Practicum – Week 6 Journal Entry

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Professor

Date

The impact of Operation Excellence on the Performance of McDonald’s in the Fast Food Industry

1.0 Introduction

Businesses operate in the competitive environment and thus operational excellence facilitates the execution of a business strategy in a reliable and consistent manner. The operational excellence strategy derives the competitiveness of the business from enforcing practices that aim at achieving better results. A company enforces the most effective strategy that has minimal operational risks, low operation costs, and enhanced revenue relative to its rivals (Oakman, 2014). Mainly, operations excellence is a management philosophy embedded on continuous improvement modes, such as lean thinking, Scientific Management, and Six Sigma. Importantly, the focus of operational excellence is on long-term improvement and change in organizational culture in order to realize sustainability. The fast food industry, like any other market, is very competitive. In effect, players in the industry strive to enforce operation excellence as a way of gaining leverage and remaining ahead of competitors. One of the firms operating within this industry is McDonald's. McDonald's was established on 15 April 1955, Des Plaines, Illinois, and since then, the company has continued to dominate the industry and its global presence is a good indication of how the company has remained successful amidst the competition. In effect, the objective of the research is to review the manner in which operational excellence has facilitated McDonalds’s success within the global fast food industry.

1.1 Background

As postulated by Oakman (2014), organizations that pursue operational excellence strive to manage their business and operations using a systemic approach as well as investing in developing the right organizational culture that promotes the consistent and reliable execution of the business strategy. Within organizations, operational excellence is manifested through integrated performance across all departments; that is, the increase in revenues, reduced operational costs, and lesser business risk. In this regard, the focus of operational excellence is to meet the expectations of clients which are attained through continuous improvement of organizational processes and adjusting the organizational culture to reflect the new strategy. Numerous research studies have been conducted to analyze the role of operational excellence in enhancing the performance of an organization. Largely, these studies have focused on how the enhancement in organizational efficiency has been implemented with the goal of remaining competitive. In this regard, only limited research has been conducted to investigate how multinational companies use operation excellence such as McDonald's to implement and sustain efficiency in the performance of the organization in order to realize success.

With the expansion of the knowledge and venture of companies in the global markets, businesses are confronted with the challenge of implementing an effective strategy to ensure success. Business owners and operations managers are feeling the increased pressure to effectively manage the complexity of the business by putting into place system controls that will help them to proactively manage the complexity through enforcement of control systems to function in the competitive environment and adapt to the prevailing market trends. At the present, operational excellence is among the key business concerns for executives, more so for global companies in their quest for profitability and business consistency. An evaluation of the global markets shows that operational excellence has proved critical for companies that derive products and services to clients (Belekoukias, Garza-Reyes, and Kumar, 2014).

The applicable theory in the study of operational experience is the Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints as postulated by Costas et al. (2015). In order to investigate the impact of operations efficiency on organizational success, the model offers a framework that can be applied in outlining the most integral factors that limit attainment organizational goals in an effort to address the constraints limiting the firm's performance. In this regard, the theory offers powerful tools regarding the approach that companies can implement to realize operational excellence. McDonald's fast food chain has been selected for the current analysis as an organization implementing operational excellence strategies across its global network of fast food outlets. As the company expands to new regions across the world, the operational strategy will be aimed at making the firm more competitive.

According to Oakland (2014), operation excellence is described as an outstanding practice that the organization implements to achieve outstanding results. The practice of operational excellence has been built around a number of concepts that collectively are geared to achieving organizational success. These concepts include results orientation: focus on customer service delivery, leadership, and consistency of purpose, effective management of processes and facts, people engagement and development and continuous learning. Other factors that are embodied in operation excellence include innovation and improvement, facilitating continuous learning developing partnerships and being public responsible. Organizations embrace operations excellence as an approach for achieving organizational strategic objectives and clients’ expectation. Organizations thus implement the concept of operational excellence by integrating leadership and teamwork, as well as problem-solving as measures of constant improvement throughout the organization as well as addressing the welfare of employees and meeting the demands of clients. The idea behind operational excellence is to maximize the existing processes within the firm in order to give the company leverage over other players in the industry.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In the wake of increased competition on the global scale and global downturn in the economy, many businesses have been compelled to review their strategy in order to boost their efficiency to survive. Measures such as cost-cutting and efficiency strategies are some of the approaches that firms are implementing to counter the inherent challenges. Operational excellence offers a viable choice for domestic and global companies to gain a competitive edge and survive in the industry. Nonetheless, not many firms have successfully implemented the practice, mostly because of the lack of skilled personnel to facilitate the process. Even though McDonald's has implemented operational efficiency in its strategy, there is a need for the company to explore the successful integration of the practice into the overall business strategy on the global scale as a way of attaining a competitive edge. Most studies that have been facilitated with regard to operational efficiency have mainly focused on the Six Sigma approach and the inclusion of total quality management in organizational processes. The knowledge gap that the current study seeks to address is on how operational excellence can be integrated with McDonald’s overall business model to attain success.

