Improving Service Quality in McDonald's: A Business Research Study

This business research study focuses on improving the service quality in McDonald's, the largest restaurant chain in the world. The study includes a literature review, research questions, methodology, and data analysis. The goal is to identify the general business problem and provide recommendations for improvement.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH
Business Research
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Organisational context...............................................................................................................2
Background information of the organisation..........................................................................2
General business problem..........................................................................................................2
Identifying a general business problem..................................................................................2
Literature review........................................................................................................................4
Research Questions..................................................................................................................15
Research Method......................................................................................................................16
Research Plan...........................................................................................................................17
Type of questions to be explored..........................................................................................17
Number of recommended interviews...................................................................................17
Selecting sample of research participation...........................................................................17
Location................................................................................................................................18
Data analysis.........................................................................................................................18
Ethical implications..............................................................................................................18
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................19

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Organisational context
Background information of the organisation
McDonald’s is considered as one of the reputed fast food restaurants in the world. The
restaurant was set up in 1940 in California. McDonald’s holds certain distinctions in the
business world. It is the largest restaurant chain in the world with service to over 69 million
customers. It also provides employment to more than 1.5 million individuals, a feat only
bettered by Walmart. The restaurant is known to serve good quality hamburgers, soft drinks,
chicken nuggets and dessert (Mcdonalds.com, 2018). The problem in focus is the quality of
food products that are served by the restaurant. The dimension of the problem is such that it
affects the smooth functioning of the restaurant and thereby hampers its goals of providing
quality service to the customers.
General business problem
Identifying a general business problem
General description of the business
problem
Quality management is one of the most important
aspects that every service-providing organisation
need to access. Without proper quality, managers of
such organisation cannot attain the satisfaction of
the customers.
Specific dimensions of the business
problem
The dimension of the business problem that has
been focused is in the organisational context. This
includes poor processes that are used for managing
the works in the organisation. The focus of

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McDonald’s is to improve the quality of service so
that the restaurant can gain an advantage in the
market.
Link business problem to goals of
organisations
The goal of McDonald’s is to maintain proper
customer service and ensure that the quality of
service is maintained (Mcdonalds.com, 2018). The
problem that has been identified may cause
hindrance to the restaurant and consequently prevent
the expansion in the competitive business market.
Organisational Context Dimensions of Problem Goals of Organisation
The problem faced by
McDonald’s is based on the
quality of service that is
provided. The customers of
the restaurant are of the
opinion that due to the lack
of organic substance in its
products, the food served in
McDonald’s is unhealthy for
the people. This is evidenced
in 2004 when a couple of
young girls tried to sue the
restaurant for their health
Organisational context as it
deals with attaining the goals
of the organisation and the
basic requirements of the
restaurant
To provide proper customer
service by serving quality
food in an efficient and quick
time

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problems
Literature review
Article 1
Article reference Freiberg, D. (2015). If Stakeholders Ruled the World:
Stakeholder Relations in the 21st Century. Global
Policy, 6(4), 492-494.
Literature Customers are the most important stakeholders of an
organisation. Without the contribution of the customers in
terms of purchasing the products, organisations cannot
continue to exist in the competitive market. Hence,
acknowledging the requirements of the stakeholders is
necessary for the organisations so that it can continue to
progress in the business market.
Theoretical
framework/approach
The theoretical approach for this particular article is the fact
that critical assumptions are made about the importance of
stakeholders in an organisation. The stakeholders need to be
involved as one of the main business strategies that
organisations can use to gain a competitive advantage in the
business.
Research questions What is the impact that stakeholders have a business?
Methodology The methodology that has been adopted for identifying the
impact of stakeholders is the literature approach.

