Introduction
McDonald’s Corporation is the World’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants (Alexander 1999). The corporation is headquartered in the U.S and operates in 119 countries, serving close to 64 million customers on daily basis (Baker 2008). McDonald restaurants are often run as franchises, affiliates or by the company itself. T
McDonald’s has a joint venture company in India that is managed by Indians. The numbers of customers in the Indian market are very limited and thus the company has formulated a strategic plan through which it can increase the number of customers and retain them.
The plan entails penetration of the Indian market through activities such as: bringing a local management onboard; purchasing its supplies from local suppliers; tailoring its products and services to suit the needs of the different types of customers it has; and investing back to the community (Management Committee 2010).
The plan aims at increasing sales for the Indian subsidiary. The objectives include: identifying the products that are favored in the Indian market; training the work force or hiring new workers; and informing new customers through advertising (Beer & Eisennstat 2000).
The company plans to double the number of customers visiting its Indian outlets by the end of 2012. To implement this plan, the company engaged the management of is Indian subsidiary who were required to carry out the following: prioritize the objectives with the aim of increasing and retaining buyers; coach and delegate responsibilities to workers and members of the management team on how to implement the plan; creation of a timeline and ways through which objectives will be measured; identify the costs and resources of carrying out the implementation; review the implementation on regular basis and implement any changes to the original plan (Floyd & Lane 2000).
Stake holder briefings
The manager of the Indian McDonald’s subsidiary was tasked with the process of ensuring that each task in the implementation process is delegated to the appropriate department for implementation. The goals, visions and direction of the strategy were communicated to all middle level managers.
The main objective of this briefing was to enhance the motivation and commitment of the personnel (Lamb 2006). The brief mainly entailed: the goals or objective which is to double the number of customers by the year 2012; the specific instructions, rules, policies, monitoring and measurement; review of the daily actions with the aim of identifying the change in working practices and priorities (Flood 2000).
The middle level mangers were therefore required to communicate the same to their groups; under stand their roles as leaders of the different tasks; organize meetings and discussions in their specific areas to identify how they can work best; establish roles and responsibilities of for the team members; develop mechanisms through which conflicts can be resolved; improve their teams communication skills and develop mutual respect among the team members (Lamb 2006). The specific approach was formulated by the McDonalds’ HR department.
Due to the fact that the firm seeks to address the issue of increasing and retaining customers, the problem solver communication strategy was employed (Miles 2003). Therefore, the main issues regarding the problem were summarized and then the steps required to solve the different aspects of the problem communicated to the tem members.
McDonald’s basically operates restaurant chains and the departments that were to ensure the implementation of the strategy include; the HR department; the quality assurance department; marketing and promotion departments (Johnson & Whittington 2008). The specific roles of each department are described below.
Implementation of strategies
In order to increase and retain the number of customers, the company will carry out the implementation of the marketing mix strategy. The company will ensure that a combination of price, product, promotion and place is used to effectively increase the number of customers (Floyd & Lane 2000).
In the implementation process, the company will embark on a process of diversification to ensure that the menu is expanded to suit the needs of the Indian population. The first step is to carry out a market research to identify what the Indian customer wants, what’s fashionable, identify the life cycles of products. Once a new product has been introduced, the company will carry out Television, radio, poster and online advertising.
The company intents to use up to $ 200, 000 for this, though the actual cost will depend on the type of product and the stage of implementation. Research on the particular types of products to be added will be carried out by Steadman, an independent company that specializes in collecting public opinions. The research will include identifying the brand and its integrity so as to help establish the appropriate price.
The management will then ensure that workers are trained so that they can meet the new requirements in terms of new products and services (Fenton 2000). Therefore training of the work force is paramount to the success of this strategy. This will require financial, human, physical and technical resources.
The company will train its staff or hire local workers with knowledge on the production of the new food. This part of the implementation process is expected to cost about $ 100, 000 depending on the amount of human capital required. The actual amount may vary depending on the future circumstances and variations to the plan (Management Committee 2010).
In order to monitor the implementation process, the different middle level managers will be required to assess the situation and observe if there is any meaningful change. Collect data mainly by assessing inventory records to track stock and invoices to track sales. A detailed monitoring process is discussed in a separate document (Beer & Eisennstat 2000).
Conclusion
The above strategy implementation process was necessary to ensure that McDonald’s increased the number of customers visiting it’s outlets in India. If I were to undertake a similar project in the future, I would carry out the market research to identify the products favored before venturing into the market (Fenton 2000).
References
Alexander, L., 1999. Strategy Implementation: Nature and Problem. International Review of Strategic Management.
Baker, M., 2008. The Strategic Marketing Plan Audit. New york : wiley.
Beer, M., & Eisennstat, R., 2000. The Silent Killers of strategy Implementation and Learning. Sloan Management Review , 41(4)29-40.
Fenton, M., 2000. Middle Management Resistance to Strategic Change Initiatives: Saboteurs or Scapegoats. Oxford: Blackwell publishers.
Flood, P., Dromgoole, T., 2000. Strategy Implementation. Oxford: Blackwell.
Floyd, S., & Lane, J., 2000. Strategizing throughout the organization: Managing role conflict in strategic renewal. Academy of Management Review , 25(1)154-177.
Johnson, G., & Whittington, K., 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy. Essex: Prentice Hall.
Lamb, R., 2006. Competitive strategic management. England Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Management Committee. 2010. Expansion of McDonalds to regional Markets. Web.
Miles, R., 2003. Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process. Stanford: Stanford University.