Training and Development Methods

This assignment explores various training and development methods. It delves into the characteristics of communicable and non-communicable diseases, highlighting their differences. The document emphasizes effective communication as a crucial aspect of any successful organization, referencing its impact on team performance and goal achievement. Lastly, it touches upon employability skills development within the context of higher education institutions.

Strategic Management
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................3
TASK 1................................................................................................................................. 3
Evaluate the strategic capability of McDonald's...............................................................3
Evaluate the environment facing of McDonald's..............................................................4
Identify the major issues relating to ethics and social responsibility of McDonald's.........5
TASK 2................................................................................................................................. 6
Propose a range of plausible alternative future strategies for McDonald's.......................6
Identify and justify the strategy that McDonald's should pursue in the future...................7
TASK 3................................................................................................................................. 8
Explain and justify the balance of intended and emergent approaches to strategy formation
applies at McDonald's...................................................................................................... 8
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................... 9
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Strategic management can be defined as the process through which formulation and
implementation are to be done to make the effective strategies for the organization in achieving the
major goals and objectives. The strategies are made by the top management which considers the
resources as well as internal and external environment at the time of making strategies and plans
(Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). For conducting the current research, McDonald's has been chosen.
This company deals with hamburger fast food restaurants which is the world's largest organization in
fast food. The organization’s effective strategies have made them one of the best fast food chains in
the UK. This report will emphasize on the strategic capability and environment audit of the chosen
firm. Furthermore, it will also evaluate various issues which are related to ethics and social
responsibility. In addition to this, the future strategies are to made in which one best will be selected
and the desired strategy will be formulated in the organization.
TASK 1
Evaluate the strategic capability of McDonald's
Strategic Capability can be referred as the business ability which constitutes of the competitive
strategies which acts as a successful for the organization to incurred profitability. The other word for
the strategic capabilities can be core competency which can be known as the competitive advantage
of the organization. There are various strategic capabilities of McDonald's which are as follows:
Secret Recipe
The company has its special recipe which cannot be copied by its competitors. This is because
if the recipe got popular than the firm will lose its strategic capability in the market place (Tarzian and
Force, 2013). So for this, confidential agreements are to be signed which include information about
the company and it is known by the selected people.
Cost Leadership
It is one of the strategic capabilities of the company in which they have reduced the price of the
product without cutting the quality of the product. McDonald's has maintained this strategy to attract
large number of customers by enjoying the economies of large scale.
Market leadership
As the company is one of the largest burger fast food organizations in the world, it is itself one
of the big advantages for it. By joint venturing with the Coca Cola, the company has made its
reputation more strong because both the firm's target market is attracted towards both franchises
(McDonald's Works to Mainstream Sustainability, 2011). Moreover, the business enterprise has many
outlets in the other countries and its competitors are few so it has become the market leader.
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Strong Value Chain
This chain deals with enhancement of the customer value which results in series of activities
such as logistic operations and services. The value chain of the chosen company is strong, as it is
meeting with objectives and goals of the customers.
Product line Enhancements
The organization product line is very vast which caters into various types of products and
services (Mellahi and Frynas, 2015). McDonald's segmenting is appropriate in targeting customers
which helps in increasing its productivity which results in increment in revenue. This can be strategic
capability for the company because they are marketing products with the combination of culture
differences and international standards.
Evaluate the environment facing of McDonald's
The environment facing can be done through the environmental audit that is PESTLE analysis
through which the major issues can be identified and they are as follows:
Political factors
McDonald's is following rules and regulations of the country in which they are opening their
business which are related to health and hygiene (McDonald's, 2016). It is difficult for the company to
start their business in new countries because some of the organizations have restricted the junk food.
The current turmoil which is in between the American Russian can be one of the issues.
Economic factors
The interest rates and tax rates of any country can be the issue for the company because it will
affect profitability of the organization (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2012). Through the ongoing
recession period, it also affects the company’s reputation and its market share.
Social factors
In some of the countries, they are restricting the junk because it is affecting health of the
people so it is the big problem for the chosen organization to manage their business (Yüksel, 2012).
As the people are becoming more busy with their lifestyle so they prefer type of food which is one of
the merits for the business.
Technological factors
The company is successfully in dealing with the research and development activity so that they
can also environment and work accordingly. The company uses upgraded technology which is helping
in the management to increase its productivity and assisting by reducing the time and resources. The
retail outlets of McDonald's is providing free Wi-Fi connection and computing devices to their
customers to attract them (What is PESTLE Analysis? A Tool for Business Analysis, 2016).
Legal factors
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The organization is adhering with many rules and regulations in their business so that their
business can run successfully. There are many legal requirements which are followed by McDonald's
such as labour and employment law, corporate law and various tax requirements etc.
Environmental factors
If the company is operating its business operations then it should also take care about various
aspects in which one factors can considered as environment. The issues which are related to
environment are air and water pollution and its packaging materials (Gamble and Thompson Jr, 2014).
