FRANCHISEE OPERATIONS

The traditional McDonald’s philosophy that acts as the guiding force behind it’s operational make-up is “Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value”. The importance of operation management can be divided into three broad categories:-

Assistance in Strategic Decisions (Long term):- Operation management decision at the strategic level affect McDonald’s effectiveness to address customers needs world-wide. This would consider the fixed conditions and existing constraints to formulate global and efficient tools/ systems/ process to achieve competitive advantage. E.g. A major technological change resulting in value addition to the franchisee. Such decisions are in the senior management level.

Assistance in Tactical Decisions (Intermediate term):-This will involve helping out in efficiently scheduling the resource and labour under the constraints defined by strategic plan. This includes decision based on number of taskforce required in a particular restaurant outlet, how many shifts to operate, when the material should be delivered, what should be done about the wasted food etc.

Assistance in Operational planning and control Decisions (Short term):- These are operational decision made for a narrow / short period under the constraints defined by tactical decisions. This assists in decisions like what are the tasks we need to finish today, who will clean-up the restaurants for the day, what jobs have priority etc. E.g. this would be typically be the decision made by a shift operator in a restaurant. These would be narrowly focussed on departmental objectives.

Evaluating success of existing Operational processes at McDonald

McDonald’s existing operations across its world-wide restaurants are closely linked to the overall strategy of the organisation which is evaluated as under.

PRODUCT DESIGN & POSITIONING:-

Product planning in McDonald’s includes creating a menu keeping both the economy and quality into consideration. Operation management processes related to product design include

Achieving consistent and similar quality, flavour and taste across their entire restaurant worldwide by development of sophisticated supplier network and distributors’ network.

Innovativeness by catering to the changing needs and preference of the customers by removing certain items based on their seasonality or adding new products to the menu list. For e.g. introduction of ‘healthy’, low carb, low calorie food item in the menu for the health conscious customers.

Re-engineering the menu based on the local market, the local culture, client segment, their perception and lifestyle. For e.g. catering to the differential segment of vegetarians with a large array of customised vegetarian menu. Modern sophisticated cooking equipments to prepare the products. Pricing the Menus in such a fashion that is affordable to large segment of consumers

LOCATION SELECTION

McDonald’s restaurant is strategically positioned in such a way that ensures maximum visibility and has a large customer base. It takes into consideration the initial investment required which is a strategic operational decision based on expected return on investments. The identified operational processes with respect to location include Provide a clean and comfortable ambience targeted at families. Close proximity to the raw material suppliers. Suitable transportation infrastructure availability and related costs. At malls and other shopping areas, there are targeted play area aimed at attracting more kids to the restaurants. Considers parking facilities or area required for vehicles, the waiting time incase of a drive-in restaurant. Turn-around time (TAT) of the product becomes a key to determine the number of customers (& thus the respective vehicles) waiting in the queue in drive-ins.