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Conducting a secondary research has helped to gain insights
of different scholars about the level of involvement that
stakeholders are allowed to have in an organisation.
Results/conclusion The result of the analysis is that without the stakeholders,
organisations may have to suffer from a quality investment.
The stakeholders take into account the interests of the
organisations and share their thoughts about the well-being
of an organisation. Thus, the involvement of the
stakeholders in every decision of an organisation is essential
for its betterment.
Critique The critique has been made by Power, Sharda and Burstein
(2015) stating that the decision-making systems need to be
prioritised between the stakeholders. The internal and
external stakeholders need to be divided and based on the
division of the stakeholders the decision to involve them in
the organisational activities need to be adopted.
Gap The gap in the article is the fact that technology plays an
important role in modern business. The stakeholder analysis
needs to be done keeping in mind the different stakeholders
that exist in the organisation and the manner in which they
can implement technology for its betterment.
Article 2

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Article reference Bansal, H. S., & Taylor, S. (2015). Investigating the
relationship between service quality, satisfaction and
switching intentions. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy
of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 304-
313). Springer, Cham.
Literature The article provides the importance of service quality that
can lead to achieving service satisfaction. The service
quality is one of the important determinants of service
switching and there have been calls to protect any type of
discrimination. The importance of service quality for
manufacturing and service organisations include identifying
roles that lead to effective services in organisations.
Customer satisfaction is important and it is necessary that
the expectations of the customers be met by providing
quality customer satisfaction.
Theoretical
framework/approach
The theoretical approach, in this case, links customer
satisfaction with the services provided by the organisations.
One of the important factors for gaining customer
satisfaction is the services rendered and the quality of
service depends upon the talents and skills of the
employees. The link established provides an analysis of the
close relation that exists between the services rendered and
the satisfaction of the customers.
Research questions What is the impact of service satisfaction and service

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quality on switching intentions?
Methodology The methodology used in this case is the quantitative data
collection method. Data was collected on 184 customers so
that an evaluation of the service satisfaction can be made.
The service quality and the switching intentions are
analysed to identify the research questions and conclude on
the overall impressions of services.
Results/conclusion The results of the study have indicated that service quality
and satisfaction of the customers are related to one another
and the link between the two factors is important to access
the satisfaction of the customers. The results also show that
quality instigates the switching intentions of the customers,
however, no such influence exists that can relate quality and
satisfaction.
Critique Daft (2015) stated that although the relationship between
service quality and satisfaction are related closely, certain
distinctions exist which points out that the two have
opposing reactions. Service quality has been stated as an
overall evaluation whereas the satisfaction of customers is
more of a spontaneous reaction. Therefore, establishing a
close link between the two factors may create problems for
quality management in an organisation.
Gap The gap in the literature is that while the focus is kept on
the satisfaction of the customers, other factors that may

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contribute to the same are not stated. Apart from this, the
service rendered can be in any form that may help the
customers to understand the effectiveness of the
organisations and the manner in which improvements can
be made.
Article 3
Article reference Orel, F. D., & Kara, A. (2014). Supermarket self-checkout
service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty:
Empirical evidence from an emerging market. Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(2), 118-129.
Literature The article focuses on the service quality and customer
satisfaction. The reason behind attaining the loyalty of the
customers is discussed with particular focus on the manner
in which the emerging markets can attain the loyalty of the
customers. The effectiveness of self-serving techniques is a
focus in this article that can help in reducing the retailer
cost and enhance the experience of the customers.
Theoretical
framework/approach
The link between customer satisfaction, quality of service
and loyalty of the customers are established in the article.
The article provides an overview of the importance of self-
checkout systems. However, more evidence is needed to
understand the link in a better manner for the continuation

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of quality service in the organisations.
Research questions What is the link between satisfaction of the customers and
the loyalty of the customers?
Methodology The methodology used in this case is the quantitative data
analysis method. Customers in the shop had completed a
self-checkout form while being served their needs.
Responses from 275 customers were collected to
understand the impact of self-service in the loyalty of the
customers.
Results/conclusion The results of the analysis show that self-checkout system
has a positive impact on the satisfaction of the customers.
The loyalty of customer satisfaction can be obtained by
providing customers with an opportunity to gain the
necessary data required materials by choosing among
themselves. This can be considered as a way of improving
the self-efficacy of the customers.
Critique The critique of the article is that it fails to identify the
factors that lead to the satisfaction and loyalty of the
customers. Zsambok and Klein (2014) are of the opinion, a
self-service system may sometimes have a negative impact,
as customers may want the employees of an organisation to
provide proper service.
Gap The gap of the article is that it does not provide a proper
knowledge about the needs of the customers. The focus is

