McDonald's Operational Excellence Strategies for Success

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Running head: OPERATIONS EXCELLENCE
1
OPERATIONS EXCELLENCE
8
Practicum – Week 6 Journal Entry
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Professor
Date
The impact of Operation Excellence on the Performance of
McDonald’s in the Fast Food Industry
1.0 Introduction
Businesses operate in the competitive environment and thus
operational excellence facilitates the execution of a business
strategy in a reliable and consistent manner. The operational
excellence strategy derives the competitiveness of the business
from enforcing practices that aim at achieving better results. A
company enforces the most effective strategy that has minimal
operational risks, low operation costs, and enhanced revenue
relative to its rivals (Oakman, 2014). Mainly, operations
excellence is a management philosophy embedded on
continuous improvement modes, such as lean thinking,
Scientific Management, and Six Sigma. Importantly, the focus
of operational excellence is on long-term improvement and
change in organizational culture in order to realize
sustainability. The fast food industry, like any other market, is
very competitive. In effect, players in the industry strive to

enforce operation excellence as a way of gaining leverage and
remaining ahead of competitors. One of the firms operating
within this industry is McDonald's. McDonald's was established
on 15 April 1955, Des Plaines, Illinois, and since then, the
company has continued to dominate the industry and its global
presence is a good indication of how the company has remained
successful amidst the competition. In effect, the objective of the
research is to review the manner in which operational
excellence has facilitated McDonalds’s success within the
global fast food industry.
1.1 Background
As postulated by Oakman (2014), organizations that pursue
operational excellence strive to manage their business and
operations using a systemic approach as well as investing in
developing the right organizational culture that promotes the
consistent and reliable execution of the business strategy.
Within organizations, operational excellence is manifested
through integrated performance across all departments; that is,
the increase in revenues, reduced operational costs, and lesser
business risk. In this regard, the focus of operational excellence
is to meet the expectations of clients which are attained through
continuous improvement of organizational processes and
adjusting the organizational culture to reflect the new strategy.
Numerous research studies have been conducted to analyze the
role of operational excellence in enhancing the performance of
an organization. Largely, these studies have focused on how the
enhancement in organizational efficiency has been implemented
with the goal of remaining competitive. In this regard, only
limited research has been conducted to investigate how
multinational companies use operation excellence such as
McDonald's to implement and sustain efficiency in the
performance of the organization in order to realize success.
With the expansion of the knowledge and venture of companies
in the global markets, businesses are confronted with the

challenge of implementing an effective strategy to ensure
success. Business owners and operations managers are feeling
the increased pressure to effectively manage the complexity of
the business by putting into place system controls that will help
them to proactively manage the complexity through enforcement
of control systems to function in the competitive environment
and adapt to the prevailing market trends. At the present,
operational excellence is among the key business concerns for
executives, more so for global companies in their quest for
profitability and business consistency. An evaluation of the
global markets shows that operational excellence has proved
critical for companies that derive products and services to
clients (Belekoukias, Garza-Reyes, and Kumar, 2014).
The applicable theory in the study of operational experience is
the Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints as postulated by Costas et
al. (2015). In order to investigate the impact of operations
efficiency on organizational success, the model offers a
framework that can be applied in outlining the most integral
factors that limit attainment organizational goals in an effort to
address the constraints limiting the firm's performance. In this
regard, the theory offers powerful tools regarding the approach
that companies can implement to realize operational excellence.
McDonald's fast food chain has been selected for the current
analysis as an organization implementing operational excellence
strategies across its global network of fast food outlets. As the
company expands to new regions across the world, the
operational strategy will be aimed at making the firm more
competitive.
According to Oakland (2014), operation excellence is described
as an outstanding practice that the organization implements to
achieve outstanding results. The practice of operational
excellence has been built around a number of concepts that
collectively are geared to achieving organizational success.
These concepts include results orientation: focus on customer
service delivery, leadership, and consistency of purpose,

effective management of processes and facts, people
engagement and development and continuous learning. Other
factors that are embodied in operation excellence include
innovation and improvement, facilitating continuous learning
developing partnerships and being public responsible.
Organizations embrace operations excellence as an approach for
achieving organizational strategic objectives and clients’
expectation. Organizations thus implement the concept of
operational excellence by integrating leadership and teamwork,
as well as problem-solving as measures of constant
improvement throughout the organization as well as addressing
the welfare of employees and meeting the demands of clients.
The idea behind operational excellence is to maximize the
existing processes within the firm in order to give the company
leverage over other players in the industry.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In the wake of increased competition on the global scale and
global downturn in the economy, many businesses have been
compelled to review their strategy in order to boost their
efficiency to survive. Measures such as cost-cutting and
efficiency strategies are some of the approaches that firms are
implementing to counter the inherent challenges. Operational
excellence offers a viable choice for domestic and global
companies to gain a competitive edge and survive in the
industry. Nonetheless, not many firms have successfully
implemented the practice, mostly because of the lack of skilled
personnel to facilitate the process. Even though McDonald's has
implemented operational efficiency in its strategy, there is a
need for the company to explore the successful integration of
the practice into the overall business strategy on the global
scale as a way of attaining a competitive edge. Most studies that
have been facilitated with regard to operational efficiency have
mainly focused on the Six Sigma approach and the inclusion of
total quality management in organizational processes. The

