PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AS A STRATEGIC MANAGER 7001 LEARNING OUTCOME 1 Introduction:

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants. It operates in 119 countries through 31,000 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 1.5 million people. The corporation functions mostlt by means of franchisees. McDonalds is one of the many corporations that have successfully used a combination of various marketing strategies to be a globally successful organisation. Be able to identify personal skills to achieve strategic ambitions 1.1 Analyse the stratigic direction of the organisation An organizations survival in a competitive business world depends on its strategic plans and how those plans relate to the business world. Having a good strategic plan is good but its not enough to stir an organization to success and thus profitability. The implementation of such plans is not without challenges and these challenges become profound in a multicultural organization. It takes coordinated efforts on across the entire organization especially senior management to ensure the success of strategic plans. An organization that intends to be competitive in the business will seek talent and expertise from a broad array of countries and continents. These individuals will come from different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicity and education. How a company manages its operations to attain success entails an integrated processes and functions. The company can bend to socioeconomic conditions in the ways its tailors its goods and services without affecting the cultural sensitivity of either the workers or the market in which the product is sold. A good example with the expansion of MacDonalds into the Indian market. Indian doesnt eat beef due to sacred religious reason as the cow is view as a deity. So MacDonald has changed its line of beef burgers which are popular with Americans with different meat which the people of Indian will like and which does not force employees in India to cooks hamburgers with

beef either. Also cultural differences in an organization could mean that different employees as well as consumers in different markets have different taste and attitudes that define them. A company could manage these differences by designing products and services to meet the needs of likeminded cultures. The cultural needs of individual employees could be accommodated by making it easier for them to observe whatever traditional or religious holyday they may have. An organization with Muslim employees might have to allow their employees some time off during fasting seasons and other holydays especially if the organization is located in a predominantly Christian country. The organization could increase production of existing products or roll out of new product line based off the cultural holidays in order to take advantage of sales and market share. Most cultures celebrate their own versions of New Year and such festive occasions are usually tied to increases in purchases. A good example will be the fireworks industry and how it promotes its self during festive occasions. 1.2 Evaluate the stratigic skills required of the leader to achieve the strategic ambitions Leadership has been defined as the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of a vision or set of goals, and managers as people who achieve goals through other people (Robbins et al 2008, 695). With these definitions in mind, it would seem that appropriate training for leaders and managers would be highly people oriented; developing emotional intelligence skills, communication skills and appreciating the role of human emotion within the workplace. However, the focus of such programs has been, and still is to a large extent, on technical skills and rational thinking. Many factors contribute to this disparate focus; the historical and cultural context in which such programs are developed and taught, the assumptions and beliefs on how work directions translate into a good or service, the way universities are structured and even the types of students attending management and leadership programs. Until relatively recently, people were assumed to be rational creatures (Ripley 2009, 31). This assumption meant that organisations and educators of leaders/managers were oblivious to the role of emotion in the workplace (Kimura and Yoshimori 1989, 22). The utilization of

rigid structures, explicit rules and procedures, designed to control and limit employee behaviour (Napoli, Whiteley and Johansen 2005, 35) illustrate the reliance of business thinkers upon employees rational behaviour. Rules plus rational behaviour were thought to produce a predictable and stable labour force, which allowed management to consider employed labour as a steadfast factor of the production process. Given the correct rules and procedures, it was thought that employees would fall into line, and hence management and leaders could focus on the technical and rational aspects of the organisation, and did not have to be overly concerned with employees or affective issues. 1.3 Assess the relationship between existing, required and future skills to achieve the strategic ambitions: Sometimes it is difficult to find the words to identify our skills. When we write a resume, for example, we try to recall a specific skill we possess and it takes time to put those skills on paper in the appropriate words. The attached information can help you identify specific skill areas. You probably possess most of these skills but you just dont realize it. If you find that you are lacking any of these skills, take some time to refine the skills you do have, and work to develop the skills that you need. All of these skills will be useful to you throughout your life. For the purpose of this booklet, most of these skills you will read about are defined as Transferable Skills. You will, however, hear these skills referred to in other ways as well. Read ahead to learn more about some of the diverse skill sets that exist. LEARNING OUTCOME 2 Be able to manage personal leadership development to support achivevement of strategic ambitions 2.1 Discuss the opportunities to support leadership development Over the past several decades, organizations leadership development programs have often led to the bad combination of high costs and mediocre results. But when the nature of a challenge is itself complex, one needs to tackle it by first understanding its component parts and the relationships between them, and then provide a sophisticated solution to match that reality. For leadership development, this means taking a modern, blended approach that weaves together

formal training, informal learning approaches, and social learning opportunities that leverage the latest program can look technologies. like: Consider the following overview of what a modern, sophisticated leadership development

