Management and Operations at McDonald's: A Leadership Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of leadership and operations management within McDonald's. It begins by differentiating the roles and characteristics of modern leaders and managers, highlighting their distinct approaches to creativity, execution, risk-taking, and relationship-building. The report then examines the specific roles of leaders and the functions of managers within McDonald's, emphasizing their responsibilities in strategic planning, resource allocation, employee motivation, and operational control. Furthermore, it explores various leadership theories and models, including situational and systems leadership, and how these are applied in the context of McDonald's operations. The report also discusses key approaches to operations management, the importance of these approaches in achieving business objectives, and the factors within the business environment that influence operational decisions. The analysis covers aspects such as waste reduction, productivity improvement, and customer satisfaction, providing a comprehensive overview of McDonald's management strategies.

Management and
Operations

Contents
INTRODCTION........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1....................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Roles and characteristics of a modern leader and a manager .....................................................3
P 2 Role of leader and function of manager within McDonald..........................................................5
P 3 Theories and models of leadership approaches...........................................................................6
TASK 2....................................................................................................................................................8
P 4 Key approaches to operations management and role of leader and management.....................8
P 5 Importance and value of operation management in achieving business objectives....................9
P 6 Factors within business environment affecting operation management and decision..............11
CONCLSION .........................................................................................................................................12
REFERNCES..........................................................................................................................................14

INTRODCTION
As there is a cut throat competition in today market, every business organisation has
to compete with best operation management to gain maximum profit in the long term. The
manager and leaders of firm play a vital role in providing quality product to customers and
satisfy them to capture market share in food industry (White, 2016). As every person has
different taste, firm must give a unique product and services to consumers so that they can be
retained in the long term. Operation management is a system in which all business practices
are administrated to make organisation more effective and efficient in term of performance.
Mc Donald is one of most successful company in United Kingdom as well as all over world
which was founded in 1940 by McDonald's: Richard and Maurice McDonald (Crawford,
2014). There are many key approaches which are used by leaders and managers to manage all
operations related to raw material usage, waste reduction, maximum outcome and
improvement in productivity. Managers and lenders have their own different roles and
responsibilities in firm to accomplish organisational goals and objectives (Lindström,
Löfstrand and Karlsson, 2012). They play specific duties in particular situations in
organisation. There are some major theories and approaches which leader applies like
situational, system and contingency leadership.
TASK 1
P 1 Roles and characteristics of a modern leader and a manager
There are many different characteristics of manager and leader of McDonald
which can be explained as below (Perrin, 2017).
Basis of difference Leaders Managers
Creativity Leaders work with their staff
as what task they have in
hand and inspire teammates
to complete the task. They
see vision and set their plans
according to them.
They focus on what needs to
be done and their
implications. They define
goals and accordingly passes
on the task to team leaders
to persuade
Execution Leaders changes according Managers have a straight

to the work they have been
offered and makes their
working accordingly with
their team mates. Leaders
are expected to be
innovating and getting new
ideas to get things done even
if they have a normal
solution to it.
forward approach where
they make procedures and
strategies how given task
can be done which will yield
desired results. They have a
status to maintain and they
stick to it.
Identity Leaders are known by their
ideas and implementation
strategies, they are concern
about the work they have
how they can accommodate
to complete it within
stipulated time.
Managers have a strict path
to copy where they can only
decide what to be done and
till when and what will
company get out of it. They
have a generic working
style.
Risk taking Leaders at one hand had to
complete a task in hand
where they are willing to
take risk because that
involves completion of
operative work within its
team
On the other hand, managers
are less willing to take risk
and rather want to control
the situation where they see
a potential risk.
Approach Leader foresee future with
the skills and talent they
have in their team and they
wish to retain those who
have a zeal to work in
deadline and can accomplish
long term goals.
Manager get it into short
term goals which are
provided to them by the
upper management for
maintained a specific target
to meet.
Strength Leaders strength lies in their
learning and innovating new
approach to finish work
which will give them new
ideas and they have their
skills brushed up in every
new situation.
Manager work and
specializes on their current
skills and get used to it.
They know that their
strength lies in what they
know and how good they are
in it.
Build Leaders are part of the
operative teams which leads
them to have a good relation
with the staff members and
their actual service
providers. They have their
success rate dependent how
they have their relation with
their subordinate
Whereas Managers are more
rely on the processes they
follow because that is their
job to define what needs to
be done and in what time.
They are more related with
system that needs to be
followed. They define
processes and a system to
operate.
Guidance Leaders person who are
directly or indirectly
involved in the operations.
Moreover, manager are ones
wo decide what needs to be
and give direction to their

