Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Martha Garcia
Abstract
organization; in this case, Burger King’s management functions will be analyzed. Once the data
has been gathered and analyzed decisions were made in order to see an increase in profit.
Effectiveness of the functions in management, re-strategizing planning, finding the most suitable
leadership theory, revisiting control, and continuing the Open Systems Theory are focuses in this
paper in order to have an increase in profit within a three-year span. These factors are important
aspects for maintaining a successful and functionable company, and when applied they can
produce not only profit but better management and employees. As contracted by Burger King to
make changes, I modified certain aspects in these areas so that there will be an expected increase
in profit.
Burger King is a global fast food hamburger chain that was founded in 1954 in Florida, it
started off as a single restaurant which later turned into a chain of global restaurants. Now
individuals can purchase a franchise and become part of Burger King, they can open their own
restaurants by paying fees and following Burger King guidelines. Burger King has been in
business for over fifty years and like any other business it has seen its shares of ups and downs;
after all, the restaurant industry is especially known for being a challenging industry. I have
been entrusted with the task of making some changes to increase profit within a three-year
margin. My goals and objects for this task are: reviewing the effectiveness of functions in
management, re-strategizing the planning, finding the most suitable leadership theory to follow,
revisiting control, and continuing the Open Systems Theory so that I can implement changes
In any business or organization managers will be faced with many obstacles, which will
have to be crossed pushing the organization on a pathway of success; and in this case, the
managers of Burger King are not an exception. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the
continual success of a business. From a manager’s stance point there is a process known as the
leading, and controlling. Planning involves the decision of where managers want to take the
company and the steps required to get there. It is in this stage of the process that both the
company’s vision (which is how the organization views the future of the company) and mission
(which states the business’ purpose for existing) statements are created. In this case, I plan to
review if every manager is following these in a proper manner, most failures begin in the
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planning stage. While CEOs may have a clear and defined understanding of what the goals and
objectives are for the company, at times not everyone throughout the company may have a clear
understanding of what these are. If these are not clear to everyone within the company
employees will start pursing their own goals and objectives, thus causing pulls in different
directions for the company. Once plans are established and understood, management can then
aspects such as bringing in people, the equipment needed to be able to provide services, and the
become a restaurant franchise that can continue to grow into a successful business if
management executes this function properly. It is in this function of management where tasks
and responsibilities are entrusted to employees in the different areas of the restaurants. Tasks
which are done weekly or monthly requiring time to do paperwork such as creating schedules
and taking inventory. As well as tasks that are done daily and are more laborious from
overseeing that the restaurant is running smoothly to making sure they are meeting standards of
customer satisfaction. After management has successfully overcome this function, they can then
The following function of management is leading, where managers use their authority to
encourage and motivate employees to perform their required tasks in order to achieve the
company’s goals and objectives. In this function, managers can inspire employees to see their
perspectives and influence them to accomplish their goals. In this function management
oversees their employees work, providing complements and making suggestions when
improvements are needed. The final function of management is controlling, here managers
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measure the achievement of the goals and objectives that were established in the planning stage.
They then, take the necessary measures to correct any issues that may have been present during
the plan’s implementation. This function revolves around the impact of plans by monitoring in
forms of feedforward control, concurrent control, and feedback control. Implementing and
following the functions of management properly will allow an organization to reach its goals and
Mission
Vision
No Yes
Figure 1
Strategic Planning
There are three stages that comprise planning: strategic planning, tactical planning, and
operational planning. In the strategic planning stage top-level managers, such as CEOs or the
president of a company, are the ones who take charge of designing and executing strategic plans.
It is in this stage of planning in which the mission and vision statements are created. Burger
King’s (2019), mission is “commitment to premium ingredients, signature recipes, and family-
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friendly dining experiences is what has defined our brand for more than 50 successful years”.
To us, corporate responsibility isn’t about a final destination; it’s about an ongoing
journey… We know that from a pure business sense, it can help us manage risk, enhance
employee morale and retention, strengthen brand loyalty, build goodwill in and
strengthen the communities in which we operate and can directly affect the bottom line in
terms of energy savings and waste reduction. We also know that it must be a way of
thinking and fully embedded within our brand. That is why our approach is stakeholder-
driven, focused on four key areas – Food, People, Environment and Corporate
Governance.
After reviewing the data in Figure 1 (a random sample survey of 700 employees) it can
clearly be seen that most employees do not know the vision and mission statements of Burger
King. Therefore, since they are not being familiar with these statements, they do not know what
they are supposed to be achieving now or in the future. Thus, action must be taken so that all
employees can be on the same page as to what they should be working towards, which are the
goals and objectives placed by top-level mangers. This type of action will require the three
stages of planning; but, because my changes are targeted to increase profit within a three-year
span, I will be emphasizing in the area of operational planning. The best action to take here
would be to have better-effective communication with all employees, by keeping employees who
know the business’ vision and mission statements on the floors and retraining those who do not.
When pertaining to new employees we need to make it a top priority that they know what these
important statements are before they start in their appointed positions. This will allow them to
For example, Google is a well-known company around the world, one of the things that
makes it so innovated is its approach to strategic planning and its management team. “The
company’s generic strategy is an overarching influence on what the company does. On the other
hand, Google’s intensive growth strategies help support the company in keeping its position as
one of the most valuable brands in the world” (Thompson, 2017). Google’s strategy in growth
along with the power of teamwork “gave it immense strategic and management strength”
(Nussbaum, 2012). If an environment like that of Google’s can be implemented at Burger King,
it can be beneficial for the whole organization. One where all levels of management are working
together as a team towards reaching the same strategic goals. This would permit Burger King to
Suitable Leadership
There are many types of leadership theories managers can follow, there are those which
are not suitable and those that are. For instance, in the Laissez-Faire approach leaders take on an
inactive form of leadership, in which nothing gets done because leaders are not doing their job.
