McDonald's strategic management through planning, organizing, and leading

McDonald's Corporation is one of the best known global brands. Starting with 2004, McDonald's witnesses a turn around and has become very profitable again, despite a high turnover of CEOs.

McDonald's leadership decided to continue to grow, using many new strategies, such as refurbishing locations, customizing service in each country and geographic area, enhancing R&D and product development, as well as marketing and packaging, extending service, offering healthy choices, and so on. These functions of management can best be categorized into four units -- Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling -- all of which are described in the following essay

Planning

McDonalds' has evaluated the current American way of living and transformed itself to meet those requirements. Instead of compelling clients to adjust to their style, McDonald's has transformed itself to adjust to the client. So, for instance, it has extended its breakfast time to the extent that, in some locations, options for breakfast run all day. It has also transformed its decor into one where large-scale TVs, living plants, internet connections, a more comfortable and homely decor personalize the place rather than the smell of fries and hamburgers form the kitchen. McDonald's too is unrepentant in its high fat, unhealthy diet knowing that most Americans seem o prefer this. It has changed its menu for afternoon and other meals and in short, has suffered discomfort and invested expense into pleasing the client knowing that by doing thus it will please itself.

The punctilious detail that goes into their planning, too, can be seen form the thorough research that McDonald's puts into every food item before introducing it to the way that they consider the customer's needs and streamline the product to meet those needs. For instance, the $1.29 Snack Wrap is a strip of deep-fried chicken with cheese, lettuce, and a squirt of sauce tucked into a folded tortilla. McDonald's considered that client may likely want to eat this whilst driving so they prefigured details from the thickness of the salsa (that it should not drip) to the packaging, to a larger, 8-inch-diameter tortilla that would further guard against drips.

Organizing

McDonald's has set for itself an organized plan that follows the dictates of the client rather than its own pleasures. Whilst at one time the goal of McDonalds was to open as many locations as possible, its organization is now on making its performance as superior as possible. To that end, it runs as a fully organized automaton.

The rigorousness of its organization is evident in all aspects of the company incusing in its product development. New ideas are generated in the company's food studio in Oak Brook by a staff of three dozen chefs, food technicians, and market researchers. Potential new products get tried out first for six weeks, and the company monitors not just sales but also margins, expense, and the easiness of the ability to produce the food.

Whilst its organization is rigorous, on the other hand -- and to its merit -- McDonald's organization is also flexible. For instance, realizing that it may be advantageous for it to, in some places, run breakfast all day long, McDonald's has been playing around with innovations for it's to do so. In one place, they are even considering introducing an electric griddle. This may mean changing the tradition of the place, but just as they have changed the decor and to, a certain extent, changed the menu, McDonald's realizes that they no longer live in the '50s and that they have to adjust to the changing populace.

Controlling

McDonald's was decisive in its direction. It saw that there was a need for change, assessed the need, decided on this direction and charged ahead in committing itself to the change. This decisiveness of McDonald's in controlling its future can be seen in all of its steps. For instance before it introduces any new change or menu it thoroughly tests the proposed change first. Only once it considers the change to be promising of success will McDonald's proceed in introducing it.

McDonald's too, as we saw, also rigorously controls each area of its programming from the testing of new products to its launching. Products are developed so that they appeal to the trends and qualities of the various countries so that, for instance, food in America is served on the go, whilst in Europe a more leisurely atmosphere is created.

Conclusion

In conclusion, McDonald's has largely become successful and made its turn-around due to its paragon of management. As seen in its four components of Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling, McDonald's success can be reduced to at least two factors; endeavor to understand and please its clients regardless of cost and discomfort to the company and organizational rigidity that is interspersed with flexibility. The two together traverse all four areas of its management practicum and culminate in a successful venture.