They have done it personally
what they are not telling
their subordinates to do thus
they have the practical
knowledge of doing work
which makes them good
guides.
teams who has the work and
processes how it needs to be
done. Manager rarely
involve personally in
operative processes.
Relation Leaders have a strong skill
of making believe in
themselves so that they can
do what has been assigned
to them. Sense of
completion by the sub
ordinates makes them feels
good about themselves as
well as the leaders they are
working for.
At the other side, Managers
don’t build relation with the
staff member hence they
work with them as only
company employees and not
as the team members.
P 2 Role of leader and function of manager within McDonald
Role of leader-Leader is one of most important person of company who playa vital
role in manage various operations and help firm to make a well system. He is required at
every level of management as in making strategy for waste management, motivating
members to work harder and contribute in firm success (Bennis, Bennis and Goldsmith,
2010). He formulates plans and policies for company. For example, leader of McDonald
makes plans to maximise healthy ingredients in its food like burger and wraps. So that
maximum consumers get satisfied and image of company will be improved in food industry.
Another role of leader is that he tries to integrate personal goals or targets of employees with
organisational objectives so that they can be achieved more quickly. This situation is possible
only when the leader has trait to influence others.
His role is to manage a harmonised relationship among team members so that they
can put their fullest efforts to provide high quality products to customers at reasonable price.
He tries to minimise waste of raw material sot at profit margin ca be increased in future and
maintenance will be efficient (Fullan, 2011). He supports subordinates if there any difficult to
execute duties and completing tasks related to operations of firm. He playa role of
philosopher and guide to encourage employees to put their own skills and ideas in operations

and production process. Weakness of the leader role is that if there is no proper organisation
of production process then expected outcome might not be achieved with accuracy.
Function of manager-There are many different functions of manager of McDonald
which help in gaining maximum customer satisfaction by providing be quality products and
services. For example, if manager makes effective efforts to improve delivery process so that
consumers can get its food items easily at home (Zhang, Wang and Shi, 2012). One of major
function of manger of company is planning in which manager sets the target as to increase
sales of its food in marker. He communicates the decided goals with employees so that they
can make efforts as per requirement. Another function of manager of company is organising
in which he utilises all valuable resources in such a way that there is maximum outcome
gained and firm can produce healthy goods for its target audience in future. For example, he
makes sure that use of water and equipment is done by workers and they all are cleaned to
maintain hygiene. Directing is also one of main functions of manager to compete in food
industry of United Kingdom. He assigns tasks and roles to each employee so that they know
what and how they should work to add value to firm (Qu, Janssen and Shi, 2015). It will lead
to better performance of company and competitive advantage in comparison to other rivals in
same sector.
Another function which is executed by manager is staffing in which he recruits
differently skilled ad qualified employees for company so that effective and useful ideas to
make better production process and waste management in future (Van Veen, Bezemer and
Karsten, 2011). Coordinating is one of crucial function of manager of McDonald in which he
tries to synchronise production department with other different departments like finance to
make sure that cost of operations will not be exceed beyond estimated budget. Last but not
the least function of manager of the mentioned firm is controlling in which he compares real
gained and estimated outcome of production process in term of quality of food items and
waste management of raw material (Blomme, 2012). He keeps eye on every single aspect of
operations and takes appropriate steps to minimise gap between these two results.
P 3 Theories and models of leadership approaches
Situational leadership is so required in food industry as in the case of McDonalds,
dealing with customers can various types of situations where standard approach of leadership
doesn’t seem effective. Situational leadership which is organised common sense because it
comparative easy to grasp and implement and above all very effective leadership skill. Every

