core concepts of emotional intelligence would enhance the social skills and the decision-making efficacy of the management team. Partially explains how core concepts of emotional intelligence would enhance the social skills and the decision-making efficacy of the management team. Loose connections are made to support the relationship between EI and management’s skills. Application of research is minimal. Satisfactorily explains how core concepts of emotional intelligence would enhance the social skills and the decision-making efficacy of the management team. Logical connections are made that are supported by source material. Completely explains how core concepts of emotional intelligence would enhance the social skills and the decisionmaking efficacy of the management team. Strong and logical connections are made that are directly supported by source material. Does not describe the core attributes of an effective team or strategies to develop team dynamics. Benefits to organization are not presented. Partially describes the core attributes of an effective team. Strategies to develop team dynamics lack details and source support or are not fully articulated. Benefits to the organization are unclear. Satisfactorily describes the core attributes of an effective team. Strategies to develop team dynamics are articulated. Benefits to the organization are stated. Additional details and source support would improve the description. Completely describes the core attributes of an effective team. Strategies to develop team dynamics are strongly articulated and detailed. Benefits to the organization are logical and well supported. Weight: 20% 2. EI and Social Skills and Decision Making Weight: 20% 3. Effective Teams Weight: 20% 4. Reward Systems Weight: 20% 5. Executive Summary Did not create an effective reward system or determine strategies to motivate employees to influence behavior. Partially creates an effective reward system and articulates some motivational strategies. Supporting details are given but could be expanded to describe how behavior would be influenced. Application of research is minimal. Creates an effective reward system and provides motivational strategies. Details and source material support how behavior would be influenced. Creates an effective reward system and articulates well-thoughtout strategies to motivate employees to influence behavior. The connection between strategy and influence is strong and supported by source material. Did not prepare a onepage executive summary. Prepares a partial executive summary. The issue and problem are not clearly stated and the main points are not summarized. Paragraphs are not short or concise. Language could be more appropriate for the audience. Satisfactorily prepares an executive summary. The issue and problem are stated and most of the main points are summarized. Paragraphs could be more concise. Language is appropriate for the audience. Prepares an exemplary executive summary. The issue and problem are clearly stated. All of the main points are summarized. Paragraphs are short and concise, providing the right amount of detail. Language is ideal for the audience. Writing does not meet minimum standards. Tone is not professional. Communication is wholly lacking in logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting. Contains many spelling, mechanical, formatting, citation, and/or grammatical errors. Writing is satisfactory. Professional tone is developing. Shows moderate logic, clarity, and/or consistent formatting. May contain more than a few spelling, grammar, mechanical, formatting, or citation errors. Writing could be improved, but meets acceptable standards. Tone is professional. Shows logic, clarity, and consistent formatting. May contain few or no spelling, mechanical, and/or grammatical errors. There may be minor formatting or citation errors. Writing is excellent. Tone is professional and sophisticated. Shows logic, clarity, and consistent formatting. Contains no spelling, mechanical, or grammatical errors. Is free of formatting and citation errors. Weight: 10% 6. Write Professionally Using Quality Resources Weight: 10% References are not provided. Does not meet the required number of references; some or all references are of poor quality. Meets the number of required references; all references are highquality choices. Exceeds number of required references; all references are highquality choices. Running head: MCDONALDS CORPORATE Task Force Committee Report: McDonalds Corporation BUS 520 Leadership and Organizational Farrakhan Saunders Strayer University October 21, 2018 1 MCDONALDS CORPORATE Executive Summary First established in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California and rebranded into a nation-wide franchise by Ray Kroc in 1955, McDonald's represents one of the oldest and most successful fast food franchise models in U.S. and global business. Despite growing competition and key changes related to consumer food consumption trends both globally and in the U.S., McDonald’s remains as one of the fast food industry sector’s predominant leaders. At the same time, however, the firm is experiencing three primary challenges that interrelate to the issue of change. First, the company faces the pressures generated by altering macro-level market conditions, including evolving habits in terms of consumer eating habits and food preferences. Secondly, the company also faces key forms of resistance generated by its attempts to implement change. Specifically, the firm faces an increase in the area of employee turnover as a direct result of its newly implemented consumer options, such as food delivery and its online-based food ordering app available for smartphone users. Finally, the firm also faces key challenges if it does not enact the necessary forms of transformation. As this report will contend, the firm`s problems interrelate to its intrinsic corporate cultural features. Its iconic forms of brand imaging, for example, tend to immediately signify the firm`s presence in the mind of the average consumer even