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only on the supermarkets in which customers tend to prefer
to shop by themselves. However, restaurants with self-
service provisions also need to be taken into consideration.
Article 4
Article reference Dabholkar, P. A. (2015). How to improve perceived service
quality by increasing customer participation.
In Proceedings of the 1990 academy of marketing science
(AMS) annual conference (pp. 483-487). Springer, Cham.
Literature The article focuses on the effectiveness of customer
participation and the manner in which it can help in
improving the service quality of organisations. Customers
are considered as main stakeholders and the participation of
the customers is necessary to ensure that service quality of
an organisation improves.
Theoretical
framework/approach
The link between service quality and customer participation
is established. In order to understand the effectiveness of
the customers, it is necessary that the participation is
encouraged so that a proper approach can be obtained by
enhancing the services of an organisation.
Research questions What is the effect of customer participation in improving
the services of an organisation?
Methodology The research has been conducted using secondary sources

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of information. The secondary sources mainly focus on the
works of the various scholars and the manner in which it
can help in understanding the necessities of customer
participation.
Results/conclusion It can be concluded that the participation of customers can
help in improving the service level of organisations.
Customers can provide feedback about the services that
they expect from the organisations and the manner in which
it can be provided to them. This can help in improving the
services.
Critique Chen (2014) is of the opinion that the participation of the
customers cannot be the sole judge for determining or
improving the service quality of organisations. The
participation of the customers cannot be measured directly
and hence the reliability of the information provided by
them cannot help organisations to improve.
Gap The gap in the literature is that the participation of the
customers is not specified. Customer participation can be in
any form and it can provide either positive or negative
feedback for an organisation. The article only analyses the
survey method without giving any emphasis on other
factors that may contribute to the organisation.
Article 5

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Article reference Sguera, F., Sekerka, L. E., & Bagozzi, R. (2017). Self-
Conscious Emotions and Moral Decision Making in
Business. In Academy of Management Proceedings.
Academy of Management Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510.
Literature The literature focuses on the management actions that may
have a severe impact on the decision-making activity of an
organisation. The decision-making activity of people is
important based on the manner in which employees are
motivated to continue to work in the organisations.
Theoretical
framework/approach
The link between the actions undertaken by the managers
and the decision-making activities are established in the
article. The article focuses on the factors that lead to the
decision-making activity in an organisation and the role
played by the managers in the decision-making process.
Research questions What impact can good decisions create for the functioning
of decisions in an organisation?
Methodology The methodology used for the article includes secondary
analysis of data. The works of different scholars on this
particular topic are analysed and based on it the secondary
research is conducted that can help in coming to a proper
conclusion.
Results/conclusion It can be concluded that proper management is necessary to
ensure that the decisions are taken that can help in
conducting research in a proper manner. The managerial

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decisions are based on the self-conscious emotions of the
managers and the manner in which it can help the managers
attain the designated success in the organisations.
Critique Erickson (2016) is of the opinion that the decisions of the
managers are not based on the emotional context. The
manner in which the decisions are taken by the managers is
based on the situation of the organisations and the manner
in which employees respond to the situation.
Gap The gap of the article is that it does not take into the
account any interview method that can help in gaining
insights about the managers. The article provides only one
state of the mind of the managers without focusing on the
necessary factors that may lead to decision-making.
Theme Literature Gap
Importance of customers as
stakeholders
The satisfaction and
contribution of the customers
can help organisations gain a
competitive advantage for an
organisation.
Role of technology in the
modern business as not been
analysed
The relationship between
service quality and customer
satisfaction
Service quality can help in
attaining the satisfaction of
the customers and contribute
Other factors that contribute
to customer satisfaction has