1.3 Main Research Objectives

The Objectives That the Research Seeks to Achieve are as Follows

i. To establish the operational excellence strategies that are implemented at McDonald’s

ii. To examine the impact of operational excellence strategy in Macdonald’s performance and competitiveness.

iii. To establish and suggest operational strategies that McDonald’s can implement to realize organizational efficiency

iv. To suggest ways of integrating operational efficiency into McDonald’s overall strategy as a way of enabling the business to survive the competitive business setting.

1.4 Justification

The study is critical in helping regulators and policymakers to come up with effective business strategies that incorporate operational excellence as the most effective approach to realizing competitiveness and organizational excellence in the fast food industry. International companies venturing into the global business environment are confronted with challenges in operating the business in an environment with intense rivalry. As such, operational excellence is considered as one among the most effective strategies that the business will be implementing across its global outlets to realize success.

1.5 Limitations

There are various limitations to this study. First McDonalds is a multinational fast-food chain with many outlets across the globe. In this regard, the business dynamics across the regions of operations vary significantly. Therefore, it will be challenging selecting a representative sample that will truly reflect the operational efficiency factor from a general outlook. Notably, this challenge can be overcome by choosing a case study, whereby the focus of the research will be within a single region such as the United States only. This approach is ideal especially when McDonalds's outlets in one region will be selected to feature the representative sample. The second limitation is the time and financial resource constraint that researcher will face in conducting the research. This challenge can be overcome by scheduling the research activities within the given time period to ensure that the research is conducted within the projected time to avert delays or changes in the project scope, as well as additional costs.

2.0 Research Methodology

The methodology section covers the approach that was applied in the research. Mainly it incorporates a blueprint that facilitated the collection, measurement, and analysis of the data. Aspects covered include the research design, the target population, the research sample, and methods applied in the analysis.

2.1 The Research Design

The study conducted relied on case study design. In regard, a survey was conducted by selecting a representative sample so that the outcome could be generalized to the overall population. The research is both quantitative and qualitative research, whereby data was collected from the selected participants using interview schedules then generalized to the entire population of study. The case design approach adopted in the research attempted to define the subject by establishing a profile to denote a group of problems. Mainly, this was achieved through the collection of data and tabulation of the frequencies to show a correlation between the research samples (Flick, 2014). The approach was considered ideal for the research as it facilitated a reflection of the right state of affairs regarding the implementation of operational excellence at McDonald’s without deviating from the aim of the research.

2.2 Data Collection

The study made use of interview schedules to facilitate the collection of primary data. The questions in the schedules were open-ended. Data were collected from among top ten employees at McDonald's. The key goal of featuring the company's top management on the research is because they are responsible for strategy formulation at the camp and implementation of strategies that influence organizational performance. The interview guide as the tool for data collection was adopted because of its applicability both to the research problem and sample selected for the research.

2.3 Sample

The population for the research featured top management at McDonald's and the representative sample was selected from among the top management of the outlets featured in the study. The overall participants who undertook the research are ten managers who are in charge of strategy formulation and implementation at McDonald's. Stratified random sampling was used to select a representative sample of the research. The interview guides were administered by booking an appointment with the managers in their most convenient time. The approach allowed the managers to be interviewed at their most convenient time as their busy schedule limited their availability for the study and the approach was critical in enhancing the response rate.

