McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million

customers daily in 119 countries.[3][4]Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. Businessman Ray Krocjoined the company as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth.[5] A McDonald's restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself. The corporation's revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald's revenues grew 27 percent over the three years ending in 2007 to $22.8 billion, and 9 percent growth in operating income to $3.9 billion.[6] McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, french fries, breakfastitems, soft drinks, shakes and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, wraps, smoothies and fruit.[7] The business began in 1940, with a restaurantopened by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California (at34.1255N 117.2946W). Their introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in 1948 furthered the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that the White Castlehamburger chain had already put into practice more than two decades earlier. The original mascot of McDonald's was a man with a chef's hat on top of a hamburger shaped head whose name was "Speedee". Speedee was eventually replaced withRonald McDonald by 1967 when the company first filed a U.S. trademark on a clown shaped man having puffed out costume legs. McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name "McDonald's" on May 4, 1961, with the description "Drive-In Restaurant Services", which continues to be renewed through the end of December 2009. In the same year, on September 13, 1961, the company filed a logo trademark on an overlapping, double arched "M" symbol. The overlapping double arched "M" symbol logo was temporarily disfavored by September 6, 1962, when a trademark was filed for a single arch, shaped over many of the early McDonald's restaurants in the early years. Although the "Golden Arches" appeared in various forms, the present form as a letter "M" did not appear until November 18, 1968, when the company applied for a U.S. trademark. The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of afranchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955, the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and led its worldwide expansion, and the company became listed on the public stock markets in 1965. Kroc was also noted for aggressive business practices, compelling the McDonald brothers to leave the fast food industry. The McDonald brothers and Kroc feuded over control of the business, as documented in both Kroc's autobiography and in the McDonald brothers' autobiography. The San Bernardino store was demolished in 1976 (or 1971, according to Juan Pollo) and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo restaurant chain. It now serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, as well as a McDonald's and Route 66 museum.[8] With the expansion of McDonald's into many international markets, the company has become a symbol ofglobalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence has also made it a frequent topic of public debates aboutobesity, corporate ethics and consumer responsibility.

Facts and figures

By 1993, McDonald's had sold more than 100 billion hamburgers. The once-ubiquitous restaurant signs that boasted the number of sales, such as this one in Harlem, were left at "99 billion" as there was only space for two digits.

McDonald's restaurants are found in 119 countries[9] and territories around the world and serve 58 million customers each day.[3] McDonald's operates over 31,000 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 1.5 million people.[9] The company also operates other restaurant brands, such as Piles Caf. Focusing on its core brand, McDonald's began divesting itself of other chains it had acquired during the 1990s. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006, when McDonald's fully divested from Chipotle through a stock exchange.[10][11] Until December 2003, it also owned Donatos Pizza. On August 27, 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners.[12] In March 2012, McDonald's quietly resigned its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) saying only it was a "business decision".[13]

McDonald's predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken sandwiches and products, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald's offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and other localized fare. On a seasonal basis, McDonald's offers the McRib sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its appeal.[58] Various countries, especially in Asia, are currently serving soup. This local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known, and one which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of beef consumption in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more familiar (such as the sale of McRice in Indonesia). The attitude of the employee affects job performance. When employees arrive at work, they bring with them their moods, their emotions, their opinions and their problems at home or with life in general. Since employees may have the need to cooperate with each other to get the work done, their attitude will have great influence on productivity, their relationships with each other and productivity on the job. Read more: Employee Attitude Vs. Job Performance | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_6319450_employee-attitude-vs_-jobperformance.html#ixzz20XckMB2W

Positive Attitude

An employee with an upbeat attitude working with an employees who may be having a bad day have a "cheerleader effect" which can be contagious. It may be difficult for someone who is so negative to remain that way around someone who is so positive. Upbeat people look at their work as a challenge and strive to do their best.

Negative Attitude

Working with someone who has a negative attitude can make work life very unpleasant.The focus can become the negative employee rather than doing a good job for the company. Employees may dread coming to work if there is someone negative in their department or on their team. There may be more absences and employees who are normally in a good mood may become negative as well. Conflict may arise as a result of a negative attitude which may cause disruption and lack of teamwork in the company.
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Reward Positive Attitudes

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Employees who have positive attitudes can be a valuable asset to the company and need to be recognized and appreciated. An employee who comes to work each day with the goal to do the very best job for the company, to be helpful and considerate to co-workers, and to be respectful and helpful to the bosses is a huge benefit to the company. Some companies have programs that recognize such behavior with nice lunches, letters of appreciation from senior management, top performance awards and simple praise.