This figure, developed by Taleos partner DDI, represents a typical 12-month leadership development program (each column represents a quarter), although many of the same components would apply for programs with shorter timeframes. While it may look complicated,

a better

perspective

is to

see it as being sophisticated and

better

matching

the

inherent sophisticated nature of leadership development as a discipline. Lets break it down into each component part:

Kick Offs. Getting everyone on the same page regarding the goals and components of the program is an important first step. This could involve one or more meetings, and typically includes representation from executive leadership to help convey the importance of the program both for each participants development and the long-term health of the organization.

Pre-Assessments. These could include current skills assessments to provide a baseline for later comparison, as well as personality and characteristic assessments, such as StrengthsFinder or Myers-Briggs, as these can be enlightening to participants who need to first better understand who they are before they can successfully develop further.

Core Curriculum. In most cases, some formal training will still be a part of the blend, leveraging any combination of traditional classrooms, virtual classrooms, or self-paced eLearning courses. Such curricula can leverage robust, realistic role-playing or simulation activities, that let participants practice the new competencies they are learning.

Coaching and Mentoring. Each participant in a leadership development program typically has one or more coaches or mentors, that they can interact with between formal training events and as they begin to apply their new skills. The informal advice provided from existing leaders is often the most helpful aspect in the development of an emerging leader.

Action Learning. Given that the purpose is to develop leaders for the real world, it is sensible to have participants work on real business problems. In some cases this can even provide direct business value as a secondary benefit of the development program.

Social Learning. Given the punctuated nature of formal training whether delivered in the classroom or by e-Learning it is important to keep the conversations alive between participants and subject matter experts. New social media technologies help to enable social learning as a key component of leadership development programs. Tools such as forums, blogs, and wikis can be used to enable Q&A and general discussions, share applications of new skills in a variety of real-life contexts, and brainstorm approaches to the most challenging situations.

Post-Assessment. After the core curriculum is concluded, the results of a postassessment can be used to compare with the pre-assessment, to help verify that behavior changes will actually result from the program. After all, a development program is only as useful as the behavior changes it produces.

Development Meetings and Job Growth Experiences. It is crucial that each participants manager is involved throughout the process, including at the conclusion of the formal program to make sure development will continue as appropriate.

2.2 construct a personal development plan to direct leadership development My personal development plan will be based on analyzing my personality, my leadership style and my learning style. The objective of this essay is to initiate my own personal development plan. To begin with, there will be a part to evaluate my personality, combined with an online MBTI Personality Test. After that, my leadership style will be focused on and I will also analyze how this style shapes my career development. Then, I will depict which way of learning is suitable for my future development. To conclude, there will be an important part to examine my personal development action plan which will specifically list some essential and feasible activities to enrich my working competencies and skills so as to accomplish my own goals and objectives.

As Mullins (2005) states, Psychologists have defined personality as consisting of stable characteristics which explain why a person behaves in a particular way. Besides, to take a holistic view of personality, it is important to take into consideration the dynamic processes, which means focusing on the ways in which an individuals traits interact. Armstrong (2006) indicates that personality can be regarded as the relatively stable and enduring aspects of individuals that distinguish them from other people. There are many type theories of personality which identifies numerous types of personality which can be used to classify people and many underlie a personality test. Additionally, one of the most widely used type theories is Carl Jungs theory on which Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based (Mullins, 2005). MBTI, which is often applied to recruitment processes to select appropriate vacancy candidates for the given jobs, identifies sixteen types of personality based on individuals extroversion or introversion and their cognitive functions of thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition, perception and judgment. As Mullins states, MBTI has promoted substantial research interest, particularly in connection with the correlation between personality type, occupations and management style. However, MBTI has not demonstrated adequate validity and reliability although its popularity and use has been gradually increasing and there is not sufficient, well-designed research to justify the use of the MBTI in career counseling programs (Psychometric Success, 2009). On the other hand, types do not appear to predict individual future performance (Coffield, Moseley, Hall & Ecclestone, 2004). 2.3 Devise an implementation process for the development plan: Implementation the personal development plan is to putting into action the action plans to achieve the goals and at the end of this exercise it should be made clear that whether: The plan actually worked and if so then to what extent and which areas needs more attention and consideration. To achieve the professional qualification resources (finance, time, cooperation of management) require. The implementation problem could be fail to achieve the qualification because of time management or difficult to become a professional. If an employee show performance and achieve all tasks then there may be chances for him to be promoted at higher position. To become chief accountant I need to show performance and quality work at individual level.

