Organizational Change and Development in McDonald's - Case Study Example

Organizational Change and Development - McDonalds Name Class Unit Introduction Implementing change is a challenging task in an organisation. The task becomes more challenging when carried out on a global and multicultural context. This is due to the increased imposing factors to change. The approach used to implement change in one culture differs in another. The change theories and models become ineffective when used in some areas as opposed to others1. Change process takes time to be implemented based on the designed model. Also, resistance to change affects the time that implementation of change takes2. This report is based on organisational change and development in a global and cross cultural context. This is through developing an organisation change model using different organisation change and development, leadership, global and cross cultural theories, models, frameworks and principles as the basis. The general model is designed which can be used to implement change at McDonalds. McDonalds Corporation McDonalds Corporation is a global fast food chain with presence in over 119 countries. The fast food chain has the capability to serve 47 million customers daily in their over 31,000 restaurants located in different countries. McDonalds’ restaurants deal with fast food and soft drinks. Each of McDonald’s restaurants operates through a franchise or corporation itself. The fast food chain which was started in 1940 has undergone a lot of changes to become one of the world largest corporations3. Vision To be the best and the leading fast food chain globally4. Mission The fast food chain mission is to be their customers’ favorite place and way to eat. This is through improving their operations to provide the most delicious menu items that are able to meet the customers’ expectations5. Values McDonald’s corporation values are based on quality, service, clean environment and value. This is through providing high quality products and services, serving the customers, clean environment where customers can enjoy meals and value food that can satisfy their customers6. Employee structure at McDonalds McDonalds is a hierarchical organisation. The staff base is very efficient from the higher management to support staff. The structure starts from the top level executives, department heads, restaurant level executives, floor manager, and staff training crew, crew members, support staff, cleaners, servers, cooks and bakers.7 Change model Top down change model for McDonalds OD principles, models/theories and processes. Organisation change whether planned or not is always associated with the understanding of organisational development (OD). Organisation development is thus a response to change. It is any process which is based on the bahavorial sciences. Through organisational development, it becomes possible to increase the organisation effectiveness and facilitate change through interventions driven by knowledge in behavorial science8. Need for change McDonalds will have to use organisational development for implementing change. In this case, it is important to look at change as a constant pressure. For McDonalds, organisational change is not simple due to its large scale operations. With stiff competition in the fast food industry and healthy food trend, McDonalds will have to implement a long term strategic change. The organisation will have to come up with mission and vision that will explain their new values. Due to hierarchical nature of McDonalds, this effort can only be attained through a top bottom approach9. Initiating change (Top bottom approach) The top management has to use external consultants since a simple communication method may not lead to the required change in their new structure. The management has to ensure that the new values are put into practice. The consultants can be used by the organisation to carry out employee surveys. This is aimed at gauging the employees’ beliefs and feelings. This helps a lot in guiding self-exploration and personal development for the employees10. There is need for the management to develop their leadership and communication skills. This is due to importance of open communication during change. A trusting relationship develops during change if there is open communication. This will lead to a change in strategy, structure, employee orientation and the organisation culture11. The outcome is a change that can last for long. In this case, organisation development is used for change where the target is improving the organisation competitiveness and enhances the products being offered. The vision and strategy for McDonalds will be changed through the process. Creating and managing change in an organisation in order to create high perfuming firm is the main theme for organisational development. Through organisation development, it becomes possible to manage change and determine how those implementing them are affected12. The change must be able to realign policies and business practices with the new competitive realities. The increasing awareness on healthy eating is must be well addressed by McDonalds. While McDonalds has been adjusting their menu to meet the consumer needs, there is still more to be done13. The consumer perception about fast food being unhealthy must be addressed globally. McDonalds’ have always been perceived as unhealthy food restaurants which places them at stiff competition from other restaurants. The restaurant must ensure that they use icon based nutrition labels in their outlets globally. There is need for nutrition labels being produced which can serve as a marketing tool14. The change in business