Organisational Dynamics and Culture of Mcdonalds

Organisational Dynamics and Culture of Mcdonalds McDonalds is spread across 31,000 restaurants all over the world and serves over 52 million people in about 119 countries each day. The company can be proclaimed as the worlds largest food retailer.  The work culture of McDonalds very much depends upon the manager. The managers do not try and put any vertical barriers between themselves and their employees. They display real concern for the emotions and well being of their employees. McDonalds corporate management focuses on training and leadership which is permeated at all levels through Hamburger University. On the university website, they quote McDonalds founder Ray Krocs ideology which is training-oriented: If we are going to go anywhere, weve got to have talent. And, Im going to put my money in talent. This shows that McDonalds considers its crew members as elements that cannot be replaced. Because training is not limited to just the top-level executives, McDonalds is able to ensure that its culture is spread at all levels and reinforced through education and promote that employees still remain important to the organization. Ravi Sharma, restaurant manager at McDonalds outlet in New Delhi concurs At McDonalds, the work operations are such that Ive been exposed to different aspects of business including finance and leading teams. This is one place where one can get complete orientation and training to lead and develop the organization. McDonalds offers different shift schedules so that everyone can achieve a good balance between their work and their personal lives. Some individuals want to work fulltime while some are part-time workers who have to fulfill some social obligations as well. The job being a low-skilled one, another employee can always step in to fill for a part-timer.  This provides a feeling of empowerment to the employees who can always adjust and allows for mutual trust to develop between manager and the employees on the basis of respect for each other. Saurabh Mishra, also a McDonalds restaurant manager at Lucknow agrees Such flexible schedules as well as wages which are competitively benchmarked, superior management training and other opportunities, such benefits help us believe that we are a valued part of our team. The success of McDonalds is based on a simplistic yet very effective formula which involves standardizing the service to the smallest detail, maintaining strict control on the quality of service and developing cost efficiencies by employing cheap, young, unskilled labour who is supervised by managers. The business grows by involving franchisees and entrepreneurs who really look forward to be associated with the brand. McDonalds is characterized by the importance of the system over the individual and breaking down the work into simplistic steps. As an assistant manager at one of the restaurants of McDonalds adds Little do people know that not just the management but even crew members require some talent. I see it everyday in my store and I feel proud at working with such people -the speed, planning of things, solving problems, taking care of hospitality, teamwork, and most importantly, a positive attitude In most organizations, norms do not result due to sharing of values among the members of the organisation; rather the rules and practices of the organization play a much bigger role in defining the culture thus, making both values and practices as the determinants of the culture and norms. With franchisees spread wide and far across the globe, the core values of McDonalds Quality, Service, Convenience and Value are inculcated deeply into managers who are trained at the Hamburger University, so that uniformity can be maintained all around. In performance of each task right from making eye contact to how to smile during transactions, a standard is maintained by the counter staff. Thus, in a system of command and control which is increasingly centralized, culture is characterized as an entity with limits but with definite identity and mannerisms. McDonalds approach is universal when taken in a context where standardization and integration are treated as foundations of the business. It is a methodical approach to doing business where emphasis on established practices and standards is important for smooth operations. This approach, which is somewhat bureaucratic, makes the employees behave in a certain manner during their work hours due to the influence of organizational practices which are under strong control. With their jobs being quite regulated, even employees who do not find favour with such tightly controlled work, adhere to these norms. This match between the ideas of the employee and the business is what acts as a cornerstone of success for McDonalds. VALUES AND PRINCIPLES OF MCDONALDS The core values McDonalds live by McDonalds, worldwide stands for Q,S,C and V i.e. Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value which translates into providing customers high-quality products which are served pleasantly in a clean environment and at an affordable price McDonalds believes that it is important to invest in people as there are qualified people coming together from diverse backgrounds and it is important that they work together to ensure success for the organization Honesty and integrity to be the cornerstones for all business approaches and strategies Orienting and providing support to systems that ensure success Being proud of achievements but also having the intention to progress further The guiding principles Confidence to exceed customers expectations at every opportunity possible Corporate, Franchisees and Suppliers are the drivers of success for the organization McDonalds considers franchising as a priority and in collaboration with the franchisees, strives to make strategies that are beneficial for the customers VISION AND MISSION OF MCDONALDS To be the best and numero uno global fast food provider The mission for brand McDonalds is to become the customers favourite in defining the way they eat and also try to improve the operations to the level where it surpasses the expectations of the customers FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF MCDONALDS ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Strong organizational culture McDonalds has a very strong sense of its organizational history as they are proud of their single store humble origins which acts as a motivator for employees Globally supports the employment of youth by recognizing their contribution in the growth of the organization Encouraging pro-social initiatives like the Ronald McDonald Foundation for better relations with local communities Focus on retaining promising employees by offering good growth opportunities McDonalds emphasis on the process of Entry Socialization which is an effort at investing into potential leaders and grooming them for organizational excellence McDonalds employee-friendly offerings include flexible shift scheduling, incentive of free meals and provision of McCrew Care an elective health insurance option Frequent opportunities of promotion from within the system and also, more opportunities of a increase in salary DYSFUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF MCDONALDS ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE Centralized decision-making structure: A very centralized scope of authority means that employee work profile consists of limited responsibility and lack of any opportunity to exercise individual initiatives Most employees are under the age of 20 and for most people, it is their first job. Employees thus, tend to identify more with their coworkers partly due to them not offering any decision-making input and a high-stress, fast-paced environment takes its own toll on the identification of the employees with the organization Tolerance for conflict is very low as it is important for employees to adhere to the work groups , individual initiatives are not encouraged and differing views remain muted to the level of employees and does not figure at the organizational strategy level Not much focus on implementing service motivators and few opportunities for recognition and growth in the present system except for those who plan to stay with the organization for a longer period of time EVALUATION OF MCDONALDS CULTURE: PROCESS CULTURE Procedural Complicity is important for employees Sticking to norms and procedures strictly Punctual and obedient people suit the structure of an ideal employee Authority-Obedience management rules the roost as interference in decision-making is reduced to bare minimum. The scope of authority is more centralized in practice as the decisions are made by top management while the crew members and lower-level staff just follow procedure Horizontal Division of Labor: There is specialization in labour and emphasis is there on conformity in the production of final output HOW CULTURE CAN CHANGE Facilitating the flow of communication in the organization by means of vertical decision-making Make efforts at alleviating job boredom and humiliation of the employees as they are the key for successful running of the restaurants Decentralization should become a more prominent determinant of future strategies of McDonalds Lower level managers should have more responsibility for decisions that are instrumental in bringing changes in the working of their branches Involvement of crew members in development of initiatives at innovating work structure and responsibilities Developing a Work-hard/Play-hard culture where employees derive satisfaction through increased involvement in work and make efforts at ensuring limited risk-taking individually Encouraging subordinates to take on more responsibilities in order to make them self-reliant in decision-making Ensuring that employee tasks are frequently rotated so that they become knowledgeable about different business skills which includes crucial skills like finance and accounting Take on more risks: Each franchisee must be allowed freedom in deciding promotion strategies and service offerings which are instrumental in increasing individual autonomy and improving relations with local community Ask employees to be a part of brand restructuring initiatives. For example Designing more attractive uniforms where employees feel proud in making a brand their own HOW TO IMPLEMENT CHANGE Employee responsibility and inclusion should be the focus for a new management strategy. Brain-storming sessions with employees, especially lower level employees which involves taking their inputs and suggestions for improvements and innovations in service offerings Create a new training program for newly-inducted restaurant employees that will focus on education, growth and responsibility and orientation for different tasks which are important for smooth operation of the business which include inventory control, budgeting, and scheduling Offer plans to help employees in continuing their education even while they work at McDonalds by paying for their education Create an outreach program for new managers, which is voluntary in nature, for 2 weeks a year wherein they go and work in their communities so that when they come back, they can provide insights on their communities to the organization for better offerings

