Analysis of Leadership and Management in McDonald's Operations

This report provides an in-depth analysis of leadership and management practices within McDonald's, a prominent fast-food chain. The introduction defines leadership and management, highlighting their importance in achieving organizational goals. Task 1 delves into the distinct roles and characteristics of managers and leaders, contrasting their responsibilities and illustrating their impact on McDonald's operations. It examines the Mintzberg's roles of managers and different leadership theories. Task 2 explores operational management, emphasizing its significance in aligning with business objectives, and identifying factors that influence operational decision-making. The report further examines different leadership approaches, such as situational, systematic, and contingency leadership, and their application within the context of McDonald's. The report also provides insights into how McDonald's can improve its sales by making changes in its pricing policy and offering more combo packs to attract customers and retain their market share. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the importance of effective leadership and management in the success of McDonald's.

Management & Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
A. Roles and characteristics of manager and leaders.............................................................3
B. Examination of role of a leader and function of manager in different situations..............5
C. Theories and models of leadership approach.....................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
A. Key approaches to operation management and the role that leaders and managers play..7
B. Importance and value of operation management in achieving the business objectives.....8
C. Factors which impact on operational management and decision making process by leaders
and managers........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
The individuals or experts within a business corporation who possess some special kind
of talent, potential and capabilities which are essentially required and collectively regarded by
the organisation and are termed as leaders and are related to the operational activities and the
functionalities which are to be performed by these experts and also the ability of attaining these
goals is known as the leadership quality(Closs. Speier and Meacham. 2011). Management
includes all the activities so that they can make a strategy for the business organisation. Along
with this they have to put more efforts so that they can coordinate the proper activities which will
helps the business entity in attaining the goals and objectives. Moreover the mechanisms and the
techniques can be used by the organisation for the smooth and flawless running of the business
activities which can be complex and complicated. The leadership is an ability which helps the
employee to attain the organizational goals with the help of teamwork. The present scenario is
focused on analysis which has been carried out on McDonald's which is one of the largest brands
and a chain of fast food restaurants. The report has evaluated different approaches and theories of
leadership along with the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches that are suitable for
the situations within working environment.
TASK 1
A. Roles and characteristics of manager and leaders
Mangers and leaders are the most important people of an organisation and they are
having a big responsibility to make the organisation successful in its sector (Melville, 2010.).
Manager is a person who is responsible for higher authority to generate their desired work from
employees. Management style is a set of different methods which is used by the managers in
managing the business entity or group of people. The company members have to use the
appropriate management style so that the employees can not face any obstacles and on the basis
of that they can do qualitative work. McDonald is having various managers in their
organisational structure as per the departments and they are having their own departmental duties
to be fulfilled. A leader is the strength of organisation as they leading the employees who
contribute in the success of business. They spread a motivational environment in company.
Leaders are the important part of company and they require at every level of management.
Managers and leaders; both are having their separate roles and characteristics in organisation.

They are the pillars of company. Here is the comparison in between their roles and
characteristics.
Managers are having many types of roles in the McDonald. As per management roles
given by Mintzberg, manager is having ten different roles that are divided into three parts. These
are stated as below: Informational Category: Manager is having three types of roles in this and they are
disseminator, monitor and spokesperson. Manager gives information related to the work
and also assists in the decision making process.
 Decisional Category: Manager is having responsibility to make decisions and in this
category, he acts like entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator.
Leaders are having their roles like communicator, thinker, decision-maker, policy-maker,
team leader and image builder. They are having some theories which can be applied in the
organisation like transactional, contingency, great man, trait, behavioural and transformational
theories. These theories help in performing tasks effectually. Leaders are the authoritative
personalities and managers are to be considered as the helping hand for them. (Houy, Fettke and
Loos, 2010.). Setting targets, framing policies and strategies for organisation is the responsibility
of leaders and they have to use their expertise to convey their role to employees in company.
Managers are the people who have to follow the strategy and implement it among their
subordinates. Here is differentiation in between the role of a leader and function of manager
which can be explained like:
Analysing future: Leaders have potential to analyse their future which is one of their
duties. Food industry is a fast growing sector and this is a morale responsibility of them to
analyse the future expectations of their customers. They can use contingency theory for the same.
On the other hand, managers do not make analysis of their future. They can make assessment for
their future needs on the basis of remaining targets. They can use participative management style
and they have to integrate their employees to make analysis of their resources.
Policy Maker: Leaders are the policy makers for their organisation. After analysis, they
have to make policy for their future which can help them to attain their organisational goals.
They have to follow democratic leadership style to make policies for their future (AbouRizk,
2010.). McDonald is having several employees who have connection with their customers and
so, leaders can adopt democratic leadership style and make their collective efforts to know the

