The Importance Of Hamburger University And Fordstar University In Employee Training

Overview of Hamburger University and Fordstar University

Discuss About The Scope Evolution Business Process Management.

Hamburger University is located in Oak Brook, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. This university is a 130,000 square-foot (12,000 m2) training facility of McDonalds’s. The purpose behind the designing this university is to instruct the employees recruited by McDonald’s in the several aspects of restaurant management. Above 80,000 restaurant managers, mid managers and owners/operators have graduated from this facility only. It has its campus at different locations such as Illinois (basement), Sydney, Munich, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Brazil. The university teaches in 28 languages (McDonald’s 2018). It has different kitchen labs in the university. It further involves different style of trainings for the students such as class style, hands-on training, goal-based scenarios and computer e-learning.

Just as McDonald’s, the company Ford motor also set up a university called Fordstar. This university is a network which further enables Ford to offer different types of trainings, access to experts and product information and networking opportunities in regards with dealerships. The Fordstar University also involves different styles of training such as one-way video and two-way audio over a digital world wide network. The purpose behind setting up this university is to design different programs for the employees in their credit, technical, sales, services and parts departments. The system under Ford’s satellite allows the staff to obtain the training and information whenever required (Ford 2018).

There are several reasons behind inaugurating the Hamburger University by McDonald’s but the main reason was to train the employees in several aspects of restaurant management. McDonalds’s wants to feed the employees with full of knowledge regarding restaurant management. There are also some other reasons which can be explained as follows.

McDonald’s want their employees to learn consistent restaurants operations and procedures so that all the employees can work as per the learning. McDonald’s main purpose is to teach the employees the same procedures and process to avoid the vagueness in working. As every company expect that the moment they hired the employee, the employee should start working for the job but in real sense it is not possible. If the employees are from different universities then it is not possible for them to work like existing employees. At that moment there are high chances of vagueness in working as every employee will work as per their learning (Fayad 2016).  So to maintain the same quality and taste of food the McDonalds need to inaugurate its own university called Hamburger University.

The Importance of Standardization in Service and Food Quality at Hamburger University

Standardized services imply that when the companies are operating at a global level, they attempt to provide homogeneous and uniform services and products in all the market they operate in. Most of the company aims at providing standardized products and services to their customers. Therefore to achieve this aim the McDonald’s has inaugurated its own university where an employee can learn the consistent restaurants operations and procedures which will further help them to provide standardized products and services to every customer they deal with (Gibson and Morgan 2017). The secret of McDonald’s success are standardized products. If the company would not focus on providing standardized goods then it will not be able to survive in long run.

High quality of food imply the food which acceptable to every consumer. This involves external factor such as appearance, texture and flavor. McDonald’s also want to maintain the high quality in its products therefore by training the employees in its own university through its own trainers who are experts in every task of restaurant management of McDonald’s can help the employees in learning how to make high quality products. Here high quality refers to standardized and good quality products (Counihan and Van Esterik 2012)

McDonald’s is known for its hygiene and cleanliness. The Hamburger University helps employees to know about the importance of hygiene and cleanliness. McDonald’s want its employees to adhere the high standards of cleanliness and hygiene while working in the restaurants. As food hygiene and safety are the highest priorities for McDonald’s. They ultimately want to train the employees to adhere the procedures regarding hygiene. McDonald’s has their own policy to maintain cleanliness and hygiene in the restaurants, so Hamburger University is being very helpful in teaching employees about the hygiene policies (Kathryn 2012).

McDonald’s contains different types of leadership styles and trainings. As the company wants to serve their best to the customers so to achieve this objective, a proper guidance should be given to the employees. Hamburger University is being very helpful in providing the great leaders to employees with expertise in several different aspects of restaurant management. The purpose of McDonald’s is to provide standardized leadership trainings to the employees so that they can maintain the specific style of leadership. Hamburger University gives chance to the employees to develop the skills of leadership positions (McDonald 2017)

Hamburger University is being very helpful in growth of the company. In total 40 percent of senior management is graduated from Hamburger University. The company provides different types of training which is helpful in further development of the company. In every way the university is playing an important role in the overall growth of the company. The university delivers skilled and trained people to the company which ultimately led the company towards success and further development (Jack 2018).

