Effectiveness Of Leadership At Mcdonalds Management Essay Essay

I had the opportunity of hold outing at a McDonalds chain of restaurants after completion of my undergraduate studies. I was commensurate to observe the role played by members of a police squad up, their squad treat and attractions of the Manager of the restaurant. I would like to analyse the leadinghip bearings practiced, judge the effectiveness of leadership at McDonalds restaurant and wee out recommendations indicating how leadership and squad work advise go contact in hand to improve the performance of the institution. The first McDonalds opened its doors to customers in the UK in 1974.Currently, over 2. 5 million people in the UK place their avow in McDonald, expecting that the multinational would provide them with diet of a higher(prenominal) standard, strong service and value for money. specimens and theories that will be discussed in the later portions of this test ar Adairs leadershiphip Model and Maslows theory of hierarchy which will be applied to McDonalds. leadershiphip styles such as autocratic, classless and cogent ar too discussed to find out which of the three is the holy person model for McDonalds.A police squad up up up is a collection of individuals who atomic number 18 interdependent in their tasks, who deal out right for outcomes, who see themselves and who ar seen by others as an intact social entity embedded in one or much larger social systems (for ex vitamin Ale, business unit or the corporation), and who manage their kins crossways 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 stimulate 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 moldiness buzz off the required skills and attitudes and must overturn way an standard atmos phere in which e rattlingone substructure work with devotion. There should be transparency at heart the team which is possible if at that place is effective system of chat in the midst of 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 unionise among themselves to eliminate both un accreditedties or reservations. Members of a team must authentically appreciate the efforts of fellow members. An effective leader is one who does the right things. leaders can effectively develop and lead teams if they have the ability to create and expire a vision what the organization should be. They should have the ability to communicate with and gain the provide of all team members.They should have the perseverance to transmit in the desired direction under bad conditions and create the satisfactory culture to obtain the needed results. Levine, R. (2000) is of the opinion that leaders need to instruction on moving people and organisations forward by increasing the efficiency of staff and the co-operation of teams in order to improve the organisation. Leadership is related to motivation, interpersonal behaviour and the process 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, observe and manoeuvre stock, recruit, train and motivate a team, create and drive marketing campaigns and build and foster customer relations. Leaders ate McDonalds restaurants do non lay d stimulate either fixed rules on how quickly individuals of a team can progress. Opportunities are given to team members to become animal trainers if they perform well. For this to happen, the crowd member must contribute to the success of the team.The management s tyle adopted by team leaders at McDonalds is to create outlets which are fun places to work. This is called team-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 accommodate 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 crusade 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 mo del match to which the leader inspires others by their own enthusiasm, commitment and the ability to communicate enthusiasm 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) face-off the individual needs of the team members. Adair believes that leaders are not born but emerge from situations. The leader who emerges can adopt both style of leadership that warrants the situation.According 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 disposed(p) 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 aim of authenticity and integrity by building a trusting relationship with all team members (b) to be committed extensivey to the development of the team (c) to be open and communicate, but must practice good audience 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 defy teams efforts and also reflect on its actions. They must maintain and practice accountability and at the same time have a good on the job(p) relationship with the team members. They should always be urinate to monitor and evaluate how the te am functions. They should clearly state the purpose of work without being ambiguous or complex. They must try to experiment and share experiences without blame. They should also provide coaching and mentoring support to the team (Barry Stevenson, 2004).The organizational complex body part of McDonalds Corporation is centralised but that of its sell outlets is different. In McDonalds outlets the employees work as a team to ensure that customers requirements are taken portion out of in a short period of time. Besides the manager the rest are all attendants who take orders and deliver as disruptive as they can. There is division 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 fra mework of order and command through which the activities of the organisation can be planned, organised, directed and controlled. Structure defines tasks and responsibilities, work roles and relationships, and channels of communication (Mullins and Laurie. J, 2008). At McDonalds the interbreed of control of the manager is narrow.The span of control refers to the number of subordinates working under the supervisor. So if there are basketball team subordinates working under the supervisor or manager, the span of control is v. 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 finagle the daily operations resulting in better co-ordination. Managers have time to deal 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 imp lies a colossal 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 avail teams go by their full potential.McDonalds bunch Members are responsible 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 guest 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 touch on McDonalds menu.The teams ar e self managed and all team or work party member works with team spirit. There is a sense of assess for each other. all the same it can be said that most conspiracy members do not understand the organisation strategy as they do not have access to this information. The communication between crew members is daily 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 successful. Larson and LaFasto (1989) studied to understand the characteristics of successful teams and found that all the passing 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 excellence external support and recognition as well a s principled leadership (Larson and LaFasto, 1989). From this determination it is evident that effective teamwork has a strong relationship with motivation.According to Maslows theory the hierarchy of human needs are classified into five levels. This theory advocates that the higher level needs of an individual will become cause factors only when the lower level ones are satisfied. The five levels starting line 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 transport facilities. Safety The next important factor is safety which includes elements such as job security, medical 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 his 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 world 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 autocratic and therefore crew members are not involved in any decision qualification.It is also a fact that suggestions from crew members are not welco med as most of them are new. Crew members are three-year-old 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(prenominal) style of leadership as the management fears that a persuasive or democratic style will not deliver the goods, viz. , delivering type 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 impac t 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 persuasion as a tactic to gain the support of diverse groups of people exploitation 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.