Effective Operational Management at McDonald's

The assignment content highlights the importance of operational management in a business environment, specifically for McDonald's. It emphasizes that effective direction, control, leadership, and management are crucial for a smooth functioning of business operations. The report also assesses the various components within the business environment that impact decision-making, including employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and government. To improve efficiency in operation management, leaders and managers can use methods like six sigma, lean production, and total quality management. Finally, the report concludes that operational management is a vital aspect of McDonald's to achieve success.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 .....................................................................................................................................................................3
a Description of the various roles and characteristics of a leader and manager........................................................3
b Description of various theories of leadership to understand the role of leader and manager in different situation
...................................................................................................................................................................................4
c Application of various theories and model of leadership approaches....................................................................5
d Analysis and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager..............................................6
e Assessment of the strength and weakness of different approaches to situation within the work environmental...6
F Critically analysis and evaluation of the different theories and approaches to leadership....................................6
TASK 2...........................................................................................................................................................................6
a Explanation of the key approaches to operation management and the role of the leader and manger in the
McDonald..................................................................................................................................................................6
b Explanation of importance and value of operation management...........................................................................8
c Assessment of the components within the business environment that impact upon the operational management
and decision making..................................................................................................................................................9
d Evaluate how leaders and manager can improve efficiency of operation management to meet objective of
McDonald................................................................................................................................................................10
e Analysis the various factors affect the business environment..............................................................................10
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
In every business organisation, leader and manager play a very crucial role to coordinate various business
activities and monitor subordinates performance to attain the determined objective (aur and Haase, 2015). By using
the effective management approach and leadership style, manager can effectively perform their roles and
responsibility for achieving impressive outcomes. Manager of business enterprise is liable to design strategies and
structure according to the nature and objective of the firm. In this project report, the roles and characteristics of
leader and manager have been studied with the respect of McDonald. It is a famous retail outlet which deals with the
food products. In this report, various theories and models of leadership approach has been systematically defined
with respect of the cited venture. In addition to this, importance and value of operation management to attain
business goal has also discussed in this report. The major objective of this report is to understand the value of
operation management and implementation of various theories and model of leadership in the business enterprise.
TASK 1
a Description of the various roles and characteristics of a leader and manager
Leader and manager both play crucial role in business enterprise and are responsible to survive various
activities and function in order to achieve determined objective. McDonald is an American hamburger and
fast food restaurant chain which is found in 1940. Today, McDonald is one of the world’s largest restaurant
chains and it is serving approximately 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. Entire operation of this
organisation are largely dependent on the human resources so there is requires an effective leader and
manager who can efficiently coordinate with subordinate and manage all business operations of McDonald.
In a simple word, manager is a person who has responsibility to control the business activities. On the other
hand, leader is a person who has responsibility to inspire, encourage and motivate subordinate to accomplish the
desired assignment within a period of time. Leadership is a process under which leader lead, moniot, conyttol,
evalute, guide subordinates at workplace so as thy attain desired outcomes within a period of time.On the other hand
managenent is a process under which manager develop the policfies, practices and system of business at workplace
so every one follw them in order to atatin the goal.Some of the major roles and characteristics of leader and manger
are as follows-
 Manager has the major role to develop business strategies, plan for activities, formulate policies and
process in the organisation. On the other hand, leader’s role is to coordinate, motivate, guide and direct the
subordinates at workplace so that they can perform their job in an appropriate manner.
 A manager focuses on setting, measuring and achieving objective. They controls situation to reach their
objective. On the other hand, leader paints a picture of what they see as possible and inspire subordinate in
turning that vision into reality. They motivate employees to be part of something bigger at the workplace
(Bonanni and Cafazzo, 2014).
 Leaders are willing to try new things even if they may fail miserably. They know that failure is the step to
success. On the other hand, manager works to minimise risk. They seek to avoid or control problem rather
than embracing them.

