developing strategic management and leadership skills dr. abhijit ganguly

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Developing Strategic Management and Leadership Skills

Final Assignment

Programme Title Edexcel BTEC Level 7 Extended Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership (QCF)

Unit Title Developing Strategic Management and Leadership Skills

Unit Code Unit code: F/602/2058

Assignment No 01

QCF Level 7 BTEC Professional

Credit value 10

Assessor Dr. Abhijit Ganguly

Deliverer Dr. Abhijit Ganguly

Handout Date 01/05/2013

Hand in Date 28/06/2013

Assignment Title: Assessing Strategic Management and Leadership Skills in McDonalds

To address the Learning Outcomes you are required to analyse the case study given below.

You will be expected to research relevant literature to inform your analysis of the case study.

You will be expected to carry out your own research about the company based on internet

searches, the business press and other relevant sources. Your analysis of the case study

should show clear evidence of: evaluation of theory, concepts and relevant research

methods; critical thinking; and application of theory, concepts and research methods to such

a business context.

Answers should be structured around the four elements of the assessment task, which relate

to the four Edexcel learning outcomes for the Developing Strategic Management and

Leadership Skills module.

Answers should be based on the case study, your personal experience, relevant research,

investigation and analysis which you personally have carried out. Further research should be

taken from authentic and reliable sources which must be properly referenced in the text of

your work and fully referenced in an appropriate section at the end of your assessment.

Task 1: Understand the relationship between management and leadership

With reference to McDonald’s Strategic Challenge, discuss the relationship between

strategic management and leadership. In your answer refer to the impact management style

and leadership style can have on strategic decision making, and how leadership styles can

be adapted to suit different business situations.

(This provides evidence of Learning Outcome 1: Assessment criteria 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3)

Task 2: Apply management and leadership theory to support

organisational change

(a) With reference to at least three theories of management and leadership discuss and

evaluate how each might affect McDonald’s Strategic Challenge.

(b) In relation to McDonald’s global competitiveness and business imperatives describe and

discuss one leadership strategy that would support organisational change

(This provides evidence of Learning Outcome 2: Assessment criteria 2.1 and 2.2)

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Task 3: Assessing leadership requirements

McDonald’s strategy is to ‘focus on the core business’ of the organisation. Imagine you are a

consultant to McDonald’s and you are required to:

(a) Critically review McDonald’s leadership needs

(b) Develop a plan to address the projected leadership requirements to support their

business strategy.

(This provides evidence of Learning Outcome 3: Assessment criteria3.1 and 3.2)

Task 4: Plan the development of leadership skills

Provide a plan to demonstrate how McDonald’s could effectively develop leadership skills to

allow the organisation to focus on its core business. Discuss how useful the methods of

developing leadership skills may be to help McDonald’s achieve its strategic development.

(This provides evidence of Learning Outcome 4: Assessment criteria 4.1 and 4.2)

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

In order to pass this unit, the evidence you present for assessment needs to demonstrate

that it can meet all the learning outcomes for the unit.

The assessment criteria determine the standard required to achieve the unit. The

assessment criteria act as a guide to help you put into context your answers to fulfil all four

of the learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes Assessment criteria

1. Understand the relationship between strategic management and leadership

1.1 Explain the link between strategic

management and leadership.

1.2 Analyse the impact of management and

leadership styles on strategic decisions.

1.3 Evaluate how leadership styles can be

adapted to different situations.

2. Be able to apply management and leadership theory to support organisational direction

2.1 review the impact that selected theories

of management and leadership have on

organisational strategy.

2.2 create a leadership strategy that

supports organisational direction.

3. Be able to assess leadership requirements

3.1 use appropriate methods to review

current leadership requirements.

3.2 plan for the development of future

situations requiring leadership

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4. Be able to plan the development of leadership skills

4.1 plan the development of leadership skills

for a specific requirement

4.2 report on the usefulness of methods

used to plan the development of leadership

skills

Case Study: McDonald’s ‘Plan to Win – a Strategic Challenge’

McDonald’s is the largest food retailer in the world and is part of the American way of life.

After 50 years of operation, McDonald’s top management and leadership is busy working on

strategic developments such as revitalizing its products, and pushing innovation through a

variety of initiatives. This food service giant with more than 30,000 restaurants in 100

countries provides food to over 50 million customers each day, but decades of expansion,

sales growth, and profits have made the burger giant complacent. By focusing on getting

bigger, not better, the company stumbled in 2002, recording its first losing quarter. By 2003,

U.S. sales had flattened, as many consumers were turning to healthier options and

restaurants with more upscale menu items, a segment sometimes referred to as ‘fast –

casual’. Morgan Spurlock’s film, Super Size Me, released in 2004, also seriously diminished

the public image of the quick-service chain as moviegoers watched Spurlock become ill and

gain 25 pounds after eating only McDonald’s food for one month.