2.4 Data Analysis

The collected data was qualitative and therefore content analysis was applied to facilitate the analysis. The analysis was achieved through the development of a thematic framework of evaluation that was based on the key issue, themes, and aspects arising from the research. The information gained from the analysis was then interpreted and presented in a narrative format (Flick, 2014).

3.0 Results and Findings

3.1 Introduction

The section presents the analysis and findings of the research to demonstrate the impact of operational excellence on the performance of McDonald’s within the fast food industry. The study targeted the top ten management staff at the selected outlets of the company and all of them contributed to the survey. As a result, a 100% response rate was achieved. The high response rate was attributed to prior preparation and informing the respondents beforehand in order for them to avail themselves for the research. As affirmed by Flick (2014), a high response rate enhances the validity and reliability of the research and the generalizability of the collected data to the entire population featured in the research.

3.2 Respondents’ Demographics

To capture the background of the respondents featured in the research, data regarding them was presented to show the participants’’ profile in terms of age, level of education, work experience and their perception of the company's implementation of operational excellence strategies and how this has influence organizational success. The analysis was critical in enhancing the reliability of the data and providing an overall outlook of the featured respondents.

3.2.1 Gender

In terms of gender representation, the findings are as shown.

The findings of the research show that majority of the respondent were male respondents (67%), whereas women were 33%. Such is an indication that most top management positions at McDonald's are male-dominated

3.2.2 Gender

The respondents were also analyzed in terms of their age and the results are as depicted

The analysis indicates that majority of the top management who were interviewed are aged 45 years and above a factor associated with their long-term of service and experience, which has influenced their promotion at the company.

3.2.3 Level of education

Another demographic aspect that was applied in analyzing the respondents was their level of education and the findings are as shown.

As indicated in the pie chart, the majority of the top managers at McDonald’s have a master’s degree where the second highest category is composed of Ph.D. holders. As such, the top management at the company has a high level of education, a factor attributed to the requirements of the job.

3.2.4 Wok Experience

The respondents were also ranked in terms of their work experience; that is, based on the duration that they have served at the company. The results are as shown,

The results indicate that the majority of top management at McDonald's have work experience of over four years, and this explains their rise through various career ranks which have been linked to their experience on the job.

3.3 Identification of areas of operational Experience

The study sought to establish the strategies of operational experience that McDonald's has implemented. The findings as deduced from the top management interviews are as outlined

3.3.1 Implementation of strategies for continuous improvement

The study has sought to establish the extent to which the company had implemented strategies to ensure continuous improvement of the company’s processes. As documented from the responses of the top management at McDonald's, the fast-food chain has implemented a number of continuous improvement strategies with the goal of attaining a competitive edge over other industry players. These strategies include continuous improvement of menus available, product innovation, outstanding customer delivery, and continuous improvement of service delivery to clients.

3.3.2 Operation excellence strategies implemented at McDonald's

The study sought out to establish the operational excellence strategies that the fast food chain implements to attain organizational efficiency. Based on the feedback from the respondents, the company applies various operational strategies. These include employee development and engagement, emphasis on customer satisfaction, continuous learning, and innovation and implementing diverse efficiency delivery systems to ensure organizational success, In addition, visionary leadership and innovation in information systems are ways that the company has implemented to realize organizational efficiency. Again, respondents cited the company's participation in corporate social responsibility initiatives and ensuring the integration of the company's long-term goals into its strategy as ways of forging synergy that has facilitated the company's success.

3.3.3 Features Characterizing operational efficiency implementation

The study has sought to establish the aspects that denoted operational excellence strategies implemented at the McDonald’s. Based on the findings, the interviewed top management members pointed out different features denoting that operational excellence was being implemented at McDonald's as part of its strategy. In this regard, the identified features included results-driven operations, constant improvement in products and service, empowerment of staff, delivering customer value through customized menus and effective service delivery, focus on financial excellence, and integration of technological innovations into the company’s operations as a way of attaining efficiency. Through coordinated decision-making and optimizing service delivery, McDonald's has remained competitive in the market and this has been attributed to the adoption of operation excellence strategies in order to realize a competitive edge over rivals.