The possible implementation could be there is tough competition between other accountants. The change of field can become leaning problems sometimes. Resources are required to start own business, the resources are finance, experienced staff and market. Possible problems could be I might fail to manage finance or big companies will not let me enter into market. LEARNING OUTCOME 3 Be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership development plan 3.1 Assess the achievement of outcomes of the plan against original objectives: During the last decade, provision of property right incentives was introduced on a broad range and became reality even for the bottom level of companies hierarchic structure. McDonalds is no exception. Up from the restaurant managers levels, stock options have become a main tool aiming for long term profit. At McDonalds stock options typically have a lifetime of ten years, a vest over four to seven years and have an exercise price equal to the fair market value at the grant date. The amount of stock options to receive depends on the level of responsibility, the achievement of plan objectives and the implementation of key strategies. In addition, McDonalds strongly encourages its employees to participate in ownership of the company. The minimum level of ownership ranges from one to five times the basic salary. Comparison to other fast food companies The average salary for a fast food restaurant manager in the United Kingdom ranges from 17.000 (~ 26.800 ) to 22.000 (~ 34.700 ) for beginners and reaches levels up to 51.000 (~ 80.000 ) later (after twenty years of working experience). At the London-based company PRET A MANGER a restaurant manager earns between 18.000 (~ 28.600 ) and

32.000 (~ 51.000 ) a year. In addition one can obtain up to 30% bonus on the annual salary - based on the individual performance. Compared to the figures cited above, McDonalds attractiveness lies slightly above the average and the rare figures of competitors indicate that the bonus to fixed salary is weighted in a way which is comparable to McDonalds compensation package. Too, the focus on QSC&V (quality, service, cleanliness and value), a concept which has been adapted by most fast food chains, finds it way into the remuneration scheme of almost every company. 3.2 Evaluate the impact of the achievement of objectives on strategic ambitions: Marketing strategies directly impact food purchasing and eating habits. For example, in the late 1970s scientists announced a possible link between eating a high-fiber diet and a reduced risk of cancer . However, consumers did not immediately increase their consumption of high-fiber cereals. But in 1984 advertisements claiming a relationship between high-fiber diets and protection against cancer appeared, and by 1987 approximately 2 million households had begun eating high-fiber cereal. Since then, other health claims, supported by scientific studies, have influenced consumers to decrease consumption of foods high in saturated fatand to increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, skim milk, poultry, and fish. Of course, not all marketing campaigns are based on scientific studies, and not all health claims are truthful. In July 2000 a panel of experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture supported complaints made by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine that the "Got Milk" advertisements contained untruthful health claims that suggested that milk consumption improved sports performance, since these claims lacked scientific Companies often use characters to appeal to young consumers. Ronald McDonald first appeared on T.V. in 1963, portrayed by Willard Scott. The clown is known worldwide, and according to McDonald's, is the most recognizable figure next to Santa Claus. In addition, the panel agreed with the physicians' claim that whole milk consumption may actually increase the risk of heart disease and prostate cancer, and recommended that this

information be included in advertisements. The tremendous spending power and influence of children on parental purchases has attracted marketers, and, as a result, marketing strategies aimed at children and adolescents have increased. Currently, about one-fourth of all television commercials are related to food, and approximately one-half of these are selling snacks and other foods low in nutritional value. Many of the commercials aimed at children and adolescents use catchy music, jingles, humor, and well-known characters to promote products. The impact of these strategies is illustrated by studies showing that when a majority of television commercials that children view are for highsugar foods, they are more likely to choose unhealthful foods over nutritious alternatives, and vice versa.

3.3 Review and update the leadership development plan: Annual Review of Management Performance After consulting with the independent Directors the Chairs of the Compensation and Governance Committees shall approve the annual goals and objectives of the CEO, which shall be consistent with the Companys goals and objectives relevant to the CEOs compensation established annually by the Compensation Committee in accordance with its Charter. In order to ensure alignment in these discussions and in evaluating the CEOs performance, the Chair of the Compensation Committee shall be a member of the Governance Committee. Each year, the Chairs of the Compensation and Governance Committees shall consult with the independent Directors in evaluating the CEO's performance and shall thereafter jointly provide the CEO with a performance review for the preceding year. Consistent with this evaluation, the Compensation Committee shall establish the CEO's salary, bonus and other incentive and equity compensation for the year. In addition, the Compensation Committee shall also annually approve the compensation structure for the Company's officers, and shall approve the salary, bonus and other incentive and equity compensation for the Companys officers above the level of Vice President. Succession Planning The Board shall regularly review leadership development initiatives and short- and long-term succession plans for the CEO and other senior management positions, including in the event of unanticipated vacancies in those offices.

