McDonald Manager Interview - Essay Example

McDonald’s is one of the world’s largest fast food outlets. It was founded in 1940 by Maurice and Richard McDonald in California. However, the McDonald Corporation was founded in 1955 by Ray Kroc in Illinois. McDonald’s has approximately 32,000 outlets across the world. Among them, 19,000 are operated and managed by conventional franchises, 26, 000 are franchises, 4,000 are operated by the company itself, and 3,000 are operated by development licensees. Since its inception, McDonald’s has grown from a family burger joint to a global behemoth. The headquarters of this global enterprise is in Oak Brook, Illinois in the United States. The fast food restaurant offers a wide range of products to the consumers. Among them are French fries, hamburgers, coffee, milkshakes, chicken and soft drinks.

The corporation has also come up with several innovative products with the aim of customizing services for their clientele in the various localities. For example, you would find a Croque McDo in France, Teriyaki burger in Japan and Maharaja Mac in India. The menus vary depending on the location. In India, there is no beef on the menus; their burgers are predominantly made from rice, beans, and veggies. This assignment will focus on discussing interview responses on the leadership qualities, skills, work context, leadership styles, manager and subordinate responsibilities of a manager at McDonald's. Besides the United States, the multinational operates in 117 other countries worldwide. However, most of the sales originate from the Unites States restaurants; it has been approximated to contribute to 45 per cent of total sales. As a result, it has become a force to reckon with in the fast-food chain space. It has 57 million customers daily, across all its restaurants. As a result, McDonald’s is now ubiquitous around the world.

The restaurant manager has several responsibilities as per the responses generated during the interview. The specific duties vary according to the size of the organization. The manager interviewed has six employees as subordinates. The typical managerial responsibilities in this context include planning menus, recruiting, training and overseeing staff members, promoting and marketing the establishment and ensuring compliance with hygiene, licensing, health and safety guidelines. Other responsibilities the manager has to attend to include managing budgets, taking reservations, preparing and presenting staff and sales reports, setting targets and handling administration and paperwork.

In addition to these roles, Mr. Edward also solves problems, orders supplies, oversees stock levels, produces staff rotas, takes reservations, greets and advises customers and makes improvements to the running of the restaurant. The manager has excellent managerial qualities. These have enabled him to do his job satisfactorily. The manager has the relevant degree in hospitality management and catering. Other appropriate personal qualities are also essential in the management of a restaurant. These are just as important as the academic qualifications. They include organizational, teamwork, problem-solving, communication and good interpersonal skills.

For one to be successful in managing a restaurant, they have to possess both academic and interpersonal skills. This is because he or she is expected to lead by example and one of the best ways to do so is to have the right skills for the role. All these skills are geared towards enhancing customer satisfaction. For this assignment, the manager also affirmed that prior restaurant managing experience is essential, but not a must. He has previously managed two major restaurants in the city hence gaining the much-needed experience to tackle the current role.

Busy restaurants operate like serviced machines. McDonald’s has quite the busy kitchens whose operations can be compared to the levels of military operations regarding the chain of command and efficiency. The subordinates in this McDonald’s outlet have a wide range of functions and roles that have to be performed simultaneously with the aim of maintaining consistency and high-quality services to the customers. In any restaurant setting, there is a strict hierarchy of supervisors, managers, and subordinates that work like clockwork to ensure the establishment runs smoothly while tackling the challenges of the food service industry. The subordinates in the McDonald’s outlet can be categorized into two major categories; front-of-house and back-of-house roles. The latter include bartenders, waiters, and waitresses, hosts and bussers.

These greet, seat and attend to customers’ needs. They also clean up after the customers to prepare for other customers. They also must often clean the various parts of the restaurant after it closes as well as keep stock of all the necessary utensils and tools that are required for business for the next day. The back-of-house subordinates include the dishwashers and the cooks. Cooks can perform some duties; depending on the design of the kitchen. They prepare customers’ orders. Dishwashing role is essential in the operations of a busy restaurant as it provides a steady flow of clean utensils to serve the customers.

