Management Theory and Practice - Case Study Example

Topic: Management theory and Practice Name: Student ID: Institution: Tutor Name: Due date: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 3 2. Case Study Analysis 4 3. Various Methods of making the product Unique based on the theory of Company Culture 5 3.1. Organizational Culture of Training and Education 6 3.2. Company Culture of Innovation 7 3.3. Company Culture of ensuring Quality Service 8 3.4. Company Culture of Embracing Communication 9 4. Conclusion 9 5. Recommendations 10 6. References 11 1. Introduction Some of the best ways in which fast foods restaurants are managed is to take into account every little detail that ensures customers are satisfied. This is because quality management of fast foods restaurants requires that every detail is accounted for in terms of offering big-plate of high quality cookies and in addition to high quality cookies (Wood & Brotherton, 2008). This paper shows that a simple tortilla is important in ensuring the success of McDonalds. It involves application of a number of management theories to manage production of the product to ensure maximum profitability is obtained from selling the product. The theories used in this paper are both traditional management theories and best practices based on industry-specific experiences. For instance, employee productivity and improving quality through branding are regarded factors that contribute to the best practices in production of fast foods restaurants industry output. By applying these theories, a number of advantages are likely to be experienced by customers who purchase the product (Schlosser, 2001). These include speedy operations, meeting customer demands and delivery of products to customers at the recommended time and location. This paper shows how McDonalds can benefit from managing production of McWrap, a new product that has been introduced into the company. The main areas of management to ensure high profitability from the product include changing activities of managers, employees and other stakeholders in the fast foods restaurants industry. 2. Case Study Analysis McDonald’s McWrap was introduced in April 1 following a premiere equal to a summer blockbuster (Gerbe, 2007). The product is a white-flour tortilla that measures 10 inches and is wrapped around pieces of chicken, lettuce, spring greens, sliced cucumber and tomatoes. Other additives in the product include cheddar cheese, sweet chili and creamy garlic dressing. The product has been considered simple to make even at home without the need to use a recipe (Saee, 2006). However, at McDonald, the company engaged in an extensive research that took at least two years to perfect the product (Hinkin, 2005). It is believed that despite being simple to produce, McWrap provides an important addition to the products produced by McDonalds in the recent years. Customers have been attracted to the product and it has been equally competitive in terms of sales contribution as other products produced by the company such as Five Guys, Chipotle and Subway (Pride & Ferrell, 2012). It is believed that by designing the right management approach for production operations of the product, it can contribute significantly towards the profitability of the company. In March before the introduction of the McWrap, the company has been making significant effort to attract customers between the ages of 18 and 32 years because it did not feature even among the top 10 favorite restaurants in the world (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2011). The product has been regarded as having the potential to increase the overall sales at McDonalds restaurants compared with other products due to a number of advantages associated with it in comparison with other products of the company. For instance, it is a product that is composed of a number of components that provides a variety of nutritional needs within a single product. For instance; the wrap has an outer section that provides carbohydrates while vegetables wrapped inside the product provide vitamins to customers (Edelstein, 2007). This is unlike other products that mostly provide single nutritional needs. In addition, the product does not result into a lot of waste materials that cause unhygienic conditions when it has been used. This is because all its components are eaten and the restaurants are less likely to become unhygienic. Many participants have contributed to the production of the McWrap. They include director of menu and restaurant managers as well as its inventor, Dan Coudreaut (Brown, 2001). He is a 47 year-old graduate from Culinary Institute of America who managed the Four Seasons Resort branch of the company but became a member of McDonalds in 2004. He intends to change people’s perception regarding the effectiveness of McDonald’s food products by ensuring more focus is put on creation of convenience, speed and value. In addition, they want to ensure changes in customer tastes are considered to enable people think differently. This cases study shows the process of managing the production of McWrap, a product that has been introduced into the company to enhance its production, servicing and consumption. 3. Various Methods of making the product Unique based on the theory of Company Culture Organizational culture can play a significant role in ensuring a successful hospitality management. This can be achieved by applying a number of organizational best practices such as the use of the training and education, innovation, mentoring, quality and embracing communication (Prideaux, Moscardo, Laws & Ebooks Corporation, 2006). These ensure employees are encouraged to be creative, focused on activities of the company and committed. Customer servants at the company need to be trained to use the right communication methods when interacting with customers to attract them to buy the product. They should also be coached on the recommended methods of serving and quantity of McWrap that should be produced to ensure customers do not lack the product due to high demand (Pride & Ferrell, 2012). In addition, the company needs to maintain a culture of cleanliness in provision of fast foods such as McWrap to ensure lower sales do not result from the perception that fast foods are considered as unhealthy. The following are ways in which the theory of Company Culture can be used to improve the production of McWrap in the company and contribute to the overall profitability of the company. 3.1. Organizational Culture of Training and Education Employees in the company need to be trained in the areas of critical thinking, problem solving and strategic planning and leadership skills. They should be provided with training on methods of production of the product and the methods of presenting the product to customers in a manner that is pleasing to customers (Wood & Brotherton, 2008). In addition, training should be provided on methods of dealing with customer complaints and customer relations so that customers do not feel disappointed when they purchase the products from the company. Employees in the company can also be trained on methods of marketing the product, being accountable for their activities in the company and the use of latest technology to manage the sales of the product. For instance, they can be trained on the use of electronic methods of ticketing to manage the sales of McWrap. This ensures fast service and the ability of the company to serve large number of customers (Teare & Boer, 1992). It also ensures less effort is put in providing services to customers while the quality of services provided result into customer satisfaction. Furthermore, training should be provided on planning skills for the activities in the company. This can be achieved by educating the employees on the procedures followed from the beginning of production of McWrap until it is served to customers. The planning skills ensure time wasted between processes is reduced