3.3.4 The Extent to Which McDonald’s has recruited expertise to facilitate operational excellence implementation

The respondents were interviewed with regard to which they considered the company to have implemented sustainable operational experience as part of the organizational strategy. Based on the responses, finding indicated that the fast-food chain had to a large extent recruited the relevant professionals to assist the firm in leveraging on operational excellence as part of its organizational strategy. Mainly, this was attributed to the recruitment of highly trained and experienced staff with a positive attitude to help make a positive contribution to the company towards the realization of its strategic goals. The ability of a company to compete effectively in the marketplace is largely based on its ability to integrate operational excellence as part of its collective strategy. The approach is particularly important in the achievement of competitiveness in the marketplace and building a sustainable business that will thrive irrespective of the intense market competition it will encounter.

3.4 Discussion and Findings

The study has established that McDonald's has implemented a wide range of operational excellence approaches that have enabled the firm to remain competitive in the market in order to enhance service delivery and product innovation. This indicates that the management at McDonald's has been keen on implementing operational excellence standards to enable the firm to remain competitive. These findings are in line with those of Carvalho et al. (2017) who established that implementing operational excellence in the form of Six Sigma facilitates an enterprise to conduct continuous improvement of all its operational areas to achieve both financial and nonfinancial performance. Operational excellence has been noted to play a strategic role in effective decision making, facilitating sound investment decisions, and ensuring that the company remains profitable with low employee turnover. McDonald's high market share and competitiveness in the industry has been attributed to its operational excellence strategies that have enabled the firm to conduct continuous improvement of its operations and products to not only meet the demands of the clients but also build a solid business network that is renowned for its quality products and efficient service.

Again, the findings of the research show that McDonald’s has been implementing a number of operational standards such employee development and inclusion, emphasis on continuous improvements, efficiency in delivery, visionary leadership and building of partnerships as part of its strategy as defined in its strategic goals. The strategies have been effective in achieving customer engagement and ensuring all stakeholders are aware of the company's strategic goal in order to make a positive contribution to the company and success as well. Largely, the findings regarding the operational stands implemented by McDonald's based on the research coincide with the findings of Belekoukias, Garza-Reyes, and Kumar (2014), who noted the importance of lean operations in maximizing company profits and providing customers the right value so that they remain loyal to the business. Through the implementation of these strategies, McDonald’s will continue to remain competitive and control a large market share in the fast food industry.

4.0 Conclusion and Recommendations

The study has established that McDonalds’s has to a great extent put into place operational excellence strategies that have enabled the company to attain a competitive edge in the fast food industry through effective customer service delivery and continuous enhancement of its operations. Mainly, this implies that the company has been keen on implementing operational excellence standards with the goal of enhancing the company's operations. The operational strategies that McDonald's has been implementing have been centered on employees’ development and engagement, continuous learning and innovation, focus on customer satisfaction and putting into pace efficient service delivery systems.

Recommendations have been put forward for McDonald to replicate the operational excellence standards across its fast-food network across the globe as a way of realizing competitive advantage. In the wake of new market entrants joining the fast food industry and existing companies implementing operational excellence standards, McDonald’s can only thrive amidst the competitive environment if they integrate operational excellence into their overall strategy. In effect, the company needs to formulate effective policies that ensure that are in line with operational excellence in all their processes to promote its brand across the globe.

References

Belekoukias, I., Garza-Reyes, J. A., & Kumar, V. (2014). The impact of lean methods and tools on the operational performance of manufacturing organizations. International Journal of Production Research, 52(18), 5346-5366.

Carvalho, A. M., Sampaio, P., Rebentisch, E., Carvalho, J. Á., & Saraiva, P. (2017). Operational excellence, organizational culture and agility: the missing link?. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-20.

Costas, J., Ponte, B., de la Fuente, D., Pino, R., & Puche, J. (2015). Applying Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints to reduce the Bullwhip Effect through agent-based modeling. Expert Systems with Applications, 42(4), 2049-2060.

Flick, U. (2014). An introduction to qualitative research. Sage.

Oakland, J. S. (2014). Total quality management and operational excellence: text with cases. Routledge.

