Background

In 1998, McDonald’s Corporation saw that its supply system had become larger, more complex, and increasingly difficult to manage. The Supply Chain division (then called Purchasing) chartered a Vision team to explore ways to strengthen partnerships with suppliers and optimize manufacturing capacity, pricing methods, and competitive validation.

Challenges

Many suppliers felt threatened by McDonald’s vision to move the company to a more standardized and transparent way of managing the supply chain. And McDonald’s global leaders were anxious about how they would be expected to fulfill the new vision. McDonald’s knew that preparing these and other stakeholders for such a profound shift in the business would require a strategy—and a lot of help.

A key McDonald’s consultant, Cosby Creative Associates, brought Paul Quinn aboard to join a team charged with finding a way to educate the many and varied constituents. Their solution: a series of global events featuring a multi-faceted and provocative case study that stakeholders would roleplay. Set in the fictitious country of Serenia, the interactive exercise assigned participants different roles than they played in their working lives—suppliers might be country executives, while Purchasing managers might be cast in the role of suppliers. The activity required them to identify the major issues, develop strategies supportive of McDonald’s vision, and engage in win-win negotiations with all key “players” in the conflict scenario.

Launched at McDonald’s Supply Chain Symposium in Vienna, Austria in 1998 and at Hamburger University in 2000, the case study also succeeded in fostering an appreciation for different points of view within the McDonald’s system while emphasizing the need for collaboration and communication among all the stakeholders in system decisions.

Writing

Paul Quinn developed the participant instructions and facilitator guidebook, and trained MacDonald’s facilitators to conduct the exercise in both the U.S. and Vienna. He also wrote an entertaining video opener, a bogus news broadcast that established the central conflict and product, the fictitious McMutton. In addition, Paul wrote scripted remarks for many Vision team members and the Master of Ceremonies.

Presentation Coaching

Company excitement about the emerging supply chain approach thrust the once-low-profile Purchasing division into the spotlight. Purchasing executives and directors were called upon to do something some of them had never done—speak in large venues for global audiences. Paul Quinn was tapped to create a customized presentation skills workshop to prepare them for those and other presentation opportunities. Paul also provided one-on-one coaching with several presenters culminating in full-group rehearsals days before the events.

Success Ongoing

The business approaches advanced by McDonald’s Vision team over 20 years ago continue to guide its supplier partnerships. Suppliers have a meaningful voice through Product Category Councils comprised of suppliers in key sourcing commodities plus representatives from owners/operators and McDonald’s corporation. The objective is to establish an open culture that discusses and debates key issues and, ultimately, makes decisions based on “System First” thinking to optimize total costs across the entire supply chain and system.