Organizational change occurs when an organization decides to shift from one state of the matter to the other. Since change is ongoing and inevitable in every organization, managers and the executive team need to make their employees prepared, aware of the change as well as keep them updated on the various changes made within the company. In every organization, change is always met with resistance, and cultures of the different organizations can have a different reaction to the change. Change occurs in numerous forms such as changes in organizational policies, structure, culture, procedures, and technology (Lurey & Griffin, 2013). To facilitate the smooth transition in any organization, it is significant to involve employees to minimize resistance. Organizations should also plan for change because it shows the need for organizational improvement. This paper, therefore, seeks to discuss the organizational change in McDonald’s. It will further discuss significant problems faced by the organization, mitigation measures that will be utilized, and steps used for organizational development.
McDonald’s Corp. is facing significant problems with the fast-moving environment where change is happening constantly. One of the problems that McDonald is facing is a bad food image. The brand has had a reputation for unhealthy products and sugary foods that is continuously tainting their image. As much as the management is trying to enhance the quality of their products, it cannot shake particularly old people. Another significant problem that McDonald’s is facing is a lack of flexibility. Previously, consistency was one of McDonald’s attractions and people wanted to know exactly what they will get from the Big Mac order but of late people have started to gravitate towards places such as Chipotle that allows individuals to tailor their orders.
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Slow and inaccurate services caused by the introduction of numerous items are another problem faced by McDonald's. Apart from slow and inaccurate service, McDonald’s also faces price sensitivity problems. Increasing the prices of their products without driving away customers has been tricky to the company. At one time, the famous Dollar menu included a Big ‘N’ Tasty made with a quarter-pound beef. However, as the price of beef and cheese increased, the company had to swap out these items which made them lose customers. McDonald’s management has difficulties with the above problems because it does not consult with its employees about their customer needs.
I think McDonald’s problem could be mitigated when it hires an organizational development consultant. The hired organizational development Consultant will assist the company in designing, developing as well as implementing the organizational development functions of the company. The Organizational Development Consultant will also build the stock of human capital of the company and further encourage the development of employees. More so, the organizational Development Consultant will measure the performance of employees to gauge success programs and identify areas that need improvement. Likewise, the organizational development consultant will innovate team development, organizational communication practices, and programs and leadership development.
One of the action research and organizational development steps that will be more challenging to the organizational development consultant is diagnosing the need for change (unfreezing). The unfreezing step is more challenging to the organizational development consultant because he or she will be required to identify human behavior concerning change. At first, the organizational development consultant will encounter resistance from groups that do not embrace this change (Haneberg, 2005). With increased resistance, it will be difficult for the organizational development consultant to determine the needs to change, talk to the management to get the support, and further create the need for change. As much as the organizational development consultant will find difficulties in this step, it will be effective if he or she unfreezes the status-quo before implementing the organizational change.
References
Haneberg, L. (2005). Chapter 3: The action research approach to change. Organization Development Basics. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development. [EBSCO eBook Business Collection]
Lurey, J. & Griffin, M. (2013). Section 2: Chapter 4: Action research: The anchor of OD practice. In Vogelsang, J. (ed). Handbook for Strategic HR: Best Practices in Organization Development from the OD Network. Saranac Lake, NY, USA: AMACOM Books, pp. 46-52. [EBSCO eBook Business Collection.
