Example research essay topic: Cost Leadership Strategy Total Quality Management - 1,192 words

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... re banned to operate in this country. Another group of regulators called interest groups can and have influenced McDonald's to treat its animals (cow and chickens) in a much more humane manner, which resulted in the restructuring of McDonalds' farms throughout its operations around the world. The summary of the task environment which is by definition a specific organizations or groups that affect the organization, which includes competitors, suppliers, customers, strategic allies and regulators.

Here we described the task environment's importance to McDonald's, where McDonald's faces both opportunities and has threats in its environment. Diversity exists in a group or organization when its members differ from one another along one or more important dimensions such as age, gender, and ethnicity. Diversity is very important for McDonald's. Here millions of teens start out by working at McDonald's.

Here some of the teenagers move on to get various jobs such as movie stars, skilled workers, famous athletes, management positions and other educated positions in society. At McDonald's two thirds of middle and upper management started out as crewmembers in a McDonald's restaurant. There are opportunities for everybody in McDonald's from teenagers to elderly workers, and from people just entering or reentering the job market. Moreover, McDonald's offers special jobs for people who have disabilities, such as people who are in wheel chairs and those who must use crutches permanently. Furthermore, McDonald's offers their workers flexible working hours. For example, hours for people seeking just a few hours of work per week and those who seek full time positions.

The work force at McDonald's also have some say in their working hours, such as if they prefer the morning, mid-day, or evening shifts in the restaurant. So, McDonald's uses diversity to create a good atmosphere in their work places among workers and management. Here they offer work to all kinds of people without discrimination and the workers have flexible hours that provides customer satisfaction. Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. For McDonald's, total quality management (TQM) involves that the employees are at work on time, are neatly dressed, and are clean. The employees must make sure that the customers constantly receive safe food, which implies that the employees must wash their hands often to remain clean.

Moreover, the employees must follow certain Standard Operational Procedures, so the customers always receive exceptional quality and service. This includes the employees using plastic gloves when they prepare the food, that the meat and fries are properly fried, and that the vegetables are thoroughly washed when used in the food. Another TQM is that the employees rely on teamwork and high energy to get the job done, so that the customers do not have to wait long for their food. Furthermore, McDonald's management emphasizes that their restaurants should be clean. This involves that the restaurants are tidy, sparkling and spotlessly clean. As McDonald's illustrates the quality is that the employees delivers fast, accurate and friendly service with a smile.

Daimler and Chrysler which have recently merged to form the company Daimler Chrysler resulted in the company becoming the fifth largest auto maker in the world with an estimated annual revenue of $ 130 billion. This merger resulted in a workforce of 421, 000 employees worldwide. "Our companies share a common culture and mission. We are both clearly focused on serving the customers by building world class cars and trucks. " Competitors, customers, strategic allies, suppliers, and regulators. Due to its product diversity, Daimler Chrysler faces strong competition from all car manufacturers. Daimler Chrysler's scope varies from small passenger cars through luxury cars to vans and trucks. However, Daimler Chrysler's strongest competitors are GM, Ford Motor Company, Toyota, and Volkswagen because they are the leading car manufacturers in the world respectively.

Due to its scope, Daimler Chrysler enjoys a wide variety of customers ranging from the working class up to the upper class. Daimler Chrysler also targets the young and sporty people with its sports utility vehicles. The luxury models target the elderly and richer population. Daimler Chrysler's suppliers include electronics, plastics, rubber for tires and steel. Daimler Chrysler's allies are tire manufacturers, which include Bridgestone, Michelin, and Dunlop.

They are environmentalist groups such as Green Peace and others that place Daimler Chrysler under pressure to reduce pollution in the air by reducing CO, CO 2 emissions by cars. Governmental agencies also regulate Daimler Chrysler in that it requires Daimler Chrysler to reduce pollution and increase safety features in the cars' design such as side impact beams, air bags, three point seat belts in rear seats and safety features that accommodate young children. Benz is the biggest industrial firm in Germany. They feature mostly simple passenger cars to luxury cars. In order to stay number one, they must practice TQM. Benz concentrates on car quality, stability, reliability, safety, high performance and luxury.

All these combined result in an effective program of TQM. Benz must constantly emphasize that its cars are stable and reliable, which means that there are no defected cars in their production. Next, the safety should include rear three point seat belts, special seats for children, and bumpers on cars made of special composite materials to absorb great impacts to the cars, thereby protecting the cars' occupants. The luxury in TQM is that the cars constantly have automatic features such as automatic windows and gears, automatic climate control, electronically adjusted seats with heaters installed in them. As we have shown, McDonald's, Daimler Chrysler, and Benz are large corporations with a common goal: to provide its customers with top quality products. These firms are very highly customer oriented, taking into account their customers' needs and wants.

Also the companies are growth oriented shown by Benz's merger with Chrysler and McDonalds opening of three new restaurants every three hours. In addition, these companies are decentralized resulting in high employee morale and thus motivation. Another important aspect is that these companies operate on a global scale. Also, these companies follow an Analyzer Strategy by constantly innovating new products. These firms also became diversified in that McDonald's uses a backward vertical integration, thus replacing its suppliers, while Chrysler and Daimler have merged to become a more diversified company. These companies also differ.

For example, Benz uses a differentiation strategy emphasizing its high quality and high value of its products. On the other hand, McDonalds uses an overall cost leadership strategy to reduce costs and increase sales. Similarly Chrysler uses an overall cost leadership strategy to reduce costs and to sell a much larger amount. In conclusion, we have explored a large corporation such as McDonald's and shown how its Task Environment, Workforce Diversity and Total Quality Management can have a profound effect on the organization. In order for such a corporation to remain a leader in its field, it must stay growth oriented and constantly have contingency plans to overcome turbulence. Another important factor is the type of strategy that it follows.

McDonald's, Daimler Chrysler and Benz follow an analyzer type of strategy, constantly introducing new products while defending their existing products. Bibliography:

Research essay sample on Cost Leadership Strategy Total Quality Management