practices must be driven by the consumers’ new tastes and nutritional concerns. This may lead to McDonalds coming up with a new range of products. It is important to look at McDonalds as the target that activists have always looked at. This is due to high sugar and fat content in their menu. There has also been an increase in restaurants offering healthy foods in the industry. This makes the industry highly competitive and hence need for change15. McDonalds have been accused of contributing to health problems in several countries. This has led to an increase in negative perception about the firm by the public16. This leads need for change for McDonalds from being a junk food restaurant to a healthy food restaurant. This will help in attracting health conscious customers and enlarge the market. The change will also make the restaurant more competitive in the industry. There is also need to change the behaviour of the current customers who always see the restaurant in a negative light17. Another business practice that change model will address is employee satisfaction. Job satisfaction at McDonald’s restaurants has been affected by the monotonous practices and low motivation in most of their outlets. The repetitive tasks that are carried out in the outlets are boring and reduce the employees’ morale. This may also lead to physical and mental exhaustion among the employees. The current employee working system will lead to stress hence need for change. In all their outlets, McDonalds have been operating through repetitive tasks which are seen as convenient and safe in nature. There is need for a working system where rotation is encouraged and employees are highly motivated. This will lead to employees feeling more valued and their contribution to the organisation will be valuable. The level of employee satisfaction will be highly improved through this method18. Being a global organisation, McDonalds change model will have to look at the culture. McDonalds is expected to operate in different cultures and meet their needs. This may lead to need for hiring OD consultants who are well versed with different cultures. Theories and concepts that are used in one country may differ in another country. This makes it unrealistic to take a universal view toward the organisation management19. McDonalds have been suffering setbacks in different cultures due to poor multicultural approach in some cases. The model will have to address the organisation culture, professional culture and national culture. Organisational culture refers to the culture that is practiced by McDonalds in their operations. This includes aspects such as vision, mission and values which are unique to McDonalds. Professional culture refers to the unique aspects that are related to a given profession. National culture refers to the aspects such as language, time and relations. The national culture of people is based on their values which shape beliefs, actions and behaviour. Values are used in establishing norms and standards in which the society is judged with20. For example, McDonalds were forced to change their operations model in Taiwan due to culture challenges. This is due to an inefficient business model in Taiwan which did not enhance efficiency but led to cultural challenges and loss. In some of the business operations, McDonalds are forced to operate as franchises so that they can be efficient in managing cultural challenges. The proposed change model will utilise Hofstede cultural dimensions in addressing the cultural challenges that are faced by McDonalds. The main area of focus for the change model is cultural awareness and sensitivity to cultural differences21. Managing transition The best method to implement change is through Lewin model. This is through the three steps of unfreezing, moving and refreezing. This is a movement from the current state to the future state. This is through looking at the end state that is better than the current state. McDonalds will look for ways to unfreeze the current situation in order to move to the desired state. This implies that the organisation will have to look at change as a liner model where the focus of attention is forward moving. The organisation cannot redo any change that they have made since that would be synonymous to failure22. Returning to a former stage during this process is seen as negative and undesirable since it will lead to loss of progress. This is very different as compared to the Confucian model which is cyclical. According to the Confucian model, returning to something is normal and is required to ensure that things are moving. In a cyclical model, there is no stage which is seen as better than the other. Each of the stage is different and is required in maintaining a natural cycle. This might not work well for McDonalds as they implement change in their operations. This is due to fact that the organisation wants to move from the current state to the desired state. This method may not also work well for team development which is required as McDonalds change their employees operating model. It is important to note that once the organisation commits its change to lewin model, it cannot incorporate Confucian model23. Leading change in an organisation is a great task which has its challenges. McDonald’s leadership will have to carry the change process which is risky in all their outlets. According to Kottler, leading change entails coming up with direction, aligning people, motivating and inspiring to attain the desired outcomes24. For the change process to be effective, the process has to be planned in a careful manner. The leadership at McDonalds will have to face resistance to change as well as criticism. Managing