Promoting Innovation in Organizations: McDonald's CRM & Change Model

This report explores promoting innovation within organizations, focusing on McDonald's and their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) innovation strategies. It highlights the crucial role of HR in fostering a culture of innovation and details McDonald's implementation of CRM to enhance customer feedback and satisfaction. The report also discusses the application of Lewin's Change Management Model to mitigate resistance to change among middle managers. It concludes with recommendations for effective change management, emphasizing continuous investigation, stakeholder knowledge, and leveraging internal expertise to sustain improvements in working practices. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and solved assignments for students.

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PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
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1PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
Executive Summary
Change Management is regarded as the process of recurrently renewing an organization’s
direction, strategies, structure and competencies to efficiently serve the increasingly shifting
needs to external as well as internal consumers. Globalized organizations are aware at a great
extent about the areas which necessitate any form of innovation or demand driven change. The
report provided a detailed understanding of the way Mc Donald’s HR manager has promoted an
innovation driven change management through CRM innovation strategies. In addition to this,
the paper mentioned about Lewin’s Change theory which must be employed to evade any forms
of resistance towards change management by middle managers of Mc Donald’s.

2PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Brief Description of Mc Donald’s...............................................................................................3
HR’s Role in Promoting Innovation in Mc Donald’s..................................................................4
McDonald’s Implements Its Customer Relationship Management Strategy..............................5
Mc Donald’s adoption to Lewin’s Change Management Model.................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

3PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
Introduction
The term innovation dates from the 16th Century and is derived from the Latin word
innovatus which implies to renew or alter. In contemporary business environment, innovation is
fundamental and is highly essential for the survival of the organization with the persistently
evolving technologies as well as market dynamics in order to ensure that stasis or inertia are
definite to result to in utmost obsolescence (Mahmood, Javied & Zafar, 2013). Forms of
innovation primarily occurs as knowledge, expertise and experience which are applied in order to
generate improved and advanced products and services, enhanced insights into competitive
advantage and techniques of efficiently conducting businesses. Innovation further be manifested
in modern organizational structures such as modular offices, flattened hierarchies, matrices and
virtual teams (Shipton et al., 2005). Organizational innovation necessitates cultural orientation
aligned to the anticipated developments, producing and evaluating ideas and leadership that is
dedicated in supporting, executing as well as sustaining initiatives. The primary aim of the report
is to promote a potential Innovation change of CRM innovation in Mc Donald’s to encourage
change and developments in the organization. In addition to this, the paper will adapt the change
management process in order to motivate its employees to the innovation process.
Discussion
Brief Description of Mc Donald’s
Mc Donald’s is recognized as the world’s leading food service organization which
primarily generates over $40 billion sales and operates around 30,000 restaurants in over 100
nations and six continents. The company comprises benefits which occur with scale and a well-
established financial position (Corporate.mcdonalds.com, 2018). Mc Donald’s have unparalleled
international infrastructure and competencies in the process of restaurant operations, real estate,

4PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
retailing, advertising as well as franchising. Mc Donald’s Corporation essentially engages in the
operation and franchise of Mc Donald’s restaurants and executes its business operations through
US’s global lead markets, foundational markets and corporate. The US market segment tends to
regulate in order to increase consumer level of awareness for its international mobile application
as well as pay functionality and service delivery domain. The International Lead Markets
segments primarily focus in the expansion of Mc Cafe coffee brand along with the ongoing
implementation of EOTF (experience of the future) restaurants across the market segment
(Corporate.mcdonalds.com, 2018). Mc Donald’s believes that the most constructive way to
expand its business and further create value and standards for its wide ranging stakeholders by
efficiently serving more customers at a rapid pace. This has led the company to efficiently focus
on offering customers as per their choice and demands with an overall experience and value for
their money which can attain the increasing rate of demands of customers.
HR’s Role in Promoting Innovation in Mc Donald’s
The relationship between corporate intention and expectations and management practices
is not typically straightforward. Cui & Wu, (2016) reveal that managers of the organization
primarily indicate a commitment towards human resources which involves an interest in
organizational welfare and non-commercial advantages. Such a commitment has been
manifested through a culture of flexible work strategies, a tendency to effectively involve
employee preference in decision-making process (Corporate.mcdonalds.com, 2018). One of the
core responsibilities of HR manager engaged in the managerial position of Human Resource
Department claims that as the company has been efficiently serving over 25 million people in the
US each day, effectively leveraging appropriate CRM solution is identified as immensely crucial
for the sustainability of the brand. The consumer satisfaction contact of Mc Donald’s has been

5PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
increasingly enhancing their CRM innovation system (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016).
Mc Donald’s has been essentially seeking to develop as well as improve its customer satisfaction
group and a mechanism which provided the company with real-time accessibility through highly
flexible and inclusive reporting to the data which has been obtained from customers each day.
McDonald’s Implements Its Customer Relationship Management Strategy
The primary objectives of Mc Donald’s in promoting innovation in order to increase data
capture with relation to consumer feedback and satisfaction and further provide both Mc
Donald’s franchisee’s as well as its corporate management with real-time accessibility to
customer data (Cui & Wu, 2016). Effective promotion of McDonald’s innovation system must
be integrated at the organisation’s extensive and inexorable shifting restaurant database into a
highly reliable CRM tool. The company will further acquire robust and actionable reporting
competencies which will provide assessable customer gratification emerging from the national to
franchise level. Through its effective CRM innovation, McDonalds will essentially emphasise on
Astute Solutions to efficiently provide superior data capture, speedy issue resolution mechanism
along with real time reporting while internalizing the company’s broad restaurant database into a
centralised setting. Astute e-Power Centre, one of the prominent innovation tools primarily
provide greater degree of flexibility as well as functionality to the company and will be core in
aligning their surfacing industrial demands and requirements (Solutions, 2018). McDonald's has
distinguished an elevating trend in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry towards an appropriate
and timely customer service. Thus inclining on the suitable technology solutions will be
identified as proper expertise solution in enabling them to accomplish organisational goals and
objectives (Merz, Zarantonello & Grappi, 2018). However with the adaptation of Astute
Solutions, McDonald's will found an associate who will facilitate it to afford innovativeness,

6PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
creativity and technical expertise which they have necessitated and the service and support they
demanded for (Solutions, 2018).
Cui & Wu, (2016) noted that Consumer Affairs and CRM have been distinguished as
major functional elements to any large organisation like McDonald's. As a result it has been
immensely evident that Astute Solutions has resourcefully grasped the essential role of
McDonald's and have given adequate effort in order to attain the increasingly shifting means and
demands of their principal customer through sustained innovation (Fidel, Schlesinger & Cervera,
2015). Following to the implementation of e-power centre in the customer satisfaction contact
centre, McDonalds will undergo a decision-making process which will primarily emphasize on
the deployment of contact centres supporting human resources, investor relations and operation
system (Schaarschmidt & Kilian, 2014). The company has further will expand its usage to
maintain the restaurant base in Canada. E-power centre of innovation will efficiently enable
McDonald's to track over 600 types of various customer dilemmas and provinces through issue
codes (Christofi et al., 2015). It will also help to facilitate the organisation to capture other
highly specific forms of information from the consumer arena in regards to the experiences and
knowledge they have gained at McDonald's restaurant nationwide and also in Canada. Gu,
Schniederjans & Cao, (2015) noted that with around 20, 000 restaurants just in the United States,
CRM innovation tool of E-Power Centre offers McDonald's with the competence to integrate
into the CRM systems. Such an amalgamation of databases enables company and its power to
essentially evaluate the level of customer satisfaction resulting from a national law and down to
individual restaurants (Solutions, 2018).
Mc Donald’s adoption to Lewin’s Change Management Model
There can be witnessed a need for CRM innovation change which McDonald’s should

7PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
acknowledge as been anticipated to be beneficial and advantageous for the company in its
prospective years. With the implementation of CRM innovation strategy McDonald's in USA
and enhance its activities by undergoing a wide-ranging investigation in advance and circumvent
any forms of resistance from middle managers in following the change procedure (Burke, 2017).
However in order to avoid any change resistance a change management strategy related to
LEWIN’S 3 STAGE CHANGE PROCESS can be introduced within the organisation which will
facilitate McDonald's in adopting constructive transitions in its actions. The Lewin's change
management theory is recognised as a three step model which comprises of three vital steps such
are UNFREEZING, CHANGING AND REFREEZING.
Lewin’s Change Management Model
Source: (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016)
 UNFREEZING- The step of unfreezing primarily focuses on the process where an
employee distinguishes his old behaviour which might have the tendency to be
unconstructive towards the growth of the organisation. McDonald's under this stage
should efficiently recognise its internal activities and further assess the areas of deficit
and concern in regards to the products which are offered to with customer base
(Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016). The HR managers of McDonald's must further

8PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
form a platform which would assist the employees of other departments in exterminating
the patterns of the previous behaviour and goals purposed for the company. However in
order to effectively established this step, proper analysis of employees working
techniques must be conducted in order to spot certain areas which can originate
hindrances towards the smooth execution of change management (Christofi et al., 2015).
 CHANGE- This step must be modified whereby the company should position individual
employee to guide them to acquire enhanced behavioural patterns and work techniques.
However there can be identified certain principles which must be efficiently followed by
McDonalds in order to conduct effective change management procedure where the
company should differentiate the innovation change that has been promoted in order to
enhance the overall performance outcomes (Burke, 2017). Further to this, McDonald's
managers must develop the platform whereby employees must not attain any feeling of
resistance towards the expected change management strategy and collaborate as well as
manage as teams to conduct the change management that has been proposed (Cummings,
Bridgman & Brown, 2016).
 REFREEZING-Refreezing is identified as the last stage for change which signifies the
techniques and strategies obtained by the employees that must be internalized in their
actual work practice (Gu, Schniederjans & Cao, 2015). The stage of refreezing
acknowledges employees who efficiently adapt the recently developed standards,
strategies and behaviour obtained from the superior level during the process of change
management. This process helps the employees to efficiently embrace new behavioural
patterns rather than reverting to their previous behaviour and approaches (Cummings,
Bridgman & Brown, 2016). Thus it is highly fundamental that reinforcement must be

9PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
successfully executed by McDonald's for the support and incorporation of new standards
and behaviour.
Conclusion
Thus to conclude certain set of recommendations can be proposed for the effective
process of change management in Mc Donald’s. As changes are primarily stimulated by constant
investigation and development executed by the company and R&D, there must be considered
other means of promoting innovation and constructive ways of sustaining improvement of
working practices in daily routine. Extensive combination of expertise and wide ranging work
experience will aid to innovate improved ways of employing things (Gu, Schniederjans & Cao,
2015).
Mc Donald’s must consider its internal employee base’s competence in delivering
expected outcome of innovation strategy with minimum reference from internally (Cui & Wu,
2016). Furthermore, all stakeholders must have comprehensive knowledge of the expected
innovation change management.

10PROMOTING INNOVATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
References
Burke, W. W. (2017). Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Christofi, M., Leonidou, E., Vrontis, D., Kitchen, P., & Papasolomou, I. (2015). Innovation and
cause-related marketing success: a conceptual framework and propositions. Journal of
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https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/our-growth-strategy.html
Cui, A. S., & Wu, F. (2016). Utilizing customer knowledge in innovation: antecedents and
impact of customer involvement on new product performance. Journal of the academy of
marketing science, 44(4), 516-538.
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps:
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Fidel, P., Schlesinger, W., & Cervera, A. (2015). Collaborating to innovate: Effects on customer
knowledge management and performance. Journal of business research, 68(7), 1426-
1428.
Gu, V. C., Schniederjans, M. J., & Cao, Q. (2015). Diffusion of innovation: customer
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Mahmood. Z, , Javied. S, & Zafar. F, (2013). Strategic Management of Technology and
Innovation. Global Journal of Management and Business Research Administration and
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Solutions, A. (2018). Astute ePowerCenter | CRM Software for Consumer Engagement.
Retrieved from https://www.astutesolutions.com/products/epowercenter