 Manager focus on the structure which is necessary to set and achieve goals. They consider on the analytical
skills and ensure that the systems are in place to attain desired outcome. On the other and leader focuses on
maintaining effective relationship with subordinates so as they can motivate for higher performace.
 Manager’ direct group and they react to change. Further, leaders create a team and persuade people to gain
effective outcome.
 Manger has a good idea and they develop strategies and leader has liability to implement those strategies
and idea to achieve effective result.
As per the above discussion, it has been ascertained that there are various roles and different responsibility of the
manager and leader. Their objective is to achieve determined success but they have different criteria of working in
the business organisation. In the context of McDonald, manager develops strategy; planning and tactics for earning
maximum profitability in the market by delivering quality product and services (Blanchard, 2010). On the other
hand, leader of cited venture manage large number of workforce so that they can effectively complete their
assignment.
b Description of various theories of leadership to understand the role of leader and manager in different situation
McDonald’s major objective is to deliver an excellent quality of food products to customer and earn
maximum profitability and market share. For this objective, corporation have to contribute various effective efforts.
In this manner, manger and leader have crucial role because entire business operation and control are in the hands
of manager. Furthermore, coordination and management of employees is the responsibility of leader so they have to
adopt various roles in the different situation at the workplace. In order to deal with various situation of business,
leader of McDonald have to consider different leadership theories and styles. These theories and style assists in
understanding roles and characteristics of leader in the different situation. Following are some theories of
leadership-
 Behavioural theory- This is the most effective and suitable theory of leadership through which McDonald
can enhance its productivity and performance of personnel. According to the concept of this theory,
employees are important part of the business enterprise so management is required to fulfil their
requirement related to business activities and function. As per this theory, leader and manger of the cited
organisation considers the needs and wants of employees and try to fulfil them. With assistance of this
concept, the motivation level of personnel will increase and they will efficiently perform their job in the
organisation (aur and Haase, 2015). For example, if corporation brings any changes in the policies and
structure of the business, then the employees will resist regarding change. In such a situation, manager and
leader can adopt this behavioural theory to motivate employees and cope up with changes in the business
enterprise.
 Contingent theory of leadership- Contingent theory is an organisational theory under which organisation
are open systems that need careful management to satisfy and balance internal needs and to adopt to
environmental circumstances. In the context of McDonald, leader deals with the general atmosphere of the
group and the feeling such as trust, loyalty and confidence that the group has for its leader ( Foy and et.al.,

2011). This theory emphasizes the importance and value of the both leader's personality and the situation in
which they operate. Central to contingency theory is concept of the situation which is characterized by two
components that is task structure and the position power. Task structure is related to task clarity and the
means to task accomplishment. On the other hand the position power relates to the amount of reward and
punishment authority the leader has over members of the group.
 Classical management theory- The classical management theory focuses on the productivity, output and
efficiency of worker, rather than the difference in behaviour that exist among them. Classical management
approach seeks to maximise the benefits of customers and investor in consistent and fair level. The major
advantage of this management approach is that it is based on the hierarchical organisation structure which
defines the responsibilities and objective of manager and leader in each level of the management.
Additionally, the classical management approach proposes the division of labour, which increases
employees performance and reduces expenses. In the context of McDonald organisation, corporation
manger can increase the productivity and profitability of the firm by use of this theory.
c Application of various theories and model of leadership approaches
As per the above discussion it has been ascertained that there are various kinds of approach and theory of
leadership through which leader and manger can handle various kinds of situation in the business organisation
(Bucik and Barić,2009). In the context of McDonald, in order to manage the employees performance and coordinate
their activities, manager can adopt the various leadership theories and approaches according to the structure and
nature of the business organisation. Following are application of various theories and approaches of leadership in the
cited organisation-
 Situation leadership approach- According to this leadership theory it is stated that the most effective
leaders are those that are able to adopt their style to the situation and look at cues such as nature of
business, main objective, types of task or assignment and other component which affects the business
enterprise. In addition to this, mentioned theory of leadership stated that an effective leader's effectiveness
is related to their traits, characteristics or behaviour in relation to differing situational components. The
style of leader uses under situational leadership is based upon combining levels of directive behaviour and
supportive behaviour (Foy and et.al., 2011). There are four kinds of leadership behaviour based on the
levels of directive and supportive behaviour that is telling, selling, participating and delegating. According
to this leadership concept, leader deal and interact with subordinates according to the diverse range of
situation in the McDonald. For example,in the participating and supporting situation, leader of the
corporation encourage and motivate personnels by taking theory participation in the business decision and
provide support to them in their business assignment. On the other hand in the telling and directing
situation, leader of McDonald just makes the decision bout the business activities and function and convey
to subordinates.
 System approach of leadership- System concept is a good of the efforts of various investigators to develop
an intermediate sector of coexistence of all science. System leadership theory is begin with a clear aim and
working on the organisation as a system to enable appropriate leadership to flourish (Khan, Asghar and

