Service Process at McDonalds Restaurants - Term Paper Example

? Report on the Service Process at McDonald’s’s Restaurants McDonald’s is one of the busiest and well-known fast food restaurants in the world. It operates in more than 118 countries around the world having 32,000 restaurants outlets all over the world (Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 2005: 28). This report explores how they conduct their services while approximately serving about 47 million customers daily. Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 Introduction 4 Main Body 5 Products Quality 5 McDonald’s Staff 5 McDonald’s Premise and Delivery 6 Communication and Payments of Bills 6 McDonald’s Service Design 7 McDonald’s restaurant service blue print 8 Failures of the Service Design 8 SERVQUAL Analysis 8 SERVQUAL Assessment 9 Further Improvement of Services Using Technology 9 McDonald’s Supply Chain 10 McDonald’s supply chain 10 Conclusion 11 Appendix 12 References 13 Introduction Service process in a company of McDonald’s nature plays a very important role in the maintenance of non-stop customers’ flow and subsequent success in the business. It is important to note that McDonald’s Company serves both as a service and product company. McDonald’s deals in fast food sphere of services and their interest and priority to serve customers at the highest level possible has enabled them to dominate the world market with overwhelming customer base for a long time. Their compactors cannot march them in terms of brand loyalty given the input they have always put in servicing the customers. The company also appears in the fortune 500 list as one of the most prominent and effective companies in the world in terms of fast food provision (Fitzsimmons, 2005: 34). It is indicated that McDonald’s has the most efficient way in dealing with the customer and they take the minimal time to attend to the customer. The waiting time in the restaurant is much reduced and no customer can take longer than necessary McDonald’s has greatly invested in the customer service in the most appropriate way possible and this they believe will give them a competitive advantage. They also have employed the use of technological advancement in satisfying their customers. In this sense, automated machines for beverages are used to enable quick services to the customer. This will avoid customers staying in queues for a long time being conscious that customers have little time to spend in the restaurant. The efficiency of the customer service in the company is one of their major strengths in cutting and edge over their competitors (Clark and Baker, 2004: 77). The management of the services in a way that it attracts and retains customers in one of the most important focuses in business particularly those that are food-based. Main Body Service to the customer is one way of retaining and attracting customers in a business, this is particularly more pronounced in a business situated in a competitive landscape like what is McDonald’s is experiencing. In response, the business must design unique services to the customer that will make them occupy a niche that no other among its competitors has. McDonald’s has realized the essence satisfactory customer service and has reciprocated by offering a myriad of services to the customer and this can be construed to accounts for their huge customer base in the 118 countries in the world. In McDonald’s, it is recognized that every customer is unique in a way and must be treated exactly the same as the other without assumption, in this relation, the following services from different quarters are offered at McDonald’s. Products Quality Besides provision of high quality products, the company has also insisted on having the customers get their value for money. They have noted the need for high standards in the delicate business of fast food and have ensured that it is always observed such that it becomes very palpable for any customer to do a comparative analysis when they shop elsewhere. In pursuit of this, McDonald’s also insists on safety of their products with clear instructions given for safe use. The packaging of the products is also a matter of concern to McDonald’s, for instance; their hot coffee cups are galvanized with a plastic lid round to cushion the customers from burns (Clark and Baker, 2004: 84). McDonald’s Staff Services at McDonald’s are not only in high quality in terms of food products, the company has also developed a more reliable and supportive staffs that are easy to notice given that they are uniformed with the company’s logo on their tops (Browne and Keely, 2006: 92). The company’s staffs are also trained to conduct themselves with decorum and professionalism while addressing the customers. This is in their voice tone and body language; the staffs of the company professionally prompt their customers in a jovial manner and seek to no what the customer wants, after the service, they always say a word of thank you to them and reminds them to come again. McDonald’s Premise and Delivery Unlike many other premises that rivals McDonald’s, the company provides a spacious building with tables and chairs arranged against, this provides the customers with enough space to move and maneuver within the restaurant with absolute ease. The premises are well spread out with facilities that cater for every personality; the able and the disabled. There are also baby-changing areas, disabled toilets, as well as the normal toilets for both men and women (Browne and Keely, 2006: 53). The company does not provide for the delivery of their products to the customers residence but in the case of disability, they take the initiative to deliver service to the customer’s doorsteps through their specialized workers for the purpose. Communication and Payments of Bills McDonald’s is sensitive to the fact that not all customers have the same sense of using verbal means of communication, in this regard; they have decided to engage a variety of communication tools that enables all people with known disabilities to express their desires easily so that they can be attended to in the premises (George, 2003: 41). Most importantly is the fact that the employees in this company are always ready to serve the customers and are easily noticed given that they are in conspicuous uniform parched with the company logo for ease of recognition. Regarding payment of bills, the company does not allow for payment via credit cards and instead, they have made up for the same by providing several ATM machines within the premises for convenience of withdrawal (George, 2003: 59). McDonald’s Service Design Companies like McDonald’s are not classified purely as service or products oriented, in fact, McDonald’s is 50% service and 50% goods. The processes of the service design for this company starts physical given that they are classified as restaurant and in this sense, they will be facilitating goods in their daily operations (El-Haik and Roy, 2005: 72). McDonald’s has cut itself a niche in that they deal with the customers face to face, this gives them the opportunity to effectively and efficiently handles their customers to satisfaction. They also operate on the principle that no two customers possess same way of perception and they have to leave the premises pleased, this has enabled them to maintain their reputation as a customer service oriented. This reputation has earned them the huge customer base they experience currently. Investment in technology has also enabled the company to facilitate movement of the