Business culture at McDonalds

1. A PROCESS CULTURE

2. Assessment of the Culture Strong corporate culture. Strong sense of organization history. They are proud of their single store, humble beginning. Supports global youth employment. Supports pro-social initiatives like the Ronald McDonald Foundation. In a highly competitive field, which is beginning to be more regulated than in the past. eg. In New York state food must be cooked without trans fats. Staffing: Prefers to retain employees and tries to offer promotion opportunities. Jim Skinner the companies CEO began working as a crew member, “20 of its top 50 managers began work as regular crew members”. (McDonalds website) Hamburger University trains all managers in the corporate culture of the restaurant. “McDonalds is currently the only restaurant organization to be recognized by the American Council on Education, (ACE)”. (McDonalds website) McDonalds wants to invest in their leaders, this is called entry socialization. Management and decision-making is very CENTRALIZED. Lower levels are rarely asked to make input or ideas.

4. Identifying Culture: Individual Autonomy: LOW Employees at McDonalds are not responsible and independent to exercise initiative. There are very particular procedures, which are decided by the board and CEO and are expected to be implemented by the lower levels-no questions asked. It is a very centralized scope of authority. Structure:HIGHEvery procedure has very specific rules and regulations of how it should be carried out. Support: MEDIUMMcDonalds tries to offer a great deal of support to its employees. Yet it does not seem as though they offer health benefits for their employees? Identification:NOT SURE ABOUT THIS ONE, NEED PEOPLE’S INPUT. Performance-reward:HIGHYes, promotion, salary increase. Conflict tolerance:LOWAdherence to the work groups is a must, individuality is not encouraged and differences are not discussed. Risk tolerance:LOWThe degree to which employees are encouraged to be aggressive, innovative and risk-seeking. McDonalds does not take risks. It still offers the same menu as when the chain opened. The only time McDonalds changes is when it is forced to make a change due to regulation or public scrutiny.

5. Evaluation: PROCESS CULTURE: Employees must focus on a how things are done. Stick to strict procedures. Those who thrive here are orderly and punctual. Authority-Obedience Management: human elements interfere to a minimum degree. Centralized Scope of Authority: All decisions are made by Upper-Level Management, and crew members and lower-level just follow procedure. Horizontal Division of Labor: Each worker’s task is specialized. More conformity in the final product.

6. 2. How culture can change: Vertical decision making to facilitate the flow of communication within the organization. Alleviation job boredom and humiliation of the employees, because they now more important to the running of their store. . McDonalds needs to become more decentralized: More local suppliers and farmers would mean more accountability to local communities. Lower level managers given more responsibility to make decisions that effects their own branch. Crew members made to feel like a vital part of the innovation of the company. Pilot programs to test new products and services. Move towards a more open – Work-hard/Play-hard culture: More employee participation and satisfaction through more involvement and limited risk-taking. More delegation of responsibility to subordinates. Rotate employees job-tasks so they are trained in a variety of skills including finance and accounting. Take on more risks: change the menu to make it more healthy. Better community relations. Each restaurant is given more freedom to adapt and identify with their local community. i.e. what food to carry, what promotions to offer, community organizations to donate too. Incorporate local healthy and seasonal foods.

7. How the culture can change continued…? Publicly announce a change in menu- become a healthiest fast food supplier on the globe. Go completely organic as to not be usurped by more healthy food chains like Subway and Chipotle. Many good PR opportunities here. Not be associated with corporate greed and globalization. Stop attracting negative attention. No chemicals. No hormones. No cruelty to animals. Care about their customers well-being. If you are going to offer “healthy alternatives” for children, make them healthy not full of sodium, colors and preservatives. Offer a vegetarian and vegan option. In essence: BeMore Accountable.

8. 3. Why change must occur? McDonalds has very strong values that do not fit in to a changing environment. The industry is very competitive and moves at lightning speed. They are already being surpassed by Subway in America because they offer cheaper and more healthy options. McDonalds has been forced to shut restaurants in areas where the locals are more healthy conscious. This is only likely to increase.

9. Globalization: If the McDonalds store is going to appear on every corner and on the side of every highway, they need to at least make them more attractive. Keep the color scheme that they are famous for. Start a world-wide competition for designs with an emphasis on green designs. Ask employees to design more attractive uniforms, this will make the employees feel like they have a say and they will wear the brand with pride if they good.

10. Practice responsible business to avoid bad publicity:

11. How change can be implemented? Lead by example. Reduce bad publicity by: Focusing on sustainability and green initiatives. Trying to find ways to reduce factory farming and buy more locally. Improving local agriculture, which will give the local farmers more jobs. Reducing hormones and chemicals in their food. Stop marketing unhealthy products to children. Encourage more input and ideas from lower level management, eg. ask each crew member to come up with ways they can make a difference in their own store. Be more responsible about the input they have in the world they live. Ronald McDonald organization is a start but what about a deforestation initiative, or cruelty to animals.