McDonald's Corporation has sold billions of hamburgers. Beginning in 1955 with a single drive-in Des Plaines, Illinois, McDonald's has frown to today's system of more than 25,000 restaurants across 115 countries.
As a brand, McDonald's is synonymous with a quality product at a reasonable price. Equally important, McDonald's markets itself as more than a place to get a hamburger. Ronald McDonald, Happy Meals, the clean restaurants and each new product or promotional theme add to the fun that brings more than 40 million customers of all ages to its restaurants around the world each day.
Eighty percent of worldwide McDonald's restaurants are franchised. Each restaurant must meet strict requirements to make the same as all others. This esnures that each time you drive or walk into a McDonald's, no matter where you are, the Big Mac that you order will always be the same taste, size, weight, and quality. It will also be competitively priced.
Legal contracts, quality standards, and performance specifications direct the individual restaurants inthe effort to keep all the food orders the same. What most individuals do not think about when they walk or drive into McDonald's is that McDonald's management information system (MIS)plays a critical role in ensuring the quality and consistency of each sandwich.
McDonald's Corporation maintains a strict requirement that food be fresh and not stored more than a limited amount of time. MIS applications direc managers in the management of employees and the ordering and tracking of hamburgers, buns, potatoes and soft drinks. Because restaurants are not consistently busy throughout the day, the MIS is called upon to assist the manager in maximizing the scheduling of individuals to cook and serve the food. The MIS further helps track restaurants' cash flow and guard against inaccuracy and waste.
As McDonald's add new products and addresses market segments more specifically targeted both ethnically and geographically, the manager must make more complex decisions about eh best mix of products to prepare to serve at each meal and throughout the day.
McDonald's "Made for You" campaign uses a point of sale system to register each custoemr's "Made for you" order. Its "Fresh Tastes" campaign seeks to bring new and more focused products to its customers' attention. Special promotions and communitywide events add additional factors that must be added to the equation that can best be addressed through management information systems.
source: Management Information Systems by Post Anderson
0 comments:
Post a Comment