Management and Operations Report: MacDonald's Case Study Analysis

This report provides an analysis of management and operations within MacDonald's, a global food chain. It begins by defining the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, highlighting their distinct responsibilities in achieving organizational goals. The report then delves into the functions of leaders and managers in various situations, emphasizing the importance of planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating, and controlling business activities. Different leadership theories and models, including situational, systematic, and contingency approaches, are explored to illustrate how leadership styles adapt to changing circumstances. The report also examines approaches to operations management, discussing the role of leaders and managers in optimizing resource utilization, production processes, and communication. The report emphasizes the importance of effective leadership and management for maintaining discipline, profitability, and overall operational efficiency within a complex, global business environment.

Management and operations

Table of Contents
Management and operations .....................................................................1
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Task 1..............................................................................................................................................3
1. Roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager..............................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2.Role of a leader and the function of a manager in different situation....................................4
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach including situational,systematic and
contingency leadership................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Explain the approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
play..............................................................................................................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Following is the report of MacDonald. It is an industry dealing in food chain business since
1940. This firm has many branches in different countries. Good management system is require
to carry out various operations in the business therefore there is a need to study various
approaches to the management and operation system. Mangers perform various function of
managing planning coordinating and controlling the business activities(Talk 2016). Study of
nature of manager and leader is done through this report and also their contribution in different
situation can be studied by understanding different theories and approaches to leadership.
Advantages of both are studied in the light of competition that every business is facing.
Task 1
1. Roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
MacDonald is a big famous brand dealing in the food line business. It has provided employment
to a large number of employees. As the company has its chains throughout the world it becomes
very complex process to manage and keep control over the various activities of the business.
Therefore mangers and leaders help the management of the owners of the company to maintain
discipline and profitability of the business. A good leader is one who motivates a group of
employees to work for the common objective(Jacobs,Chase and Chase 2010). This is done by
connecting the individual goal of the employee with the goal of the organisation. Leaders and
managers both work for the betterment of the company but their styles are different. Mangers has
the responsibility of taking care of the different functions of the organisation where as leader
take the responsibility of a group of employees to get the desired work done from them. In the
MacDonald employee work in different cities in different branches but the process of doing work
is same for all. This is done through managing good leadership by the leaders and keeping
discipline by the mangers of different branches. A manger can be a line manger or manger
appointed for a particular project. Managers are more responsible of the operational activities
whereas leaders are the motivators to the employees. In the organisation leaders give their
contribution towards bringing change and the mangers work on the changed already brought by
the leading authorities(Alderton and Saieva 2013). This is a duty of the employees to listen to
their mangers as they are their head and manager also has to be strict as they are responsible to
get the same work done in the different chains. In case of leadership employees do not obey they

follow. Employees follow their leaders as they consider him as their hero and like to follow
what he says. Mangers take the various decisions and make plans how the task will be done and
the leaders help the mangers to get the task done by the employees. A good leader is one who is
patient, has the ability of influencing others, who can speak on the behalf of a group as only then
the leader will be followed by the employees of the organisation. Manger need to be more
intelligent and disciplined. As they are the decision takers they need to have more knowledge
and also should posses the quality of managing different activities. It also required that manger
should be capable enough of taking important decision in case of emergencies when to
communication with the higher authorities is not possible. As the company is dealing in various
activities there are chances that the manger is required to respond to a particular situation on the
spot therefore for this the manger needs to be a person who can take the responsibility of the
decision taken by him.
TASK 2
P2.Role of a leader and the function of a manager in different situation
As there are various activities involve in the business of MacDonald business there is a needed to
have effective leader and managers in the company. Only of the mangers are effective they can
do the proper planning for the business. It is required to do effective planning about choosing the
best location,setting up the budget,deciding the scale of business for the
expansion(Slack,Chambers and Johnston,2010) . The location is chosen after doing proper study
on the other competitors that are already present near by. As the company deals in the food
product the demand of that location need to be calculated. After the planning is done it is the
function of managers to organise the different activities as per the nature of the work. The
manger organise different departments of the business like the cash department cooking
department selling department etc. each department has given their own responsibility and work
is made clear to them. After this the manger need to do the staffing process. Need of the human
resource is full filled under the staffing process. Recruitment of the employees is done as per the
requirement of each department. Once the staffing is done by the mangers the process of
coordination take place. As there are various activities from producing the product to packaging
it and than delivering it to the ultimate customer there is a need to set coordination in these
activities. Only if the activities are well coordinated the delivery of the product can be done