Address Negative Attitudes

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Negative attitudes may need to be addressed by supervisors and managers. Any employee who is allowed to continuously exhibit a negative attitude may bring down the morale of others. One way to address negative attitudes is to meet with the employee and relay how the attitude is affecting others and work performance. Be specific with examples of poor productivity and behavior. Since attitude can be somewhat hard to define, it needs to be broken down with descriptions of the employee's behavior, comments and actions, along with impacts on job performance. It is important to separate the deed from the doer as attacking the employee's character may do more damage than good.

Promote Positive Attitudes

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Promote a positive attitude is during the hiring process. Watch for signs of negativity during the initial interviews and discuss the company's philosophy and policy on workplace behavior during the new employee orientation (meeting with new employee regarding policies and procedures of the company).

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Happy employees are productive employees. Happy employees are not productive employees. We hear these conflicting statements made by HR professionals and managers in organizations. There is confusion and debate among practitioners on the topic of employee attitudes and job satisfaction even at a time when employees are increasingly important for organizational success and competitiveness. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide greater understanding of the research on this topic and give recommendations related to the major practitioner knowledge gaps. As indicated indirectly in a study of HR professionals (Rynes, Colbert, & Brown, 2002), as well as based on our experience, the major practitioner knowledge gaps in this area are: (1) the causes of employee attitudes, (2) the results of positive or negative job satisfaction, and (3) how to measure and influence employee attitudes. Within each gap area, we provide a review of the scientific research and recommendations for practitioners related to the research findings. In the final section, additional recommendations for enhancing organizational practice in the area of employee attitudes and job satisfaction are described, along with suggestions for evaluating the implemented practices. Before beginning, we should describe what we mean by employee attitudes and job satisfaction. Employees have attitudes or viewpoints about many aspects of their jobs, their careers, and their organizations. How ever, from the perspective of research and practice, the most focal employee attitude is job satisfaction. Thus, we often refer to employee attitudes broadly in this article, although much of our specific focus will concern job satisfaction. The most-used research definition of job

satisfaction is by Locke (1976), who defined it as . . . a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences (p. 1304). Implicit in Lockes definition is the importance of both affect, or feeling, and cognition, or thinking. When we think, we have feelings about what we think. Conversely, when we have feelings, we think about what we feel. Cognition and affect are thus inextricably linked, in our psychology and even in our biology. Thus, when evaluating our jobs, as when we assess most anything important to us, both thinking and feeling are involved. Gap 1The Causes of Employee Attitudes The first major practitioner knowledge gap we will address is the causes of employee attitudes and job satisfaction. In general, HR practitioners understand the importance of the work situation as a cause of employee attitudes, and it is an area HR can help influence through organizational programs and management practices. However, in the past two decades, there have been significant research gains in understanding dispositional and cultural influences on job satisfaction as well, which is not yet well understood by practitioners. In addition, one of the most important areas of the work situation to influence job satisfactionthe work itselfis often overlooked by practitioners when addressing job satisfaction. Dispositional Influences Several innovative studies have shown the influences of a persons disposition on job satisfaction. One of the first studies in this area (Staw & Ross, 1985) demonstrated that a persons job satisfaction scores have stability over time, even when he or she changes jobs or companies. In a related study, childhood temperament was found to be statistically related to adult job satisfaction up to 40 years later (Staw, Bell, & Clausen, 1986). Evidence even indicates that the job satisfaction of identical twins reared apart is statistically similar (see Arvey, Bouchard, Segal, & Abraham, 1989). Although this literature has had its critics (e.g., Davis-Blake & Pfeffer, 1989), an accumulating body of evidence indicates that differences in job satisfaction across employees can be traced, in part, to differences in their disposition or temperament (House, Shane, & Herold, 1996).