because employees know what to do in each stage of production of the product and plan for the tasks well. 3.2. Company Culture of Innovation Innovation refers to the process where improvements will be made in various activities performed in the company with the focus on improving customer satisfaction and the overall profitability and competence of the product. McDonalds can perform innovation in production of McWrap in a number of ways. For instance, processes will be improved to ensure maximum utilization of available raw materials and ensure costs of production are reduced. In addition, the production of the product will also be improved by incorporating customer requirements such as pleasing tastes and quality (Schlosser, 2001). This will ensure the product is appealing to customers and more customers are attracted to buy it from the company. In addition, innovation in product development can be improved by incorporating additional additives involved in production of McWrap or improving the quality of the current additives used during its production. The facilities involved in production of the product can also be improved in terms of physical design and operational design to ensure fast and efficient production of McWrap and the overall reduced labor in production (Saee, 2006). This will ensure employees are able to use the facilities with little labor expenditure and efficiency of equipment used in production of McWrap is increased. Marketing of McWrap can also be improved by promoting the sales of the product in areas that have not been reached by marketing team. The product can then be introduced to these areas and customers convinced to buy the products. Innovations can also be achieved by designing the right pricing system based on the quality and size of the products. For instance, fair pricing should be provided to ensure customers are not overcharged for the products. This will ensure customer loyalty and competence of the product in the restaurant industry. 3.3. Company Culture of ensuring Quality Service Quality refers to the process of providing customers with consistent products and ensuring the product is produced according to standards. It will be necessary for McDonalds to ensure the quality of McWrap is improved to ensure its competitive advantage over other companies that produce similar products. A number of tools can be used to ensure quality of the product when produced such as creation of comfortable room environment, friendliness to customers and providing customers with tasty food (Pride & Ferrell, 2012). In order to ensure guests are satisfied in the future, methods of ensuring their retention and convincing by word of mouth should be applied in convincing them to buy the products. Quality can also be improved by continuous quality improvement of the current designs in production, employment of qualified staffs, training and empowerment of employee who are oriented towards provision of quality service in production and serving customers with McWrap (Okumus, Altinay & Chathoth, 2010). The company can also benchmark on the strategies of quality improvement used in other companies and apply them in production of McWrap. Quality service to customers can be achieved by listening to customer complaints and improving on these complaints, determination of areas where great service is needed and rewarding employees who provide quality service to customers and discussing good service elements with employees at a particular interval such as on weekly basis (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2011). It also involves showing respect to all staffs and customers and leading by example. 3.4. Company Culture of Embracing Communication Communication will be vital in coordination of activities within the company during production and sales of McWrap. For instance, it will be necessary to ensure employees in the company communicate effectively with colleagues and customers as well as supervisors. In addition, it will be necessary to ensure documentation if done for activities involved in the production of the product and customers are trained to follow instructions from supervisors (Mullins & Dossor, 2013). Furthermore, employees in the company need to communicate with the management regarding any issues emerging in production department such as whether they are running out of certain items on the menu so that the management can act appropriately to the condition. A number of gadgets can be used to enhance communication between the kitchen staffs and the serving staffs such as the hand-held PDA system or an all-round management system that includes inventory and online ordering for products to be delivered to customers (Moutinho & Chien, 2007). Employees in the company also need to maintain good morals and a positive attitude towards their work in the company. 4. Conclusion This paper shows that there are a number of conditions that must exist at McDonalds to ensure the process of marketing the new product, McWrap is successful. These include proper management during the stages of preparation of the product itself, its assembly and its presentation to customers. In addition, the design of the serving areas needs to be encouraging to most customers in terms of preventability and neatness. Furthermore, customer service attendants need to focus on cooperating and communicating with each other during production of the product and its serving processes. This ensures customers leave the restaurant with pleasant experience and attracts more customers. Generally, this paper shows that the new tortilla has the potential to bring uniqueness and competitiveness of McDonalds in the restaurants industry in a number of ways. When the suggested management methods are applied, there is the possibility that the product can result into high sales and overall profitability of the company. 5. Recommendations McWrap is a product that can be made unique to McDonalds if the company applies a number of recommendations that ensures its uniqueness. For instance, employees in the company need to maintain the actual uniqueness of the product by including all the components that makes it unique such as chicken pieces, spring greens, sliced cucumbers, sweet chili and garlic dressing. The size of the product should be small enough to be held by consumers during consumption (Hinkin, 2005). There should also be a white floor covering that provides support to the contents of the product. In addition, the management of the company needs to apply a number of management theories to facilitate management of production of McWrap at the McDonalds. These include application of Company Culture theories in managing activities at the company among managers, workers and staffs at the restaurants. There are various forms of company culture that should be applied in managing operation at the company to ensure its competitiveness in the hospitality industry. For instance, it is recommended that the culture of innovation is applied by constantly improving the design of McWrap to ensure its competitiveness in the hotel industry (McDonald & Keegan, 2002). Another form of company culture that can be beneficial to the company during production of McWrap is the culture of communication. In order to apply this culture, the company employees and management need to communicate regarding any difficulties that arise during activities at the company. In addition, communication with customers should be enhanced by listening to their demands and requests and acting on their complaints. When McDonalds applies these theories in managing the production and sales of McWrap, it will be possible to remain competitive in the hospitality industry and improve in its sales of the product. 6. References Baker, M. J., & Saren, M. (2010). Marketing theory: A student text. Los Angeles: SAGE. Brown, S. (2001). Marketing: The retro revolution. London [u.a.: SAGE. 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