The Significance of Hygiene and Cleanliness Training at Hamburger University

McDonald’s have gained so much with the help of its own corporate university that is Hamburger University. The university helped the company in many ways such as in achieving goals effectively and efficiently, quality of food, retention, recruitment and engagement of employees.

The university ultimately help the organization to increase the standards of the restaurants by encouraging employees towards the main goals. Educators in the university have been providing the best of trainings to achieve consistency in processes and procedures of the McDonald’s. The university trained the employees in such a way that the employees are able to successfully deliver the high quality food to the customers. Some specialized trainings are also provided by the educators to successfully manage the several aspects of restaurant management (Yan 2013, 449-471).

The Hamburger University is being very supportive in boosting the confidence of the employees and it also has been providing some motivational training to encourage the employees to achieve the overall goals of the company. The university plays the role of breeding grounds that ultimately encourages new thoughts and ideas as they are framed in such a way that sanctions natural discussions and collaboration among students.

Hamburger University has created the great network among all the workers of the company by giving team projects and providing trainings on team management. By grouping different individuals in a team can result into a great network among the members of the team. So that’s how the university has created the great network among workers. The university organized different workshops and meetings in the campus to create a network among employees.

The reason behind setting up Fordstar University by Ford Motor Company is to provide the standardized training to their employees so that they can perform well in their jobs. The Fordstar University also helps the employees in getting access to experts and product information. There are several types of trainings given by the university such as one-way video and two-way audio through a digital worldwide network. The method of training in Fordstar University is little different and effective as the educators are likely to change the training program as per the level of understanding of the employees (Tulsiani 2018).

Fordstar University aims at achieving standardization in work by improving several departments of the company such as credit, sales and technical department. Standardization in work can only be achieved by teaching similar process and procedures to the employees that further helps in overall department of the company.

The Role of Leadership Development at Hamburger University

Leadership development implies the expansion in capabilities of individuals to perform in leadership roles in the organization. Leadership roles can be defined as the roles which facilitates implementation of strategies of the company through building alignment and developing the capabilities of others. Almost all the developing organization faces the issue of keeping the leader in-house. The main approach of this university is to give chance to the learners to progress in leadership positions during demonstrating that the organization is serious about tutoring and promoting from within. Ultimately the Fordstar University is setting the tone for leadership growth.

The Ford Motor Company aims towards strengthening the culture of the company. So to reinforce the culture in the company, Fordstar University is playing vital role. It helps to solidify the brand and culture across all interactions. The company might be a good place to work with but on-boarding and other trainings are generally different, so in that case the Fordstar University is acting as biggest advantage for potential employees and leaders (Phillips 2012).

To encourage development and innovation in the organization, Fordstar University has been established by Ford Motor Company. Corporate universities plays the role of breeding grounds that ultimately encourages new thoughts and ideas as they are framed in such a way that sanctions natural discussions and collaboration among students.  University also contains regular workshops to enhance the knowledge of the employees and also arranged team days out.

Fordstar University is being very helpful in training the employees effectively and efficiently. The university also plays a vital role in recognizing the deficiencies in the performance of the employees. The university provides different trainings to the employees to perform the task effectively and efficiently. If the employees are not able to grow through the course, educators instantly recognize the deficiencies and change the learning techniques or improve it so that the employees will be able to progress quickly (Wheeler 2012).

The corporate universities are mainly designed to achieve the overall objectives of the company effectively and efficiently. Fordstar University has also gained so much by having its own corporate university. The potential benefits can be explained as follows.