situation that arises in McDonalds during operation and its own limitations and problems
which is handled by this methodology and has proved viable (Nawaz and Bodla, 2010). Four
processes of this approach are diagnosing the problem which is assessing the situation. Then
next step is to adapt to that condition and change your response according to the behaviour of
the situation. Once we have assessed and adapted to the situation, one needs to communicate
the people involved in the situation where they can understand it and accept it as it is. Now
the final step where leader has to manage what’s been decided and communicated which will
final impact the outcome. It so happens in operations that everything at the right time is hard
to be available although we try to fulfil, still errors do exist (Van Vactor, 2012). Problems out
of which related to customers are very tricky and needs utmost care by the leaders to solve
with peace.
Systems leadership involves executing the strategy in which organisation has initiated
whose utmost goal is to get things done as intended and as per the processes. Food industry
have a set operational strategy which is to get to the customers and minimises waste (Hunter,
Cushenbery and Ligon, 2011). This is part of the system leadership where companies for
example McDonalds have to decide what kind of leaders to employ who implement their
strategies as per the system and process followed by the firm. System leadership has various
level which are the company at the top where all the decisions are taken and steps how it
should be implemented. They are followed by the managerial teams who understand the
strategies and find the processes and change in system that are prerequisites. Leaders at this
level are concerned about the results which will be received by the end users. Finally, when
the operations are dealt by the individual managers they are abide by the system and they
have a procedure defined for a specific kind of situation. Leaders who have system leadership
approaches are obeying and straight forward towards their work. Following system leadership
also effects uniformity in the operations and people are bound to follow the protocol and have
less chance of getting into another problem.
Contingency leadership model has altogether different approach which purely
dependent on the internal and external factors of the situation. According to these factors
leaders apply their mind and according to the systems, situation and their past experience
they tend to deal with the situation. As already mentioned, Food industry have different kind
situations mostly dealing with the customers directly and fulfilling customers requirement at
the backend (Knott, Mak and Neill, 2013).. These situations don’t have a set method to
follow so a simple straight procedure cannot be implemented in the situation, however with

the experience and repetition of the problem may give us a fixed solution but for all others
they need to implement contingency approaches to handle it according to the situations and
its respective factors involved in it. For example, all the customers are not lenient towards to
problems faced by them in the outlet and every customer doesn’t have same approach
towards same kind of problem. To handle these situations which could be worst for same
situation which was handled by the managers easily doesn’t have requirement of contingency
approach. Although this is condition based approach but it definitely needs a specific skill
and mindset of the leader to properly implement it.
TASK 2
P 4 Key approaches to operations management and role of leader and management
As McDonald is one of most popular brands in food industry of United Kingdom, it
needs to maintain its standard in term of product or service quality and production process so
that it can achieve its objectives. There are different approaches which can be applied by
managers and leaders to improve exiting performance and brand values in food market (Hill
and Hill, 2012). They focus on saving raw material to reduce wastage, inventory control and
high food quality to retain currant consumer and attract new buyer in market. Some of major
theories or approaches related to operation management are followings.
Six sigma approach-This is one of most important techniques to improve overall
process of operations in business organisation. In this approach, leader tries to minimise
defective part of outcome for production process and makes sure that quality is best to
provide its customers. It is statistical, method to make better final food items by McDonald
and gain maximum profit in long term. It helps in reducing variation in quantity if predicts
and decreases waste material. Material tries to conduct whole production process in well
manner through assigning different duties to employees and coordinate with them(Marshall
and Farahbakhsh, 2013). This approach is based on five major principles like concentrate on
consumer needs, analysis of work to identify root cause, eliminating variation, employee
participation in cross functional system and thorough monitoring of production. In this
approach, proper ongoing communication is done by employees so that new enhanced habits
can be adapted in long term.
Just in Time-This approach is implemented to improve productivity of company in
term of inventory and final goods production. It helps in reducing waste quantity while
converting raw material into final consumable items by McDonald. For example, it will