knowledge gap that the current study seeks to address is on how
operational excellence can be integrated with McDonald’s
overall business model to attain success.
1.3 Main Research Objectives
The Objectives That the Research Seeks to Achieve are as
Follows
i. To establish the operational excellence strategies that are
implemented at McDonald’s
ii. To examine the impact of operational excellence strategy in
Macdonald’s performance and competitiveness.
iii. To establish and suggest operational strategies that
McDonald’s can implement to realize organizational efficiency
iv. To suggest ways of integrating operational efficiency into
McDonald’s overall strategy as a way of enabling the business
to survive the competitive business setting.
1.4 Justification
The study is critical in helping regulators and policymakers to
come up with effective business strategies that incorporate
operational excellence as the most effective approach to
realizing competitiveness and organizational excellence in the
fast food industry. International companies venturing into the
global business environment are confronted with challenges in
operating the business in an environment with intense rivalry.
As such, operational excellence is considered as one among the
most effective strategies that the business will be implementing
across its global outlets to realize success.
1.5 Limitations
There are various limitations to this study. First McDonalds is a

multinational fast-food chain with many outlets across the
globe. In this regard, the business dynamics across the regions
of operations vary significantly. Therefore, it will be
challenging selecting a representative sample that will truly
reflect the operational efficiency factor from a general outlook.
Notably, this challenge can be overcome by choosing a case
study, whereby the focus of the research will be within a single
region such as the United States only. This approach is ideal
especially when McDonalds's outlets in one region will be
selected to feature the representative sample. The second
limitation is the time and financial resource constraint that
researcher will face in conducting the research. This challenge
can be overcome by scheduling the research activities within the
given time period to ensure that the research is conducted
within the projected time to avert delays or changes in the
project scope, as well as additional costs.
2.0 Research Methodology
The methodology section covers the approach that was applied
in the research. Mainly it incorporates a blueprint that
facilitated the collection, measurement, and analysis of the data.
Aspects covered include the research design, the target
population, the research sample, and methods applied in the
analysis.
2.1 The Research Design
The study conducted relied on case study design. In regard, a
survey was conducted by selecting a representative sample so
that the outcome could be generalized to the overall population.
The research is both quantitative and qualitative research,
whereby data was collected from the selected participants using
interview schedules then generalized to the entire population of
study. The case design approach adopted in the research

attempted to define the subject by establishing a profile to
denote a group of problems. Mainly, this was achieved through
the collection of data and tabulation of the frequencies to show
a correlation between the research samples (Flick, 2014). The
approach was considered ideal for the research as it facilitated a
reflection of the right state of affairs regarding the
implementation of operational excellence at McDonald’s
without deviating from the aim of the research.
2.2 Data Collection
The study made use of interview schedules to facilitate the
collection of primary data. The questions in the schedules were
open-ended. Data were collected from among top ten employees
at McDonald's. The key goal of featuring the company's top
management on the research is because they are responsible for
strategy formulation at the camp and implementation of
strategies that influence organizational performance. The
interview guide as the tool for data collection was adopted
because of its applicability both to the research problem and
sample selected for the research.
2.3 Sample
The population for the research featured top management at
McDonald's and the representative sample was selected from
among the top management of the outlets featured in the study.
The overall participants who undertook the research are ten
managers who are in charge of strategy formulation and
implementation at McDonald's. Stratified random sampling was
used to select a representative sample of the research. The
interview guides were administered by booking an appointment
with the managers in their most convenient time. The approach
allowed the managers to be interviewed at their most convenient
time as their busy schedule limited their availability for the
study and the approach was critical in enhancing the response
rate.

