When is LO inappropriate? LO13873

prkosuth (prkosuth@mychoice.net)
Fri, 06 Jun 97 22:07:13 PDT

Replying to LO13866 --

Hi all:

A friend of mine owns 5 of the Mac's franchises. My impression is that
they really do try for uniformity and that when change occurs it usually
comes through the ownmer or managers of the stores. The feel I get is that
Mac's in general is pretty top down in it management philosophy. The 55
cent burger thing or the 2 for $2 promo's don't seem to go over too well
with the actual owners. They don't come up with these promotions and
really seem to question the thinking behind them. The corporate HQ seems
to set the tone and direction.

The HQ does seem to try to do some /strategic planning, some Covey
training, quality training etc but on the basis of the few owners I come
in contact with there does not seem to be alot of value placed on these
activities. My friend says (not a real quote, but words to the effect ...)
: " I just make hamburgers. Get em made fast and fresh, keep the people
happy." He does try to work in a way that he thinks is reasonable with his
employees but ultimately it is his way. The stores are clearly his. He
would and does come out at all times to work, fix, problem solve etc.

Can Mac's be an LO ? I wouldn't think so until management ( the layer
above and including owners) change their perspectives a bit .

Paul K
prkosuth@mychoice.net
OPINIONS ARE MY OWN
Brehm Preparatory School
Carbondale IL

> At 10:02 AM 6/3/97 -0400, you wrote:
>
> >If LO principles were applied at my local McDonalds, how would I, as their
> >customer, see it? Does the effective application of LO principles imply
> >changes in how both the server and customer relate to one another and to
> >the context of their service. If applied there, would the place end up
> >looking different?
>
> Great question! My impression is that McDonald's bases their
> implementation strategy on uniformity of systems across stores. Even if a
> store's employees came up with changes that would change the customer
> experience for the better, I'm not sure they would have the freedom to
> implement it.

-- 

"prkosuth" <prkosuth@mychoice.net>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>