receive the material exact the quantity it needs to produce at that particular time (Seuring,
2013). As most of food items are perishable, so this approach contributes in getting fresh
supply of goods from distributor. Quantity of goods will be shirt which will benefit the
company in term of customer satisfaction and good image among consumers in long term.
Consequently, it will lead to cost reduction for firm and help it to accomplish objectives and
goals of profit maximisation as well as revenue generating in future. Leader will make sure
that all employee work together as team and resolve any conflict arisen. On other hand,
manager plans strategy so that raw material can be managed in perfect ratio. Thus, these
above two approaches play a vital role in managing operations and effectively control whole
production process (Akkerman, Farahani and Grunow, 2010). By adopting these techniques,
McDonald can capture a dominating position in food industry of United Kingdom and
increase its sales quantity in long term. Cost can be reduced and profit can be maximised
through these effective and efficient approaches related to production process.
P 5 Importance and value of operation management in achieving business objectives
Operations management enables a firm to efficiently and effectively utilize its
resources. It ups the productivity of the business and involves processes that turn initial raw
materials into final products and services (Heizer, 2016). It was primitively thought that
operations management was of primacy only in manufacturing industry where numerous
processes had to be taken care of. With reference to the service industry, they have
multifarious processes ranging from what the customer requires to receiving a feedback
regarding the service provided. It should be noted that operations manager plays a cardinal
part in a business, government, or any other such organization. The operations manager also
utilizes his or her soft skills and business skills to succeed in job at McDonalds. He/she is
entitled to ensure the following as part of operation management:
Resources management – The operations manager must be good at managing not
only raw material, like potato, chicken etc., but also the personnel workout at the firm
(Brown, Bessant and Lamming, 2013). He or she must be able to oversee or supervise the
inventory and supplies.

Setting of goals – It is the operations manager who sets goals and lays down a
timeline to achieve it. He or she also establishes the required policies for various departments
in order to help them reach these goals.
Management of finances – A vital role is played by the operations manager to keep
the organization financially sound by regulating costs and budgeting (Peng and Lai, 2012).
He or she manages the suppliers and other related resources to reduce incurrence of costs.
Studying business patterns, statements of finances, and sales memos is an integral part of the
operation manager’s profile.
Communications – It is incumbent upon the operations manager to have outstanding
communication and interpersonal skills to gel different parts of the organization and
synchronize them to work together, efficiently. At times, it may also be up to the operation’s
manager to liaise any differences or disputes among employees. He or she also coordinates
with the highest officials of the firm and helps in decision making.
Education and training – Operations management focuses on assuring that
employees are training and their safety at work place is maintained. The employees must be
familiar with the complete process and must realize how intertwined each process
(Akkerman, Farahani and Grunow, 2010). This helps the employee realize the gravity of his
job and how important his position is in the organization. At McDonalds, it is also highly
required that the operations manager oversees the immaculateness of the work place. This is
an integral part of operations management.
Marketing – The marketing team needs assistance and feedback from the operations
manager in order to confirm whether the deal is profitable or not
Build expertise – Operations management makes sure that there is an appropriate mix
of employees with specific skills or expertise in their area and those with general skills.
Operations managements takes advantage of value chain analysis to study the process that is
deployed by the firm. Value chain shows important activities or the primary activities, the
appurtenant activities, and supply chain activities. Each of these have an important part of
play. Since each of these activities are taken care of by the employees of the firm and the
operations manager oversees these employees, he is indirectly affecting the success of the
company in reaching its objectives. Hence, it may be reasoned that operations management
pushes the company towards excellence. It helps to improve quality control and production. It
also involves using approaches like total quality management, just-in time inventory, and