expectations of their customers related to prices and products. Managers are the part of this
process and they can give suggestions to make these policies.
Democratic leadership style is that style in which members of the group do the more
participation in the process of decision making so that they can make a correct decision and by
that every employee get a opportunity to share their ideas and by that company members can
attain the goals and objectives.
B. Examination of role of a leader and function of manager in different situations
McDonald is having their stores in many cities and they have to make their consistent
performance and keep customers satisfied by their services. Leader is having his own
responsibilities. The cited restaurant is facing heavy competition by KFC and Subway
(Gimenez,Sierra and Rodon, 2012.). Their sales is going down in this current financial year so,
this is the time to make competitive policies and some strategies to beat the competition. Leaders
have to make new strategies to make this competition tough for them. They have to make new
pricing policy to give and start some new combo pack with minimum price. Leaders are having a
role which is making policy for a time to retain their market and give an extra boost in their sale.
They have to make a target for next year and some changes in the pricing policies. So, they have
to start analysing the needs of customers and prevailing competition in the market. They have to
cut down their rates or give some extra benefits to their customers to regain their sale level.
After the same, they have to use effective pricing strategies which can help them to increase their
sales. They can use competition pricing to make a healthy rivalry with KFC and Subway. They
can give some offers and discount on those products that are getting down in the sale (Ashby,
Leat and Hudson-Smith, 2012.). After that, they have to motivate their sales team and they can
give them instructions related to the sale. Apart from that, they can give suggestions to increase
the sale of their products. They have to use their skills in the sale and also, they need to instruct
their employees to take feedback for their products after customers have used the offered
products and services.
Managers are having role to manage their departmental activities continuously for which
they have to make decisions for their routine work. McDonald is having their online portal to
take orders from their customers. Some customers do not get satisfied by their order which they
have placed to company. In this situation, it is the role of manager to make communication clear

with customers regarding their complaint and give them a perfect reason or a solution for this.
This is a liaison function of manager and they have to face the customer and find out reason
behind their dissatisfaction. Manager is liable to reduce these types of mistakes by their end.
Along with that, they have to sort out these kinds of issues as soon as possible. After carrying out
the investigation process they have to make necessary alterations and make the necessary
improvements(Clausen and et. al.2010.). They have to make their services better and so, they can
arrange a staff meeting to know their work level and problems related to work. This is the duty
of manager to find out needs of their employees. In case, if they are not working as per
company’s expectations, they have to give them proper on the job training to clarify their issues
and problems (Richey and et.al., 2010.). Manager has to revise their whole supply chain and
also, he needs to monitor them.
Thus, these are different situations where managers and leaders are having their own
duties and responsibilities in McDonald which they have to perform. Decreasing sale is a sign to
make changes in the pricing policy and they are doing this in a perfect manner.
C. Theories and models of leadership approach
Situational Leadership: It is a type of theory which is highly believed to make changes
according to the need of development in organisation. McDonald is working on international
level and it is facing different situations in various regions and they have to make changes
accordingly (Nath, Nachiappan and Ramanathan, 2010.). Restaurant is dealing in the food
catering sector so they have to analyse the demand of their customers. Competitors of cited firm
are providing special combo packs in festive seasons so, now company is also required to make
changes in their packages. This is a situation when leaders have to use democratic leadership
style and include employees in their policies and decision making process. Leaders have to use
their expertise to have effective leadership in the organisation. If they are facing a situation
where they are losing their targeted market, they have to use their strength to manage their sales.
Systematic Leadership: An organisation has to make a systematic development in their
work style which gives them extra impact on their production level. A leader knows about the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of employees as well as of the firm. So, they
have to work for managing their strength for long-time and also, they need to improve the
weaknesses of business. They have to make targets to reduce their fragility. McDonald is
offering delicious burgers and other stuff but they are not getting the desired level of sale for