as these same variables increasingly exemplify the idea of unhealthy eating habits. Its intrinsic operational systems also tend to generate the types of change barriers that the firm is currently existing. Finally, its unique organizational model might also delimit its capacity for widespread changes. This report recommends that the firm should still initiate the necessary types of transformation that will help it adapt to key market changes. MCDONALDS CORPORATE However, it also identifies the need for incorporating employee and franchise owner insights into future changes. Finally, it also recommends that McDonalds adopt a slow growth change strategy to mitigate against the types of resistance it is now experiencing. Organizational Overview First established in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California and rebranded into a nation-wide franchise by Ray Kroc in 1955, McDonalds represents one of the oldest and most successful fast food franchise models in U.S. and global business. Despite growing competition and key changes related to consumer food consumption trends both globally and in the U.S., McDonalds remains as one of the fast food industry sector’s predominant leaders. A report from the research organization Statista (2018), McDonalds aggregate revenue for 2017 is estimated at $22.8 billion in U.S. dollars even as its domestic, U.S.-based revenue for the same period can be estimated at $8 billion. The firm`s strategy of relying upon an assembly line approach to quick food preparation and that of relying upon marketing saturation approaches to brand positioning, represent vital strategies that help promote brand awareness among an increasingly diverse consumer population (Greenspan, 2018). At the same time, softer core variables such as the company`s history, its entrenched presence within the fast food sector, and its growing popularity in new markets represent key variables that might account for projected future growth. Despite this success, however, the firm faces a number of key issues and related problems. Among these include the challenges related to external market changes, the challenges deriving from leadership`s attempts at innovation, and the threats stemming from the company`s refusal to make key changes. In terms of the first area of concern, important changes in the external marketplace potentially create diverse issues for McDonald's as a corporation. In the MCDONALDS CORPORATE author`s SWOT assessment of the firm, Dalavagas (2015) noted that changes in consumer eating habits including the desire for healthier options potentially represents a major challenge for McDonalds` underlining business model. The drive for healthier food options, in brief, might also result in a diminished desire for McDonalds` primary service offerings of fast food hamburgers, French fries, and related items. Secondly, concerted attempts at changing its business model on the basis of its product offerings and its service modalities, also tend to present problems of a different type. Specifically, the company`s attempt to offer new products, to provide an online ordering portal and delivery option for its consumers, has also led to a substantial increase in terms of employee turnover (Matyszczyk, 2018). While this represents a concern, it also belies the risk of the firm not implementing key changes. As Greenspan (2018) noted, a combination of external/environmental and internal/operational issues collectively identify the firm`s need for making key and strategic-level decisions. Collectively, these issues account for the following paradox. McDonalds` faces the key strategic dilemma of needing to change, while potentially being negatively impacted by the changes that it implements. The key problem that this analysis will assess, then, relates to the ways in which the firm might continue to introduce important and strategic changes while also reducing the impact that derives from these efforts. McDonald's: Corporate Culture The tasks of analyzing corporate-level problems and of identifying their potential root causes often require a broader-level perspective: one that conceptualizes an organization in the context of both its external environment and its internal operations. As Bitsani (2013) noted, a systems-based perspective often enables analysts to explore the relationship between an organization and its associative problems from this broader perspective. Systems theory posits in MCDONALDS CORPORATE brief, that organizations are complexly associated with their external environments and with other organizations, and that macro-level changes often result in corporate level pressures that are experienced at the micro/organizational level. A systems-based analysis of McDonald's as a corporation reveals that the firm`s internal and corporate cultural variables create key problems that are also exacerbated by specific macro-level trends and developments. We can define the company`s organizational culture according to the following observations. As Walker and Bonnot (2016) noted, corporate bodies typically express their unique cultural variables in three main ways. First, firms adhere to specific patterns of organization and operation that directly and indirectly identifies its key values and priorities. Examples might include the ground rules set in place both for management and employees. Secondly, the specific systems of management and operation in place for the company`s day-today and strategic level procedures can be viewed as a major cultural component. Walker and Bonnot (2016) defined this variable as relating to a firm`s decision making and problem-solving dimensions. Finally, the system`s key rituals, features, and unique cultural artifacts can be viewed as an external representation of its cultural dimensions. McDonalds` corporate culture can be viewed from these same paradigms. At the level of its internal operation, the firm relies upon its unique business model and operational components. Key examples include its reliance on franchising as a major corporate feature, its