The Impossibility of Female Desire in Pygmalion and The Awakening Essay

In â€Å"The Power of Discourse and the Subordination of the Feminine,† Luce Irigaray argues that, because society uses a patriarchal language that privileges male-gendered logic over female-gender emotion, there is no adequate language to represent female desire. She writes that â€Å"feminine pleasure has to remain inarticulate in language, in its own language, if it is not to threaten the underpinnings of logical operations† and, because of this, â€Å"what is most strictly forbidden to women today is that they should attempt to express their own pleasure† (796). This inability to articulate female desire means that female desire becomes unutterable, something that cannot be expressed. According to Irigaray, this unutterable-ness of female desire in patriarchal language leaves only one option for women to attempt to express their desire and that is the act of mimicry or mimesis. Mimesis is not an attempt to represent female desire in patriarchal language; inst ead, mimesis is in attempt through the use of patriarchal language to reveal that female desire cannot be presented, a way to â€Å"make ‘visible,’ by an effect of playful repetition, what was supposed to remain invisible – the cover-up of a possible operation of the feminine in language† (795). Mimesis exposes how patriarchal language disallows or denies female desire by circling around the absence of that female desire, by making its absence perfectly clear in a patriarchal discourse. The concept of a patriarchal discourse, necessary to Irigaray’s argument, is an example of a shared interpretive community, a term coined by Stanley Fish that refers to a discursively-created set of ideas, beliefs, and interpretations that belong to a community or multiple communities. The most important aspe... ...etative community of patriarchal language, does not allow for the existence of female desire and kills what little life it had in Eliza in these last lines. In the end, the characters of Edna and Eliza reveal the impossibility of female desire, of their having desire, within a culture that cannot articulate or name it. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. Ed. Nancy Walker. Boston: Bedford, 2000. Print. Fish, Stanley. "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One." Is There a Text in this Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980. PDF File. Irigaray, Luce. "The Power of Discourse and the Subordination of the Feminine." Literary Theory: An Anthology. By Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print. Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print.