timely and the profit can be maximised. The most important function of the manger is to keep
control over these various activities. It is done by comparing the end results of each department
with the desired results. If the results do not match than corrective actions are taken by the
mangers accordingly(Slack,2015). Leaders do not have any specific function still they play an
important role in the organisation. They work towards helping the different departments in
achieving their goal. Leader motivates the employees to give their best results. Leaders help the
employees by making their vision clear of the goals. If the employees get deviated from their
paths due to confusion or miss interpretation of the command it is the role of leader to assist the
employee. The leader create the feeling in the employees that in order to achieve individual goal
it is important to first achieve the organisational goal. Leaders help the business to achieve their
targets by making the employees work with their maximum efforts and praising them on regular
basis.
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach including situational,systematic and
contingency leadership
Depending upon various function that a leader has to perform different theories and approaches
were developed after analysing the nature of the leader which need to be change with the change
in the situation. Few theories and approaches to leader ship are:
1.Situational leadership- this theory was developed after analysing the management of working
behaviour. As the business operates in the dynamic environment no leadership style can be said
as the best style of leading. The leader is required to bring change in himself and his style of
leading as per the change in the situation take place. The leadership should be done according to
projects and task that need to be accomplished. If there is a change in the scenario than the
effective leadership will be judged more on the basis of the work assigned rather than on the
leadership strategy. According to the situation the leader direct the employees. It is a one way
communication in which only the leader explaining the team about how the task has to be done
and the employee just follow the instruction of the leader. If the situation is one in which the
continuous coaching is required the leader does the two way communication. This give support
to the employees in doing the given task more effect fully. Delegation is another way how the
leader respond in different situation(Karlsson,2016). Few decision taking powers are delegated
to the employees though the leader keep continuous supervision in task which do not involve

much complex activities or can be done with less supervision . This way the leader use different
approaches of leadership styles according to the different situation
2.Systematic leadership: With the help of systematic leadership approach the importance of the
leaders in the organisation is recognised. It was discovered that how important it is to have
systematic leadership in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation. It
changed the ideology of the mangers by giving affects of leadership results in the total output
and cost efficiency. It was recognised that not always the mangers are reasons for the undesired
results but sometimes it is the system that is more responsible for the deviation the results. It is
possible that initially systematic leadership is found difficult to implement but later its benefits
will make the pains taken to implement systematic approach worth taking.
3.Contingency approach: in this approach the relation between the mangers and the employees
was observed. It was observed that weather the mangers use reward theory for keeping control or
adopt negative approach with the employees. In the positive approach employees use the tool of
incentive plans and other monitory means of motivation(Barratt,Choi and Li,2011 ). In the
negative approach the employees are threaten with the reduction in the pay scale or even
termination f the employee.
TASK 3
P4 Explain the approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play
There are various approaches to operation management: Just –in–time Total quality management
Operation management is the process through which the resource are collected and transformed
in a way so that they can be utilised in the organisation effectively and efficiently. As per the
policies of the organisation value is added to the resources. There is entirely a different team who
checks how the different resources can be utilised in allocating them in different functions for
effective operations. The mangers play an important role in taking decision regarding
distribution of resources into different sectors. This work is carried out by the manger as it
involves proper knowledge and is a more responsible work. The leader motivates the employees
to take effective use of these resources. There is a need of making the employees aware about the
importance of the inputs as only if they are utilised effectively the final output will be beneficial
for the organisation. The operational management deals with the various factors involved in the
production like the cost of production, the speed of producing the product and how flexible the
operating team is(Peng and Lai,2012). The quality is checked by the operation management

system and also that weather all the resources are available with the production team or not. The
mangers take care of the availability of resources with each department and if the resources are
not available than they are made available timely by them. Operation management also figure
out the need of warehousing in the organisation. It figures out how much space will be required
by the different departments to store the inventory. Mangers help in taking the related decisions
of inventory management by keeping the statistical record of the present status of the stock in
warehouse. The leaders check that weather the employees are taking best use of the technology
provided to them. There are chances that the machinery provided to the employees are complex.
Therefore guiding from the leaders are required so that they can take the benefit of the
technology provided. Another approach in the operation management is the communication
approach. Through effective communication the objective to be achieved is made clear to the
mangers and the employees. It helps in giving a single vision to all. If good communication do
not exist in the organisation there are chances that the orders are miss interrupted by the
employees and this will lead to duplication of work and wastage of time.
P5.Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objective:
It is important to have operation management system in the MacDonald so that the company can
achieve high success and more chance of expansion. Good and effective management operation
process helps the company to compete with the other firms dealing in the same business(Chiarini
and Vagnoni2015). Effective operation system helps in reducing the total cost of production by
careful analysing each process involved in the production cycle of a particular product. If proper
process of operations is followed than the cost can be minimised to a great level and also the
total time taken can be reduced. It helps in completing the task in the target time given.
MacDonald is dealing in the food line business here continuous innovation and creativity is
required to attract more customer. If there is noinnovation done with the existing product or
services time comes when the customer starts getting bored of the same taste . As this is a part of
the research and development team which comes under the operation management it again
becomes an important part of the organisation. The operation management helps the research
team to do the study of the market that what the customer is demanding for. The other substitutes
of the market are also analysed to make development and innovations in our own product. It is
an important process for any business to maintain long term existence in the market. It is a