• Challenge Yourself 2.3
• Skills needed to complete this project:

Practicum – Week 6 Journal Entry

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Professor

Date

The impact of Operation Excellence on the Performance of McDonald’s in the Fast Food Industry

1.0 Introduction

Businesses operate in the competitive environment and thus operational excellence facilitates the execution of a business strategy in a reliable and consistent manner. The operational excellence strategy derives the competitiveness of the business from enforcing practices that aim at achieving better results. A company enforces the most effective strategy that has minimal operational risks, low operation costs, and enhanced revenue relative to its rivals (Oakman, 2014). Mainly, operations excellence is a management philosophy embedded on continuous improvement modes, such as lean thinking, Scientific Management, and Six Sigma. Importantly, the focus of operational excellence is on long-term improvement and change in organizational culture in order to realize sustainability. The fast food industry, like any other market, is very competitive. In effect, players in the industry strive to enforce operation excellence as a way of gaining leverage and remaining ahead of competitors. One of the firms operating within this industry is McDonald's. McDonald's was established on 15 April 1955, Des Plaines, Illinois, and since then, the company has continued to dominate the industry and its global presence is a good indication of how the company has remained successful amidst the competition. In effect, the objective of the research is to review the manner in which operational excellence has facilitated McDonalds’s success within the global fast food industry.

1.1 Background

As postulated by Oakman (2014), organizations that pursue operational excellence strive to manage their business and operations using a systemic approach as well as investing in developing the right organizational culture that promotes the consistent and reliable execution of the business strategy. Within organizations, operational excellence is manifested through integrated performance across all departments; that is, the increase in revenues, reduced operational costs, and lesser business risk. In this regard, the focus of operational excellence is to meet the expectations of clients which are attained through continuous improvement of organizational processes and adjusting the organizational culture to reflect the new strategy. Numerous research studies have been conducted to analyze the role of operational excellence in enhancing the performance of an organization. Largely, these studies have focused on how the enhancement in organizational efficiency has been implemented with the goal of remaining competitive. In this regard, only limited research has been conducted to investigate how multinational companies use operation excellence such as McDonald's to implement and sustain efficiency in the performance of the organization in order to realize success.

With the expansion of the knowledge and venture of companies in the global markets, businesses are confronted with the challenge of implementing an effective strategy to ensure success. Business owners and operations managers are feeling the increased pressure to effectively manage the complexity of the business by putting into place system controls that will help them to proactively manage the complexity through enforcement of control systems to function in the competitive environment and adapt to the prevailing market trends. At the present, operational excellence is among the key business concerns for executives, more so for global companies in their quest for profitability and business consistency. An evaluation of the global markets shows that operational excellence has proved critical for companies that derive products and services to clients (Belekoukias, Garza-Reyes, and Kumar, 2014).

The applicable theory in the study of operational experience is the Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints as postulated by Costas et al. (2015). In order to investigate the impact of operations efficiency on organizational success, the model offers a framework that can be applied in outlining the most integral factors that limit attainment organizational goals in an effort to address the constraints limiting the firm's performance. In this regard, the theory offers powerful tools regarding the approach that companies can implement to realize operational excellence. McDonald's fast food chain has been selected for the current analysis as an organization implementing operational excellence strategies across its global network of fast food outlets. As the company expands to new regions across the world, the operational strategy will be aimed at making the firm more competitive.