But the company is taking initiatives in making corporate environment programs and sustainable
business strategies through which they can take care of the environment as well as maintain their
company’s image.
By analysing the above environment audit, it shows that there are some issues which should
be take into considerations to make an effective future strategy for McDonald's. The first issue is the
political framework which restricts junk food from entering in countries. This is because it is providing
impact on the health and hygiene of the people (Stead and Stead, 2013). Secondly, the ongoing
recession period is major issues which are affecting profitability of the organization. The purchasing
power of the customers is not that strong which can buy any products and services at high prices. The
other main problems are pollution which is increased by packaging of products which is provided by
McDonald's for their food products. These above stated issues should be analysed in making
effective future strategy for the organization.
Identify the major issues relating to ethics and social responsibility of
McDonald's
The major issues which is facing by McDonald's at the current time which is related to the
ethics and social responsibility should be considered in making future strategy. The ethical and social
issues can major related to the health in which countries are restricting the junk food to entered
because it has lots of issues (Hair and et.al., 2012). The issues can be leading to the obesity,
cardiovascular difficulties and high cholesterol which is affecting the customers body so the
government is restricting the McDonald's. As the lifestyle of the people are changing so their tastes,
preferences and expectations from the food is also changing. So to meet their expectations the
company has to make the food accordingly. Because of the healthy lifestyle trend, people are
becoming health conscious and wanting fewer calorie and fat free food products so that it can affect
the body. The other major issues which is McDonald's is facing is related to the ethical and social
responsibility is using the polystyrene packaging in their sandwiches. This is causing the environment
wrath in the people as well in the society (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). This is because it affecting the
people's health and causing many health related problems.
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TASK 2
Propose a range of plausible alternative future strategies for McDonald's
The strategies are important part of the organization which formulates and implemented to
target the goals and objectives and able to achieve the organizational profitability. To make an
effective strategy for the McDonald's, certain types of issues are to be needed which are considered
so that these mistakes can't able to make next time. The various strategies are as follows:
Ansoff Matrix Model
In this, there are four growth strategies which is can be used by the McDonald's to imp[lement
it in their organization. The four factors of these are as given below:
Market Penetration
In this, the company tries to developed their existing offerings in new one so that the market
share gets increased in the current marketplace. In this, the products and services tries to grow with in
the segmentation markets (Dobbin and Baum, 2014). The company here, do the promotion so that
more customers gets attracted. This can be accomplished by acquisition, promotion, modest products
refinements etc.
Market Development
In this, the organization tries to increases their market share by expanding their business in
new markets that countries by its existent products. This can accomplished by the various aspects
such as different customers segments and foreign markets (Lasserre, 2012). This strategies helps in
economies of scale if output is increased and buyers will gets benefits from this strategy.
Product Development
In this, company makes new products and services in which they target their existing markets
so that they can achieve the market growth which results in more profitability. In the other words, the
product lines gets extended to attracted large number of the customers (Vogel and Güttel, 2013). This
can be obtained by the research development for the new products, through acquisitions of rights,
branding and joint development with other company.
Diversification
In this, the company wants to grow their market share by producing more new products for
their customers. It is to be considered as the risk strategy in which both products and markets needs
the developments (Mahoney and Qian, 2013). It is the strategy for the company growth through new
developments and technologies are needed to establish the strategy.
Market Entry strategies
It is the planned method which delivers goods and services to the newer target market. There
are some organizations which successfully operates in a niche market without considering to sell in
the new markets. In this strategy, the company can achieve the increasing sales, brand awareness
and business stability to entered in the new market (Fisher III and Oberholzer-Gee, 2013). The market
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strategy involves analysis of different competitors and the desired customers. In the market entry,
there comprises of various strategies and they are licensing, franchising, exporting, joint ventures,
outsourcing etc.
Identify and justify the strategy that McDonald's should pursue in the
future
The two strategies has been shown in above scenario in which Two strategy has been chosen
which is best for the McDonald's. The future strategies which has been chosen for the company are
market penetration and product development strategies of the Ansoff Matrix Model. These two
strategies will resolved the issues which has been occurred from the various aspects of the
organization in which the firm not able to meet the expectations of their target market (Bergh and
et.al., 2014). These two strategies are for the two issues by which the organization can resolve their
issues and able to make an effective strategy for the McDonald's. Through this, their profitability will
remain intact and the company image and reputation will gets affected. The two strategies with its
aspects are as follows:
Market Penetration
As it is stated that, it is the strategy which used for the existing products and services for the
existent markets. The issue for which this strategy will used is polystyrene packaging which is using
by the McDonald's in packing their sandwiches which is affecting the heath and hygiene of the people
so the government and society is banning this type of packaging (Scherer, Palazzo and Seidl, 2013).
As the customers are against the packaging of the this polystyrene packaging and after changing
into . Thus, this packaging is affecting the people health, so the company should come up with new
strategy that is using of the paper based packing. In which company should came up with the different
designs and variations to attracted their existing customers other packaging then it will able to gather
more customers.
