In my opinion, I believe that there are three main ways that the production at McDonalds can be improved. Improving production will increase the amount of products made and, more importantly, increase the profit.

GCSE Business Studies

Luke B 10G

Production at McDonalds

To: The Managing Director of McDonalds, Waddon

From: Luke Birchenhough

Re: Improving Productivity at McDonalds

Date: 5 March 2006

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to apply for the position of manager of my local branch of McDonalds in East Croydon. The following report highlights how I would improve the productivity at the McDonalds in East Croydon.

In my opinion, I believe that there are three main ways that the production at McDonalds can be improved. Improving production will increase the amount of products made and, more importantly, increase the profit. We could also get our stock at a lower cost as well.

The first method I would suggest to improve productivity would be introducing a Total Quality Management system. This method will cut costs by removing errors in the company controlling quality throughout. For example, if a worker were not producing the burgers to a specific level, the management would iron this error out and make him/her increase the quality. More profit will come in as the customers will feel cared for and the products will be better quality. There will be an overall increase in efficiency as well as every aspect in the business having improved quality.

A disadvantage of this method is that we will have to spend more money for training and development. Also, TQM only works if there is co-operation and commitment throughout. If we had a rebellious worker then the system would fail. It is also hard to test the quality of the taste; you cannot have a bite out of every burger.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Another method for improving productivity would be specialisation. This would mean that till workers would become specialised in manning the till, making the drinks and fetching to food. The Chefs would also make better quality food as they would also be specialised. These skills can also be developed throughout through constant use. This would also mean the till people would not have to fetch chips, as they would already be there for them. Profits would increase as customers would feel respected and the quality increased. The food would also be delivered faster, seeing as everyone knows exactly what to do.

Unfortunately, specialisation increases dependency and it will also increase costs for the training. Workers may fell disheartened, as they can only do a narrow range of jobs.

Quality circles are the final suggestion I would make for improving productivity. The workers will meet up with the managers to discuss aspects of the business. It brings new ideas into the business so ideas on how the chips could be made more efficiently are shared. It also improves the communication. This will mean the food will be delivered quicker when orders are taking place, the till person and chef will talk better so everything will be done to perfection. The managers will also have a better view on what the views are of the floor staff, therefore they get a better view on what needs changing.

On the other hand the company will have to fork out for extra training for the “team leaders”. Valuable time will be taken up for discussions, and if it is everyone’s free time then there is a chance people will not participate fully. Disagreement on certain ideas may lead to argument. If it is against people’s views they may try to deliberately make it not work, causing poor productivity.

In conclusion, I think the best two improvement methods are TQM and specialisation. However I think specialisation is the one which will increase the productivity the most. Specialisation will increase the quality of the products, the speed of delivery and the workers will also feel important. They will feel like specialists so they will perform to the best of their ability. Customers will feel important; they’ll feel respected and pleased by the top quality of the service. The few problems with these methods can also be sorted out. We could teach the workers any skills they desire; this way they’ll be good in a wide range of tasks. This training will be done on site, so it will not cost us. Dependency can also be ironed out. Specialisation will encourage our workers to work as a team, and if someone isn’t performing for the team then you can help them. Everything will be fine.

I hope you consider these suggestions and I await your response,

Yours truly,

Luke Birchenhough.