Discuss about the Empirical Evidence an Emerging Market.
McDonald’s is considered as one of the reputed fast food restaurants in the world. The restaurant was set up in 1940 in California. McDonald’s holds certain distinctions in the business world. It is the largest restaurant chain in the world with service to over 69 million customers. It also provides employment to more than 1.5 million individuals, a feat only bettered by Walmart. The restaurant is known to serve good quality hamburgers, soft drinks, chicken nuggets and dessert (Mcdonalds.com, 2018). The problem in focus is the quality of food products that are served by the restaurant. The dimension of the problem is such that it affects the smooth functioning of the restaurant and thereby hampers its goals of providing quality service to the customers.
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General description of the business problem |
Quality management is one of the most important aspects that every service-providing organisation need to access. Without proper quality, managers of such organisation cannot attain the satisfaction of the customers. |
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Specific dimensions of the business problem |
The dimension of the business problem that has been focused is in the organisational context. This includes poor processes that are used for managing the works in the organisation. The focus of McDonald’s is to improve the quality of service so that the restaurant can gain an advantage in the market. |
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Link business problem to goals of organisations |
The goal of McDonald’s is to maintain proper customer service and ensure that the quality of service is maintained (Mcdonalds.com, 2018). The problem that has been identified may cause hindrance to the restaurant and consequently prevent the expansion in the competitive business market. |
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Organisational Context |
Dimensions of Problem |
Goals of Organisation |
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The problem faced by McDonald’s is based on the quality of service that is provided. The customers of the restaurant are of the opinion that due to the lack of organic substance in its products, the food served in McDonald’s is unhealthy for the people. This is evidenced in 2004 when a couple of young girls tried to sue the restaurant for their health problems |
Organisational context as it deals with attaining the goals of the organisation and the basic requirements of the restaurant |
To provide proper customer service by serving quality food in an efficient and quick time |
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Article reference |
Freiberg, D. (2015). If Stakeholders Ruled the World: Stakeholder Relations in the 21st Century. Global Policy, 6(4), 492-494. |
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Literature |
Customers are the most important stakeholders of an organisation. Without the contribution of the customers in terms of purchasing the products, organisations cannot continue to exist in the competitive market. Hence, acknowledging the requirements of the stakeholders is necessary for the organisations so that it can continue to progress in the business market. |
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Theoretical framework/approach |
The theoretical approach for this particular article is the fact that critical assumptions are made about the importance of stakeholders in an organisation. The stakeholders need to be involved as one of the main business strategies that organisations can use to gain a competitive advantage in the business. |
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Research questions |
What is the impact that stakeholders have a business? |
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Methodology |
The methodology that has been adopted for identifying the impact of stakeholders is the literature approach. Conducting a secondary research has helped to gain insights of different scholars about the level of involvement that stakeholders are allowed to have in an organisation. |
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Results/conclusion |
The result of the analysis is that without the stakeholders, organisations may have to suffer from a quality investment. The stakeholders take into account the interests of the organisations and share their thoughts about the well-being of an organisation. Thus, the involvement of the stakeholders in every decision of an organisation is essential for its betterment. |
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Critique |
The critique has been made by Power, Sharda and Burstein (2015) stating that the decision-making systems need to be prioritised between the stakeholders. The internal and external stakeholders need to be divided and based on the division of the stakeholders the decision to involve them in the organisational activities need to be adopted. |
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Gap |
The gap in the article is the fact that technology plays an important role in modern business. The stakeholder analysis needs to be done keeping in mind the different stakeholders that exist in the organisation and the manner in which they can implement technology for its betterment. |
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Article reference |
Bansal, H. S., & Taylor, S. (2015). Investigating the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and switching intentions. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 304-313). Springer, Cham. |
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Literature |
The article provides the importance of service quality that can lead to achieving service satisfaction. The service quality is one of the important determinants of service switching and there have been calls to protect any type of discrimination. The importance of service quality for manufacturing and service organisations include identifying roles that lead to effective services in organisations. Customer satisfaction is important and it is necessary that the expectations of the customers be met by providing quality customer satisfaction. |
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Theoretical framework/approach |
The theoretical approach, in this case, links customer satisfaction with the services provided by the organisations. One of the important factors for gaining customer satisfaction is the services rendered and the quality of service depends upon the talents and skills of the employees. The link established provides an analysis of the close relation that exists between the services rendered and the satisfaction of the customers. |
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Research questions |
What is the impact of service satisfaction and service quality on switching intentions? |
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Methodology |