In Resonant leadership leaders develop their own values and force their company to abide by
them. These types of leadership styles are not in the best interest of any organization because
they are unproductive. Whereas in Servant leadership leaders serve others first before they lead,
leaders take the time to know followers and help them grow personally and professionally. In
Transformational leadership, leaders provide a vision that their supporters want to follow they
Burger King leaders should be invested in their employees, because if employees can
perceive that they are important to their leaders they will be motivated to perform better.
Management should make employees feel like they are a part of a team, rather just a number
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without a face whose sole purpose is to get the job done. Companies such as H & R Block,
Network Capital Funding Corporation, and The Boys and Girls Club of America are just a few
companies in which leaders allow their employees to be heard. They include them as part of a
team that truly works together to accomplish the set goals of the company. While leaders can
firmly hold employees accountable, they should also make them feel that they are invested in
them. A great part of leadership is to listen, motivate, and inspire their followers.
The course of action I plan to take is to keep those managers that can be retrained and let
go of those who cannot manage the ones under them effectively. A suitable leadership theory
that managers should follow is Transformational leadership, which I intend to use when training
managers. Managers following this leadership theory will be successful in their leadership
because, their employees will be invested in what they are doing. It will also inspire employees
Control
plans are being effectively achieved or if forms of intervention need to be implemented. There
are the three types of control: feed-forward control, concurrent control, and feedback control.
Feed-forward control is a type of control that analyzes any foreseen risks in goals and objectives;
and it takes measures before these risks occur. Concurrent control measures if plans are meeting
goals and objectives while plans are being implemented. Feedback control measures if plans
were able to achieve goals and objectives after the plans were executed. Most companies rely
solely on feedback control, because the other two while beneficial are very costly when
implemented.
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As the one in charge of implementing changes I would incorporate the three types of
control. This would allow us to measure our performance more effectively, thus resulting in
increased profit. I would need to make sure that this aspect is being seen through by
management, otherwise the other functions would become obsolete. I plan to hold mangers
accountable for overseeing control within their departments. This will provide a clear
understanding of where the company stands at each moment within each department. Then if
need be, I will make the necessary changes in order to point the company on the path of success.
Facebook, Goldman Sachs, and Instacart are just a few companies who measure performance
through annual reviews and have now converted to measuring performance more often than just
once a year. This has allowed them to have better performance control, thus permitting their
organizations to grow into top companies. By following the footsteps of these companies Burger
The Burger King franchise follows the Open Systems Theory, to please its consumers
and to continue to be successful in its industry, which I plan to continually implement. An open
system theory believes that both the organization and the environment influence each other.
Therefore, it becomes a never-ending cycle of – because one is going through something the
other will respond to it. For example, the environment around Burger King has been changing
and becoming more health concerned in the sense of diet and counting calories. Once Burger
King became aware of the changes in its environment it too participated within the changes, by
adding a veggie burger when more vegetarians began surfacing. With time people around its
environment again started to become even more aware of their health habits, thus vegans began
surfacing in higher numbers. This promoted Burger King to respond once again, by recently
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creating the “Impossible Whopper”. In its more recent attempt to change with its environment
the company has incorporated a meatless whopper, a vegan burger, for more health-conscious
consumers. As Burger King has made these changes to influence the environment, consumers
have frequented the restaurants more often and have increased the company’s profit.
As both the environment and Burger King change, it will continue to follow the Open
System Theory, being influenced by the environment and the environment will be influenced by
Burger King. The next step in my plan, regarding the Open System Theory is to implement
more guaranteed gluten free items on the menu. This is another change that has occurred within
the environment, gluten-free diets are more common in consumers now a days. This will show
consumers (the environment) that we, Burger King, are influenced by them and that we want to
Year 3
Year 2
Year 1
Figure 2
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Functions of management, strategic planning, proper leadership, and control have more to
do with the success of an organization than just products, sales, and profit. By implementing my
strategies in these areas at Burger King, the business can improve their profit within the next
three years. In which I along with management will continue to regularly measure how effective
these changes have been. With these implementations we hope to see an increase in profit within
the time frame by 18% (as seen in Figure 2), thus meeting our goals and objectives. Applying
these properly will allow a company to continually be on a path of success. Management must
consistently make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to its goals and
objectives, if these are not clear it will result in chaos. Maintaining these aspects of management
will allow a business to have a dramatic impact on way the company continues to grow. There
will always be foreseen and unforeseen obstacles which managers will come across when
implementing new changes. Yet, it is important to work through them and make the necessary
References
Ashbaugh, C. (2019, April 10). These Five Companies Are Trailblazing Performance
https://www.reflektive.com/blog/companies-trailblazing-pm/
BURGER KING® About Us - Great Food Comes First. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2019, from
https://www.bk.com/about-bk
Gotter, A. (2017, May 3). Best Gluten Free Fast Food: McDonald's, Burger King, and More.
Nussbaum, B. (2012, July 30). Google's Greatest Innovation May Be Its Management Practice.
innovation-may-be-its-management-practice
The Leaders of Leadership: Companies with the Best Management in 2017. (2017, October 30).
management/
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Thompson, A. (2017, January 28). Google's Generic Strategy & Intensive Growth Strategies.
growth-strategies
Webber, J. (2019, April 13). Burger King's Vegan Patty Is So Realistic It Fooled a Meat
whopper-meat-lobbyist/