Restaurant Observation Activity

Restaurant Observation Activity
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Restaurant Observation Activity
McDonalds is the globe’s largest hamburger and fast-food chain, which serves a customer population of about 68 million on a daily basis, across the 119 countries covered by the restaurant chain. The chain is operated as either an affiliate, franchise or owned and operated by the chain itself (Thomas &Jay, 2004). This paper will discuss the findings, from an observation of the work processes of the McDonalds’ restaurant at Downey, California. The areas to be discussed include the role of differentiation, the coordination of tasks at the outlet and the technology used at the outlet – to enhance the work of the restaurant. The paper will also explore the response to restaurant processes, among the stakeholders of the restaurant, and then develop recommendations on strategies of improving the effectiveness of the restaurant.
Role differentiation at a McDonalds Restaurant
Role differentiation is the practice of distinguishing the roles of different members of the restaurant, towards realizing the specialization of functions. McDonalds’ restaurants are characterized by the McDonaldization of tasks, which entails the simplification of roles – towards making them unskilled tasks. From the California McDonalds outlet, role differentiation is affected by a number of focal areas, including efficiency, which entails performing duties in the most optimal manner (Thomas & Jay, 2004). The second focal area is calculability, which covers the views that sales are more important than quality or product taste. The third is predictability, which entails the standardization of tasks, towards making them uniform. The last focal area is control, which refers to the replacement of workers with modern machines and technology. The four processes pursue turning workers into robotic players, who do not learn new skills, except those that are related to repetitive duties they play at the outlet. The use of technology at McDonalds’ restaurants makes the work of employees less skilled and much simpler, diminishing the roles of human workers. The strategy aims at keeping wage levels at a minimum, and stopping employees from learning any skills that can help them at other jobs.
McDonald restaurant’s role differentiation is limited by the outsourcing of technical job roles, including the use of a call center as the center, from which orders are taken, and then wired over to the restaurant (Richtel, 2006). Among the outsourced order servicing staffs, speed and productivity are monitored by a specialized control and surveillance software. The team is also monitored when they leave their workstations (Richtel, 2006). At the McDonalds outlet, employees are divided into a number of distinctive roles, including customer service, chefs, frying specialists, people packing, burger constructors, and drive through staffs. The distinctive characteristic of the outlet is that the employees are trained in the different areas, so that they are able to take the different roles across the production line (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskinsson, 2013).
This shady role differentiation is a strategy aimed at increasing the replaceable nature of employees. Role differentiation is realized through the division of the production line, into the different role areas mentioned, including chef service and customer service among others. The call center operations are shaped by the outlets strategy of fast-service delivery, which requires the orders of customers to be collected in the shortest duration possible. For instance, one outsourced call center staff can take 95 orders in an hour, during peak hours (Richtel, 2006).
Role coordination across the different role areas starts at the time of collecting the customer’s order by the outsourced call center agent. Upon the reception of the order at the restaurant, the chefs are instructed to prepare the components in the customer’s order, which may be accompanied by the role of the people frying staffs, depending on the type of order. Other roles involved in the processing of the order include the burger construction staff; the packing staff and lastly, the drive through staff, who are directed about where to deliver the order. Among the technologies used to facilitate work at the outlet are the customer information collection voice capture speaker and microphone, where they make their order. The restaurant uses walk-in freezers, where prepared food is stored, while awaiting re-heating before it is delivered to the customer after they make an order.
Fast-heating systems are used to reheat the food, during the delivery of customers’ orders. Reheating machines include ovens and microwaves. Conveyor belts are used to carry hamburger patties through broilers, which cook the hamburgers...