Through this, many countries will able to allow this type of packaging and the consumers which
left the McDonald's only for packaging will return for purchase the products. So the company should
used the environment friendly packaging for their food so that eco- friendly people gets attracted and
purchase their products. Through this, the profitability and market share of the organization can gets
increased. As the McDonald's is also taking part in the CSR initiatives such as participating in saving
energy by shutting off their electricity for an hour each year (Sakas Vlachos and Nasiopoulos, 2014).
To increases the sales which has gone down can be accomplished through various promotional tools
such as advertising, attractive packaging in which vouchers and discount coupons are been offered
and other product refinements.
Product Development
Here, the organization extended in the new markets which are comprises of new target
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markets but with the existing products and services. The issue for which this strategy is used is
increasing of the junk food. As per the research and development, there are many countries which are
not supporting the junk food in their borders. This is because it affecting the customers' health and
hygiene. So for this product development are needed for the food products which helps the
organization after implementing in the future strategy. In addition to this, as the people are becoming
more health conscious so they are preferring the foods which has fewer calorie and no saturated fats
(Boguslauskas and Kvedaraviciene, 2015). This is because the fast food is leading to the obesity ,
health problems which are later results in increase of the fat in the body as well as lung cancer. So to
avoid this type of health related problems, the company should come up for new effective strategy that
is to developed the food product line of the McDonald's.
As people are preferring the balanced diet, so the firm should put labels on their food products
which mentions the nutritional value of the meal. If the there are nutritional value inscribed on it, then
interested will buy the particular products. Furthermore, as lot of the people is preferring the organic
food so the company can extend its products lines by offering salads, fruits, milk and smoothies so
that diet conscious people also gets attracted. By implementing this new strategy in the business
enterprise, the strategy should be according to the tastes, preferences and lifestyles of the customers
as well as try meet their expectations (Rothaermel, 2015). Through implementing these strategies as
the future strategies, McDonald's can gain sales and bale to increase their profitability which results
into the expanding of the market share.
TASK 3
Explain and justify the balance of intended and emergent approaches to
strategy formation applies at McDonald's
These are the are two approaches which are needed in the strategy formation which should be
balanced and able to assists in the different environmental contexts when applied in the chosen
organization and these both are as discussed and as given below:
Intended approach
This approach is most suits to the organization who comes under the Bureaucratic company.
This approach is made appropriate when it well structured and regulated. This approach thinks mostly
rely on the planning for formulating the strategies for the business firm (Killen and et.al., 2012). By
using of the data, the top management can create the strategy. In this, the company makes effective
strategies through planning which should be further makes into creative decisions in which the finance
are little required but have different strategies.
Emergent approach
This approach is founded by the Henry Mintzberg who states that strategies are to be
unplanned and should be developed as the time passes and able to adapt the change (Mintzberg's
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Model, 2014). In addition to this, this approach also asserted that the strategies should be evolved
through the act of learning, adjustment and experimentation. Furthermore, this approach leads to the
more creative and responsive strategy which are more suited to the high competitive modern
environment.
Example of strategic initiatives
The example of McDonald's which has been used in intended approach is that the market
expansion. In which company thinks about the expansion and for that they makes the strategies which
should be successful. This is because if it is successful then the existing market will be extend as well
as able to build an effective company's image and reputation. For the long term profit, the intended
approaches has been used with the planning so that effective decisions are to be take at time of
strategy formation (Godoy and Naidich, 2012). On the other hand, example for the emergent
approach are the new and advanced technologies. In this, the company never plans that it will gets
that much successful in the future but as per to the adaptability, the technology gets its extensions and
liked by all their desired customers. According to the modern aspects, the technology is adaptable by
all so there is no need of the planning in making any strategies.
The above stated strategies also keep the balance between the intended and emergent
approaches to formulate any effective strategy. The market penetration is the strategy which comes
emergent approach because here, the planning is not that necessary to make any strategies. This
because in this, according to the customers' needs and requirements, the strategies has been made
to target the desired customers (McDonald's, 2016). Whereas, product development strategies come
under the intended approach in which planning are necessary factor. This because to developed any
products, the planning are required to meet the expectations of the customers and able to increase
their profitability and market share.
CONCLUSION
In this report, it has been concluded that strategic management is an important aspect which
helps in making the effective strategies as well as plans for the organization. The strategic
capabilities of the McDonald's has been discussed with various its core competencies. Furthermore,
the environmental. Ethical, social issues related organizations are to be evaluated. In addition to this,
after analysing the issues, two effective strategies has been chosen which will helps in resolving the
issues of the organization. Moreover, the strategy formation process has been discussed in the report.
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REFERENCES
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Online
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<http://news.mcdonalds.com/press-releases/mcdonald-s-works-to-mainstream-sustainability-
nyse-mcd-0835223>. [Accessed on 27th May 2016].
McDonald's. 2016. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome.html>.
[Accessed on 27th May 2016].
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