The Board is responsible for the selection of the CEO. In assessing the possible CEO candidates as part of its annual review of succession plans, the independent Directors shall identify and periodically update the skills, experience and attributes that they believe are required to be an effective CEO in light of the Companys business strategy, prospects and challenges. The Board shall also take into account perspectives provided by the incumbent CEO relating to the performance of internal candidates.

LEARNING OUTCOME 4 Be able to advocate a staff welfare environment that supports organizational values 4.1 Evaluate the impect of corporate commitment to staff welfare on organisational values: With well over one million employees, McDonalds impact on the workforce has been significant. By 2000, one out of eight Americans had, at some time in their life, worked for this company. As labour was one of the largest expenses and most unpredictable aspects of the McDonalds system every effort was made to rationalize the workforce. Apart from implementing technology to replace human labour, McDonalds decided to use a youthful workforce. Yet youth labour proved a double edge sword. McDonalds treatment of its young workers emerged as one of its earliest and most challenging public relations concerns. Critics argued that youths lack of experience and eagerness to please left them vulnerable to corporate exploitation. McDonalds public relations experts have sought to legitimize its labour practices with articles about employee incentive programmes. They have also been careful to feature happy and helpful servers in their marketing campaigns. The declining teen population in the 1980s lead the company to hire more new immigrant workers, seniors, and disabled workers, helping to distance the corporation from the controversy of youth labour. 4.2 Discuss how a staff welfare enviroment can affect achievement of organisational objectives: Community and family values

McDonalds began its expansion in the late 1960s in medium-sized towns, where its appeals to cleanliness, value for money, friendly service and family looked in step with the mainly white middle classes suburban inhabitants. Yet as the chain expanded into city centres and small towns, it ran up against those for whom McDonalds suburban values provoked a negative register. In 1969, when a black community in Cleveland boycotted McDonalds restaurants, in protest over the corporations denial of franchise opportunities for black people, McDonalds value of mass inclusiveness was challenged. In 1974, the urban residence of Greenwich Village, New York, loudly protested that a second McDonalds chain would threaten local family owned shops, create more traffic congestion, encourage loitering, and contribute to litter problems. Protesters from Hells Kitchen New York, to Belmont in the Bronx, rallied against the opening of McDonalds restaurants. Every location McDonalds failed to secure was more than simply a loss of income; it was a blemish on corporate image. Public relations staff worked tirelessly to turn around community opinion. 4.3 Consider the influence of a corporate commitment to staff welfare on the development of oranisational values: We also hypothesize that subjective evaluations of various aspects of the team experience will positively influence these important outcomes (H1a-d below); however, we ultimately expect that team perceptions will indirectly influence commitment and turnover intentions via other employee attitudes (H4m in Table 1). These are the overarching hypotheses guiding this study. We will first the outline the rationale for our hypotheses regarding the relationships between four aspects of the team experience and the two outcome measures of commitment and intent to quit, then review the logic of several mediational hypotheses regarding the pathways between team perceptions and these important employee attitudes. Aspects of Team Experience Team social relations. Here we refer to aspects of the team experience that are perceived to provide social support, harmony, cohesion, and positive social relations: being respected by other team members, feeling free to communicate ideas, working easily and well with others on the team, and so on. Costa (2003) notes that team trust and cooperation are positively related to attitudinal commitment. Perceptions of social support or coworker solidarity in the workplace

Work have also been shown to be positively associated with organizational commitment (Cohen & Bailey, 1997; Cordery, et al., 1991; Parris, 2003) Conclusion: The business practices of McDonalds are, to put it kindly, slightly suspect. By keeping employee wages low and refraining from hiring full time workers, the company was able to save money on health care packages and employee benefits. In addition, McDonalds was able to gain ground on its competitors in the 1970s when a depression caused most other fast food chains to halt their growth. McDonalds used its superior resources to continue to grow and expand. Now, the restaurant is perhaps the greatest symbol of contemporary American capitalism. By saturating nearly every market it has entered, McDonalds now envisions itself as a stabilized company, not as interested in entering new markets as they are in exploiting those markets in every way available to them. The company is also more able to respond to consumer demands that, earlier in its existence, would have been impossible. But as one of the most powerful businesses in the world, McDonalds can pretty much do as it pleases- an advantage that has come to characterize the history of the business.