Despite its contributions to our understanding of the causes of job satisfaction, one of the limitations in this literature is that it is not yet informative as to how exactly dispositions affect job satisfaction (Erez, 1994). Therefore, researchers have begun to explore the psychological processes that underlie dispositional causes of job satisfaction. For example, Weiss and Cropanzano (1996) suggest that disposition may influence the experience of emotionally significant events at work, which in turn influences job satisfaction. Similarly, Brief (1998) and Motowidlo (1996) have developed theoretical models in an attempt to better understand the relationship between dispositions and job satisfaction. Continuing this theoretical development, Judge and his colleagues (Judge & Bono, 2001; Judge, Locke, Durham, & Kluger, 1998) found that a key personality trait, core self-evaluation, correlates with (is statistically related to) employee job satisfaction. They also found that one of the primary causes of the relationship was through the perception of the job itself. Thus, it appears that the most important situational effect on job satisfactionthe job itselfis linked to what may be the most important personality trait to predict job satisfactioncore selfevaluation. Evidence also indicates that some other personality traits, such as extraversion and conscientiousness, can also influence job satisfaction (Judge, Heller, & Mount, 2002). These various research findings indicate that there is in fact a relationship between disposition or personality and job satisfacEvidence even indicates that the job satisfaction of identical twins reared apart is statistically similar. Employee Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 397 Even though organizations cannot directly impact employee personality, the use of sound selection methods and a good match

between employees and jobs will ensure people are selected and placed into jobs most appropriate for them, which, in turn, will help enhance their job satisfaction. tion. Even though organizations cannot directly impact employee personality, the use of sound selection methods and a good match between employees and jobs will ensure people are selected and placed into jobs most appropriate for them, which, in turn, will help enhance their job satisfaction. Cultural Influences In terms of other influences on employee attitudes, there is also a small, but growing body of research on the influences of culture or country on employee attitudes and job satisfaction. The continued globalization of organizations poses new challenges for HR practitioners, and the available research on cross-cultural organizational and human resources issues can help them better understand and guide practice (Erez, 1994; House, 1995; Triandis, 1994). The most cited cross-cultural work on employee attitudes is that of Hofstede (1980, 1985). He conducted research on employee attitude data in 67 countries and found that the data grouped into four major dimensions and that countries systematically varied along these dimensions. The four cross-cultural dimensions are: (1) individualismcollectivism; (2) uncertainty avoidance versus risk taking; (3) power distance, or the extent to which power is unequally distributed; and (4) masculinity/femininity, more recently called achievement orientation. For example, the United States was found to be high on individualism, low on power distance, and low on uncertainty avoidance (thus high on risk taking), whereas Mexico was high on collectivism, high on power distance, and high on uncertainty avoidance. The four dimensions have been a useful framework for understanding cross-cultural

differences in employee attitudes, as well as recognizing the importance of cultural causes of employee attitudes. More recent analyses have shown that country/culture is as strong a predictor of employee attitudes as the type of job a person has (Saari, 2000; Saari & Erez, 2002; Saari & Schneider, 2001). There have been numerous replications of Hofstedes research (reviewed by Sondergaard, 1994). The importance of culture has also been found in how employees are viewed and valued across countries/cultures (Jackson, 2002)countries systematically vary on the extent to which they view employees in instrumental versus humanistic ways. In terms of practical recommendations, an awareness of, and, whenever possible, adjustments to, cultural factors that influence employee attitudes and measurement are important for HR practitioners as employee attitude surveys increasingly cross national boundaries. Work Situation Influences As discussed earlier, the work situation also matters in terms of job satisfaction and organization impact. Contrary to some commonly held practitioner beliefs, the most notable situational influence on job satisfaction is the nature of the work itselfoften called intrinsic job characteristics. Research studies across many years, organizations, and types of jobs show that when employees are asked to evaluate different facets of their job such as supervision, pay, promotion opportunities, coworkers, and so forth, the nature of the work itself generally emerges as the most important job facet (Judge & Church, 2000; Jurgensen, 1978). This is not to say that well-designed compensation programs or effective supervision are unimportant; rather, it is that much can be done to influence job satisfaction by ensuring work is as interesting and challenging as possible. Unfortunately, some managers think employees are most desirous of pay to the exclusion of other job attributes such as interesting work. For example, in a study examining the importance of job attributes, employees ranked interesting work as the most important job attribute and good wages ranked fifth, whereas when it came to what managers thought employees wanted, good wages ranked first while interesting work ranked fifth (Kovach, 1995). Of all the major job satisfaction areas, satisfaction with the nature of the work itselfwhich includes job challenge, autonomy, variety, and scopebest predicts overall job satisfaction, as well as other important

outcomes like employee retention (e.g., Fried398 MANAGEMENT, Winter 2004 & Ferris, 1987; Parisi & Weiner, 1999; Weiner, 2000). Thus, to understand what causes people to be satisfied with their jobs, the nature of the work itself is one of the first places for practitioners to focus on Product and services

HUMAN RESOURCE

McDonalds is a customer-oriented company that strives to offer Filipinos a combination of great tasting, quality food products at value prices with excellent service.