This section of the assignment will focus on the leadership style that the manager has implemented to ensure that operations in the restaurant run smoothly. The plain truth is, there is no magic approach that makes leaders successful. Different characteristics of leadership matter in different scenarios. This does not mean that one cannot implement various aspects of different leadership theories to suit their situation. However, we have to understand the impact of various types of persons and personalities that make good leaders. Mr. Edwards explained to me that effective leaders in any setting share several personality traits or characteristics. That explained some aspects highlighted in trait theories.

The trait theories suggest that effective leaders’ skills are innate and instinctive qualities that one does or does not have. However, this has been critiqued because it is possible to develop leadership qualities. However, we cannot entirely dismiss the trait theories. As explained by the manager, there are some basic traits and qualities that are helpful in shaping good leadership skills. They include, but not limited to empathy, integrity, likeability, good decision-making skills and assertiveness. However, none of these characteristics or a special elixir of them can guarantee successful leadership. Behavioral traits focus on how the character traits shape leaders’ behaviors. As a result, there are three types of leaders described using behavioral theories. They include autocratic leaders, democratic leaders, and laissez-faire leaders. How individuals in leadership positions affect their performance and that of their subordinates. There should be a healthy balance between laissez-faire and autocratic styles.

Different styles of leadership exist in work environments. Pros and cons exist with each leadership strategy. The goals and culture of an establishment determine the leadership style that fits the establishment best. Some organizations offer room for several leadership styles within the work environment, dependent on the necessary activities to complete various departmental needs. After a thorough analysis of Mr. Edward’s responses, I concluded that he manages the restaurant and its employees by effectively implementing the participative leadership style. It is often called the democratic leadership style. Using this management style, Mr. Edward values the input of his subordinates, but the responsibility of making the final decisions rests with him, as the team leader.

Participative leadership has played a key role in boosting the performance of the restaurant because is been accredited with boosting employee morale. This is because the employees participate in the decision-making process. The subordinates feel that their opinions count in the progress of the restaurant. When the manager needs to make changes within the restaurant, the participative leadership style helps him and the subordinates to accept changes easily as they play a role in the process. The leadership style has been proven effective in making decisions within short spans of time. The participative leadership style also leads to reduced costs as there is less need for subordinates’ supervision as more emphasis is laid on self-management. Also, the input comes from the subordinates who are part of the processes in the various execution levels. As a result, even the most mundane details of the processes are reported and addressed hence improving quality of products and customer experience.

The contingency approach to leadership is based on the ideology that management effectiveness is dependent on the interplay between specific situations and the application of management behaviors. In simpler terms, leaders should change their leadership skills based on the circumstances. In management, one size does not fit all. Leadership effectiveness is a component of two factors; relation motivation and circumstances. Task motivation is measured by the LPC scale; least preferred co-worker scale. This scale asks the manager to identify an individual they least like working with and rate them based on a set of questions.

Individuals with higher LPC scores are more likely to maintain harmony in work interactions while those with lower LPC scores are more focused on task accomplishment. The approach also states that the relations motivations are dependent on whether the manager can take charge of group’s situational favorability. This can be assessed by three factors; leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. About the participative leadership style exercised by Mr. Edward, the leader-member relations are quite evident in how his perception of the relations with his subordinates; which is quite healthy. The cooperation between him and the subordinates is good.

High LPC managers, such as Mr. Edward are most effective in influencing subordinate group behavior in various intermediate situations. However, there is a flip side to participative management style. It ensures better employee participation, but it has some disadvantages. It leads to a slower decision-making process as increased participation translates to more individuals getting in the process. It might also result in security issues as too many individuals within the establishment since the early stages. Such facts and information could be critical information that could be privileged. However, the advantages outnumber the disadvantages, and a deep understanding of these is crucial in ascertaining the preferred leadership style.