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche

There are a number of misconceptions many have regarding the philosophy of existentialism. Probably the most common misconception is the notion that it is a nihilistic, dark philosophy with a miserable outlook. This is a horribly inaccurate assessment as existentialism is really a philosophy of looking at life through a realistic lens. Of course, different people see things differently and this is why even famous, leading existentialist philosophers such as Kierkegaard and Nietzsche have diverse teaching methodologies for presenting existentialism. In order to clearly understand existentialism, one must look at some of these differences between these two existentialist philosophers.Both of these two philosophers understand that it is often perception that gets in the way of reality. That is, people will look at life their own biases and perspectives as opposed to looking at reality. Both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche understand that this inherent flaw is common among all humans and they stress that improvement of the individual can overcome this problem. Their approaches to the problem, however, lack much in terms of similarity.Probably the main difference between the two would be the notion of inward understanding vs. outward expression. For Kierkegaard, there is much internalization. That is, the individual needs to look at his or her own flaws and come to an anagnoris of that is somewhat akin to enlightenment and personal spirituality. For Nietzsche, the approach is far more humanist as the process for self improvement is found in how the person acts. That is to say, enlightenment does not come from a quasi sense of spirituality as much as it comes in personal achievement in realized goals. In a way, Nietzsche's â€Å"superman† displays who he is through his actions. For Kierkegaard, there is internal philosophizing that creates a different perspective. This, too, can change the person but without the external displays.Individualism is a very important po int for both of these philosophers. Often, existentialism is the philosophy of the self and is not concerned with collectivism. (This is one of the reasons why the philosophy is erroneously referred to as being pure narcissism) Kierkegaard, while very negative towards the notion of group think and groups, stresses that there are certain gains that can be made from within the group.This is provided, of course, that the man does not allow the group to take over his thinking. For Nietzsche it would seem there is more anger and bitterness towards the group. He has little use for collective pursuits of any kind and would prefer to shun it as opposed to Kierkegaard plays the collective for individual benefit. That is, use the flaws of the group as a guiding principle for self enlightenment.If there was any confusion present it would center on the notion that one could be self enlightened or a superman within a vacuum. That is, if you are the loner who feels â€Å"above it all† what value can that be worth if the group collective does not honor you achievements. Perhaps Kierkegaard and Nietzsche would state that whatever the group believes is worthless but most people do hope to gain value from the collective's envy. Then again, perhaps this confusion derives from rejecting some of the isolationist tendencies of existentialism. If you are not willing to completely reject â€Å"the group† then much of existentialism will prove unappealing.Once again, while the teachings of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche in regards to promoting existentialism seek the same goal, their approaches have a number of differences. Some are overt and some are subtle. Then, some are merely a matter of perception.HeideggerBut what really is the human being? While there are physical, biological and even spiritual aspects that comprise the human being most people can not put the sums together and provide a finite, conclusive answer to that very important question. Yet, it has been a ques tion posed by many existential philosophers for many years. One existentialist who sought to provide a very unique and definitive insight to what is a human being was Heidegger/ The attempts to do so are seen in his examination of Dasein. Dasein is essentially a way of looking at the individual's place in the world. As such, if you understand the person's place in the world then you will understand the person. In a way, this is because a being and a being's environment are inseparable. After all, does not environment shape the being?The interesting point that Heidegger puts forth is that throughout human history there is an unfortunate tendency by society to ignore the question of being. This is because the being is taken for granted. That is, individualism is somewhat discarded due to benign neglect. This is the result of putting far too much emphasis on society towards looking at the being on overly psychoanalytical of not overly metaphysical means. In other words, the collective has too much of a complicated definition for the being. This is often because society does not look at the being from the perspective of extreme simplicity: a human is a thinking organism prone to emotion. When a school of thought or an institution ignores this fact the ability to truly understand the being is lost.In a way, it would seem that Heidegger would hope that the being – the individual – would ignore society as it generally ignores him. That does not mean one should be dismissive or insubordinate to the rule of law. It simply means one should seek his or her own individual path and try to avoid the collective mentality and the influences it pedals.In a similar vein, there are a number of strong opinions surrounding Heidegger's philosophy vs. Wittgenstein's Logical Positivism. On a baseline level, Logical Positivism is a rebuke of mysticism and seeks to establish a more secular, logic based outlook on life. In a way, it is much like traditional existentialism although its approach can be somewhat more biting. What makes the comparison between Heidegger's theories and Logical Positivism is the fact that followers of Logical Positivism often accuse Heidegger's theories of being overly based in mysticism!This is a bizarre notion because it would infer that Heidegger's outlook on the concept of the being was not based on humanism, Instead, it would be inferred that the being centered on mysticism. Perhaps this is because those who prescribe to Logical Positivism see concepts of â€Å"the being† as being psychoanalytical variants of mysticism and spirituality. Obviously, this was not Heidegger's intention and such an inference would infer confusion.Perhaps this is because the Logical Positives followers would assume that there is far too much speculation inherent to answering questions regarding who or what is the being. Again, this brings us to the antagonistic attitudes certain realists may have regarding anything psychoanalytical. P erhaps to these individuals looking inward to answer questions of being might walk to close of a line towards spirituality. (Again, this is not Heidegger's intent but this is how some critics may have defined it.) Notion of spirituality walk too closely to mysticism for followers of Logical Positivism and that is why they may very well reject Heidegger.On a basic level, however, Heidegger's theories of the being are sound. Of course, there will be critics and that is expected, but to outright dismiss the benefits of Heidegger's work upon cursory examination would not be the wisest path to take.

Shakespeare and the Critics

Shakespeare and the Critics Free Online Research Papers Shakespeare is possibly the greatest play writer of our time. One of his more famous plays â€Å"Hamlet† tells the story of a man, Hamlet, who is misunderstood by everyone. It is very easy for one to project his or her own faults onto someone else, and this is exactly what happens in the play. Hamlet does many strange things and each thing is blamed on a different reason. This is similar to when a critic analysis a piece of work. They tend to compare the play to something they have gone through in their life. T.S. Elliot’s essay â€Å"Hamlet and His Problems† is a perfect example that critics are narrow minded. They only see things in the way they want and they do not have an open mind about anything. Hamlet seems mad and acts very strange in some cases this causes the main debate that critics talk about; KING: How is it that clouds still hang on you? Hamlet: Not so, my lord. I am too much in the sun.† Even though Hamlet is only saying he is mad to fool the king, many people think that he has really gone mad out of frustration for the tragedy that occurred. Hamlet also seems to be a liar by blaming his appearance on coincidence rather than the tragedy that took place. The first argument is a more recent argument and T.S. Elliot’s quotes Professor Stoll of the University of Minnesota saying that: Critics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries knew less about psychology than more recent Hamlet critics, but they were nearer in spirit to Shakespeares art; and as they insisted on the importance of the effect of the whole rather than on the importance of the leading character, they were nearer, in their old-fashioned way, to the secret of dramatic art in general.† The modern critics all think he has gone mad. Clearly they never experienced a tragedy themselves; otherwise they would know what the experience could do to someone. When he throws off the king’s question he is not doing it because he doesn’t want to talk to the king he is doing it because he can’t handle all the questions. This is perfectly normal. Critics who have never been a situation like this are unable to think outside the box, and understand what someone else is going through. Other critics misunderstand Hamlets behavior by saying he is a homosexual. This is a misunderstanding of the fact that Hamlet can’t trust any man. Therefore, he advises Ophelia to trust no man. The only man she can trust is Jesus. The only way a critic can see the real issues here would be if they went through the same thing that Hamlet did. If a woman went through a terrible divorce and then tells her friends not to trust any man, does this make her gay? No, this just means that she went through a trauma that no one can understand unless they went through the same thing. The difference between a good critic and a bad critic is one that understands his own boundaries. If a critic can realize that he is not always able to understand what the character is going through and that he must think outside of the box in order to understand it, he will be a good critic. I agree with Elliot’s critic on the critics of Hamlet he understands like I do that you cannot judge a situation until you were put in it yourself. Research Papers on Shakespeare and the CriticsComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionBringing Democracy to AfricaCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenMind TravelAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropePersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Capital Punishment

An experience with NOFX essays

An experience with NOFX essays On November 26th I went to the Stone Pony in New York to see another of my favorite bands, NOFX. NOFX is a punk-ska band. Punk meaning fast paced drumbeats and quick singing and ska meaning a song played with trumpets. The band members are Fat Mike (vocals, bass), El Hefe (guitar, trumpet, vocals), Eric Melvin (guitar, vocals), and Erik Sandin (drums). The one thing I found out there was that El Hefe sings a lot. I thought he only sings in a few songs but when I heard them play, I noticed that he sang about half of the songs. NOFX music has considerable groove for a punk band and is sparked by the two lead guitarists, Eric Melvin and El Hefe. Tight play between the band's four members, and short, fast, punchy songs, with a laid back approach would even Their songs talk about racism, politics, social problems, sex, drugs, lesbians, bums, alcohol, animal freedom... and many other strange subjects. In their music you will find punk, of course, but also rock, hardcore, ska, even reggae and jazz. If you ask me they are a just a punk-ska band. Their songs are interesting and different from one another. Each song has it's own characteristics. The lyrics are very interesting, sometimes strange, and sometimes incomprehensible. You basically just have to understand them in your The club was packed, or more accurately, stuffed. After much anticipation the punk gods, NOFX hit the stage and the crowd surged with excitement even before they opened the set with one of my favorite songs, "Reagan Sucks." The next song they played was "Bob". They played songs from the album "Flossing a Dead Horse" - which is one massive trumpet solo presented by El Hefe. The next song they played was "Eat the Meek" with trumpet and lead vocals by El Hefe. The mosh pit was monstrous and seemed to gain in size as it rotated in circles ...