company in which involve maximum of operation activities. Different departments like the
finance department human resource department,marketing department are involved in the
different operating activities. These departments need to forecast the future and take decisions in
the present so that the effects of change can be minimised or the degree of any predictable risk
can be reduced to minimum. In this the financial department need to be more careful as the price
of the product is a very sensitive issue for the customer. Te finance department need to keep
continuous check on the different cost so that the price of the ultimate output remain non
effective. There are various cost involved in the business like fixed cost variable cost marginal
cost etc. total cost of the product is the summation of al these fixed and variable cost and
therefore in order to maintain the competitive pricing strategy it is important to keep control over
these costs. The human resource management department checks the availability of required men
force in the different departments(Akkerman,Farahani and Grunow,2010). As this company is
both labour and capital intensive timely check on the men power is very important. As proper
recruitment process need to be follow for making the human resource available it is important to
start the process of recruitment on time.
As the customer is king for the organisation it is important for the business to have effective
operation management system so that the customer can be satisfied by providing what he wants
and with no compromise done with the quality.
TASK 4
P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational maegement
an decision-making by leaders and mangers.
There are various factors which have there effect on the business environment. Factors can be
internal and external to the business. Management has its control only on the internal factors as
external factors are dynamic and can not be controlled by the business. The internal factors are
identified and are used as a blessing for the organisation. The efforts of the internal factors are
combined and used against converting the threats of the business into opportunity so that the
profitability of the business can be maximised. Factors which affect the business internally can
be divided into various parts like the following:
Organisational and operations- It is an important internal factor which has its major effect in the
supply chain and hence on the profitability. If the operations are not carried out accordingly than
the profitability of the business will decrease due to the increase of total cost. Operations need to
be effectively carried out so that the supply chain remains non effected.

Employee risk- Employees are the main assets of any business. Therefore it is important to keep
the employees satisfied with the organisation in order to control the labour turnover of the
company. In MacDonald employees work for almost the whole day so it is very important for
them to work in the healthy environment. Only if the employees feel happy to work in the
organisation they will work with there maximum inputs and full dedication. Otherwise company
will have to bear the training cost in regular interval due to increase turnovers.
Strength of an individual- if the employees of the organisation are highly skilled and dedicated
towards their work than this is a blessing for the company(Turner,2014). Skilled labour take
effective use of the resource which lead to less wastage and also increase in the cost efficiency.
In this training and motivation can also help in bringing better results from the employees in
comparison to those who are less trained and motivated to give their best.
Innovation- It is an important factor that also contributes in the profitability of the business. If
innovation is done in the existing product or the method of doing operations it will help in the
expansion. Customers get attracted towards new products and therefore through this more market
can be covered(Ashford,Coutu and Beasley,2013). Also by adopting innovation in the techniques
the charm of doing work in the organisation can be maintained.
Operational decision- It is associated with the lower level management authorities. Activities of
day to day nature are operated at this level. They require less supervision and less decision taking
process.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the MacDonald can increase its efficiency by
establishing good leadership in the organisation. Various approaches to training an d
development can be appointed for the same. In order to expect expansion company need to focus
on product innovation and by having establishing good management operating system in the
organisation. Company need to keep its employees motivated and maintain a good environment
in the organisation to minimise the turnovers and make stand in the tough competition that is
present in the market.

REFRENCES
Books and journals:
Talk, O.M., 2016. Operations management.
Jacobs, F.R., Chase, R.B. and Chase, R., 2010. Operations and supply chain management.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Alderton, P. and Saieva, G., 2013. Port management and operations. Taylor & Francis.
Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnston, R., 2010. Operations management. Pearson education.
Slack, N., 2015. Operations strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Karlsson, C. ed., 2016. Research Methods for Operations Management. Routledge.
Barratt, M., Choi, T.Y. and Li, M., 2011. Qualitative case studies in operations management:
Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications. Journal of Operations
Management.29(4).pp.329-342.
Peng, D.X. and Lai, F., 2012. Using partial least squares in operations management research: A
practical guideline and summary of past research. Journal of Operations
Management.30(6). pp.467-480.
Chiarini, A. and Vagnoni, E., 2015. World-class manufacturing by Fiat. Comparison with Toyota
production system from a strategic management, management accounting, operations
management and performance measurement dimension. International Journal of
Production Research.53(2). pp.590-606.
Akkerman, R., Farahani, P. and Grunow, M., 2010. Quality, safety and sustainability in food
distribution: a review of quantitative operations management approaches and
challenges. Or Spectrum.32(4). pp.863-904.
Turner, J.R., 2014. The handbook of project-based management (Vol. 92). New York, NY:
McGraw-hill.
Ashford, N., Coutu, P. and Beasley, J., 2013. Airport operations.
Tang, O. and Musa, S.N., 2011. Identifying risk issues and research advancements in supply
chain risk management. International journal of production economics.133(1).pp.25-34.
ONLINE
Introduction to Operations Management,2017[Online]Available
through:<https://www.coursera.org/learn/wharton-operations>.[Accessed on 12th April
2017].