Issues with McDonalds

Implementing John Kotter’s Change Model

Case Study: McDonald’s Corporation, Nigeria

Organisational Change:

McDonald’s Corporation has brought much innovation to the fast food business in Nigeria. It has a good range of food items, targeting people of different tastes and classes. Despite being a well-known brand, there have been controversies surrounding McDonald’s business ethics especially when it comes to providing healthy foods for its customers. It was all right initially, but, it has now become a problem as people now pay more attention to their diets. McDonald’s would have to pay attention to the health and nutritional needs of its customers in order to keep them and maintain their high-profit levels.

One of the major issues against McDonald’s is the negative light that people see it in. Its reputation has fallen so much that in Nigeria, the name McDonald’s is associated with junk foods and unhealthy meals. The company needs to make customers’ health a priority by serving healthier foods if they are to win their reputation back. There should be a market plan aimed at luring their health-conscious customers back to them. One of such efforts may mean that they would start printing the contents of every product on its packet, so that clients can have a clear idea of what they are eating, cut back on the amount of artificial fats, salt, etc. used in making their foods and even

The problem above can be tackled by cutting back on unhealthy ingredients and also providing Nigerians with a more localised menu. The local foods served in Nigeria are healthier and richer than what is obtainable in any McDonald’s outlets. These foods have more natural contents and have more fit methods of preparation prepared in healthy ways. This inclusion will help McDonald’s Corporation help increase their customer appeal, as Nigerians always favour their local delicacies, and also improve their customer base.

To find out how this change would be implemented, the forces for and against the proposed amendment must be calculated. The forces for change include:

Forces for Change

1. Health consciousness has risen a lot over the years, and most people tend to ‘look before they eat’. This indicates that providing the best possible food for its customers should be top of its priority.

2. Massive industrial competition means that the company has to adopt change quickly, if it wants to retain its strong market presence. The company has to come up with new, healthier products in order to gain an edge over its competitors.

3. The ever-changing needs of customers is another factor to be considered. People get bored of having the same meals over and over again. So to create more appeal, McDonald’s should think about some adjustment to their menu.

Forces against Change

1. The cost of implementation of this strategy would be a major drawback to its implementation. This application must be carried out simultaneously across all its outlets in the country.

2. Sometimes, the reluctance of an organisation’s management board to adopt changes can be a deterrent to change. For this to work, the whole management must believe in it thoroughly, and work towards its success.

3. The last factor to be considered would be the time constraint. This change strategy is going to take a long to time to implement and also keep it running. Therefore, it would need much money and also manpower to maintain.

Change Model:

Failed change initiatives carry high costs including the loss of credibility of leadership and employee resistance to future change (Metre, 2009). So the change strategy has to be chosen, considering the human aspect of it. John Kotter’s model of change is ideal for this, as it will ensure that the company considers both the business part of the change plan and the human side as well. This program was meant to elaborate the fundamental changes in how the business is conducted in order to help cope with a new, more challenging market environment (Kotter, 1995)

1. Creating Urgency: this is the beginning of the roadmap to the implementation of this plan. The company must first build a program and make sure that everyone believes in its potential. The organization with the help of this model can identify potential threats and develop a picture as what can happen in the near future and how to cope up with the challenges in the best possible manner (Kotter, 1996). At this stage, McDonald’s can begin to search for potential threats and devise the means to tackle them.

2. Building Coalition: McDonald’s would have to put together a strong team to oversee the change process. This group would be put together in such a way that they would complement each other’s’ strengths and weaknesses, thereby enhancing team spirit.

3. Building a vision for change: a value-oriented vision should be developed, and implemented for the company to be able to drive all its employees towards its goal.

4. Communicating the vision: after the concept is built, the management should also ensure that there is adequate communication of this idea to the staff. Communication is a critical element of the organizational change process as it can reduce uncertainty (Bordia, et al., 2004). This would create synchrony among them, and increase work efficiency.

5. Eliminate obstacles: with proper implementation of the previous steps, there may not be any hindrances in getting to their goal. However, if any unforeseen obstacles come up, it should be tackled at this stage, so as not to affect them in the future.

6. Develop short-term success: this means breaking down the procedure into smaller phases so that they become less complex, and the rate of progress can be calculated. Large-scale change can be a long, formidable undertaking, so it is important to create short-term wins (Pieterson, 2002); every challenge that is navigated would help boost the team morale.

7. Build on change: McDonald’s must not remain rigid during this process of change. There must be constant change. These changes are associated with continuous improvement methods and adjustment during this period (Choi, 1995), to ensure that there are no future failures.

8. Implement the changes in the corporate culture: they must build a legacy. It must redefine its working ethics, and always communicate them with their staff, so as to create a smoother work relationship. This is to ensure that