Discussion

McDonald’s is a leading food chain company that has different branches in various countries over the world. Recently, the company has launched a food delivery service to these countries. The facility was first introduced in United States. Later it has launched this service at different parts of the word. In 2017 McDonald’s has decided to launch this facility in UK.  In order to implement this food delivery system, certain project management methodology is needed to be implemented. With the selection of the right methodology for managing the project will help to deliver the right outcome (Adaku et al. 2018). The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the selection of the right methodology for managing the delivery system for food in McDonald’s. Apart from that proper significance of selecting the particular methodology can be discussed in this discussion. This will indicate the significance of the project management methodology in the development of the project. Apart from that the necessity of managing stakeholders and the risks in the development of project can be done in this context. The recommendations are developed on the basis of the gap between the existing system and the desired system is needed to be implemented. The primary focus of this paper is to create a guideline through the project management methodology for the proper implementation of the food delivery process in McDonald’s.

McDonald’s is a leading food chain company which is popular for delivering the fast-food. In some countries McDonald’s has started to deliver the food products on the basis of the request made by the customers. In some cases, the organization is collaborating with the third party companies for the delivery of the food products. In order to maintain and implement the system in a right way, proper project methodology is needed to be implemented (Wi?niewska and Szczepa?ska 2014). The management in this case is proposed project management plan for the implementation for the desired system.

The food delivery system can be implemented in traditional way of implementation where project management may not be applied. However, in this case, there is a chance that the implemented system may not have the desired standard and outcome. The significance of the application of proper project management methodology is that it will make the project to execute through certain steps. The selection of the methodology is an important part from managing the project in a proper way (Adaku et al. 2018).  The right selection of the project methodology will help to define the right steps for the project life cycle during the development phase.

In case of the food delivery of McDonald’s, the selected project management methodology is PRINCE2 project methodology. It allows the execution of the project in controlled environment.

PRINCE2 methodology is applied in the process based implementation of the system. Food delivery process is a process based system (Nicholas and Steyn 2017).  There are seven steps in the PRINCE2 methodology.  Through these seven steps the project life cycle can be implemented properly. These seven steps are-

• Starting of the project.
• Initialization of the project
• Directing the project
• Controlling o the stages of the project
• Management of the delivery of products.
• Managing of the stage boundaries.
• Closing of the project.

Application of the project management theory in the Macs food delivery project

The starting of the project is regarding the decision making process in the context of initialization of the project. In the initialization phase, the documentation of the requirements is followed (Soriano 2016). Controlling stage can be compared to the control and monitoring stage of the project life cycle where the evaluation of the performance of the project can be done. In case, if the food delivery system meets all the desired requirements then closing of the project can be done. Both the project life cycle and PRINCE2 methodology has the closing phase of the project.

Selection of the methodology for the implementation of a project is important as the right methodology will help to implement the functionalities in a proper way. PRINCE2 methodology in the project management for the company McDonald’s is a process based approach which is suitable for managing food delivery process (Mitchell and Lemon 2019). Apart from that PRINCE2 methodology is flexible for the changing environment and can be tailored easily. The processes in this methodology define the key inputs and outputs to achieve the delivery (Philbin 2018).

Purpose of managing the delivery process:

The main purpose of managing the food delivery project is to create the link between the team manager and the project manager. This can be achieved through placing the formal requirements and delivery, executing and accepting the project work. In this case the main objective of the project manager is to coordinate the whole process for the delivery of the right outcome (Philbin 2018). In this case, the food delivery process can coordinate with the third party organization.

It is the responsibility of the team manager to accept the work, execute the process in it and trigger the delivery to the controlling stage.

Objective of managing the process:

Before the implementation of the whole system, there are some basic objectives of the food delivery system of McDonald’s those are needed to be fulfilled. One of the main objectives is to deliver the specific food item to the right customer (El-Ja’bary and Ashour 2015). During the phase of delivery, it is needed to be assured that the quality and standard of the food item has been maintained. The update about the process or the progress is needed to be given to the management during the execution of the phase so that the exception cases can be handled carefully.

The management of the process delivery is viewed from the perspective of a team manager. On the other hand the stage for controlling the process can be viewed from the project manager’s perspective. It is the responsibility of the team manager to maintain the interfaces between the deliveries of the products. Checking the quality of the product is the responsibility of the quality control team (Lecomber and Tatnall 2014). Team manager can note the assurance from the quality control regarding the food. After the compilation of all these steps the food items are delivered to the project manager before the final delivery to the consumers.

Starting or initialization of the project:

PRINCE2 methodology

This is considered to be the first stage of the management of the project. This stage can be defined as the pre-stage process. The main function of this stage is the gathering of the requirements and to make it sure that the requirements are correct and appropriately applicable for the project. The three main factors of this stage are:

Availability of the resource: Before starting of the project it is needed to be assured that all the resources required for the project is placed in a right way (Bierwolf 2016). It has been seen that McDonald’s is collaborating with the third party organization to make the supply chain for the delivery of the food products flexible (Liyanage and Uusitalo 2017). In this case, it is needed to be seen that all the terms and conditions for the business with the third party organizations are maintained properly.

Developing appropriate project management team: The development of the project management team is important as it will help to deliver the right outcome of the project by implementation of the right functionality (Joslin and Müller 2016). In this case, the selection of the project team members is needed to be done in a proper way along with the project team leader.