A Miscommunication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A Miscommunication - Essay Example In one particularly funny scene, the two are poring over video tape evidence and just as one of the pieces of information the are studying has Richard Castle quite frustrated that he tells her that they should "sleep on it". Misunderstanding what he meant, she gave him this look of wonder and bewilderment as she wondered about the sexual connotation of his statement. He reacts with a very funny "Separately. Katherine Beckett, I never..." before he walks away from her. Had Beckett been played as a male character, there would have been a lesser chance of miscommunication because, as a straight male, he would not have seen any double meaning to the statement Castle made. He would have understood it for what it actually meant. That there are these 2 tired people who have been working long and hard on a case and they need to take a break in order to be able to be able to properly analyze the evidence before them and interpret them properly. This scene in particular shows how miscommunicat ion can easily occur between people. It also leads us to understand that given a different set of circumstances, such as having 2 males in the scene instead of a male and female, would have totally changed the outcome of the scene. References Davis, Elizabeth (Writer) & Barret, David (Director). (2011). One Life To Lose (Television series episode). Marlowe, Andrew (Producer), Castle. Los Angeles CA: ABC Mangas, Luciana. Sneak Peeks: Castle 3.18 "One Life To Lose".

Critically evaluate the extent to which budget hotel brandsrequire Essay

Critically evaluate the extent to which budget hotel brandsrequire effective brand management in the current post recession envi - Essay Example It was during this period that a sandal maker based in Syria mentioned his name on the footwear he was selling so as to keep it distinct from others. During initial years branding was often viewed as naming a good or an article. This follows from the different religious views which stress on naming individuals so as to distinguish them from the rest of the others. The aspect of naming goods has over the years modified itself to what is termed as ‘branding’ in today’s globalised market environment (Jackson & Fulberg, p.51). According to Keller a brand is defined as â€Å"a set of mental associations held by the consumer, which ad to the perceived value of a product or service† (Kapferer, p.10). The importance of brands could be analysed from the fact that well known brands like Coca Cola, Kellogg’s and Apple are being valued in billions just because of the power of their names (or brands). The present study would focus on the importance of branding an d brand image in case of budget hotels especially in the light of the recent financial meltdown and the competitive forces prevalent in the market. Importance of Brand Management The present age of business is being widely debated as the age of consumerism. In this age customers are in the driver’s seat as firms are trying to aggressively woo customers by offering them greater value for every purchase. The competitive environment in the consumer markets has forced organizations to distinguish their product and service offering from the rest of its competitors (Budzinski, p.13). Branding has therefore assumed considerable importance for business organizations as it is being largely used by the customers to distinguish the product and service offering among the wide array of choices available in the market. The importance of branding could be analysed from the fact that branding plays a key role in the positioning of a firm’s product or service in the minds of the consum er. This is important considering the fact that positioning plays a key role in the consumer’s buying behaviour process. Branding assumes significant importance as it distinguishes the product or service offering of different organizations and also gives uniqueness to a particular product or service in the consumer markets. In the present age it has often been argued that consumers are more intended towards purchasing a brand instead of a product. Branding also has a role in the aspect of marketing communication as they are essentially used by firms to promote their product in the market. For example Cadbury uses its famous tagline â€Å"I love Cadbury† to make a connection with its target market audience (Elliot & Percy, p.229-230). Brand equity is a broad term and includes four critical aspects namely awareness of a brand, loyalty towards a brand, quality and image. The combined effect of these four aspects plays a critical role in determining the profitability and s ustainability of a brand in the market. For example the success story of the fast service chain of restaurants could be traced to the effectiveness by which the marketer has handled these four underlying aspects of brand equity to build a formidable brand image (Oh & Pizam, p.103-104). Global Recession and Budget Hotels The global recession had large scale impacts on the business prospects of budget hotels. The financial meltdown resulted in rise of unemployment coupled with decrease in the income levels of the individuals. It