Well loved McDonalds products like the Big Mac, Cheeseburger, World Famous French Fries, Egg Muffin, Apple Pie, Sundae and the Happy Meal, plus local favorites like Chicken McDo, Burger McDo and McSpaghetti are products of our passion to always give what our customers want. McDonalds ensures high standards in all aspects of operations, promising our customers only the best meals in every restaurant at any time. Recently, McDonalds pioneered 24/7 restaurants and 24/7delivery service to cater to our customers changing lifestyles.

Apart from our products and services, McDonalds gives back to the community through the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). RMHC supports childrens development and well-being through Bahay Bulilit and Bright Minds Read (BMR). Every Happy Meal purchase gives 50 centavos to RMHC. Bahay Bulilit, a partnership between RMHC and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), builds day-care centers and provides primary education to children below 6 years old. Bright Minds Read (BMR), on the other hand, is a partnership program with the Department of Education that teaches beginning reading to Grade 1 public school students. (For more information on RMHC and how you can contribute, please visit the RMHC page.)

Most employers expect the manager to fix or fire the employee with a "bad attitude." In fact, there is little the manager can do to fix the employees attitude. The employee must fix their own attitude. At the same time the managers attitude must be right to create an environment allowing the employee to refocus their attitude for a more positive and productive work effort. If the manager or the employee lacks the skills to make adjustments to their thought processes attitude change for a more productive effort will not take place. This seminar is not just a make you feel good for a day rah-rah session. Participants learn practical techniques and specific how-tos they can use immediately to refocus and rethink their approach to work performance, the team, the boss, and their life.

The right attitude is critical to all aspects of organizational performance. Having the right attitude impacts: Job performance Meeting quality standards Sales potential Customer service and support Team spirit Boss/employee relations Coworker support Stakeholder expectations And much, much more.

Lets face it, when it comes to success in business and life, your attitude is a make it or break it factor. Therefore, this training session is designed for all employees and managers at all levels of the organization. From sales and customer service personnel to administrative and frontline employees, this seminar will benefit everyone.

What is absenteeism and can it be measured? Absenteeism is traditionally defined as a specific employees unavailability for work, when work is actually available for this specific employee. Absenteeism can fall under 3 broad categories: legal (such as public holidays), authorized (such as approved holidays) and unauthorized (also referred to as casual absence). Unauthorized absence is what most organizations strive to avoid and keep to a minimum. Absence measurement is essential in order for management to compare between individual absences and departmental absences. Measuring absence is critical to identify the different patterns of employee absence and target the variables affecting it. There are various ways to measure absenteeism, the most commonly used are the lost time rate formula and the individual frequency formula. Lost Time Rate= (Number of Working Days Lost /Total Number of Working Days)* 100 Individual Frequency= (Number of Absent Employees/Average Number of Employees)*100

Limitations do exist when trying to measure absenteeism, whether with data collection or data correctness; thus, managers should be alert to stay on top of such limitations and handle them with care and accuracy. Why Does Absence Occur? Work absenteeism occurs for many reasons. Its causes are mainly either personal or workplace related. The most common ones are the following: A) Personal:

Age: Proven research shows that older employees tend to be absent less frequently than younger ones (as time stabilizes them in their jobs and the thrill of an unauthorized day off no longer tempts them.) However, once an older employee is actually absent - usually for sickness leaves - the period of absenteeism is usually longer than that of a younger employee.

Gender: Women tend to be absent more frequently than men usually, especially when they are responsible for the welfare of a family and have variables beyond their control to contend with.

Seniority: If an employee has been with a company for a long time, his/her absence level tends to become relatively lower. Fresh employees by contrast, are usually tempted to benefit from an unauthorized day off to relax and unwind.

Personal Attitude: Employees with solid work ethics value the contribution they make to their companies and rarely allow themselves to take unauthorized time off. On the other hand people with a poor work ethic dont frequently carry the same amount of responsibility and do not feel obliged to show up to work every single day.

B) Workplace:

Job Stress: When a job is stressful, employees tend to take unauthorized casual days off in order to reduce their stress levels and get rid of tension.

Daily Job Routine: People with repetitive and monotonous jobs tend to take advantage of a casual absence to break free from their somewhat boring daily routine and engage in something more interesting for the day.

Job Satisfaction: This is interrelated to daily job routine. The more an employee is dissatisfied with his overall job functions, the more he absentees himself from work.