Plan the project: Planning for the project is an important thing for the development of the project (Gibbin 2017). Planning is the blue print of the project which will help in the execution process of the food delivery system. The planning of the food delivery process should meet all the requirements required for the right outcome.

The initialization stage of the project has certain objective. The first stage of this process is the evaluation for the justification of the project (Land 2015). It has been seen that the food delivery system of the McDonald’s has already gained popularity in the other countries like India and United States. In this case it is justified that the food delivery system of McDonald’s can be a successful project for UK.

In order to implement the project, the establishment of the management is needed to be done. Apart from that an acceptable business case should be produced in the planning phase (Alizai 2014). The gathering of resources is needed to be accomplished in a proper way so that during the compilation of the project, scope creep may not happen (Li 2017). The presentation of the business case is important as it is needed to encourage the project management team to take the charge of the project. Apart from that the estimation of the budget and the cost for the compilation of the project is needed to be presented in the planning phase.

In this stage the decisions are made regarding the compilation of the project. It has been seen that the food delivery system is doing well in the developed countries like USA and the developing countries like India. In this case, the decision of launching the food delivery system is justified.

Apart from that in this stage the project management team will assure that all the deliverables of the project are planned and predefined. The information is presented to the project management board for evaluating the viability of the project (Howsawi 2014). Evaluating all these things the project management board will approve the compilation of the project for the next step. Recording of the information gathered from the survey can be collected in this stage for the further evaluation.

Significance of selecting PRINCE2 methodology

The monitoring and control activities regarding the project are done in this phase. This stage needs the involvement of the project manager (Ejodame 2015). In case, if the processes involved in the food delivery system encountered with the unexpected events, the quick response strategy or the risk management planning is needed to be triggered by the project manager. This stage contains the series of cycles those are helpful for the proper development of the project. These cycles consist of the following stages-

• Authorization of the delivery packages those are needed to be sent to the consumers.
• Collecting the information regarding the food packages and the consumer details.

In case, the feedback of the consumers can be taken care off. Thus, if it is seen that certain changes are needed for the further improvement or the modification of the whole system, proper actions are needed to be taken.

It is the responsibility of the project manager to monitor and review the overall situation associated with the food delivery system. On the basis of the review certain reformation actions can be taken by the project manager for the further improvisation.

Managing the delivery of the products is an important thing for the implementation of the food delivery system powered by McDonald’s. There are certain objectives those are needed to be followed in this step. The checking of the packages should be done by the project team in this phase. Apart from that the content of the packaged food items are needed to meet all the requirements and the items ordered by the clients. The shifting of the food packages from the inventory to the delivery team are needed to be completed in a proper way (Diaz-Osborn and Osborn 2016). It is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that the food item is delivered properly through the different vendors to the consumers. Apart from that the quality control team of the project ensures the quality of the food (Malinowska and Rzeczycki 2017). The detailed information of the food along with the container written on the food products are needed to be checked by the project management team. In case, if any unexpected situation happens during the course of the process the project manager will able to handle the situation and plan the mitigation strategy through risk management plan.

Managing of the delivery of the product is viewed from the perspective of the team manager and the controlling of the stage is viewed from the project manager’s perspective. The responsibility of the team manager is viewed from the project manager’s perspective. It is the responsibility of the team manager to ensure that the food packages are accepted and checked by the project manager (Ashurst 2015). Apart from that the team manager also ensures that the product has been delivered to the right location.  Assuring the maintenance of the quality of the products is also checked   during the delivery of the project.

Managing of the stage boundaries includes keeping the update about the delivery process. In this stage the team manager will have to inform the team members if any modifications are done in the overall process. Apart from that the accountability and the clarity of the process are evaluated in this step. The evaluation process in this stage will be documented in a proper way.  This document can be presented to the management board for the decision making regarding the next stage for the modification of the current process.

Implementation of PRINCE2 methodology for food delivery system in McDonald’s

In case, if the food delivery process is working in a planned way and is delivering the desired outcome meeting all the requirements then the working on the project can be closed. This is done through the closing stage of the project.

In order to deliver the food items to the users and the customers in a proper way certain measurements are needed to be implemented in the system. At first the market analysis should be done in a proper way. This analysis contains the information regarding the requirement of the consumers. The documentation of the requirement is needed to be done on the basis of the analysis. The proper documentation of the requirement mitigates the chances of the scope creep in the middle of the development of the food delivery system. It has been found out that McDonald’s is collaborating with the third party organizations in order to implement the food delivery system. In some cases, it is difficult for McDonald’s to reach to the specific location for the delivery of the food. In this case, collaboration with the local third party organizations is justified. However, the terms and policy for these collaborations are needed to be maintained in a right way. Otherwise the problems regarding the business deal and sharing of the profit may happen.

Conclusion

The discussion is regarding the implementation of the PRINCE2 methodology for the implementation of the food delivery system for McDonald’s. In this context various aspects of the PRINCE2 methodology have been discussed. The mapping of the principals of PRINCE2 methodology for the food delivery system is also mentioned in the discussion. Apart from that the roles of the project manager and the team manager have been specified in this context. It can be said from the discussion that application of the PRINCE methodology for the implementation of the food delivery system is justified as the process is a product based process. Apart from that   the significance of the well defined business policy is needed to be done in order to avoid the conflict. From the discussion it can be concluded that the use of PRINCE2 methodology in the implementation of the food delivery system in the organization can be helpful for McDonald’s in order to gain the popularity among the customers and will eventually help to expand the business of the organization.  

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