The methodology used in this case is the quantitative data collection method. Data was collected on 184 customers so that an evaluation of the service satisfaction can be made. The service quality and the switching intentions are analysed to identify the research questions and conclude on the overall impressions of services. |
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Results/conclusion |
The results of the study have indicated that service quality and satisfaction of the customers are related to one another and the link between the two factors is important to access the satisfaction of the customers. The results also show that quality instigates the switching intentions of the customers, however, no such influence exists that can relate quality and satisfaction. |
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Critique |
Daft (2015) stated that although the relationship between service quality and satisfaction are related closely, certain distinctions exist which points out that the two have opposing reactions. Service quality has been stated as an overall evaluation whereas the satisfaction of customers is more of a spontaneous reaction. Therefore, establishing a close link between the two factors may create problems for quality management in an organisation. |
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Gap |
The gap in the literature is that while the focus is kept on the satisfaction of the customers, other factors that may contribute to the same are not stated. Apart from this, the service rendered can be in any form that may help the customers to understand the effectiveness of the organisations and the manner in which improvements can be made. |
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Article reference |
Orel, F. D., & Kara, A. (2014). Supermarket self-checkout service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty: Empirical evidence from an emerging market. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(2), 118-129. |
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Literature |
The article focuses on the service quality and customer satisfaction. The reason behind attaining the loyalty of the customers is discussed with particular focus on the manner in which the emerging markets can attain the loyalty of the customers. The effectiveness of self-serving techniques is a focus in this article that can help in reducing the retailer cost and enhance the experience of the customers. |
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Theoretical framework/approach |
The link between customer satisfaction, quality of service and loyalty of the customers are established in the article. The article provides an overview of the importance of self-checkout systems. However, more evidence is needed to understand the link in a better manner for the continuation of quality service in the organisations. |
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Research questions |
What is the link between satisfaction of the customers and the loyalty of the customers? |
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Methodology |
The methodology used in this case is the quantitative data analysis method. Customers in the shop had completed a self-checkout form while being served their needs. Responses from 275 customers were collected to understand the impact of self-service in the loyalty of the customers. |
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Results/conclusion |
The results of the analysis show that self-checkout system has a positive impact on the satisfaction of the customers. The loyalty of customer satisfaction can be obtained by providing customers with an opportunity to gain the necessary data required materials by choosing among themselves. This can be considered as a way of improving the self-efficacy of the customers. |
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Critique |
The critique of the article is that it fails to identify the factors that lead to the satisfaction and loyalty of the customers. Zsambok and Klein (2014) are of the opinion, a self-service system may sometimes have a negative impact, as customers may want the employees of an organisation to provide proper service. |
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Gap |
The gap of the article is that it does not provide a proper knowledge about the needs of the customers. The focus is only on the supermarkets in which customers tend to prefer to shop by themselves. However, restaurants with self-service provisions also need to be taken into consideration. |
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Article reference |
Dabholkar, P. A. (2015). How to improve perceived service quality by increasing customer participation. In Proceedings of the 1990 academy of marketing science (AMS) annual conference (pp. 483-487). Springer, Cham. |
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Literature |
The article focuses on the effectiveness of customer participation and the manner in which it can help in improving the service quality of organisations. Customers are considered as main stakeholders and the participation of the customers is necessary to ensure that service quality of an organisation improves. |
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Theoretical framework/approach |
The link between service quality and customer participation is established. In order to understand the effectiveness of the customers, it is necessary that the participation is encouraged so that a proper approach can be obtained by enhancing the services of an organisation. |
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Research questions |
What is the effect of customer participation in improving the services of an organisation? |
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Methodology |
The research has been conducted using secondary sources of information. The secondary sources mainly focus on the works of the various scholars and the manner in which it can help in understanding the necessities of customer participation. |
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Results/conclusion |
It can be concluded that the participation of customers can help in improving the service level of organisations. Customers can provide feedback about the services that they expect from the organisations and the manner in which it can be provided to them. This can help in improving the services. |
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Critique |
Chen (2014) is of the opinion that the participation of the customers cannot be the sole judge for determining or improving the service quality of organisations. The participation of the customers cannot be measured directly and hence the reliability of the information provided by them cannot help organisations to improve. |
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Gap |
The gap in the literature is that the participation of the customers is not specified. Customer participation can be in any form and it can provide either positive or negative feedback for an organisation. The article only analyses the survey method without giving any emphasis on other factors that may contribute to the organisation. |
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Article reference |