With pressure to get back on track, it was time for McDonald’s management to rethink and

re-strategise the business. The chain devised a recovery strategy that included new menu

items, redesigned restaurants, and a focus on the consumer experience. Through a program

titled ‘Plan to Win’ McDonald’s focused on making a deeper connection with customers

through the five business drivers of people, products, place, price, and promotion (the ‘five

p’s). Using its five P’s, the company developed and refined new strategies to deliver value

for money, offering product variety, developing updated and contemporary stores, balancing

the delivery of value pricing with more expensive items, and marketing through bold and

innovative promotions.

In order to remain competitive and an iconic American institution, McDonald’s developed

programs and strategies for motivating employees and teaching leadership. McDonald’s

corporate management believes in training and leadership at all levels through its

Hamburger University. On Hamburger University’s website McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc’s

training focused ideology is quoted: “If we are going to go anywhere, we’ve got to have

talent. And, I’m going to put my money in talent”. This ideology demonstrates that

McDonald’s does not believe its restaurants’ crew jmembers are just gears in a machine that

can be easily replaced. Because training is not just offered to executives or managers,

McDonald’s is able to spread and reinforce its culture and values in all directions, not just

downward. McDonald’s corporate values also have ‘people’ as one of its pillars (McDonald's

Corporation, 2008). Corporate policy says that employees should be paid at or above the

local market rate, and should also value both their pay and their benefits. By addressing

employees higher needs by providing training they make employees feel important and

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valuable. Training also serves to reinforce the culture at all levels through education and

fostering a positive image of the employees’ importance to the company.

Execution of the above strategy has included mystery shoppers and customer surveys,

along with grading restaurants to help the company deliver on its people goals. New menu

items like the Fruit & Walnut Salad in the United States and deli sandwiches in Australia are

part of the commitment to serve high-quality products to satisfy customer demand for choice

and variety. Restaurants are staying open longer, accepting credit and debit cards, enabling

wireless internet access, and even providing delivery service in parts of Asia. As part of the

program, franchisees and suppliers are asked to provide their opinions and ideas on facility

design, while the company benchmarks retail leaders, such as Crate & Barrel, to help

produce cleaner and smarter restaurants. The company is testing small handheld devices to

use on what it calls “travel paths” a process for checking operational failures such as the

temperature inside the refrigerators. Experiments with a new grilling concept from Sweden,

which grills burgers vertically instead of horizontally, offers space-saving possibilities for the

chain. Product offerings like the McCafé, a concept developed in the Australian market that

provides gourmet coffee inside 500 existing restaurants, are proving to be successful.

The trouble experienced in the early part of the millennium has abated, and executives at

McDonald’s have declared success after several years of progress under the Plan to Win.

Company revenues are up, and the firm plans to remain focused on its core business. One

indication of its commitment to fast food was the divestiture of its seven - year ownership

stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, a highly successful fast - casual burrito chain. With the sale

of around 5 million shares of Chipotle stock, the burger maker is now refocusing on Brand

McDonald’s.

Attracting more customers to McDonald’s remains its goal for growth. In the U.S. market, the

strategy is to leverage menu innovation; in Europe, upgrading the customer experience and

enhancing local relevance have driven management efforts; and the Asia/Pacific, Middle

East, and Africa markets have focused on building sales through extended hours. The

question remains whether focusing on the core business will yield maximum return. At

McDonald’s, the executives are betting on the core brand and hoping that this strategy will

pay off.

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Instructions and information for students

The four assessment tasks are designed to assess your achievement of all the

Edexcel learning outcomes and associated assessment criteria in the relevant unit

of the qualification you are undertaking.

Your tutor will advise you when you should start work on the assignment, and the

date when you must hand in your completed work.

You should make sure that you plan your work carefully, to ensure that you cover all

the requirements of the assignment, and complete it within the time limit specified.

Your answer to each of the four assessment tasks need to be prefixed with the

specific number and Learning Outcome heading. This will help you keep focused on

the task and help ensure you address what is required.

You must make sure that you acknowledge any sources you have used to complete

this assignment, listing reference material and web sites used.

You must submit your work as hard copy with a Turnitin report of less than 20% of

similarity index. You should mark the assignment with your name, student id number,

the unit number, and your Centre name. You may include a title page if you wish.

You are strongly advised to keep a copy of your completed assignment before you

submit it for assessment - the copy you submit will not be returned to you. Your

assignment may be retained by the British Institute of Technology and E-commerce

for quality assurance purposes. Any assignment not kept for quality assurance

purposes will be securely deleted/destroyed.

The assignment result will be published to BITE’s moodle, normally within 6 weeks of

submission.

If your assignment is assessed as referred, you will be notified with an indication of

the areas to be addressed. You may resubmit an assignment, or submit a new

assignment, on a further two occasions during your period of registration as a student

at the British Institute of Technology and E-commerce.

If there is anything in these instructions or in the assignment itself which you do not

understand, please seek guidance from your tutor.

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