The best corporate universities can be characterized by strategic, mission driven and designed to accomplish the main objectives of the company. The university includes innovative approaches for enhancing the skills of the employees which is further helpful in developing people. Developed people will ultimately lead the company towards the great success (Harmon 2015, 37-80).

The Effect of Hamburger University on Employee Growth and Confidence

The Fordstar University has become a tangible symbol of talent development. The university is one of the main reasons behind the success of the Ford Motor Company as the university is being very helpful in providing skilled people to the company. The company is providing several trainings to the employees to tackle their jobs effectively and efficiently. The trainings provided by the universities vary for different individuals as every individual have different level of understanding. Therefore the university is being very supportive in developing the skills of the people (Centre for strategy and leadership 2018).

Ford Motor Company has created a university to ensure consistency in training to provide standardized goods and services to the consumers. The university aims at achieving standardization in work by improving several departments of the company such as credit, sales and technical department. Standardization in work can only be achieved by teaching similar process and procedures to the employees. When the company is dealing globally then there is high need of consistency in quality and message as it affects overall performance of the company (Jarvis 2013).

The investment on Corporate Universities by the Multinational Corporations is worthwhile as MNCs can gain so much such as content delivery management. Content delivery management implies obtaining complete control over content by which organization can choose the procedures that suits learners best. MNCs by having their own corporate university can set the tone for leadership development as almost all the companies face the problem of keeping in-house leaders. So the approach of corporate universities gives learners the chance to develop leadership positions.

The corporate universities also help the companies to retain the employees as substantiated above and talented employees is the key to success for the companies. The corporate university is the power model for the MNCs.

The whole establishment of corporate universities generates huge number of expenses so basically called as an expensive process. The expenses can only be justified when the company can have equal or more return on investment. Therefore the small companies should not take the risk of establishing corporate university. In case of large companies, the establishment of corporate universities is the best way for further development. The company should have the solid way to measure the ratio of success of the training program. Although investment on corporate universities obtains high risk but by knowing the long term consequences and having them accomplished is a far greater advantage than by doing short term savings with no or less growth.

The Importance of Standardized Training at Fordstar University

While taking steps for branding the corporate university the companies should take care of the damage they may face if the model of school gets wrongly planned. When the companies choose to imply the training department as a corporate university by name, it can end into negative results. It may be possible that the learners can become cynical about learning and the organization’s capability to deliver education may become irrelevant and not a key area of focus.

There are many people who have the tendency to criticize the universities and higher education by asserting that they are distant from “real world” situations and don’t deliver practicality in today’s economy. Corporate universities have been also criticized in the same way. The solution to change the thinking of the people is to create the real world situations. The corporate universities can be very helpful for reinforcing the culture in the companies as substantiated above. Corporate universities ultimately help to coagulate the brand and culture across all interactions. Corporate universities support innovations and development in the companies. The university plays the role of upbringing grounds that ultimately boosts new thoughts and ideas as they are framed in such a way that sanctions natural discussions and collaboration among students. The corporate university being the key to success as substantiate above is the worthwhile investment for MNCs.

Conclusion

Thus from the above report it can be summarized that Hamburger University is set up by McDonald’s to trained the employees to tackle several aspects of restaurant management and Ford Motor Company has set up the Fordstar University to design different programs for the employees in their credit, technical, sales, services and parts departments. The report included the several reasons behind inaugurating corporate universities by McDonald’s and Ford Motor Company such as leadership development, encourage workers, providing best trainings to the employees and others. In addition to this the report also included the potential benefits of having corporate universities. Recommendations on whether corporate universities are worthwhile investment for multinational corporations have also been included in the report.

References

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Kathryn, Tyler. 2012. " Advantages of corporate universities ". Accessed April 6, 2018  https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0412tyler3.aspx.

Wheeler, Kevin. 2012. The corporate university workbook: Launching the 21st century learning organization. John Wiley & Sons.

Yan, Yungxiang. 2013. "Of hamburger and social space: Consuming McDonald’s in Beijing." Food and culture: A reader, 449-471.