Assignment on Service Management

Running head: SERVICE MANAGEMENT 1
Identifying Service Management Excellence
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Institutional Affiliation
Date

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Identifying Service Management Excellence
Excellence in service delivery is not just about a positive and friendly front desk team.
The client’s perspective is influenced by the organization’s customer orientation, standards and
performance measures. Johnstone and Clark (2008) maintained that service excellence is
primarily not concerned with exceeding the client’s expectations but with delivering services as
promised while tackling any obstacles and problems that arise in the process of service
delivery.Maintaining a service excellence culture will ultimately help any organization reduce
customer complaints, improve team performance and facilitate a fulfilling yet dynamic working
environment. Service management can be described as the practices or activities aimed at
designing, delivering, monitoring, and evaluating the service in an attempt to improve the service
continuously. Customers and clients expect delivery of high-quality services that are secure,
reliable, accurate, timely and easy to access (Fitzsimmons, Fitzsimmons, and Bordoloi, 2008).An
effective framework contributes towards delivering value for money, promote stakeholders’
confidence, facilitate high customer satisfaction, and even ensure the achievement of the
organization’s goals and objectives.The core key drivers of any service delivery organization are
low cost, consistency, and speed of delivery.
McDonald’s is a multi-national foodservice retailer with over 4 million employees
located in over 100 countries. Restaurants under the Mcdonald’s brand are operated and owned
by local entrepreneurs through franchising. The restaurant chain operates under an organizational
structure focused around market segments with similarities. This report aims to identify and
discuss examples of practices in McDonald’s that contribute towards service management
excellence.

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Design of the Service and the Service Delivery Process
The first step in service management excellence is to manage the design and service
delivery process. It is important to determine how the service is going to be delivered, processes
that will be used to deliver the service, workforce, and equipment.For excellence in the design
and delivery of these services, it is necessary for an organization to have an effective service
management framework in place. It is for this reason that McDonald’s took time to invest in a
workflow and processes that fit into their service delivery objectives.McDonald’s restaurants
have a comprehensive and standardized service design with clearly defined responsibilities,
roles, and procedures under an efficient equipment and facility layout. This service delivery
system aims to be customer-oriented, maintain operational efficiency, facilitate a service
excellence culture, and produce predictable outcomes that assist in thedelivery ofhigh-quality
services in a competitive market.
The design of McDonald’s service process portrays the restaurant’s service management
excellence. With its large customer base, McDonald’s acknowledges the importance of face-to-
face customer interactions in their restaurants and drive-thrus.To achieve customer satisfaction,
the restaurant has proven to be flexible and efficient through its customized services. Services by
MacDonald’s are designed to provide operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. To
achieve operational efficiency and maintain a competitive advantage, McDonald’s provides low-
cost services to its customers while aligning its process to enhance customer satisfaction(Slack,
Chambers and Johnston, 2010). To cut costs and reduce wastage, the restaurant utilizes a ‘Just In
Time’ (JIT) inventory system (Stevenson and Hojati, 2007). Under this system, food is
preparedonly after a customer has placed an order. With a well-trained and dedicated workforce,
McDonald’s ensure a fast process through defined roles and responsibilities. There are

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employees solely responsible for taking orders, another to prepare the order and an employee to
package the order ready for delivery to the customer. Additionally, McDonald’s supports and
invests in initiatives to adapt its services and products to different locales to ensure theexpansion
of its global brand.
To achieve a customer-oriented service design that focuses on the client’s needs and
feedback, the fast food giant ensures their services are easily accessible through drive-thrus,
walk-in restaurants, and an online delivery service system. In addition to the readily available
services, the process is designed toprovide a satisfactory waiting time. Thisis achieved by
minimising idle time at cash registers, fast moving queues, and efficient order preparation.
McDonald’s also recognizes the importance of facilitating a positive outcome in customer
satisfaction. Customers either get what they need or the restaurant staff helps them understand
why they cannot get the service. Furthermore, through their training programs, the retailer
ensures its employees maintain professionalism. Thisis achieved through employees who are
polite, respectful to the customers they serve, and knowledgeable in their respective roles and
responsibilities.All these service delivery process initiative contribute towards cultivating a
service management excellence culture in MacDonald’s.
Service Quality
The ability to receive high-quality standardized service in any of the over 36000
MacDonald’s outlets is among the restaurant’s main values in maintaining customer confidence.
MacDonalds has undertaken broad initiatives to ensure consistency in the quality of its service
all over the world. To ensure service quality in the franchise, the company requires all
prospective franchisees to be well versed in their procedures and standards. The franchisees are
exposed to a strict interview and training program at Hamburger University to make sure they