concept of continuous improvement and therefore, inevitably brings the firm closer to its
objectives.
P 6 Factors within business environment affecting operation management and decision
McDonalds is currently focusing on the need to maintain sustainability, ethics, and
values in order to improve relations with customers while providing satisfactory performance
and services by following a particular set of ethical standards while operating the company
(Seddon, Calvert and Yang, 2010). McDonald’s business environment is rife with
competition and for it to outperform its rivals in the market, it has adopted the sustainable
business strategy. Here, the management and leaders of the firm play a substantial role in the
corporate social responsibility. The operations managers assume policies and keeps in mind
the factors that can affect the social responsibility of the company. These policies include, but
are not limited to, providing supreme quality products, consideration of environment policies,
customer satisfaction etc. Operations management supervises and conveys the policies of the
firm holistically channelizes the labour force accordingly. Operations management and the
leaders also make sure that employees are sufficiently propelled. The factors related to the
business environment of McDonalds that have the capability to greatly influence the
operational management and the leader decision making could be the employees’ efficiency
and the availability of resources in the organization. Other than these, there are more factors
that can affect McDonald’s operations management and decision making by leaders.
Training the employees – The operations manager must make efforts to develop the
skills of the employees and to deploy these resources effectively. He or she should be able to
analyse, on a continuous basis, the zeal, preparedness, and skills of the employees to be able
to do a certain task handed to him or her (Jarkas and Bitar, 2011). This requires assigning
employees in different areas of work and understanding which routine and arrangement
works best for the company.
Scheduling – Operation management also warrants coming up with a timely schedule
for the working and production rate of machine and employees. This is done keeping in mind
that the demands of the customers are met by the supply from the company adequately.
Work processes – The work process greatly determines the involvement of the
operations manager and the leaders’ decisions.

Government issues and regulations – The regulations and laws by the government can
affect the working of the operations manager. E.g. an increased tax levied by the government
on bread and other bakery products can affect the both operations management and the
leaders’ decision (Chittithaworn, Islam and Yusuf, 2011). They can either go with lowered
profits or can keep the profits constant by increasing the prices of the final products that are
using these high priced raw materials direct or indirectly.
Labour cost – A high labour cost would be an important environmental factor that
can reduce the profit margin of the firm and ultimately, it comes down to the operations
manager and the leaders to come up with a resolution.
Market scenario – A market penetration step or a diversification step by the
company during a recession period in market may not be a wise decision. At the same time,
sustaining the current condition during a booming period can undermine the overwhelming
potential of the company.
Natural and Man-made disasters – The operations plans may be halted or revoked
in case the company meets with an unheralded calamity or catastrophe. E.g. an epidemic of
bird flu in the country may require temporary apprehension of chicken burgers and
substituting this product with another alternative to minimize health issues with customers
and preventing stigmatization of the brand.
Commodities and Natural Resources – Much of the raw materials need to be in a
continuous supply since McDonald’s deals with food items. In these cases, fluctuation of
prices can be dangerous to the firm and so the operations manager may take in surplus raw
materials when he or she finds lower prices of raw materials in the market.
CONCLSION
From the above report, it ca be concluded that operation management is one of most crucial
aspects of business organisation. So being a leading firm, McDonald makes efforts to
improve its productivity through managing all operation like food quality, raw material usage
and waste management. There are many activities and tasks which are completed by leaders
and managers of company to accomplish its target of profit maximization and revenue
generating in long term in future. Leadership models help in improving overall system of
firm so that there is healthy atmosphere for worker involved in operations of company. Many
approaches and techniques can be adopted by firm to capture maximum market share in food