According to Oakland (2014), operation excellence is described as an outstanding practice that the organization implements to achieve outstanding results. The practice of operational excellence has been built around a number of concepts that collectively are geared to achieving organizational success. These concepts include results orientation: focus on customer service delivery, leadership, and consistency of purpose, effective management of processes and facts, people engagement and development and continuous learning. Other factors that are embodied in operation excellence include innovation and improvement, facilitating continuous learning developing partnerships and being public responsible. Organizations embrace operations excellence as an approach for achieving organizational strategic objectives and clients’ expectation. Organizations thus implement the concept of operational excellence by integrating leadership and teamwork, as well as problem-solving as measures of constant improvement throughout the organization as well as addressing the welfare of employees and meeting the demands of clients. The idea behind operational excellence is to maximize the existing processes within the firm in order to give the company leverage over other players in the industry.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In the wake of increased competition on the global scale and global downturn in the economy, many businesses have been compelled to review their strategy in order to boost their efficiency to survive. Measures such as cost-cutting and efficiency strategies are some of the approaches that firms are implementing to counter the inherent challenges. Operational excellence offers a viable choice for domestic and global companies to gain a competitive edge and survive in the industry. Nonetheless, not many firms have successfully implemented the practice, mostly because of the lack of skilled personnel to facilitate the process. Even though McDonald's has implemented operational efficiency in its strategy, there is a need for the company to explore the successful integration of the practice into the overall business strategy on the global scale as a way of attaining a competitive edge. Most studies that have been facilitated with regard to operational efficiency have mainly focused on the Six Sigma approach and the inclusion of total quality management in organizational processes. The knowledge gap that the current study seeks to address is on how operational excellence can be integrated with McDonald’s overall business model to attain success.

1.3 Main Research Objectives

The Objectives That the Research Seeks to Achieve are as Follows

i. To establish the operational excellence strategies that are implemented at McDonald’s

ii. To examine the impact of operational excellence strategy in Macdonald’s performance and competitiveness.

iii. To establish and suggest operational strategies that McDonald’s can implement to realize organizational efficiency

iv. To suggest ways of integrating operational efficiency into McDonald’s overall strategy as a way of enabling the business to survive the competitive business setting.

1.4 Justification

The study is critical in helping regulators and policymakers to come up with effective business strategies that incorporate operational excellence as the most effective approach to realizing competitiveness and organizational excellence in the fast food industry. International companies venturing into the global business environment are confronted with challenges in operating the business in an environment with intense rivalry. As such, operational excellence is considered as one among the most effective strategies that the business will be implementing across its global outlets to realize success.

1.5 Limitations

There are various limitations to this study. First McDonalds is a multinational fast-food chain with many outlets across the globe. In this regard, the business dynamics across the regions of operations vary significantly. Therefore, it will be challenging selecting a representative sample that will truly reflect the operational efficiency factor from a general outlook. Notably, this challenge can be overcome by choosing a case study, whereby the focus of the research will be within a single region such as the United States only. This approach is ideal especially when McDonalds's outlets in one region will be selected to feature the representative sample. The second limitation is the time and financial resource constraint that researcher will face in conducting the research. This challenge can be overcome by scheduling the research activities within the given time period to ensure that the research is conducted within the projected time to avert delays or changes in the project scope, as well as additional costs.

2.0 Research Methodology

The methodology section covers the approach that was applied in the research. Mainly it incorporates a blueprint that facilitated the collection, measurement, and analysis of the data. Aspects covered include the research design, the target population, the research sample, and methods applied in the analysis.

2.1 The Research Design

The study conducted relied on case study design. In regard, a survey was conducted by selecting a representative sample so that the outcome could be generalized to the overall population. The research is both quantitative and qualitative research, whereby data was collected from the selected participants using interview schedules then generalized to the entire population of study. The case design approach adopted in the research attempted to define the subject by establishing a profile to denote a group of problems. Mainly, this was achieved through the collection of data and tabulation of the frequencies to show a correlation between the research samples (Flick, 2014). The approach was considered ideal for the research as it facilitated a reflection of the right state of affairs regarding the implementation of operational excellence at McDonald’s without deviating from the aim of the research.

2.2 Data Collection

The study made use of interview schedules to facilitate the collection of primary data. The questions in the schedules were open-ended. Data were collected from among top ten employees at McDonald's. The key goal of featuring the company's top management on the research is because they are responsible for strategy formulation at the camp and implementation of strategies that influence organizational performance. The interview guide as the tool for data collection was adopted because of its applicability both to the research problem and sample selected for the research.

2.3 Sample

The population for the research featured top management at McDonald's and the representative sample was selected from among the top management of the outlets featured in the study. The overall participants who undertook the research are ten managers who are in charge of strategy formulation and implementation at McDonald's. Stratified random sampling was used to select a representative sample of the research. The interview guides were administered by booking an appointment with the managers in their most convenient time. The approach allowed the managers to be interviewed at their most convenient time as their busy schedule limited their availability for the study and the approach was critical in enhancing the response rate.

