Planning Organizing Leading Controlling (POLC) PDF

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1 IntroductionManagement functions of McDonald’s, a franchise business that operates individually owned restaurants, comprise of planning, organizing, controlling, and leading. Effective management process has contributed to the company’s success over the past ten years. Today, the company is the le...

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1.0 Introduction Management functions of McDonald’s, a franchise business that operates individually owned restaurants, comprise of planning, organizing, controlling, and leading. Effective management process has contributed to the company’s success over the past ten years. Today, the company is the leading food retailer with over 32,000 restaurant branches in more than 100 countries. The management functions of the company ensure that all restaurants work towards achievement of common goals and objectives (Lussier 34). The reputation of the company is greatly associated with innovation and strong customer relationships, which are maintained by management functions. Management is creative problem solving with the desired result of using organizational resources in a way that accomplishes its mission and objectives. These results are obtained by four management functions to which we turn next in context with the McDonalds.

2.0 Planning The planning function ensures that the organization identifies and selects appropriate goals and measures for achieving the objectives. Planning is the ongoing process of developing the business’ mission and objectives and determining how they will be accomplished. McDonalds shares its ideas through its well-developed vision. This vision statement serves as the binding glue between the employees worldwide. They all aim to serve their customers by giving them the best quality products at their convenience. This vision statement clearly indicates the future of the organization. At McDonalds every employee knows where they are heading towards and what their individual contribution. The vision acts as the binding force which gives the employees a sense of purpose and commitment. The second aspect of planning is to have a clear defined mission. McDonald’s mission statement is ‘to be our customer’s favorite place and way to eat (Dentch, 2009)’. This mission defines their business and their place in the life of its customers. Planning at McDonalds identify the goals and objectives and develop their strategies and tasks to accomplish these goals. Planning at McDonalds is aligned with the changes in the external environment; it also faced many challenges like local taste of people, cultural values, and traditions of specific area in which they want to enter. The planning process maintained the core 1

values at all franchisees, however the local demands were taken into account to indulge in their culture completely. Strategies were modified to suit the needs of the area in which they entered. This was reflected in the operations as well as the resource utilization. One aspect that highlights McDonalds effective planning is how they manage their supply chains. Timely delivery and quality raw materials were the result of establishing good relations with the supply chain partners. As a result of this strategic planning, McDonalds went into the business of a 24/7 restaurants. This was to match the demands of the all types of customers and to boost the profits by extending the store hours. This was accompanied with introducing breakfast at McDonalds which further added to the menu. McDonalds was now offering all three meals of the day along and was thinking along the lines of adding snacks to the menu. With clearly defined purpose of the business, embedded values that dictate the vision and emphasis on the role of planning, McDonalds is able to achieve sustainable profits.

3.0 Organizing Organizing is establishing the internal organizational structure of the organization. The focus is on division, coordination, and control of tasks and the flow of information within the organization. Managers rely on this function to distribute or delegate authority to other employees. Any successful organizational structure acknowledges that customers and employees are the most important assets in the organization. Having a rigid structure undermines the creativity of the employees, thus the culture of empowerment and delegation is what currently prevails in the competitive environment. McDonalds uses the collaborative management approach which connects all the global franchisees worldwide under the umbrella of single company name (Long, 2006). Management encourages the practice of working and assisting with each other’s franchisees to deliver the best to their customers by coping up with external challenges and representing a collaborative responsible culture. In order to ensure consistent quality, the standards are uniform for all franchises. Thus a centralized structure prevails in terms of training programs, supplies and operations. The formal structure at McDonalds divides the organization in the departments and every individual knows his tasks well at which he needs to 2

be specialized. Strategic plans and organizational structure have to be constantly monitored to ensure they assist the company to meet its goals. Evaluation also ensures enhanced performance because strategies and activities are frequently maintained and improved according to environmental changes [CITATION McD19 \l 1033 ].

4.0 Leading Leadership at McDonalds, the CEO is seen as the focal point from which the leadership emerges. The current CEO of McDonalds is Steve Easterbrook. He has been a CEO since 2015. Under his leadership, McDonald’s is now serving more customers, more often, enhancing their experience with contemporary innovations and a foundational commitment to running great restaurants. Steve led McDonald’s turnaround by sparking the evolution of its company culture. McDonald’s global system of franchisees, suppliers and employees is moving with greater speed, efficiency and purpose to satisfy the rising expectations of today’s customers. Together, they’re committed to becoming a better McDonald’s across the company’s 37,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries [ CITATION McD191 \l 1033 ]. The implementation of leadership principles in the company is to keep the base happy and attract new customers as well as execute well to satisfy customers. Another principle is too support the staff publicly and have a leadership pipeline.

5.0 Controlling Controlling at McDonalds is the amalgam of motivated workers and the clear policies which keep them right on the track. The line manager is in charge of keeping the employees working according to the standards. At a broader perspective, every franchise must follow quality standards and abide by the strict supplier policies (Long, 2006). This is to ensure that the brands name is not in danger by irresponsible activities at individual franchise level. McDonalds Corporation believes in training its employees at Hamburger University. This is to ensure that

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employees are clear about the benchmark and how they modify any shortcomings in their performance to meet these standards[CITATION Leo15 \l 1033 ]. Flexible work schedule, fun loving culture, training and a healthy work life balance is what keeps the employees motivated. Though McDonalds is known for its tight control and bureaucratic structure, it in no way inhibits employee productivity or commitment to the organization.

6.0 Conclusion The four principal functions of management including planning, organizing, leading and controlling can effectively assist an organization to select the right goals, maximize available resources, and achieve set goals. McDonald’s has successfully managed to ensure effective and efficient performance through the four principal functions. I agree with how the company current implements the planning, controlling, and organizing activities because they help the company improve employees’ motivation and customer satisfaction. The organization’s planning strategies, which rely on a decentralized decision making system, encourages more people to participate. This ensures that all franchisees are aware of the company goals and fully understand them. I also believe it is easier for the company to ensure employees maintain the same quality standards because organizing and controlling management functions focus on building an effective organizational culture in all franchises. However, the company can improve its strategies on leading to enhance its openness. Currently, the function emphasizes on ensuring the employees follow the laid down policies and rules, which discourage creativity and lower employee motivation. Therefore, I recommend that McDonald’s maintains its current policies on planning, organizing, and controlling, but improve its policies on leading. This can be achieved by making franchisees more independent, which will enhance the ability of the employees in each franchise to come up with ways to meet needs and demand of respective markets.

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Reference Essays, UK. (November 2018). ). McDonalds’ Leadership and Management. Retrieved June 2, 2019 from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/analysing-the-leadership-andmanagement-at-mcdonalds-management-essay.php?vref=1 Comaescu, L. A. (2015, january 29). McDonalds: 4 principles of management. Retrieved June 2, 2019, from Prezi: https://prezi.com/qjw99wjy2god/mcdonalds-4-principles-ofmanagements/ McDonalds . (n.d.). Steve Easterbrook . Retrieved June 2, 2019, from McDonalds : https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-us/leadership-team/steve-easterbrook.html McDonald's Management Functions. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2019, from Essayturf.com: https://essayturf.com/blog/mcdonalds-management-functions/

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