McDonalds Company and Taylors Theory of Scientific Management - Case Study Example

Human Resource Management Name ID Number Lecturer’s Name Date Introduction Many theories have been put up and forward in a bid to try and make management in organisations better. Each theory tries to outdo the previous one in terms of organisational management, as well as managing the dynamic nature of human beings as well as the diversity in the places of work. In order to develop and manage effective teams, there is need for employing appropriate management and leadership style that will leave the employees satisfied, as well as the employers, and at the same time, improving production as well as the quality of production. Resulting into poor management styles that favour one side, either the employees or the employers does not lead to the required quality production. Therefore, in order to manage the diversity at the work place, theories in the last 100 years have coined out different theories about management in organisations, and these styles are aimed at keeping both the employers as well as the employees satisfied, and the end result should be quality production. Most of the theories and different views work towards motivating workers in order to increase production. McDonalds Company and Taylor’s theory of scientific management Unfortunately, since the different theories do not end up with the same conclusion, each organisation end up choosing a management style or view that best suits the running and management of the organisation, or one view or style that works for the organisation. In this case, the organisation in question is the McDonalds Company in Australia, which deals with fast foods. McDonalds is a large Company which is international, but each joint and outlet is independent from the other, and it has its own management team and employees. In Australia, there is the state or the head office, and regional offices in four regions, and each govern the outlets in the region, then answer to the head office. Each product is independent from the other, and they are treated separately even in the same outlet. This gives the employees the advantage of concentrating on their product and making the best out of it, as well as competing with other products in order to win customers. This study will analyse the McDonalds Company using Taylor’s theory of scientific management. Scientific Theory by Fredrick Taylor The scientific theory of management was introduced by Fredrick Taylor. The theory states that it is natural that employees require supervision and control because they do not enjoy to work. Therefore, managers should breakdown production into small clusters that will be given to individual employees to accomplish. The theory calls for specialization in the places of work where employees will only have one task to perform because of the training and the tools they use. The theory also argues that better pay motivates the employees. Therefore, Taylor calls for pay per piece produced so as to motivate employees to work hard and earn more (Pereira & Gomes 2012). This will help the company and the employees to maximize their productivity. The theory also suggests laying off of the lazy employees who cannot cope with the company’s levels of productivity. The theory requires managers to act in dictatorial role. The reason behind this is that managers believe that the employees are lazy and have no will to work. Therefore, according to this theory employees should be pushed and forced to perform their duties as they are required (Millmore, Lewis, Saunders, Thornhill & Morrow 2007). McDonald’s Management McDonald Fast Food Company conforms to Taylor’s scientific theory by ensuring that the company hires high qualified employees and even offers them training to ensure that they meet the company standards. The employees are trained on how to use different tools that are necessary in offering the products and services of McDonald. The production process of the products and services is broken down into small tasks and this has led to creation of departments and sections. There are employees who are trained and have gained experience in some departments by specializing in such services. This increases the company’s productivity because employee is a master of their own game. This reduces time wasted on enquiry ensuring that all the quality time is used in production and rendering of services. The company also has salary increment plan that ensures that every employee gets a certain percentage on his or her salary as an increment. The reason behind this is that the company believes that a pay rise can motivate employees to perform their duties better. The company has a policy where it does not discriminate during recruitments and all the employees are accorded the same treatment. Differences in theory and practice There are differences that arise between the theory and its applicability in the McDonalds Fast Food company. There are reasons that are attributed to this and they include that the employees love their job and there are those employees who feel very passionate about their duties. This is different from what is stated by Taylor in the theory that all employees hate to work. This helps the company to minimize on the training because the employees are aware of the duties and how to carry out the duties in a quality way (Pereira & Gomes 2012). This also helps the company to minimize on the supervision and control given to employees because each and every employee works to satisfy their pleasure of working. This is different from what the theory states saying that employees are lazy and need to be controlled and supervised. The work in the fast food industry is demanding and requires one to be active. This means that there is no room for lazy employees in the company because most of the tasks require an employee to be actively involved and very keen. The fast food services require an employee to be high qualified before they get into the job but not during the job as suggested by Taylor (Scroggins & Benson 2010). Another difference is that there is rotation of employees from one department to the other. This is different from what Taylor advocates for stating that employees should specialize in performing a specific task. The company advocates for flexibility where employees have to work in different departments so as to create efficiency that results from division of labor where an employ learns carrying out different tasks and can perform them in a satisfactory manner. This rotation helps create a team that can operate in the best ways possible to achieve the goals of the company