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to switching not been focused.
Importance of self-service to
the satisfaction of customers
The loyalty of the customers
can be attained if the
customers are allowed to
have self-service
The focus has been mainly
on the supermarkets
Importance of customer
participation in improving
service quality
The manner in which
participation of the customers
can help in attaining the
service quality of the
organisations
The negative side of
customer participation is not
analysed in the article.
The emotions behind
managerial actions
Management actions may
have negative as a well
positive impact on
organisations
Management decisions can
be influenced by various
factors in an organisation.
Business problem Literature Research Questions
Involvement of customers The contribution of
customers is necessary for
gaining success
What is the impact that
stakeholders have a business?
Effective of service quality
on customer satisfaction
Service quality is important
for customer satisfaction
What is the impact of service
satisfaction and service
quality on switching
intentions?
The effectiveness of self- The loyalty of the customers What is the link between

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service on customers play an important role in the
success of an organisation
satisfaction of the customers
and the loyalty of the
customers?
The impact of customer
participation for the
satisfaction of services
Service of the organisations
can be improved with an
increased participation of the
customers
What is the effect of
customer participation in
improving the services of an
organisation?
The state at which
managerial decisions are
taken
Good managerial decisions
can help in improving the
level of organisational
success.
What impact can good
decisions create for the
functioning of decisions in an
organisation?
Research Questions
Business problem Literature Research Questions
Quality management in
McDonald’s
In a service organisation,
poor quality may lead to the
loss of the customers. In the
case of McDonald’s, rumours
about the poor quality of the
ingredients of the restaurant
pose a competitive
disadvantage for the
restaurant.
What are the ways by which
managers can ensure proper
quality is maintained in
McDonald’s?

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Research Method
Choice of research method Interview method
Research methods
justification
The benefit of interview method is that it provides detailed
information about the thoughts of a person. It also allows
more detailed questions to be asked (Brinkmann, 2014).
However, the detriments of an interview are that it is a time-
consuming method and setting up an interview can be costly.
Based on the analysis of the research questions it can be said
that the application of the interview method can help in
providing a detailed analysis of the problems for
McDonald’s.
Previous research
justification
In the previous research, the focus group method was used.
The reason for the change in research method is that the
interview can be conducted on the managers and the
perception of the managers can be understood.
Research Plan
Type of questions to be explored
The questions that are to be explored need to be based on the research questions and
progress according to the responses provided by the manager. However, the questions need to
focus on the quality issue that McDonald’s are subjected to without deviating from the topic.
Interview guide:
Tell me about yourself

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How long have you been the manager of this particular franchise of McDonald's?
How do you think quality can be improved in an organisation?
What actions are you taking to improve the quality of the products?
What role do the customers play in this particular problem?
Do you think you gain back the trust of the customers?
What actions are taken to involve customer participation in improving the service quality?
Number of recommended interviews
The interview will be conducted on different franchise owners of McDonald’s. About
three interviews can be recommended to complete the thorough analysis.
Selecting a sample of research participation
The sample of research participation includes the managers of each franchise of
McDonald’s. This may consume time as the number of outlets of the restaurant is more and
the interview method is a time-consuming process. The sample will be selected using a
random sampling method
Location
The location of the interview can be within the franchises of McDonald’s so that an
analysis of the perception of the customers can also be conducted.
Data analysis
The data can be analysed based on the analysis of the transcription of the
interviewees. The use of secondary data, in this case, is required for conducting the data
analysis.

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Ethical implications
While conducting the interview it needs to be kept in mind that the questions remain
aligned with the topic of the research. No such questions can be asked that may indicate
profiling or biased towards an organisation.

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Erickson, N. (2016). 3rd Party Monitors Spur Action in McDonald’s Chinese Food Safety
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Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(2), 118-129.
Power, D. J., Sharda, R., & Burstein, F. (2015). Decision support systems. John Wiley &
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