McDonald’s Metamorphosis: How Business Process Reengineering Revolutionized the Fast-Food Experience
In the fast-paced world of fast food, where efficiency and customer satisfaction reign supreme, McDonald’s stands as a pioneer in business innovation. While it’s golden arches and iconic menu items may be the face of the brand, behind the scenes, a strategic approach known as Business Process Reengineering (BPR) played a pivotal role in reshaping McDonald’s operations although at the time the founder might not have known what their action is called.
Embracing Change in a Fast-Food Landscape
In 1948, the brothers fully redesigned and rebuilt their restaurant in San Bernardino to focus on achieving a speedy system. This system made them the only restaurant to fulfill customer orders within 60 seconds. According to the movie “The Founder” made to portray the real history of McDonald’s, the original McDonald brothers had to go on a full tennis court to draw out the restaurant plan with the worker choreographing the actual workflow while the founders tested and redesigned the processes until the speedy system was achieved. This innovative system laid the foundation for the fast-food giant by prioritizing efficient order-taking, preparation, and service while cutting customer waiting time to the lowest.
At the time the founders were solely concerned about cutting the waiting time, I’m not sure they were savvy business analysts to understand they were taking on a business process reengineering. This is the most simple illustration of BPR — Business Process Reengineering. BPR involves an overhaul of existing business processes and systems to achieve the desired results, according to Michael Hammer “BPR is not automation but obliteration” while BPI — Business process improvement is continuous improvement.
Applying BPR Principles at McDonald’s
It is quite obvious that the change in the process of the restaurant fulfilled most if not all the principles of BPR due to it’s success, most especially the first and second;
- Organize around outcomes, not tasks:
McDonald’s abandoned the assembly-line approach and introduced a new role — the “customer service representative.” This individual took charge of the entire process, from taking orders to product assembly and delivery. This shift mirrored the role of a general contractor, ensuring coordination and efficiency, and providing customers with a single point of contact.
2. Have those who use the output of the process perform the process:
Departing from traditional departmental divisions, McDonald’s empowered individuals and units to take charge of their processes. With the help of expert systems and databases, departments could make their own purchases, eliminating the need for specialized purchasers and streamlining the procurement process.
These are the other principles of BPR;
3. Subsume information-processing work into the real work that produces the information
4. Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized
5. Link parallel activities instead of integrating their results
6. Put the decision point where the work is performed, and build control into the process
7. Capture information once and at the source
The Path to Success
Implementing Business Process Reengineering was no small feat for McDonald’s. The innovation was birthed by the visionary leadership of the McDonald brothers to navigate the challenges of long customer waiting time which was dependent on the speed of the kitchen processes. The transformation touched every aspect of the business bringing about a model that could scale with the rapid increase in franchising. It was a perfect plug-and-play model at the time and it worked!
A Bold Vision for the Future
McDonald’s journey with Business Process re-engineering showcases the power of growth and efficiency that business analysis can bring to the company’s holistic growth. By constantly evaluating existing processes, and envisioning and implementing transformative changes that deliver value, McDonald’s not only stayed competitive in the fast-food industry but set new standards for efficiency, customer satisfaction, and innovation. As other industries embraced similar approaches, McDonald’s demonstrated that reengineering is not just a process — it’s a pathway to sustained success in the dynamic landscape of business.
With Love ❤💰✌
Olufemi Chris
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