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Things move quickly at McDonald's, whether we're serving our customers delicious food or helping our own people to build their futures. In our workplace, we promote flexibility, opportunity, equality and development. McDonald's employees come from all walks of life, but share a common approach: positivity. We know that happy employees help to make happy customers, so we want you to enjoy your work. And…
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenThings move quickly at McDonald's, whether we're serving our customers delicious food or helping our own people to build their futures. In our workplace, we promote flexibility, opportunity, equality and development. McDonald's employees come from all walks of life, but share a common approach: positivity. We know that happy employees help to make happy customers, so we want you to enjoy your work. And we're certain you will.
-mcdonalds.com
Let's take a look at the McDonald's organisational model, which helps the company fulfil its mission, by examining its management structure, organisational structure and organisational culture.
McDonald's is an American fast food company founded by the McDonald brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, United States. They opened a hamburger stand which later on turned into a franchise. In 1955 Ray Kroc, a franchising agent, founded McDonald's System Inc., a predecessor of the McDonald's Corporation, and in 1961 bought the exclusive rights to the McDonald's name and operation technique. By revenue, it is currently the largest restaurant chain in the world with 38 thousand locations in over 100 countries, serving 68 million people daily.
Do you want to know more about how franchising works? Check out our explanation on Franchises.
According to the most recent data from 2020, McDonald's employs around 200 thousand people. The company's employees consist of chief executive officer (CEO) Chris Kempczinski at the top and the board of directors. Below that, the company is divided into separate departments such as marketing, sales, finance, restaurant and supply. Each country or area has separate departments with its own country heads, managers and other staff members. All of them together make up for McDonald's organisational structure, a system that outlines how activities are managed in order to achieve the objectives of a business. It means that McDonald’s Corporation has a divisional organisational structure.
Below, you can see McDonald's McDonald's organisational chart. Let's analyse it!
McDonald's has several top-level executives. These include the chief executive officer and the other directors, such as the chairman of the board, senior marketing manager, senior sales manager, chief financial officer, chief restaurant officer, and chief operating officer, among others. They are responsible for making decisions, setting objectives, finances, operations and the overall supervision and functioning of the company.
After the top-level executives, there are five departments that have specific responsibilities:
There are many types of organisational structures, and most of large corporations implement a combination of different types of organisational structures:
McDonald's organisational structure is a combination of centralized, hierarchical, and divisional structures.
McDonald's tall hierarchy is the most prominent feature, with decision-making authority flowing from the top down through a clear chain of command. However, the company also uses decentralized practices to balance global consistency with local responsiveness.
In addition, McDonald's also has separate divisions or departments for different areas of the business, such as marketing, finance, and operations. This divisional structure allows the company to focus on specific areas of the business while still maintaining centralised control and standardization.
A hierarchical organisational structure is a type of organisational structure in which there is a clear chain of command and decision-making authority flows from the top down.
Divisional organisational structure is a type of organisational structure in which the company is divided into separate divisions or departments, each responsible for a specific product, region, or function.
Centralized organisational structure is a type of organisational structure in which decision-making authority is concentrated at the top of the hierarchy, with little decision-making power given to lower levels of management.
Overall, McDonald's organisational structure is designed to ensure efficiency and consistency across its many franchises and locations around the world, while also allowing for some flexibility and innovation in response to local market conditions and customer preferences.
Above, you were able to see McDonald's organisational structure globally. Although there are some main departments operating in every geographical area, each country can have some additional departments according to its needs. When it comes to the United Kingdom, below the chief executive officer and board of directors, departments are broken into:
There are also other functional departments such as legal, customer services, franchising, safety, security and licensing, property and construction, supply chain and restaurant services.
To learn more about the different types of organisational structures, have a look at our explanation of organisational structures.
Organisational culture is a collection of organisational shared values and practices that guide employees' actions and behaviours in the organisation. McDonald's organisational culture supports people, learning and diversity which aims to emphasize human resource development, operational efficiency and productivity.
The organisational culture of McDonald's prioritises employees' needs and development. Its values reflect the importance of people in the company and aim to support them - which is understandable as McDonald's is operating in the service industry. In doing so, the company promotes the engagement of management to help improve its processes.
The McDonald's organisational culture supports both individual and organisational learning. It believes that learning enhances productivity, quality and business performance and therefore the company offers various training and development opportunities. Additionally, it applies the knowledge to the organisation through programs and meetings where employees can give and receive feedback and share their knowledge.
Diversity and inclusion are also key factors in McDonald's organisational culture. The company outlines the importance of these aspects by optimizing human resources capabilities to deal with the diverse market. It also promotes feedback and conversations between employees, suppliers, franchisees and customers to support these values.
To learn more about the importance of organisational culture in business, have a look at our explanation of managing organisational culture.
In conclusion, both organisational structure and culture have a huge impact on how McDonald's performs and fulfils its mission. The company's core values and its decentralized, tall and product-based structure shape the overall operations of the company.
McDonald's is an American fast-food company.
The company's employees consist of chief executive officer (CEO) Chris Kempczinski at the top and the board of directors. Below that, the company is divided into separate departments such as marketing, sales, finance, restaurant and supply. Each country or area has separate departments with its own country heads, managers and other staff members. All of them together make up the McDonald's organizational structure, a system that outlines how activities are managed in order to achieve the objectives of a business.
McDonald's has a decentralized organizational structure. A decentralized organizational structure is when lower levels of a business hold the decision power.
According to the most recent data from 2020, McDonald's employs around 200 thousand people all over the World.
The functional areas of McDonald's are the marketing, sales, finance, restaurant, and supply departments.
McDonald's organizational structure is a combination of both centralized and decentralized elements. While the company has a clear chain of command and ultimate decision-making authority rests with the CEO and board of directors (a centralized feature), it also allows some decision-making power to regional and store managers (a decentralized feature) to better respond to local market conditions and customer preferences.
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