2.4 Data Analysis

The collected data was qualitative and therefore content analysis was applied to facilitate the analysis. The analysis was achieved through the development of a thematic framework of evaluation that was based on the key issue, themes, and aspects arising from the research. The information gained from the analysis was then interpreted and presented in a narrative format (Flick, 2014).

3.0 Results and Findings

3.1 Introduction

The section presents the analysis and findings of the research to demonstrate the impact of operational excellence on the performance of McDonald’s within the fast food industry. The study targeted the top ten management staff at the selected outlets of the company and all of them contributed to the survey. As a result, a 100% response rate was achieved. The high response rate was attributed to prior preparation and informing the respondents beforehand in order for them to avail themselves for the research. As affirmed by Flick (2014), a high response rate enhances the validity and reliability of the research and the generalizability of the collected data to the entire population featured in the research.

3.2 Respondents’ Demographics

To capture the background of the respondents featured in the research, data regarding them was presented to show the participants’’ profile in terms of age, level of education, work experience and their perception of the company's implementation of operational excellence strategies and how this has influence organizational success. The analysis was critical in enhancing the reliability of the data and providing an overall outlook of the featured respondents.

3.2.1 Gender

In terms of gender representation, the findings are as shown.

The findings of the research show that majority of the respondent were male respondents (67%), whereas women were 33%. Such is an indication that most top management positions at McDonald's are male-dominated

3.2.2 Gender

The respondents were also analyzed in terms of their age and the results are as depicted

The analysis indicates that majority of the top management who were interviewed are aged 45 years and above a factor associated with their long-term of service and experience, which has influenced their promotion at the company.

3.2.3 Level of education

Another demographic aspect that was applied in analyzing the respondents was their level of education and the findings are as shown.

As indicated in the pie chart, the majority of the top managers at McDonald’s have a master’s degree where the second highest category is composed of Ph.D. holders. As such, the top management at the company has a high level of education, a factor attributed to the requirements of the job.

3.2.4 Wok Experience

The respondents were also ranked in terms of their work experience; that is, based on the duration that they have served at the company. The results are as shown,

The results indicate that the majority of top management at McDonald's have work experience of over four years, and this explains their rise through various career ranks which have been linked to their experience on the job.

3.3 Identification of areas of operational Experience

The study sought to establish the strategies of operational experience that McDonald's has implemented. The findings as deduced from the top management interviews are as outlined

3.3.1 Implementation of strategies for continuous improvement

The study has sought to establish the extent to which the company had implemented strategies to ensure continuous improvement of the company’s processes. As documented from the responses of the top management at McDonald's, the fast-food chain has implemented a number of continuous improvement strategies with the goal of attaining a competitive edge over other industry players. These strategies include continuous improvement of menus available, product innovation, outstanding customer delivery, and continuous improvement of service delivery to clients.

3.3.2 Operation excellence strategies implemented at McDonald's

The study sought out to establish the operational excellence strategies that the fast food chain implements to attain organizational efficiency. Based on the feedback from the respondents, the company applies various operational strategies. These include employee development and engagement, emphasis on customer satisfaction, continuous learning, and innovation and implementing diverse efficiency delivery systems to ensure organizational success, In addition, visionary leadership and innovation in information systems are ways that the company has implemented to realize organizational efficiency. Again, respondents cited the company's participation in corporate social responsibility initiatives and ensuring the integration of the company's long-term goals into its strategy as ways of forging synergy that has facilitated the company's success.

3.3.3 Features Characterizing operational efficiency implementation

The study has sought to establish the aspects that denoted operational excellence strategies implemented at the McDonald’s. Based on the findings, the interviewed top management members pointed out different features denoting that operational excellence was being implemented at McDonald's as part of its strategy. In this regard, the identified features included results-driven operations, constant improvement in products and service, empowerment of staff, delivering customer value through customized menus and effective service delivery, focus on financial excellence, and integration of technological innovations into the company’s operations as a way of attaining efficiency. Through coordinated decision-making and optimizing service delivery, McDonald's has remained competitive in the market and this has been attributed to the adoption of operation excellence strategies in order to realize a competitive edge over rivals.

