Strategic Human Resource Management Report: McDonald's Case Study

This report, prepared for McDonald's CEO, examines strategic human resource management and organizational change. It begins with an introduction to organizational change and a brief overview of McDonald's, including its history, vision, mission, and organizational structure. The core of the report focuses on the steps involved in organizational change, including securing management support, assessing readiness, laying the groundwork, implementing and adapting changes, and sustaining momentum. Each step is detailed, providing insights into how McDonald's can effectively manage change within its operations, workforce, and overall business model. The report concludes by summarizing the importance of these steps in facilitating successful organizational transformation.

Running Head: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Strategic Human Resource Management

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background of the Organization......................................................................................................2
Steps for Organizational Change.....................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................4

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Introduction
Organizational change can be defined as the process with the help of which an organization
changes its strategies, structure, operational method, organizational culture or technologies. As
the Human Resource Manager of McDonald’s, this report has been prepared to be presented to
the CEO. It focuses on the steps to be followed for the purpose of organizational change.
Background of the Organization
McDonald’s is the fast food company which have its headquarters situated in Chicago, Illinois,
USA. It was founded in the year 1940. Its Canadian master franchise is one of the largest fast-
food restaurant chains and offers a number of food items all across the country such as chicken,
hamburgers, cheeseburgers, wraps, soft drinks, french fries, etc. (McDonald’s, 2018)
McDonald’s was founded by George Cohon who later opened the first store as the Western
Canadian franchisee in 1967. The vision of McDonalds is to serve more customers with delicious
food every day and to reach profitable growth. Its mission is to become the favorite place of the
customers to eat and drink. The organizational structure of McDonald’s provide that the Chief
Executive Officer leads the organization followed by chief financial officer, chief operating
officer and chief people officer. Below that, the departments such as human resources, regional
managers, marketing, etc. Approximately 235,000 employees work with the organization across
the globe (Statista, 2018).
Steps for Organizational Change
Following are the steps involved in organizational change-
Management Support for change- The management needs to support the employees of
McDonald’s such that they can develop a comfort level towards the process. This will be made
sure through interacting and communicating with the staff.
Assessment of Readiness- After ensuring the management support, the organizational and
employee readiness will be assessed for change by way of gaining a keen understanding of the
skills, behaviors, abilities, and knowledge of the workforce. Strategic workforce planning will

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also be involved in this step of organizational change as this will also enable the leaders to
anticipate potential obstacles to a successful implementation (Neves & Schyns, 2018).
Laying the Groundwork- A strong relationship between senior leadership and HR will be
maintained for ensuring successful change. All the employees will be involved in the process and
change will be communicated. This will assist in the identification and preparation of change
management resources for the establishment and communication of clear vision, reduction of
interpersonal conflict and management of cultural shift.
Implementation and Adaption- a timeline will be set for the implementation and the changes will
be made in accordance with the impact on the process and the employees who are responsible for
the management of the process. It will be approached through a structured and scientific method.
The correction of the direction will be an ongoing process and therefore, adjustments will be
made wherever required (Palmer, Dunford & Akin, 2016).
Sustaining Momentum- all the steps will be mirrored in sustaining a change. The aim will be to
assist the change initiative in becoming a corporate norm for McDonald’s as it is an important
part of the business model and culture. McDonald’s will continue to prevent the old habits from
reemerging and reinforcing the new agenda.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that organizational change is a process with the help of which an
organization makes changes in its operational method, organizational culture strategies, structure
or technologies. This report provided the steps for organizational change for McDonald’s such as
management support, assessing readiness, laying the groundwork, implementation and
adaptation and sustaining momentum.

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References
McDonald’s. (2018). FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. Retrieved November 16, 2018 from
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/help/faq/18509-whats-the-structure-of-mcdonalds-
and-how-each-department-in-the-organisation-interacts-works-together.html
Neves, P., & Schyns, B. (2018). Destructive uncertainty: The toxic triangle, implicit theories and
leadership identity during organizational change. In Organizational Change (pp. 131-
141). Routledge.
Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Akin, G. (2016). Managing organizational change. McGraw-Hill
Education.
Statista. (2018). Number of McDonald's employees worldwide from 2012 to 2017. Retrieved
November 16, 2018 from https://www.statista.com/statistics/819966/mcdonald-s-
number-of-employees/