What you, as a company/manager, can DO about it:

Create a concise absence policy in order to bring down the employee absenteeism level. Make sure your statement is simple and straightforward before communicating it clearly across all organizational levels.

Communicate the costs of absenteeism appropriately to your department heads to make them aware of it being a serious issue that can not be tolerated unless there is a valid reason.

Measure absenteeism regularly, monitor closely, and treat all employees and management alike vis--vis absente eism. Take into consideration that employees could sometimes need to be absent casually, but commit yourself to digging deeper into the reasons behind their casual absence.

Recognize regular and punctual attendance whenever possible and reward it occasionally.

According to the most recent CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, employers are losing ground when it comes to keeping workers on the job. Unscheduled absenteeism rates have risen to their highest level since 1999. What continues to be of most concern is that almost two out of three employees who dont show up for work arent physically ill. For most companies, the responsibility for managing absenteeism has fallen primarily on immediate supervisors. These supervisors are often the only people who are aware that a certain employee is absent. They are in the best position to understand the circumstances surrounding an individuals absence and to notice a problem at an early stage. Therefore, their active involvement in the companys absence procedures is pivotal to the overall effectiveness and future success of an absence policy or program.

Sadly, however, most supervisors have not received any guidance or training in managing absenteeism. They have been left on their own to carry out the often unpopular task of identifying, confronting and resolving absence abuse. To ensure that supervisors are comfortable and competent in their role of managing absenteeism, they need to have the full support of senior management. All parties must be aware of the aim of absence policies and procedures. Should there be discrepancies between departments; a policy can lose its effectiveness. To provide more consistency, supervisors should be trained in their responsibilities about managing absenteeism, advised how to conduct effective return-to-work interviews, and educated in the use of disciplinary procedures when necessary. The Responsibilities of the Supervisor In addition to ensuring that work is appropriately covered during the employees absence, there are a number of other critical actions that supervisors need to take to manage absenteeism. They should: ensure that all employees are fully aware of the organizations policies and procedures for dealing with absence, be the first point of contact when an employee phones in sick, maintain appropriately detailed, accurate, and up-to-date absence records for their staff, (e.g., date, nature of illness/reason for absence, expected return to work date, doctors certification if necessary), identify any patterns or trends of absence which cause concern, conduct return-to-work interviews, and implement disciplinary procedures where necessary.

Underlying framework for the absenteeism and reintegration process In this study the process of becoming ill, being absent from work, recovering and resuming work, is viewed in terms of a lack of balance between the person and the environment. This means that health problems may arise as a result of a discrepancy between the workload (demands and requirements) and the capacity of the worker (abilities and skills). Depending on the attendance motivation and the pressure to attend - which refer to the opportunity and the need for absenteeism - health problems result in absenteeism (incapacity for work). These last factors are reflected in the so called absenteeism barrier. Return to work depends on the course of the illness and the reintegration barrier. By the reintegration barrier is meant the totality of the factors which affect the course of the illness and the return to work. This whole process is in turn influenced by individual factors, company and workplace factors, and societal factors. For instance at the individual level, biological and psychological factors such as the physical constitution and mental resilience of an employee

influence his or her capacity. Genuine illness not derived from the workplace is one of these factors which diminish the capacity of an employee and leads to a misfit between the workload and the capacity of an individual. This framework deals therefore with absenteeism related to ill health caused by the work as well as with Strategies to reduce workplace absenteeism 5 19 Absent Eng 1/3/00 12:35 am Page 19absenteeism related to ill health not linked to work. In Figure 1 this framework is represented schematically Figure 1: The process of becoming ill, being absent from work, recovering and return to work. Four types of interventions can be distinguished, which address different elements in this framework. 1. The first kinds of intervention are procedural measures, which are aimed at raising the absenteeism barrier; these are measures for the monitoring and control of absenteeism. 2. Preventive work-oriented measures aim to reduce the discrepancy between workload and capacity by reducing the workload. This is done by removing the work-related causes of the problems in the area of safety, health and well-being. 3. Preventive person-oriented measures are those in which employees are supported to work (and live) in a safe and healthy way. These person-oriented measures aim to improve the balance between workload and capacity by increasing the capacity of individuals. 4. The last types of intervention aimed at reducing workplace absenteeism are reintegration measures. These reintegration measures aim to lower the reintegration barrier and to accelerate the return to work of sick employees. 20 Preventing absenteeism at the workplace workload balance health absence of return to problems work work capacity absenteeism reintegration barrier barrier individual factors company/workplace factors societal factors