Zaheer, 2014). This leadership requires pulling on a wide range of levers in the organisation that influence
the delivery of appropriate and applied leadership. McDonald leaders can adopt this concept in order to
develop an integrated,. Complex composition of many interconnected systems that requires to work
together for the whole to function successfully.
 Task Oriented approach of leadership- Task oriented approach of leadership concept generally focus on
the assignment completion by the leader. In this concept leader focuses on the assignment that require to be
performed at the workplace for meet the desired objective in a certain performance standards (Mahembe
and Engelbrecht, 2014). In this style of leadership, leader have responsibility to create detailed plan,
strategies, schedule and structure for the assignment in business enterprise. McDonald leader will create a
systematic scheduled for its subordinates so ass they can accomplish their task within a period.
d Analysis and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager
In the context of McDonald, leader and manager play a very crucial role because the entire operation of
business are largely depends upon the performance and employees. Manager have role to develop planning,
strategies and policies for business in order to attain the objective. On the other hand leader have role to coordinate,
support, motivate personnels so as they can effectively performance their job at workplace. With assistance of
various leadership approach such as behavioural, contingency leader can adopt the different leadership style in the
different situation (Randeree and Chaudhry, 2012). McDonald have aim to deliver excellent quality product and gain
effective profitability. For this objective leader have to focus on motivating and encouraging people for higher
productivity. Behavioural theory of leadership can adopt buy the leader of cited organisation. With assistance of this,
they can implement the high level of changes in the policies, process and structure of business. As per the discussion
it can be said that both leader and manager have different role and responsibility but they have common objective as
organisation objective. Both perform their different role to achieve the common goal of the corporation.
e Assessment of the strength and weakness of different approaches to situation within the work environmental
In the McDonald corporation, manager and leader can adopt the various approach of leadership such as
system approach of leadership, task oriented approach of leadership, situation approach of leadership. The major
strength of the task oriented approach is that in this leader distributes the various task among the subordinates and
manage them in order to attain the effective outcomes (Ratten, 2012). The weakness of the task oriented style
includes fear of breaking the rules among the employees, which may lead to a lack of creativity, low morale and
high turnover. Another approach is situation leadership under which leader deal with employees in different
situation.
F Critically analysis and evaluation of the different theories and approaches to leadership
In the above section, there are various kinds of theories and approach of leadership has been explained. In
this context situational theory of leadership is very beneficial for the McDonald leader because by use of this leader
can deal with subordinates according to the different situation (Shahin, Naftchali and Pool, 2014). However, the
major drawback of this theory is that leader competencies which work in one given situation may not be effective