Sguera, F., Sekerka, L. E., & Bagozzi, R. (2017). Self-Conscious Emotions and Moral Decision Making in Business. In Academy of Management Proceedings. Academy of Management Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510. |
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Literature |
The literature focuses on the management actions that may have a severe impact on the decision-making activity of an organisation. The decision-making activity of people is important based on the manner in which employees are motivated to continue to work in the organisations. |
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Theoretical framework/approach |
The link between the actions undertaken by the managers and the decision-making activities are established in the article. The article focuses on the factors that lead to the decision-making activity in an organisation and the role played by the managers in the decision-making process. |
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Research questions |
What impact can good decisions create for the functioning of decisions in an organisation? |
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Methodology |
The methodology used for the article includes secondary analysis of data. The works of different scholars on this particular topic are analysed and based on it the secondary research is conducted that can help in coming to a proper conclusion. |
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Results/conclusion |
It can be concluded that proper management is necessary to ensure that the decisions are taken that can help in conducting research in a proper manner. The managerial decisions are based on the self-conscious emotions of the managers and the manner in which it can help the managers attain the designated success in the organisations. |
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Critique |
Erickson (2016) is of the opinion that the decisions of the managers are not based on the emotional context. The manner in which the decisions are taken by the managers is based on the situation of the organisations and the manner in which employees respond to the situation. |
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Gap |
The gap of the article is that it does not take into the account any interview method that can help in gaining insights about the managers. The article provides only one state of the mind of the managers without focusing on the necessary factors that may lead to decision-making. |
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Theme |
Literature |
Gap |
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Importance of customers as stakeholders |
The satisfaction and contribution of the customers can help organisations gain a competitive advantage for an organisation. |
Role of technology in the modern business as not been analysed |
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The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction |
Service quality can help in attaining the satisfaction of the customers and contribute to switching |
Other factors that contribute to customer satisfaction has not been focused. |
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Importance of self-service to the satisfaction of customers |
The loyalty of the customers can be attained if the customers are allowed to have self-service |
The focus has been mainly on the supermarkets |
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Importance of customer participation in improving service quality |
The manner in which participation of the customers can help in attaining the service quality of the organisations |
The negative side of customer participation is not analysed in the article. |
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The emotions behind managerial actions |
Management actions may have negative as a well positive impact on organisations |
Management decisions can be influenced by various factors in an organisation. |
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Business problem |
Literature |
Research Questions |
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Involvement of customers |
The contribution of customers is necessary for gaining success |
What is the impact that stakeholders have a business? |
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Effective of service quality on customer satisfaction |
Service quality is important for customer satisfaction |
What is the impact of service satisfaction and service quality on switching intentions? |
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The effectiveness of self-service on customers |
The loyalty of the customers play an important role in the success of an organisation |
What is the link between satisfaction of the customers and the loyalty of the customers? |
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The impact of customer participation for the satisfaction of services |
Service of the organisations can be improved with an increased participation of the customers |
What is the effect of customer participation in improving the services of an organisation? |
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The state at which managerial decisions are taken |
Good managerial decisions can help in improving the level of organisational success. |
What impact can good decisions create for the functioning of decisions in an organisation? |
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Business problem |
Literature |
Research Questions |
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Quality management in McDonald’s |
In a service organisation, poor quality may lead to the loss of the customers. In the case of McDonald’s, rumours about the poor quality of the ingredients of the restaurant pose a competitive disadvantage for the restaurant. |
What are the ways by which managers can ensure proper quality is maintained in McDonald’s? |
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Choice of research method |
Interview method |
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Research methods justification |
The benefit of interview method is that it provides detailed information about the thoughts of a person. It also allows more detailed questions to be asked (Brinkmann, 2014). However, the detriments of an interview are that it is a time-consuming method and setting up an interview can be costly. Based on the analysis of the research questions it can be said that the application of the interview method can help in providing a detailed analysis of the problems for McDonald’s. |
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In the previous research, the focus group method was used. The reason for the change in research method is that the interview can be conducted on the managers and the perception of the managers can be understood. |
The questions that are to be explored need to be based on the research questions and progress according to the responses provided by the manager. However, the questions need to focus on the quality issue that McDonald’s are subjected to without deviating from the topic.
