The McDonald's Experience

Ashley Brandow

Management 3120

Professor Kurpis

The McDonald’s Experience

How many times have we walked into a fast food establishment and placed an order but before leaving we have neglected to check our receipt and our order to make sure everything was right? I know this has happened to me numerous times and it is perhaps because I didn’t pay strict attention to the management process involved. Although it seems simple enough to fulfill an order, sometimes even the tiniest steps get overlooked creating a series of problems.

As I walked in to the crowded McDonalds’ by my house, I thought about how the cashier would react to this “customized” order. I felt uneasy going up to the counter and asking for a burger with five pickles and well-done fries. Not only did I think about what the employees would think, I thought about what other customers around me would think. I know if I was behind someone who had requested an order such as mine, I would think they were absolutely insane. I walked up to the counter to place my order and when I asked for five pickles on my burger the worker went to the back to the person who was making burgers and said “make sure to put five pickles on that one.” That employee asked the girl at the register if she was serious and she replied that she was. I ordered my well-done fries and the side of big mac sauce. I was told that the fries would be a few minutes as they were to cook them to my specifications. I opened the burger to check to see if the extra pickles were there, they were. With that, the receipt printed out and it only said hamburger and fries. I asked the employee if there was anyway I would be able to get my exact order on the receipt. The employee said that there wasn’t anyway that this can be done but I insisted that there must be a way. The employee politely said that she would have to ask her manager if he would be able to show her how to do it. The  manager quickly came over asked what I had ordered and input the information into the computer. The manager printed out a new receipt and explained that he had to press pickle five times, had to press a certain sauce button for the big mac sauce and put well-done for the fries. I walked out of the store with everything I ordered and it seemed the employee learned a bit from the manager.

If I were hired as a management consultant to visit the McDonald’s in which I placed my order, I would have to say that the employees seemed very organized and pretty effective. When I ordered my burger, the girl who took my order went right back to the man who was making them and told him five pickles. She also was in charge of making the well-done fries and getting the big mac sauce. In that respect, the organization  knew what to do for special orders but did not know however when I asked for the exact order to be printed out on the receipt. I would have the employees trained further to handle special orders to not only be able to prepare them but to also be able to input them into the computer the correct way.

Communication was definitely key to the order. If the worker who took my order did not personally tell the worker making the burgers to put five pickles on it, my order could have been messed up resulting in a dissatisfied customer in many circumstances. Also, when I asked to have another receipt with the correct information, the girl who took my order admitted she wasn’t sure on how to do it but went right to her manager for help who explained both to her and I exactly what he had to do. The communication was well executed despite having to turn to the manager for help. I was treated politely and with a great deal of respect while I was being helped.

Training on the other hand seemed to have been lacking a bit. The order had been placed exactly to my specifications which was great but she did not know how to record the transaction on the computer. At first she told me that it could not be done but I insisted there must be a way and that was when she asked the manager. I would have more “advanced” training on how to input these types of special orders into the computer. The manager clearly knew how to perform such a task but his employee on the other hand had no idea she could do such a thing. Even though the employee wasn’t too sure what she doing, she treated customers with respect and was very polite about her mistake which I found to be very important as the customer.

In this particular situation, I would say that the leader was the manager of the organization. The employee turned to him when she was unsure of something and sought his advice. As we have learned, a leader is someone who can inspire and help others to accomplish important tasks. The manager not only fixed the problem, but showed the employee how to handle the situation and told me exactly what he had put on the receipt.

In conclusion, from placing an order as specific as the one I did, I learned that what seemed to be a simple task was in fact more involved then I had ever realized. It had never crossed my mind that a customer would go into McDonald’s and place such an obscure order until I became that customer. What seemed to be something very easy, in fact turned out to be a bit more troublesome then anticipated. Perhaps the order would not have taken so long if the employees were more thoroughly trained not just on the basics but also trained on how to deal with certain circumstances that they might be faced with. A more proactive approach to operations would certainly benefit this particular organization. For example, a customer may ask what is in a particular food because of a food allergy. If the employee is not knowledgeable or does not know how to find out this answer, trouble may ensue. It is essential for management to be able to lead and inspire their employees to work toward a common goal, in this case pleasing the customer. It was an interesting experience to see how a seemingly simple task can be made more complex without the proper training. I think I learned a lot about how management works and how it is key to the success of all organizations.