Mc Donalds
Harvard Business School
9-681-044
Rev. February 27, 1998
McDonald's Corporation (Condensed)
The bell rings and the Vehicle button lights up. "Welcome to McDonald's! May I take your order please?" Through the sounds of a growling muffler and a blaring radio, a male voice responds,
"Yes. Twobigmacsaquarterwithcheesetwolargefries . . . alargecokeandalargerootbeer." My fingers search desperately for the correct buttons on the order register as I struggle to remember and decipher the order. "Would you like some dessert with dinner?" "No thanks, that's it." Torn between the urge to look up into the microphone and the necessity of looking down at the register display, I fumble with the Speak switch, read back the order at a snail's pace, get confirmation, and read off the total. "That'll be $5.72. Please drive around to the window." Oh yes, I'm supposed to pour drinks. I reach awkwardly for the drink cups, scoop up too much ice and have to dump the extra out, read each label on the drink machine until I see Coke, and press the button marked Large. The bell has already rung again. "Welcome to McDonald's!"
After an hour, I can reach for the right register key most of the time and know, for example, that root beer caps should be creased to differentiate them from Coke caps on orders that contain both. As I was relieved by Sandy, I watched her start to pour two drinks before the order was completed ("God gave you two hands. Use them!" the store manager had said). She upgraded fries to large fries and read the whole order back in a flash. She capped the drinks, put them on the assembly counter, helped Betsy check another order, and said again, "Welcome to McDonald's!"1
The McDonald's production process, from frozen meat patties coming in the rear door to hot meals going out the front, was geared to providing a uniformly high-quality, quickly served meal in clean, pleasant surroundings.
The McDonald's Corporation
After World War II, Richard and Maurice McDonald were having
9-681-044
Rev. February 27, 1998
McDonald's Corporation (Condensed)
The bell rings and the Vehicle button lights up. "Welcome to McDonald's! May I take your order please?" Through the sounds of a growling muffler and a blaring radio, a male voice responds,
"Yes. Twobigmacsaquarterwithcheesetwolargefries . . . alargecokeandalargerootbeer." My fingers search desperately for the correct buttons on the order register as I struggle to remember and decipher the order. "Would you like some dessert with dinner?" "No thanks, that's it." Torn between the urge to look up into the microphone and the necessity of looking down at the register display, I fumble with the Speak switch, read back the order at a snail's pace, get confirmation, and read off the total. "That'll be $5.72. Please drive around to the window." Oh yes, I'm supposed to pour drinks. I reach awkwardly for the drink cups, scoop up too much ice and have to dump the extra out, read each label on the drink machine until I see Coke, and press the button marked Large. The bell has already rung again. "Welcome to McDonald's!"
After an hour, I can reach for the right register key most of the time and know, for example, that root beer caps should be creased to differentiate them from Coke caps on orders that contain both. As I was relieved by Sandy, I watched her start to pour two drinks before the order was completed ("God gave you two hands. Use them!" the store manager had said). She upgraded fries to large fries and read the whole order back in a flash. She capped the drinks, put them on the assembly counter, helped Betsy check another order, and said again, "Welcome to McDonald's!"1
The McDonald's production process, from frozen meat patties coming in the rear door to hot meals going out the front, was geared to providing a uniformly high-quality, quickly served meal in clean, pleasant surroundings.
The McDonald's Corporation
After World War II, Richard and Maurice McDonald were having