customers in and out of the premises in such amazing efficiency considering the billions of customers they are having in a day daily. At McDonald’s there is efficient movement of customers from the registers to the fryers and microwaves, as well as the automated drink makers. The capital base of this company has particularly helped them to pace with the technology equidistantly by making updates on regular basis (Cook, 2004: 63). With the company able to invest in automated drink makers, it will be convincing to assert the they are committed in making the customers have the least time in their premises as far as delay is concerned. McDonald’s restaurant service blue print Failures of the Service Design Even though the company’s service design has helped them in realizing their core objectives, few issues can be cited in them as challenging to the satisfaction of the customers. It is true that embracing technology is a way of increasing the efficiency of service to the customers, but on the other hand, when the technology fails, the situation becomes worse and very difficult to contain. For instance, in the automated drink maker in McDonald’s, most of the customers can be attracted to the premise because of the service, if this service fails, they will be disappointed, and the management will be blamed for irresponsibility. In this regard, the company must ensure the all their automated system have back up plans and may not fail per se in case of technical failures. SERVQUAL Analysis It is always important to have a self-assessment on any goal that is to be realized in anything, business not neglected. If this doe not happen, then it is impossible to know the direction your actions are taking you. In so doing, business like McDonald’s must have a system that is used to determine the quality of the services they offer using those criteria that satisfies them. One such criteria is the SERVQUAL, this criteria of measuring the level of customer satisfaction has become ubiquitous and remains most adopted by many companies that have realized the services have become competitive in the contemporary world, particularly to those businesses that rely on the quality of the services to attract customers. It is even more useful to the extent that most businesses currently have changed to maintaining the customers rather that attracting them, this make the assessment even more important to the business (Spector and McCarthy, 2005: 42). SERVQUAL Assessment In using the SERVQUAL, what the Company relies on is the gap difference that is obtained; this is because in the system, the customers will be rating the perceived level of services they have received in a specific restaurant against a company that is known to be excellent in providing the same service. In this sense, the smaller the gap, the better the services in the company compared to the excellent one. SERVQUAL can be used to assess five different dimension of quality at the same time so that all aspects of concern are integrated in the assessment (Thomke, 2006: 56). Another way of assessment is the walk through audit, in this case, relevant information will be collected on what is best in satisfying the customers need and then a decision is made on the best one following the frequency of an item listed or preferred by the respondent. Further Improvement of Services Using Technology McDonald’s prides of being able to adopt technology use at the fall of a new technology in the market, well, that is good, and this can only be accentuated if they practice this in terms of accepting credit card payments from the billion of customer they have around the world. The world have moved from the use of paper money and in most cases, customers do there shopping using credit card that some may find it difficult not to use it in a multinational company of McDonald’s caliber. Given that the company has such a big name internationally, they should also provide for services that allow their customers to book and be reserved for tables before time so that they improve on enabling the customers not to wait for long. McDonald’s Supply Chain McDonald’s is one of the multinational firms that have adopted the sustainable supply chain management. It does consist of both direct and indirect suppliers who understand them in their endeavor to achieve their objectives. In their supply chain, they liaise with the suppliers to make understanding challenging environment of the business so that they can strike a balance that is favorable to both. In this regard, McDonald’s and the entire web of suppliers are concerned with three main cardinal issues of responsibility these are; Environment, economics, and ethics. The improvement recommended in this case would make communication in the supply chain management more efficient and timely in efforts to achieve the objectives of the supplier and that of the McDonald’s. McDonald’s supply chain Conclusion McDonald’s Company remains one of the most spectacular fast food restaurants in the world with a hue customer base attracted and retained because of the good service that is synonymous with the company. The company strives to adopt the most contemporary services to their customers and apply them most appropriately in pursuit of retention and attraction of more customers into the family of McDonald’s. This outstanding feature has enabled the company to moving in the hotly competitive venture with competitors coming up with innovations every single day. McDonald’s in this regard have remained steadfast in the provision of quality services their customers earning them loyalty from their customers. The company has since developed as strong brand loyalty from its previous customers that it will be impossible for them to be moved. Customer satisfaction is the guiding principle of the company and that is what has made them remain in business for this long. Total word count without work cited, appendix, tile page and contents: 2056 Appendix McDonald’s chain flows from greeting of the consumers to serving them at their seats. This display is to allow consumers to know what they expect when they visit a McDonald’s restaurant. McDonald’s supply truck in their going green project (on the picture). The company uses bigger Lorries to supply their subsidiaries or delivering to their customers. References Browne, M. Neil, and Stuart M. Keeley. (2007), Asking the right questions: a guide to critical thinking. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Clark, Moira, and Susan Baker. (2004), Business success through service excellence. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Cook, Sarah. (2004), Measuring customer service effectiveness. Aldershot, Hants, England: Gower. Fitzsimmons, James A., and Mona J. Fitzsimmons. (2008), Service management: operations, strategy, information technology. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. George, Michael L. (2003), Lean Six Sigma for service how to use Lean Speed and Six Sigma Quality to improve services and transactions. New York: McGraw-Hill, El-Haik, Basem, and David Roy (2005). Service design for six sigma: a roadmap for excellence. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. Spector, R. and McCarthy, P.D. (2005), The Nordstrom way to customer service excellence: a handbook for implementing great service in your organization. John Wiley & Sons Inc. Thomke, Stefan H. (2007). Managing product and service development: text and cases. Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill Irwin. 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