which they have to improve their marketing strategy. Their competitor firms are making
promotional videos so, they also have to use the same. They have to make promotion of their
products in a systematic manner (Lun, 2011.).
Along with that, they need to set their target market and analyse the best medium of
promotion. After the same, they have to make a healthy promotional campaign which is having a
brief of their product and characteristics. Leaders have to ensure about their priorities in which
increase in sale is the biggest one for company. They have to use their potential in a systematic
way and expertise step by step. Also, they need to make efforts for increasing their sales for
which they can use discount offers along with some combo packs that can attract their customers
and increase the sales (Brandenburg and et.al.,2014.).
Contingency Leadership: it is a kind of leadership in which the consequences cannot b
predicted but these outcomes are possible to occur for an example if the leader is working with
confidence then the outcome of containing such confidence will be sure but in what way they
will come shall not be predicted. In the same manner if the person of focus in leadership is doing
work then the outcomes will be positive but in what manner it will come cannot be predicted. In
whole it can be said that it is a kind of leadership in which possible outcomes will establish but
prediction of such cannot be determined. They have to motivate them by making effective
communication. Leaders of McDonald have to give inspiration that will help the employees in
performing their tasks. (Behrouzi and Wong, 2011.).
TASK 2
A. Key approaches to operation management and the role that leaders and managers play
In the entity, operation manager has to ensure that they have to perform the operations
effectively and efficiently that will help in attaining the goals and objectives in the pre-
determined manner. The members of McDonald's have to ensure that the activities which are
related to operations is helpful in attaining the targets (Ageron. Gunasekaran and
Spalanzani.2012.). Company members have to establish an effective process which is related
with the operations carried out by business which involves the development of strategy. Few
traits of operation manager are:-
Realistic: In McDonald's, employees are the valuable resources and they have to
communicate with the staff in a better way which helps in attaining success. Company members

have to deliver the hard facts. Along with this, they have to provide constructive feedback that
will help the employees in finding out the areas where improvements are required.
Looks for efficiency: The managers help in the optimising the process which will aid in
reduction of the costs (Carter and Liane Easton.2011.). Along with this, company members have
to focus on the production cost, product’s quality and involvement of workers which will help in
maximising excess time along with cost and by the same, company members can attain specified
goals and objectives.
Focuses on quality: According to this concept the focus should be given on quality and
this will give a surety of for the value at the source. By focusing on the quality the employees
will help the organization in maintaining the productive teams.
Company members have to do proper management which helps in attaining the success. Along
with this, they have to encourage the employees that they have to do the best work by which they
can improve the performance and attain maximum profit along with improving the growth of
firm in market.
Leaders and managers play an important role in McDonald’s that helps in attaining
success. Company members need to have proper control along with balancing the power among
different groups which will help in increasing the level of competition. They have to use proper
ways which help in attaining the goals and have to solve the problems so that they can attain
success in the market. However, under leadership, company members have to make proper
efforts so that they can fulfil all the requirements that will help in attaining the success. Along
with this, they have to perform proper functions and operations effectively and efficiently at
different levels so that they can maintain the status and would work with higher responsibility
(Wu and Pagell, 2011.). Leaders have to make the teams so that they can assign different roles
and responsibilities to them that will help in attaining success or set goals of firm. Along with
this they, have to frame the policies or strategies also. On the other hand, managers are those
who implement policies or strategies that will be helpful in attaining the maximum profit.
B. Importance and value of operation management in achieving the business objectives
Total Quality management defines the approach which is related to management so that
they can attain the long term success through consumers satisfaction. All the members of the
business entity participate in process so that they can do the improvements in products as well as

services. Six sigma is a set of management techniques which intended to improve the business
process by reducing the probability so that error will occur.
Understanding the concept of operation management is of utmost importance for the
organization as it is a significant part of business. Operation management is simply involved in
converting raw materials to finished units of output (Dekker, Bloemhof, and Mallidis, 2012.).
Performance of operations department affects the overall work of enterprise as this is the
department that carriers out the procedure of producing units of outputs through which company
earns profit margins and thereby delivers services to its customers as well as various
stakeholders. International business development has modified the concept of operation
management. Operation management has a wider scope including all activities carried out for the
completion of production process. Operation management department is an equally important
department as compared with other functional divisions within organization. Effective
implementation of various managerial techniques and procedures by a skilled and experienced
operation manager can affect other departmental functions too. The importance of operation
management is explained as below:
 Operation management is concerned with obtaining required raw materials for carrying
out the production procedure effectively (Akkerman, Farahani and Grunow, 2010.).