3.3.4 The Extent to Which McDonald’s has recruited expertise to facilitate operational excellence implementation

The respondents were interviewed with regard to which they considered the company to have implemented sustainable operational experience as part of the organizational strategy. Based on the responses, finding indicated that the fast-food chain had to a large extent recruited the relevant professionals to assist the firm in leveraging on operational excellence as part of its organizational strategy. Mainly, this was attributed to the recruitment of highly trained and experienced staff with a positive attitude to help make a positive contribution to the company towards the realization of its strategic goals. The ability of a company to compete effectively in the marketplace is largely based on its ability to integrate operational excellence as part of its collective strategy. The approach is particularly important in the achievement of competitiveness in the marketplace and building a sustainable business that will thrive irrespective of the intense market competition it will encounter.

3.4 Discussion and Findings

The study has established that McDonald's has implemented a wide range of operational excellence approaches that have enabled the firm to remain competitive in the market in order to enhance service delivery and product innovation. This indicates that the management at McDonald's has been keen on implementing operational excellence standards to enable the firm to remain competitive. These findings are in line with those of Carvalho et al. (2017) who established that implementing operational excellence in the form of Six Sigma facilitates an enterprise to conduct continuous improvement of all its operational areas to achieve both financial and nonfinancial performance. Operational excellence has been noted to play a strategic role in effective decision making, facilitating sound investment decisions, and ensuring that the company remains profitable with low employee turnover. McDonald's high market share and competitiveness in the industry has been attributed to its operational excellence strategies that have enabled the firm to conduct continuous improvement of its operations and products to not only meet the demands of the clients but also build a solid business network that is renowned for its quality products and efficient service.

Again, the findings of the research show that McDonald’s has been implementing a number of operational standards such employee development and inclusion, emphasis on continuous improvements, efficiency in delivery, visionary leadership and building of partnerships as part of its strategy as defined in its strategic goals. The strategies have been effective in achieving customer engagement and ensuring all stakeholders are aware of the company's strategic goal in order to make a positive contribution to the company and success as well. Largely, the findings regarding the operational stands implemented by McDonald's based on the research coincide with the findings of Belekoukias, Garza-Reyes, and Kumar (2014), who noted the importance of lean operations in maximizing company profits and providing customers the right value so that they remain loyal to the business. Through the implementation of these strategies, McDonald’s will continue to remain competitive and control a large market share in the fast food industry.

4.0 Conclusion and Recommendations

The study has established that McDonalds’s has to a great extent put into place operational excellence strategies that have enabled the company to attain a competitive edge in the fast food industry through effective customer service delivery and continuous enhancement of its operations. Mainly, this implies that the company has been keen on implementing operational excellence standards with the goal of enhancing the company's operations. The operational strategies that McDonald's has been implementing have been centered on employees’ development and engagement, continuous learning and innovation, focus on customer satisfaction and putting into pace efficient service delivery systems.

Recommendations have been put forward for McDonald to replicate the operational excellence standards across its fast-food network across the globe as a way of realizing competitive advantage. In the wake of new market entrants joining the fast food industry and existing companies implementing operational excellence standards, McDonald’s can only thrive amidst the competitive environment if they integrate operational excellence into their overall strategy. In effect, the company needs to formulate effective policies that ensure that are in line with operational excellence in all their processes to promote its brand across the globe.

References

Belekoukias, I., Garza-Reyes, J. A., & Kumar, V. (2014). The impact of lean methods and tools on the operational performance of manufacturing organizations. International Journal of Production Research, 52(18), 5346-5366.

Carvalho, A. M., Sampaio, P., Rebentisch, E., Carvalho, J. Á., & Saraiva, P. (2017). Operational excellence, organizational culture and agility: the missing link?. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-20.

Costas, J., Ponte, B., de la Fuente, D., Pino, R., & Puche, J. (2015). Applying Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints to reduce the Bullwhip Effect through agent-based modeling. Expert Systems with Applications, 42(4), 2049-2060.

Flick, U. (2014). An introduction to qualitative research. Sage.

Oakland, J. S. (2014). Total quality management and operational excellence: text with cases. Routledge.