McDonald's Leadership - Essay Example

? INTRODUCTION Management is a key function and for a firm to be able to prosper and move forward successfully it is important for the organization to have an effective management system so that they are able to utilize their resources in an efficient and effective manner. A proper management recognizes the needs of the external market and then mobilizes the existing resources, and acquires the newer resources so that they can help and facilitate the organization in gaining their objectives. It is the duty of the organization to make sure that they are well equipped resources wise and as well as in the form of manpower. It is the duty of the management to make sure that they hire the right kind of people for the organization. In today’s business the role of management is very crucial. They have to hire right, organize efficiently and effectively and make sure all the business units are working as they are supposed to. In this case, Mc Donald’s at earlier was actually focusing on the growth of the number of franchises that it had. They were focused on growth but in a totally different sense. This problem was later identified by the management and the decided to deal with it by focusing more the collection of higher revenues from each of the existing branches. The entire shift in focus was a better idea as it helped increase revenues for the fast food chain. DISCUSSION There are many functions of the management. The main four functions of management are planning, organizing, controlling and leading. It is the duty of the management to plan keeping in mind the budget that they have and the resources available. In case of Mc Donald’s, the earlier flaw was where they thought that they can make billions by just opening shop after shop.hey had failed to realize that by just opening shops they will never be able to generate revenue. This caused a serious increase in their expenses as their fixed costs increased while there was no significant increase in the revenue in fact the branches that were earlier giving profits also started turning out losses as the customers who were coming there become dispersed. If there would have been some proper planning they would have analyzed the areas and then franchised or opened up a shop so that the customers would increase in number instead of being dispersed (Aaker, David, 1991). Then, what is most amazing about Mc Donald’s is the cost control that they have, despite the world facing a lot of economic crunch the prices of Mc Donald’s have had no escalation, instead they are still offering the same value meal with the same service and quality. The central function of an organization’s marketing department is to anticipate consumer’s expectations about the company’s products and the best way to deliver these organizational promises. Consumer behavior encapsulates all facets of purchase, use and disposal of the product/service produced by the organization. The core element of the study of consumer behavior is the fact that the buying activities are dependent on the consumer’s personality. High risk takers indulge in the buying of new and risky product/technology which has not yet been established in the market. Further, consumer buying patterns change with the lifecycle of the consumer, because the consumer itself undergoes personality changes. The control and the leading quality of the management is visible from the way that they had anticipated the fact that it’s the ethnic groups that are basically introducing newer trends in the markets. The new product range that they had introduced also showed the keenness that they had in attracting newer customers and the tactics that they used to retain the older existing customers. The introduction of the newer product range and making Mc Donald’s “an any time walk in restaurant” has totally changed their positioning in the market, since they are catering to much more diverse market than ever before. Delving into the psychology of buying behavior, we find that a person’s attitudes, beliefs, values, motivation and perception, which are the determinants of personality, determine buying decisions. These constructs are defined in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Freud theory and other psychological theories. For example, perception is an important determinant of purchase decision, because a consumer’s overall mood determines feeling of good will towards the product (McNamara, 2007). The way they established the cafes and revamped the play area showed that they were bent on remaining the market leaders and not losing their touch in the daily life of general public. Also, through the case study it was visible that the increase in the turnover had the sole reason that there were young employees who were hired and most of them were working part time. The part timers are usually in the habit of switching jobs and usually the only reason for their switching is that they get better wages at some other place. These people are not concerned about the culture of the organization, the vision that the management has designed for the organization and the strategy that they have (Tapomoy, 2006). CONCLUSION Mc Donald’s, is one organization that has been serving for decades and will continue to serve as it has the right vision and mission that has been designed and which is as well as followed by the employees working there. They have a loyal employee base that dedicated workers and are also involved in the decision are making process actively. The employees are concerned and give their valuable input. The management also has a very clear vision in mind which has helped them look forward to the brighter future as an efficient management of the resources, be it financial, workforce or the physical location will enable the organization to function in an effective way and make them generate profits. The top management has clear view of the vision and that why they are able to lead their workforce in the right direction and at the same time be able to help them move forward and adapt to newer happenings in the business world. REFERENCES Tapomoy Deb (2006). Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management . 2nd Edition. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. Aaker , A. (2004). Brand portfolio strategy: creating relevance, differentiation, energy leverage and clarity. Washington: Simon and Schuster press. Aaker, H. & David, A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity, New York: Free Press. McNamara, C. (2007). Growing your business. Authenticity Consulting, LLC. 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