 Necessary details regarding information on required raw material or inputs for production
are provided after when detailed analysis is carried out by the production department.
 Operation management department also provides information on personnel which is
required to carry out the production process which also involves an effective utilization
of each unit of output.
 Maximum units of outputs can be produced through efficient and effective utilization of
units of inputs.
 Each of the resources such as plant and machinery as well as land available with the
organization is utilized to produce specific number of units (Galindo and Batta, 2013.).
 Research work on procedure is carried out previously to make required modifications in
the production process.
 Operation management department ensures successful completion of each activity to
ensure completion of each on time.

 Operation management department gives complete brief on units of output that will be
produced including details on characteristics to be included.
 After receiving information from operation department, company can start planning for
promotional and distributional activities (Cronin Jr and et. al., 2011.).
 Without proper data and information on units of output to be produced, organization
cannot carry out further activities.
 Operation management department designs plans to effectively allocate resources
available to different working groups that are responsible for carrying out various tasks
for achievement of common goals and objectives.
 Successful performance of operational functions directly impacts the chain of various
functional departments positively to a greater extent.
 Each of the activity of operational department must be performed effectively which must
also include measuring the performance for controlling and managing complex
organizational structure of McDonald’s (Yang, Hong and Modi, 2011.).
Value of Operation Management: Operational functions are of tremendous value for
the cited organization. Considering the importance of same as mentioned above, value of
operational functions have been included as below:
 The task of obtaining required inputs at possible least cost is accomplished by this
department. Least cost of resources is extremely important for the organization as it adds
the value of cost leadership to business. As observed, meals provided by McDonald’s
carry cheaper cost for purchasing the same.
 Effectiveness of operational functions has enabled company to attain differentiation as
against other rivals in the industry (Sarkis, Zhu and Lai, 2011.).
 Positive brand image of company has been developed all over the globe among
customers belonging to various cultural background on account of cost efficient products
provided at number of outlets throughout the globe with easy access to purchase the
offerings with minimum cost.
C. Factors which impact on operational management and decision making process by leaders and
managers
Companies operating worldwide are having various factors which put a huge impacts on
the operational management and decision making done by leaders and managers. McDonald is

having a specific procedure for decision making by their leaders (Mollenkopf, Frankel and
Russo, 2011.). Some factors which influence the operational management and decision making
done by leaders and management are as follows:
Board of Directors: Board members are the most senior people of company and
management has to perform their operations after taking their permission. Manager is the person
who works under the top level management and these are board of directors. They are the senior
leaders who formulate policy for company. So, they have to make their operations according to
their guidelines. Operational management is highly affected by them. McDonald has to make
their production and services according to board of directors.
Staff Members: Other factors for management is staff members,They have to make their
targets as their capabilities allow them to attain (Tang and Musa, 2011.). In order to attain the
objectives and goals of the company will have to provide the necessary training and development
to the staff members. So, this can take place only with the help of training. Manager have to
analyse the type of training they want to provide to their employees. McDonald is having
different types of teams to perform their work. They have to give them proper training depending
on their need. Thus, it can be said that this factor is influencing the operational management.
Political: This is a factor which directly impacts the decision making process. Leader of
McDonald has to take various decisions for their trade. He has to make contract with government
to start a new branch in the market. Change in government policy put a direct impact on the
decision.
Employee relations: Healthy employee relation can make good decisions and each
organisation has to make strong relations in between the employees and employers (Subramanian
and Ramanathan, 2012.). McDonald is having several departments and they involve their
employees in the decision making process. If the employee relation is poor in organisation, they
do not make useful decisions. Actually employees do not get attached and feel collective in the
decision making process if they are having poor relations with the management (Peng and Lai,
2012.).
Morale Ethics: The concept explains that the company should carry out and follow some
of the morale ethics which are essentially significant for the company. It is a factor which is
making influence on the decision making process of firm. McDonald is having moral ethics in

their work so they are having highly committed employees. This is the reason; they can make
better decisions for their future.
Customer: In food and beverage sector, all decisions and operational management is
focused on the customers. It can be said that customer's demands, choices and tastes are making
a straight impact on company's operations. They have to make their activities as per customer's
wants (Barratt, Choi and Li, 2011). A firm works to fulfil the requirement of customers and this
is the responsibility of company to make their products as they want.
These are some factors which are putting a direct impact on the operational management
and decision making of company.
CONCLUSION
From the above carried out analysis, it has been observed that there are different roles and
responsibilities of leaders and managers and they have to fulfil the same as they have to do work
with rendering the best quality. Along with this, they have to use appropriate leadership models
that will help in attaining the success and targets. Further, company members have to perform
operations in a proper way as well as decisions must be taken effectually so that specified goals
and targets can be achieved within stipulated time-frame.

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