and to promote quality. Working in different department ensures that employees experience other tasks from their routine and this keeps away boredom. Therefore, an employee can perform the tasks given in the best way possible so as to help achieve the goals of the company (Scroggins & Benson 2010). Another difference is that the company believes the managers should let the employees operation in a freeway but in the right direction. This calls for a close working relation between the managers and the employees of the organization. The manager works together with the rest of the employees as one of them. The manager as portrayed in this theory is a team player and a leader as opposed to Taylor’s theory where he is presented as a dictator. The manager is always on the front line to solve problems and help the other the employees on easy way of doing their duties. The theory portrays managers as friends to other employees’ duties delegated to them (Scroggins & Benson 2010). The managers are result oriented do not aim at having work completed but also look for the quality of the outcome. The managers do not threaten their employees because they tolerate mistakes and help their subordinates to perform their duties in the right way. Managers in the company accept suggestions and any constructive critics that will help in improvement. The managers delegate duties to all the employees so as to make them feel part of the company or the Organisation. The managers are accountable to them and therefore, ensure they have the required results. Therefore, due to the quality and nature of managing this company the managers have diverse ways of approaching employees’ problems to help them perform their duties in the best way (Cascio 2010). Another difference is that in McDonalds there is a quality assurance system that ensures that all the services and products are of the required standards. This means that there no need to pressure employees to produce the products but allow them to work at their own pace to produce quality products. The company also offers standards prices as opposed to the theory as it states that an employee should be paid for the piece of work they have done (Stone 2008). Recommendations The human resource managers should lead their employees by being leaders and giving example on how things should be done. This is because, leading by example means that managers should be aware of the roles and duties of employees. This will help the managers be aware of the problems when they arise in the process of production. This will also help the managers to help by explaining to them any complex issue that may arise and requires extra attention. This will help promote good working relationship between the managers and the employees because they will see the managers as part of the team. This will help motivate employees to increase their productivity (Stone 2008). There should also be laid down ways on how to solve problems that arise during executing their duties. This will ensure that the production process and delivery of services is not affected because of any misunderstanding in the organizations. There should be employees’ representatives who will always forward employees grievances to the managers and owners of the company. The managers should also ensure that employees undergo the best training to acquire the required skills to perform their duties. Quality training means that the employees will deliver quality products and quality services. Therefore, the company should not use shortcut by hiring cheap labor so as to cut costs. The companies should also introduce shorter shifts so as not to overwork their employees. Overworking of employees can result to poor quality and fatigue because of long hours of working. In managing diversity in the workplace the company should ensure that there are people who have skills in different local and foreign languages. This will help serve customers from all over because communication is the key to success in business. The managers should also ensure that the company’s promotion policy is fair and follows merits during promotions. This will be a key motivating factor to the employees because they will be working towards their individual goals as they achieve the general goals of the company. The company should also have different avenues of approaching issues because of diverse characters of individuals. There are different avenues the company can use so as not to avoid any problems with the employees. For example, the company can have a participatory approach to issues where the employees will come up with the policies and strategies the company should take. This will be very helpful during implementing because the employees will feel they own the policies because they were part of the decision. The company can also have a review process where the policies and strategies will be put under scrutiny after a period of time to ensure they work hand in hand with the company goals and objectives. Conclusion In present day management of organisations, different theories have been put in to place and practice in order to try and produce the best management style, but none is sufficient while on its own. This is because, different theories have come up to supplement on the already present theories and point out the shortcomings present. Therefore, for the best management style and in order to properly manage and control the diversity in the places of work, there is need not to just focus on one management theory, since it alone cannot be enough, but to try and incorporate aspects from all the theories. This is because, what one theory or management style does not cover is usually covered in another management theory. Through incorporating aspects and ideas from different theories is the only way to learn, and come up with the best method of managing the diversities at the work places. References Cascio, W. F. 2010. Managing human resources: Productivity, quality of work life, profits. McGraw-Hill. Millmore, M., Lewis, P. Saunders, M., Thornhill, A. & Morrow, T. 2007. Strategic human resource management: Contemporary issues. England: Prentice Hall. Pereira, C. & Gomes, J. 02 April 2012. “The strength of human resource practices and transformational leadership: an impact on organizational performance”, the international journal of human resource management, vol 23(20), pp 4301- 4318. Scroggins, W. & Benson, P. 2010. “International human resource management: diversity, issues and challenges”, international journal of human resource Vol. 39(4). Stone, R. J. 2008. Human resource management (6th ed.). Australia: John Wiley & Sons. Read More