under different circumstances. On the other hand task oriented approach of leadership is also most helpful for the
cited venture. With assistance of this leader effectively distribute the assignment among the employees.
TASK 2
a Explanation of the key approaches to operation management and the role of the leader and manger in the
McDonald
Operation management refers to the administration of business practices to formulate the highest level of
efficiency possible with the business enterprise. In other word it can be said that operation management is a process
of design, execution, control of operation that convert resources into desired goods and services and implement a
corporation's business strategies (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2012). Mc Donald objective is to earn maximum
profitability by deliver quality food product in the UK market. Thus, its manager and leader must have to
concentrate on various operation approaches through which quality of operation and product can improve. The
entire success of cited organisation is depends upon the quality product and services so that manger have to focus on
the various approaches through which they can improve operation management. Some of the approaches are as
follows-
 Six Sigma- Six sigma is an effective technique for measuring the quality of work in the business
organisation. It is a quality program and process for improvement through which company can enhance the
effectiveness and quality of the operation. It seeks to improve the quality of the outputs of a process by
identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising variability in manufacturing and business
processes. McDonald can easily monitor and measure its quality of performance in order to improve the
entire operation of business (Cardy and Leonard, 2011). With assistance of this technique corporation can
deliver impressive customer satisfaction. Furthermore, by use of this tool, company can remove the
additional cost which occurs in the business operation decrease the wastage. In the process of six sigma,
there is five phases that is measure, analyse, improve and control. In the define phase, corporation define
the system by voice of customer, their requirement and the project goals. On other hand in the measure
phase, company collect the relevant data and calculate the process capability. In the analyses stage,
corporation analyse the data and verify cause and effect relationship. In the improvement phase, firm
improve or optimise the current process based upon data analysis using techniques (Shahin, Naftchali and
Pool, 2014). In the last stage, company control the entire process of operation.

 Lean production- Lean production method is very appropriate for the food industry because by use of this
company can eliminate their wastage from the production and manufacturing process. In the context of
McDonald, it can easily overcome the quantity of wastage in the process of production and manufacturing.
 Queuing theory- Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting line, or queues. It is a model which
constructed so that queue lengths and waiting time can be predicted. Generally it deals with a problems
which involves queuing. McDonald can able to provide faster customer service, improving traffic flow,
improve the effectiveness of shipping orders.
As per the above discussion it has been ascertained that there are various theories of operation and operation
management through which McDonald can improve its production and operation process. Further it can easily
remove and overcome the quantity of wastage from the production and manufacturing. Moreover, corporation
manager and leader can effectively utilise its resources by use of these techniques and theories of operation
management. In addition to this, there are various kinds of management approaches through which McDonald
manager can check the quality and effectiveness of the performance of business. These approaches are as follows-
 Total quality management- Total quality management approach describes a long term success through
customer satisfaction. In the TQM efforts all members of the corporation participates in improving
processes, product, services and the culture in which they work. It uses strategy, data and effective
communication to integrate the quality disciple into the culture and activities of firm (Ratten, 2012). In the
McDonald ,manager can use this total quality management approach through which they maintain high
standards of work in every aspect of company;'s operation.
 Just in time inventory- In this approach of operation management, McDonald adopt the strategy under
which it increase efficiency and decrease waste by receiving goods. In other word it is a management
Illustration 1: Six Sigma
Source:Aaker and Joachimsthaler, 2012.

system in which material or product are produced or acquired only as demand requires (Shahin, Naftchali
and Pool, 2014).
b Explanation of importance and value of operation management
In the McDonald, manager have to consider various management approaches and theories because these
assist in improving the quality of management operation and productivity of business. In the cited organisation,
there is very high value and importance of operation management because entire progress and process are largely
depends upon this management. Therefore, manager should effectively apply all methods, approaches, theories in
the operation as firm can gain effective outcomes (Mahembe and Engelbrecht, 2014). In order to survive smooth
functioning of operation in the corporation, there are required effective monitoring, guiding, controlling and
measuring activities. By this employees can efficiently perform their job in order to accomplish objective.
In order to make operation of business successfully and impressive, leader of McDonald can adopt transformational
leadership style. According to this leadership style, leader create an inspiring vision of the future and motivate
people to buy into and deliver the vision. Furthermore, in this style leader work with subordinates to identify needed
changes, creating a vision to guide the change through inspiration and executing the change. In this concept, leader
have four aspects of traits such as inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, identified influence and
individualised consideration (Randeree and Chaudhry, 2010). In the McDonald, manager can encourage and
motivate subordinates for higher productivity and performance.
Corporate governance is another important concept through which company can effectively
manage its operation. It bis a system of policies, procedure, practices, rules, regulation and legislation by which firm
is directed and controlled (Khan, Asghar and Zaheer, 2014). McDonald can control its operation activities by follow
the set of rules and regulation of corporate governance. In other word it can be said that it is a framework of rules
and practices by which board of director ensures accountability, fairness and transparency in a company's
relationship with its all stakeholder like customer, employees, government, supplies and investors. Operation
management is very important aspect of business through which firm can attain its desired
success. The entire objective of business is highly depends upon the effectiveness of operation
management so if manager effective manage the operation of business then he will get desired
result in future. In order to smooth functioning of business operation, manger have to effectively
direct , control, lead and mange the business activities and performance. It can said that
operational management is as importance as company success so every business needs to
manage and operate it by use of excellent theories of management.

