Leadership is an important factor that is essential to successful organizations. This is a case study of the turnaround of McDonald’s Corporation after Jim Cantalupo took charge as CEO. It will also provide a competency model for an ideal CEO candidate for the corporation. It will also look at the traits of Charlie Bell who took over as the new CEO of the corporation. It should be noted that the competency model does state a management degree for a CEO candidature in such large corporations as Mcdonald’s. But this lack of qualification in Bell (it is assumed) does not in any way make him ineligible for the job. In such few instances where an organization is fortunate to have the services of an employee like Bell, his experience, loyalty, and other qualities mentioned are enough to make him more than eligible. The management degree mentioned in the competency model can be waived in such instances. Building collaborative relationships are needed because the CEO will be working with franchisees (partners) as well as employees. Another competency not mentioned in the above model, but is required, is knowledge in diversity management and international cultures (work and social). Knowledge and application of Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and the GLOBE study will be very useful. Even with his experience, Bell has to be tested as a CEO to see whether he has the vision to take the company forward especially since the part position was held by a real visionary like Cantalupo. McDonald’s should always identify and develop and successor (within its own ranks) since it is the practice done by most forward-looking companies. Then it will not be a problem to find a successor in case of emergencies. In some cases, bringing in a person from outside as CEO will bring a fresh outlook, vision, and perspective, which might be beneficial to a company.
Measurable Factors of Success of CEO Jim Cantalupo
Leadership can be understood with the help of theories as well as through qualitative and quantitative measurements. Leadership theories that have developed over the years include great man theory, behavioral theories, and trait theories. There are also leadership styles like participative leadership, situational leadership, transactional leadership, and transformational leadership. (Syque 2009). When the effectiveness of leadership is to be understood in terms of measurement, the concept of dependent and independent variables has to be taken into account. “The independent variable is the one over which you have direct control, while the dependent variable is the thing that you measure in the experiment.” (Dependent and Independent Variables). When measuring leadership, the two variables are the different types of leaders and the effect of leadership on followers of each of these types. Usually, this is difficult to measure in a real-life environment. But still, it is a useful way of measuring effectiveness. In the present case, the intention is to measure effectiveness, hence this will become the dependent variable and type of leadership, the independent one. In other words, the independent variable is the leadership style of Jim Cantalupo, and the independent variables are his success factors. In this particular case study, changes in the following areas occurred namely profits, increase in share price, enthusiasm and commitment of employees and franchisees, and creation of momentum. Of these, share price and profits can be easily measured since they are shown as numerical figures. All the other indicators are state of mind (or attitude) and hence intangibles. But it is possible to measure attitudes using a Likert scale model. This is because “One of the most popular methods of measuring attitudes is the method of summated ratings, commonly referred to as the Likert-type scale.” (ARNOLD, MCCROSKEY, and PRICHARD).
Competency model for a new CEO of McDonald’s Corporation
The position of CEO is the topmost job in any organization and hence requires many leadership skills, coupled with vision, and competencies. In a sense, many of the qualities of a leader are part of his or her competency also. This section will focus on developing a competency model for a new CEO for the world-famous franchisor, McDonald’s. It should be noted that this corporation is a multinational one and hence the competencies required to exceed those needed when managing a national level company. The company operates in diverse markets each having its unique values, work culture, management concepts, and social settings and this is what makes the job all the more challenging. One advantage the incoming CEO has is that the company is on a turnaround mode by the efforts of its past CEO, Jim Cantalupo.
The term competencies that appear in a competency model can be defined as “the skills considered by the organization to be necessary to perform a specific job or service.” (Accessing Hospital Staff Competence. 2001). The competency model will describe the competencies that are required as a standard requirement that should ideally be possessed by a job incumbent. So this can be described as “A job competency model is a description of those competencies possessed by the top performers in a specific job or job family. In effect, a competency model is a “blueprint for outstanding performance.” (Competencies: What is a Job Competency Model. 2009). Usually, a competency model will have eight to sixteen components depending on the nature and complexity of the job. An ideal candidate would be the person possessing all or most of the competencies as seen in a particular model. A typical competency model is represented by the figure given below.
(The Enbridge Competency Model). For becoming the CEO of a large corporation like McDonald’s, core competencies must include job skills as required of a CEO. The ideal qualification would be a master’s degree in international business, with ten years or more of experience in this field. It is not necessary to possess too many technical skills here. Flexibility may not be too much of a virtue in certain areas especially regarding the vision set by Jim. So the competency would be flexible according to individual circumstances. Interpersonal skills are a must. Since this is a customer-oriented company, customer focus is a must with the ability to execute and obtain results. All the competencies under the head of leadership are also required. Building collaborative relationships are needed because the CEO will be working with franchisees (partners) as well as employees. Another competency not mentioned in the above model, but is required, is knowledge in diversity management and international cultures (work and social). All twelve competencies are included in the model (including the two additional ones mentioned above).
Charlie Bell’s traits that have resulted contributed to his success in McDonald’s
The case study shows that the present CEO of the company has had an outstanding career in the company. He had joined the company at the age of fifteen holding a part-time job as a crew member and has risen to the level of President and Chief Operating Officer before he was promoted to the post of CEO. There are many factors that have contributed to this success story. He’s starting to work at the age of fifteen shows that he wanted to earn an independent income. Bell’s loyalty to the employer is evident from the fact that he had worked all his adult life in one single company. He is ambitious as is evident from the promotions that he received to become the top man in the company. That the company found him invaluable is also corroborated by this fact. He has worked in so many capacities at different levels. As such, he has in-depth knowledge about the working of the company. He has also seen many management styles from the different CEOs and other top management personnel he worked under. Even though no mention is made about his educational qualification, the practical knowledge he possesses will be very valuable to the company. He must also be blessed with a certain amount of vision because of the fact of his quick rise through the ranks. Bell might also possess strong interpersonal skills because organizational politics does not seem to have obstructed his way to the top. In short, the qualities that contributed to his success include loyalty, independence, commitment, ambition, knowledge, and interpersonal skills. The fact that he has worked successfully in many departments (and capacities) also proves this fact. These are valuable intangible assets for any employee and can contribute to a large extent to his or her success within an organization.
References
Accessing Hospital Staff Competence. (2001). [online]. Joint Commission Resources. Web.
ARNOLD, William E., MCCROSKEY, James C and PRICHARD, Samuel V O. The Likert Type Scale. [online]. 2009. Web.
Competencies: What is a Job Competency Model. (2009). [online]. Workitect: A Blueprint for Superior Performance. Web.
Dependent and Independent Variables. [online]. 2009. Web.
SYQUE. (2009). Leadership Theories. [online]. Changing.org. Web.
The Enbridge Competency Model. [online]. 2009. Web.