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Interview guide: |
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Tell me about yourself |
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How long have you been the manager of this particular franchise of McDonald’s? |
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How do you think quality can be improved in an organisation? |
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What actions are you taking to improve the quality of the products? |
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What role do the customers play in this particular problem? |
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Do you think you gain back the trust of the customers? |
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What actions are taken to involve customer participation in improving the service quality? |
The interview will be conducted on different franchise owners of McDonald’s. About three interviews can be recommended to complete the thorough analysis.
The sample of research participation includes the managers of each franchise of McDonald’s. This may consume time as the number of outlets of the restaurant is more and the interview method is a time-consuming process. The sample will be selected using a random sampling method
The data can be analysed based on the analysis of the transcription of the interviewees. The use of secondary data, in this case, is required for conducting the data analysis.
While conducting the interview it needs to be kept in mind that the questions remain aligned with the topic of the research. No such questions can be asked that may indicate profiling or biased towards an organisation.
Bansal, H. S., & Taylor, S. (2015). Investigating the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and switching intentions. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 304-313). Springer, Cham.
Bevan, M. T. (2014). A method of phenomenological interviewing. Qualitative research, 24(1), 136-144.
Brannen, J. (Ed.). (2017). Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. Routledge.
Brinkmann, S. (2014). Interview. In Encyclopedia of critical psychology (pp. 1008-1010). Springer New York.
Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Chen, R. (2014). Effects of McDonalds on Younger Chinese Generation’s Lives.
Coolican, H. (2017). Research methods and statistics in psychology. Psychology Press.
Crawford, A. (2015). McDonald’s: A Case Study in Glocalization. Journal of Global Business Issues, 9(1), 11.
Dabholkar, P. A. (2015). How to improve perceived service quality by increasing customer participation. In Proceedings of the 1990 academy of marketing science (AMS) annual conference (pp. 483-487). Springer, Cham.
Daft, R. L. (2015). Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of organizational commitment. Tourism Management, 46, 419-430.
Erickson, N. (2016). 3rd Party Monitors Spur Action in McDonald’s Chinese Food Safety Protocols.
Freiberg, D. (2015). If Stakeholders Ruled the World: Stakeholder Relations in the 21st Century. Global Policy, 6(4), 492-494.
Green, J., & Thorogood, N. (2018). Qualitative methods. Sage.
Mcdonalds.com. (2018). Mcdonalds.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018, from https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us.html
Orel, F. D., & Kara, A. (2014). Supermarket self-checkout service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty: Empirical evidence from an emerging market. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(2), 118-129.
Power, D. J., Sharda, R., & Burstein, F. (2015). Decision support systems. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sguera, F., Sekerka, L. E., & Bagozzi, R. (2017). Self-Conscious Emotions and Moral Decision Making in Business. In Academy of Management Proceedings. Academy of Management Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510.
Spradley, J. P. (2016). The ethnographic interview. Waveland Press.
Stowell, D. P., Moore, T., & Schumacher, J. (2017). McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Hedge Funds: Hamburger Hedging? Hedge Fund Activism and Impact on Corporate Governance. Kellogg School of Management Cases, 1-24.
Zsambok, C. E., & Klein, G. (Eds.). (2014). Naturalistic decision making. Psychology Press.
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