c Assessment of the components within the business environment that impact upon the operational management and
decision making
McDonald have major aim is to produce quality product and deliver effective customer satisfaction. For this
objective, corporation have to develop such policies and structure of the business through which each one can
effectively perform their job. In this manner, company have to analyse its surrounding environment of business
because there are large numbers of components that can affect the activities and operation of business enterprise
(Foy and et.al., 2011). McDonald decision may largely influence by the various component such as employees,
customer, suppliers, investor , government etc. While manager of McDonald takes the decision related to operation
management then they have to consider on various components. These are as follows-
 Customer- Customer is major element of the business environment which may affect the business decision
of McDonald. Cited corporation is a food firm which deals with diverse range of food products. In the
period of operation and production, company have to consider the customer requirement, choice, taste,
culture, preferences, life style etc (Bucik and Barić, 2009). According to their requirement the product
should deliver in the market. Further, this stakeholder are interested in knowing product information like
price, discount, feature, offers etc. So that McDonald should always provide right information to them so as
they can make their purchase decision. It can be said that the operation decision of business is largely
depends upon the customer.
 Employees- The manager of McDonald have also consider employees participation while he/she takes the
decision about business operation. Manager have to taking participation of employees in the business
Illustration 1: Elements of business environment
Source:Bucik and Barić,2009

decision making because the entire process and progress of firm are largely depends upon the performance
of personnels. Employees are interested in knowing the financial status of company and they want suitable
and appropriate business policies and practices (Bonanni and Cafazzo, 2014). So it can be said that
manager or leader should always consider this component while they take the operation related decision.
 Supplier- Suppliers are those people who supplies the raw material and semi finished good to the company.
McDonald is large needs to effective suppliers because in the production process, it requires effective and
quality raw material so it can increase the quality of food product (Blanchard, 2010). Cited venture
manager should keep mind this stakeholder while they take operation related decision. Suppliers want
effective order and regular payment so company should always maintain healthy relationship with them by
making effective order and payment of time.
 Investors- They are those people who invest their capital in the business in order to get effective return.
They have right to get correct information about the business financial status so McDonald's manager
should always keep informed to them about the company position and condition.
d Evaluate how leaders and manager can improve efficiency of operation management to meet objective of
McDonald
In the McDonald, manager and leader can improve the efficiencies of operation management by use of
various methods like six sigma, lean production and queuing theory etc. These all method assist to company in
improving the quality of operation and eliminate the wastage from the manufacturing process. In addition to this
total quality management and just in time inventory is also helpful method through which manager can measure the
quality of the operation.
e Analysis the various factors affect the business environment
Manager and leader have to analyse the various elements of business environment while they take the
business decision. Employees, suppliers, customer, investor and government is a key stakeholder which affect the
decision of operation management in the cited organisation. Manager have to consider all these components at the
time of business decision making (aur and Haase, 2015).
CONCLUSION
Operation management is an area of management concerned with designing and controlling the process of
production and redesigning business operation. From this project report it has been concluded that operation
management is very important aspect for the food organisation McDonald in order to gain effective results and
success. Manager and leader play a very crucial role in order to conduct effective management and carry smooth
functioning of business. With assistance of various leadership approach and theory, leader can improve the
efficiency and performance of employees. It has been also concluded that total quality management, six sigmas and
lean production is effective method in order to measure and check the quality of production and operation. By use of
these method, company can also minimise the wastage from the manufacturing.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal