Effectiveness Of Leadership At Mcdonalds Management Essay Essay

I had the opportunity of triming at a McDonalds chain of restaurants after completion of my undergraduate studies. I was able to observe the role played by members of a police squad, their squad work and leadershiphip of the Manager of the restaurant. I would like to analyse the leadership styles practiced, pronounce the effectiveness of leadership at McDonalds restaurant and make recommendations indicating how leadership and team work eject go hand in hand to break the performance of the organisation. The first McDonalds opened its doors to customers in the UK in 1974.Currently, over 2. 5 million battalion in the UK place their trust in McDonald, expecting that the transnational would provide them with food of a high standard, quick service and value for m championy. Models and theories that will be discussed in the later portions of this essay be Adairs lead Model and Maslows theory of hierarchy which will be applied to McDonalds. Leadership styles such as coercive, de mocratic and smooth-tongued be also discussed to honour out which of the three is the ideal ride for McDonalds.A team is a collection of several(prenominal)s who atomic number 18 interdependent in their tasks, who share responsibility for outcomes, who see themselves and who are seen by others as an intact social entity embedded in one or more larger social systems (for example, business unit or the corporation), and who get out their relationships across organisational boundaries (Susan Cohen and Diane Bailey, 1997). A team is defined as a small number of people, with a set of performance goals, who beget a commitment to a common purpose and an approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Katzenbach & Smith 1993).There are several factors that influence the success of a team. Team members essential cast off the required skills and attitudes and moldiness create an ambience in which everyone can work with devotion. There should be transparency within the team which is possible if on that point is effective system of communication between all members. All members of the team must have set responsibilities and must be aware of what is expected from them. In this way all members of the team will be accountable.All members must have harmonising skills and must coordinate among themselves to eliminate any uncertainties or reservations. Members of a team must genuinely appreciate the efforts of workfellow members. An effective leader is one who does the right things. Leaders can effectively develop and lead teams if they have the dexterity to create and communicate a vision what the organization should be. They should have the ability to communicate with and come upon the support of all team members.They should have the perseverance to dubiousness in the desired direction under bad conditions and create the suitable culture to obtain the needed results. Levine, R. (2000) is of the opinion that leaders need to focus on moving people a nd organisations forward by increasing the competency of staff and the co-operation of teams in arrangement to improve the organisation. Leadership is related to motivation, interpersonal behaviour and the care for of communication. Leadership is important in attempting to reduce employee dissatisfaction (Crow M. 995).The responsibilities of the Restaurant Manager or the team leader at McDonalds are to set targets, plan budgets, abide by and throw stock, recruit, train and motivate a team, create and drive marketing campaigns and build and foster customer relations. Leaders ate McDonalds restaurants do not lay down any fixed rules on how quickly individuals of a team can progress. Opportunities are recalln to team members to gravel film directors if they perform well. For this to happen, the ring member must contribute to the success of the team.The management style adopted by team leaders at McDonalds is to create outlets which are mutation places to work. This is called t eam-building. Leaders at McDonalds foster accountability and understand the social responsibility culture and incorporate these activities into their businesses. In fact the team leaders have all the characteristics that were used by Stogdill (1950) to define leadership.The characteristic include traits, behaviour, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships and occupation of an administrative position articulating visions (e. g.Bill Gates), embodying values and creating environment for the things that can be accomplished entities that perform one or more acts of leading the ability to affect human behaviour so as to accomplish a mission and Influencing a group of people to move towards its goal setting or goal achievement. (Stogdill, 1950) The McDonalds Model is that of Adairs Model which is called action-centred leadership. This is a constructive model according to which the leader inspires others by their own enthusiasm, commitment and the ability to communicate enthusias m to people (Adair, 1993).Teams were developed by team leaders so that a common task could be accomplished. Adair (1993) identifies three different approaches to leadership which can be called leadership functions (1) accomplishing the task, (2) maintaining the team and (3) meeting the individual needs of the team members. Adair believes that leaders are not born but emerge from situations. The leader who emerges can adopt any style of leadership that warrants the situation. harmonise to Adair a leader is one who has certain innate characteristics which are required to perform his/her role. A leader according to him must have personality and character. Adair quotes Harold Macmillian, that a man who trusts nobody is inclined(predicate) to be the kind of man that nobody trusts. His leader must have integrity, a wholeness and a moral sense. According to Adair, the three functions of meeting the demands of the task, maintaining the team and meeting the needs of individual team members must be kept in balance and none of them should be neglected.The team leader areas of responsibility must include qualities and competencies such as (a) to behave with the highest level of authenticity and integrity by building a trusting relationship with all team members (b) to be committed fully to the development of the team (c) to be open and communicate, but must practice good listening skills (d) be willing to share perceptions, assumptions and views openly with team members and (e) to allow team members to work independently but in a self-organised manner.Team leaders must take time required to do the work and support teams efforts and also reflect on its actions. They must maintain and practice accountability and at the same time have a good working relationship with the team members. They should always be ready to monitor and evaluate how the team functions. They should clearly state the purpose of work without being ambiguous or complex. They must try to experiment and s hare experiences without blame. They should also provide coaching and mentoring support to the team (Barry Stevenson, 2004).The organizational structure of McDonalds Corporation