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Table of contents
Title page……………………………………………………………………………………..…1
Table of contents………………………………………………………………………….……2
Executive summary………………………………………………………………………….…3
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………4
Applications of ICT in McDonald’s…………………………………………………….………4
Policies, Procedures and Systems…………………………………………………….…….…6
Conclusion and recommendations………………………………………….…………………7
References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..7
Executive summary
Hospitality sector among those leading in the utilization of Information and Communications Technology all over the world. This mainly because of the nature of their work which is information intensive involving recording and processing a lot of information on daily basis (McGee, 2003). Such information ranges from internal to external, thus ICT is among the most crucial aspects of the hospitality sector and especially the McDonald’s restaurants which I have chose as the company of my choice for analysis (McDonald’s Corporation, 2011).
Information Communications and Technology has a variety of applications ranging from those offered by the intranet as well as internet in ensuring the smooth running of the company. The intranet is very crucial for the internal stakeholders whereas the internet helps in connecting the company with the outside world (Bowie and Buttle, 2011). The channels of communication also are very crucial in making sure proper communication takes place among all the company stakeholders.
The security of the company information should also be given a priority since it ensure that the issues that take place within the company have been kept a secret. Thus this is only achievable through increased surveillance and security by blocking all the loop holes that are potential for utilization by the hackers to illegally access the company’s information.
Introduction
Hospitality is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the economy implying it increased importance to the growth of the economies of various countries throughout the world. However, this growth is also strongly related to the rate at which this sector has embraced the importance of ICT in their daily business operations. Hence as a result of the benefits that accrue due to the use of the ICT techniques there has been a tremendous change in the way things are currently done compared to earlier days (Bowie and Buttle, 2011). However, the company which I have chosen within the hospitality sector is the McDonald’s chain of restaurants which is an American company but has branches throughout the globe mainly through direct operations and franchises. This is one of the company within its Australian outlets where ICT has been fully embraced in almost all its operations indicating the link between information technology and its growth.
Information Technology is however considered to be one of the most crucial aspects of almost all the hospitality companies all over the globe as a result of the various impacts on different issues such as improving communication technologies, globalization as well as the customer’s demand variability. Thus as a result of all these aspect it becomes very crucial to embrace a wide variety of ICT applications within the Australian outlets of the McDonald’s most of which are owned through franchises (McDonald’s Corporation, 2011).
Applications of ICT in McDonald’s
McDonald’s is without any doubt amongst the most successful and famous brands all over the world. Thus constant improvement on the ICT application is one of the main corporate goal pursued by the company as well as been considered as a priority of the company. Thus ICT application is very common in various aspects of the business operations such as transaction recording and processing as well as financial management are the most crucial areas in the McDonald where ICT is heavily used (Loveless, 2003). In addition, ICT has the potential of helping in improving the management of customer relationship, activities of sales and marketing by allowing real-time transmittal of the outlet inventories, financial data as well as point-of-sale(POS).
ICT also has a vital role within the McDonald’s restaurants in the processing of orders as well as payment of the customers in a faster and efficient manner. Moreover, the gathered data in the restaurant’s POS facilitated by the ICT is usually utilized in helping the restaurants to know the customer buying behavior trends which is very crucial in helping the company to devise better ways of meeting their customers’ demands and needs more effectively. Moreover the gathered financial data at the POS helps the company in knowing how individual outlets are performing as well as the company’s overall performance globally which is very vital in showing the company stakeholders the financial condition of their company in comparison to their competitors (Chen, 2010).
In addition, the company has also embraced the use of Intranet and Internet in its attempts of connecting all the departments within the company as well as connecting it to the external world and the stakeholders. For instance, the Internet is usually often being used in the attempts of launching their various marketing strategies as well as getting connected to their potential and loyal customers. However, this enables the company to carry out some of its services online such as ordering for food packages that are later delivered to their customers. On contrary, the intranet has a very crucial role in serving as a internal stakeholder’s private channel of communication within the company such as the employees, suppliers as well as the shareholders.
Moreover, the use of the ICT within the McDonald’s restaurants helps so much in the attempts of enhancing globalization whereby it facilitates the coordination of the operations of all the McDonald’s outlets globally (McGee, 2003). This is due to increased speed in communication which is facilitates easier exchange of data and information within the individual outlets and the company headquarters. Moreover, the ICT also helps in ensuring that the company is capable of easily connecting with other potential collaborators who may be crucial partners in doing business.
Policies, Procedures and systems
Within the McDonald’s information management system the company mainly focuses on three key different information purposes which include the strategic focusing mainly on the strategic plans, key ratios as well as marketing analysis capable of analyzing the company’s current situation vital in determining the strategies establishments (McDonald’s Corporation, 2011). The technical information mainly puts more focus on analysis of variance, as well as exception reports crucial in helping to determine the company’s growth on the basis of previous data. Moreover, the operational information is also very crucial since it usually pertains the company’s current information including customer orders, invoice, sales as well as stock records.
Conclusion and Recommendations
It without any doubt that McDonald’s is usually one of the global leader brand on issues of franchise restaurants globally. However, most of the restaurants that are owned as well as controlled by franchisees and owner-operator has a broad access to various aspects of the company that are facilitated by the use of information technology. Hence due to the nature of the company the owner-operators and franchisees network is very huge and the involved information is enormously intense. Thus this is one of the aspect which necessitates the availability of a strong channel of communication that links all the stakeholders (Bowie and Buttle, 2011).
However, in order to ensure that there is effective communication within the company there is need for redesigning the company’s intranet system in order to ensure that there is consistent and efficient way of conveying information within all the departments (McGee, 2003). Moreover, it is also necessary to consider the existing differences among the countries in which it operates such as connection speed, language as well as customized and personalized information systems (McDonald’s Corporation, 2011). Moreover, the company also needs to increase its surveillance and security on the company’s information in order to ensure that there is no illegal access to the company information which may be inappropriately used.
References
Bowie, D. and Buttle, F. 2011. Hospitality Marketing: Principles and Practice. 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford Brooks University.
Chen, J.S. 2010. Advances in Hospitality and Leisure. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
Loveless, A. 2003. The Role of ICT. London: The Bath Press
McDonald’s Canada Says “I’m Lovin’ it” to Juniper Network Security Solutions, viewed May 7, 2011, http://www.juniper.net/solutions/customer_profiles/ns/case_mcdonald’s_canada.pdf
McDonald’s Corporation 2006, Edgar Online, viewed May 7, 2011, http://sec.edgar-online.com/2006/02/27/0001193125-06-039862/Section12.asp
McDonald’s Intranet Redesign 2006, Flair Interactive, viewed May 7, 2011, http://www.flairinteractive.net/portfolio/casestudies/mcdonald’s.html
McGee, M.K. 2003. McDonald’s Adds To IT Menu, InformationWeek, viewed May 7, 2011, http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/training/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=10700692