notable assembly line approach to food preparation, its unique distribution and chain management features, as well as its approach to employee training and manager corporate training initiatives (Greenspan, 2018). Its decision-making processes, similarly, rely upon its unique corporate structures, primarily the relationship established between its central corporate leadership and its satellite franchise affiliates. Essential key artifacts include its uniforms required for managers MCDONALDS CORPORATE and employees, the firm`s reliance upon the same basic architecture throughout its U.S. and globally located stores, and its iconic golden arches placed in front of its locations. Collectively, the firm relies upon these varied cultural features to achieve its primary goals, as these are stated in its corporate mission statement. Jurevicius (2013) noted that this mission statement relates to its goal of becoming its customers` preferred restaurant for their consumption needs, while also serving families and communities through its convenient service and reasonable prices. This mission statement, in brief, identifies the firm`s vision for interlinking its internal capabilities and primary strengths alongside the service provisions it offers to its consumers: both domestically and globally. McDonalds Organizational Culture and Problems: Current and Emerging Weaknesses As previously noted, McDonalds` central problems can be attributed to the variable of change: the firm`s need for change as a result of altering external market variables, its past attempts at achieving strategic forms of transition from past and future modes of operation, and the risk factors deriving from the firm`s decision not to engage in needed forms of transformation. Viewing these considerations from the standpoint of the company`s organization requires a distilled account of its most crucial corporate cultural variables. Key examples in this context include the operational model, its structural approach to management and problemsolving, as well as the variables connected to its brand image. While these factors contribute to many of the company`s core strengths, they also tend to result in some of the problems previously described. The first issue in this respect relates to the paradox generated by McDonalds` established/entrenched brand image on the one hand, and the trend towards changes in consumer eating habits and preferences. At one level, McDonalds` established image as an iconic food MCDONALDS CORPORATE service change provides it with key advantages, including its ability to attract new investor and franchise in unpenetrated markets (Dalavagas, 2015). The obverse of consumer brand recognition, however, also includes popular associations between McDonald's and unhealthy food: an image the firm continues to struggle with, despite its notable efforts in providing its customers with new healthy menu items (Dalavagas, 2015). Secondly, the firm`s operational structure also provides a mixed set of benefits and challenges. This feature enabled the firm to quickly become the predominant leader in fast food. Conversely, it also has resulted in resistance to its attempts to add new features, such as delivery options and app-based online ordering services for its core consumer base (Matyszczyk, 2018). Notably, the majority of resistance against the firm`s attempts at change derive from its employees many of whom view these changes as representing a departure from the firm`s typical operations and processes. Finally, the firm faces a situation in which it will be required to make crucial strategic changes to accommodate key, external market variables. In this context, the firm`s traditional reliance upon its organizational hierarchy and structure might represent a determent in that franchised owners might also exhibit reluctance to these transformations (Dalavagas, 2015). Recommendations Based on the proceeding observations, we can make the following key recommendations. First, the firm needs to proceed with the plan for implementing changes, both in terms of increasing its available menu items and in terms of incorporating new modalities of service provision for its consumer base. However, continuing difficulties in terms of its employee’s resistance to identified changes and to potential forms of similar discontent on the part of franchise owners also identifies the need for the company to better integrate its stakeholders into its change processes. This might include ensuring employees that the adoption of technologies MCDONALDS CORPORATE will not result in the loss of service jobs, as well as the strategy of inviting stakeholder recommendations into future forms of planning. Finally, the firm may also need to take a more gradual approach to organizational change as a way of mitigating against continuing resistance. MCDONALDS CORPORATE References Bitsani, E. (2013). Theoretical approaches to the organizational culture and the organizational climate: Exploratory research examples and best policies in health care services. Journal of Human Resource Management, 1(4), 48-58. Dalavagas, I. (2015). McDonald`s corp.: A short SWOT analysis. Value line. Retrieved from: http://www.valueline.com/Stocks/Highlights/McDonalds_Corp___A_Short_SWOT_Anal ysis.aspx#.W8IrwvlKjIU. Jurevicius, O. (2013). Mission statement of McDonalds. Strategic Management Insights. Retrieved from: https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/missionstatements/mcdonalds-mission-statement.html. Matyszczyk, C. (2018). McDonalds` has a massive new problem that could ruin everything the company is trying to do. Inc. Retrieved from: https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/mission-statements/mcdonalds-missionstatement.html. Greenspan, R. (2018). McDonalds PESTEL analysis and recommendations. New York: Panmore Institute. Statista. (2018). McDonalds: Statistics and facts. New York: Statista. Walker, B. & Bonnot, M. (2016). Understanding organizational climate and culture. APOJ, 16(29), 1-10.
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