is centralised but that of its retail outlets is different. In McDonalds outlets the employees work as a team to ensure that customers requirements are taken care of in a short period of time. Besides the manager the rest are all attendants who take orders and deliver as fast as they can. There is discrepancy of labour among members of the organisation, and the co-ordination of their activities are directed towards the goals and objectives of the organisation.Structure is the pattern of relationships among positions in the organisation and among members of the organisation. Structure makes possible the application of the process of management and creates a framework of order and command through which the activities of the organisation can be planned, organised, directed and controlled. Structure defines tas ks and responsibilities, work roles and relationships, and channels of communication (Mullins and Laurie. J, 2008). At McDonalds the span of control of the manager is narrow-minded.The span of control refers to the number of subordinates working under the supervisor. So if there are five subordinates working under the supervisor or manager, the span of control is five. If the span of control is narrow there are certain advantages (Jenkins and Tessa, 2000). One of the merits is that there is tight control over subordinates and the manager is able to closely pull off the daily operations resulting in better co-ordination. Managers have time to think and plan and they are not burdened with too many problems.A narrow span of control reduces delegation and managers are able to do more work. On the contrary, a flat organisation implies a wide span of control. Theorists are of the opinion that tall organisation structures are inefficient, despite the advantage of a narrow span of control (Robbins, Stephen P, 2007). One can learn to use leadership approaches to develop high-performing teams and individuals at McDonalds. Team leaders were aware of the importance of team building and used suitable tools and techniques to help teams reach their full potential.McDonalds Crew Members are obligated for customer service, food preparation and cleanliness and hygiene. Crew members will be asked to work in any of these areas depending on the individuals preferences. I worked as a Customer Service Crew member and my job entailed taking orders and delivering meals to customers at the counter. I learnt to be courteous and polite as I was responsible for maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction. The responsibility of the Food Preparation Crew Members was to prepare and cook McDonalds menu.The teams are self managed and all team or faction member works with team spirit. There is a sense of respect for each other. However it can be said that most confederacy members do no t understand the organisation strategy as they do not have access to this information. The communication between crew members is informal which enables every individual to maintain good harmony within retail outlets. The crew members at McDonalds are committed because their needs are met by the team leadership. The leadership has developed an ideal and committed team which can be easily motivated.A committed and motivated team is always triple-crown. Larson and LaFasto (1989) studied to understand the characteristics of successful teams and found that all the highly effective teams always had the characteristics such as a clear, elevating goal, a result-driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, a collaborative climate, standards of duty external support and recognition as well as principled leadership (Larson and LaFasto, 1989). From this finding it is evident that effective teamwork has a strong relationship with motivation.According to Maslows theory the hie rarchy of human needs are classified into five levels. This theory advocates that the higher level needs of an individual will become motivating factors only when the lower level ones are satisfied. The five levels starting from the lowest hierarchy to the highest level, are Physiological At McDonalds the motivating factors of the crew members are salary, over time, daily lunch/meal and transportation facilities. Safety The next important factor is safety which includes elements such as job security, medical examination insurance and sick leave.Social There is very good interaction among crew members and customers. This has resulted in excellent teamwork. Self-esteem Crew members are motivated as the team leader/manager has full confidence in their abilities. They have reputation because of the McDonalds brand equity. They are recognised and appreciated by fellow colleagues, subordinates, and supervisors. Self-actualization The crew member reach their full potential when all h is needs are taken care off (Maslow, 1987). The disadvantage that I observed was that subordinates are unable to make any decision.They have to always obey and listen to the orders of the manager. However the crew members (team members) had flexible schedules. There were team members from various parts of the innovation working together. They had different backgrounds and different interests and all worked together to make an ideal work force. In fact there was diversity. I would like to now give a detailed account of my observations on leadership styles and its impact on teamwork in McDonalds restaurants. The leadership style practised in McDonalds restaurants is magisterial and therefore crew members are not involved in any decision reservation.It is also a fact that suggestions from crew members are not welcomed as most of them are new. Crew members are young and work in these restaurants during summer vacations and therefore cannot offer ideas to the leader. Crew members are young and therefore motivated if they are paid wages on time and given extra benefits such as lunch and transportation. This motivates the crew to work in spite of the autocratic leadership. Autocratic style of leadership doesnt fulfil the self esteem requirements reflected in Maslows hierarchy.However at McDonalds crew members get self respect and also respect each other. McDonalds will not adopt another style of leadership as the management fears that a coaxing or democratic style will not deliver the goods, viz. , delivering quality food on time to its customers. I would like to compare persuasive and democratic styles of leadership with that of autocratic leadership before arriving at a conclusion which one of the three styles will ideally suit McDonalds and at the same time have an impact on team work.Persuasion is one of the requisites of all leaders by which act they can move people toward a new situation. Persuasion does not include rational arguments. A leader can use pers uasion as a tactic to gain the support of diverse groups of people using basic human emotions. It is normal that persuasive strategies may provoke team members and some of them may oppose ideas or suggestions. The democratic leadership style or participative style encourages employees to be a part of the decision making allowing more participation of teams in the decision making process.