McDonald’s Drive-Throughs

Read the following case and answer the questions below.

When a customer drives up to the speaker box at some McDonald’s drive-throughs, their order is placed with an employee located in a distant call center. The order, along with a photograph taken to the match the customer with the order, is then instantly displayed on a video screen in the food preparation area of the restaurant where the order is placed.

Brainerd, Michigan – Ellie Feld pulled into the drive-through lane at McDonald’s the other day, craving a double cheeseburger. As she leaned out of the window of her Chevy Blazer to place her order through a speaker box, Feld was greeted by the friendly voice of an order taker she thought was working inside. Not even close. Four states away in a Colorado Springs, CO call center, “Linda” recorded Feld’s order and flashed it onto a computer screen inside the kitchen of the Brainerd McDonald’s. Less than 2 minutes later, Feld drove away, a smile on her face and a burger in hand.

In these McDonald’s test sites, the drive-through turnaround time improved by 20 seconds and orders contained fewer mistakes. “In most McDonald’s you’ve got someone to take the order, make the change, and go get the food – you’ve got somebody doing three things,” said Glenn Cook, owner of Brainerd McDonald’s. “Here, someone is sitting at the call center and they have nothing else to do. They are not multi-tasking.”

Question-1 (40 pts)

What aspects of McDonald’s production process are tradable?How does customer involvement limit the tradability fo inputs and finished goods? Limit your response to 300 words.

Question-2 (60 pts)

What risks does McDonald’s take with call-center ordering? How does this change customer experience? Has McDonald’s faced this tradeoff in the past? How do they deal with it?

Answer preview:

Word: 500