and addressing criticism is vital if change is to succeed25. Leading change in an organisation requires being able to manage the forces that can frustrate the change process. Planning and communication are essential in the whole process. First, the leadership will be required to plan for change from a solid base. At this point, it is important to note that planning for change is easier than implementing it26. All the relevant data and analysis is required at this stage. This is due to fact that it is hard to argue against data. Having adequate data will give the leader the strong advantage that is required. This is due to fact that the leader will have data before the rest of people when presenting change. Evidence based practice is required when carrying out change in a large organisation such as McDonalds. Data based change makes it hard for resistance and opposition27. The leadership has to control the expectations and proposed change. This is due to fact that expectations and deliverable change may become mismatched. The expectations about the expected change should be handled and controlled by the leaders. The changes that McDonalds will undergo must be achievable to avoid disappointment28. There will be need for a reality check to ensure that there are no unattainable expectations. The leadership is also expected to select the change agents in an appropriate manner. This is due to fact that McDonalds will have to use external consultants. Agents from outsides are in some cases problematic and costly. This requires a careful choice of agents to avoid unexpected outcomes. More than rhetoric will be required when managing change in the organisation29. For the change process to be effective there is need for the support from likeminded people. This is through creating a consensus among those who will be affected by change in the organisation. There is a need to be a clear communication on change and building a consensus among those affected. McDonalds has a history that can be used in bringing a consensus among the participants. This will help a lot in aiding the change process30. There is need to identify those opposed to change and neutralise them. It is important to engage those opposed to change in an early discussion son that their issues are identified and resolved early. The critics for the change should not be ignored and isolated from the process31. This is due to fact that they have the capability of disrupting the process of change. In some cases, there is truth in their criticism for change which may have been overlooked in coming up with need for change32. Through addressing their concerns, it becomes possible to avoid unnecessary issues that can be brought about by the proposed change. If the critics’ argument is not valid, it becomes possible to come up with a message that will lead to a successful agreement on change33. If the leadership does not address resistance at an early stage, they will be capable of sabotaging the change process34. Implementation of change/sustaining momentum After addressing all issues above, McDonalds will implement the model. The model will be implemented by the McDonalds management in collaboration with the outsourced OD consultants. The team will utilise lewin model in the process35. This is through giving all the outlets the information that shows the discrepancies between the desired position and current position of the organisation. The team will then develop new behaviours and attitudes through carrying out changes in the group structures and processes.36 At this point, all management in McDonald’s outlets will have a change team made of management and OD consultants. The last stage will be refreezing37. This is through use of support mechanisms that will help in supporting the new state, structures and policies. The change model used will focus on top bottom approach due to centralised nature of the organisation. To sustain change, McDonalds will have to commit to employee training. This is due to fact that gaining knowledge helps in implementing change in a fast manner. The organisation will have to commit to knowledge creation. This will make it easier to implement future changes38. Conclusion This presentation has come up with a holistic change model for McDonalds. The model will help the organisation to implement change in the complex global market. This is due to an increase in competition, rising health trends and criticisms and employee turnover. The model is based on conscious review of literature on change, organisational development and business process reengineering. The proposed model uses top down approach in implementing change. A holistic approach to change at McDonalds will lead to great improvements in their operations. The role of external OD consultants has been well elaborated in the model. This is through helping McDonalds to solve their problems. The change process has adopted the lewin model of change. This is through using a three step model which ends with refreezing. The new behaviours and attitudes that change will bring will become part of the organisation. The leadership will play a role in addressing resistance and criticism to change. They will also create an environment where change can be implemented in an efficient manner. References Burke, W. Warner. Organization change. Sage publ., 2008. Burnes, Bernard. "Kurt Lewin and the planned approach to change: a re‐appraisal." Journal of Management studies 41, no. 6 (2004): 977-1002. Cummings, Thomas, and Christopher Worley. Organization development and change. Cengage learning, 2014. Grol, Richard, and Michel Wensing. "What drives change? 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