2.4 Data Analysis
The collected data was qualitative and therefore content
analysis was applied to facilitate the analysis. The analysis was
achieved through the development of a thematic framework of
evaluation that was based on the key issue, themes, and aspects
arising from the research. The information gained from the
analysis was then interpreted and presented in a narrative
format (Flick, 2014).
3.0 Results and Findings
3.1 Introduction
The section presents the analysis and findings of the research to
demonstrate the impact of operational excellence on the
performance of McDonald’s within the fast food industry. The
study targeted the top ten management staff at the selected
outlets of the company and all of them contributed to the
survey. As a result, a 100% response rate was achieved. The
high response rate was attributed to prior preparation and
informing the respondents beforehand in order for them to avail
themselves for the research. As affirmed by Flick (2014), a high
response rate enhances the validity and reliability of the
research and the generalizability of the collected data to the
entire population featured in the research.
3.2 Respondents’ Demographics
To capture the background of the respondents featured in the
research, data regarding them was presented to show the
participants’’ profile in terms of age, level of education, work
experience and their perception of the company's
implementation of operational excellence strategies and how
this has influence organizational success. The analysis was
critical in enhancing the reliability of the data and providing an
overall outlook of the featured respondents.

3.2.1 Gender
In terms of gender representation, the findings are as shown.
The findings of the research show that majority of the
respondent were male respondents (67%), whereas women were
33%. Such is an indication that most top management positions
at McDonald's are male-dominated
3.2.2 Gender
The respondents were also analyzed in terms of their age and
the results are as depicted
The analysis indicates that majority of the top management who
were interviewed are aged 45 years and above a factor
associated with their long-term of service and experience, which
has influenced their promotion at the company.
3.2.3 Level of education
Another demographic aspect that was applied in analyzing the
respondents was their level of education and the findings are as
shown.
As indicated in the pie chart, the majority of the top managers
at McDonald’s have a master’s degree where the second highest
category is composed of Ph.D. holders. As such, the top
management at the company has a high level of education, a
factor attributed to the requirements of the job.

3.2.4 Wok Experience
The respondents were also ranked in terms of their work
experience; that is, based on the duration that they have served
at the company. The results are as shown,
The results indicate that the majority of top management at
McDonald's have work experience of over four years, and this
explains their rise through various career ranks which have been
linked to their experience on the job.
3.3 Identification of areas of operational Experience
The study sought to establish the strategies of operational
experience that McDonald's has implemented. The findings as
deduced from the top management interviews are as outlined
3.3.1 Implementation of strategies for continuous improvement
The study has sought to establish the extent to which the
company had implemented strategies to ensure continuous
improvement of the company’s processes. As documented from
the responses of the top management at McDonald's, the fast-
food chain has implemented a number of continuous
improvement strategies with the goal of attaining a competitive
edge over other industry players. These strategies include
continuous improvement of menus available, product
innovation, outstanding customer delivery, and continuous
improvement of service delivery to clients.
3.3.2 Operation excellence strategies implemented at
McDonald's
The study sought out to establish the operational excellence
strategies that the fast food chain implements to attain

organizational efficiency. Based on the feedback from the
respondents, the company applies various operational strategies.
These include employee development and engagement, emphasis
on customer satisfaction, continuous learning, and innovation
and implementing diverse efficiency delivery systems to ensure
organizational success, In addition, visionary leadership and
innovation in information systems are ways that the company
has implemented to realize organizational efficiency. Again,
respondents cited the company's participation in corporate
social responsibility initiatives and ensuring the integration of
the company's long-term goals into its strategy as ways of
forging synergy that has facilitated the company's success.
3.3.3 Features Characterizing operational efficiency
implementation
The study has sought to establish the aspects that denoted
operational excellence strategies implemented at the
McDonald’s. Based on the findings, the interviewed top
management members pointed out different features denoting
that operational excellence was being implemented at
McDonald's as part of its strategy. In this regard, the identified
features included results-driven operations, constant
improvement in products and service, empowerment of staff,
delivering customer value through customized menus and
effective service delivery, focus on financial excellence, and
integration of technological innovations into the company’s
operations as a way of attaining efficiency. Through
coordinated decision-making and optimizing service delivery,
McDonald's has remained competitive in the market and this has
been attributed to the adoption of operation excellence
strategies in order to realize a competitive edge over rivals.
3.3.4 The Extent to Which McDonald’s has recruited expertise
to facilitate operational excellence implementation
The respondents were interviewed with regard to which they
considered the company to have implemented sustainable
operational experience as part of the organizational strategy.

Based on the responses, finding indicated that the fast-food
chain had to a large extent recruited the relevant professionals
to assist the firm in leveraging on operational excellence as part
of its organizational strategy. Mainly, this was attributed to the
recruitment of highly trained and experienced staff with a
positive attitude to help make a positive contribution to the
company towards the realization of its strategic goals. The
ability of a company to compete effectively in the marketplace
is largely based on its ability to integrate operational excellence
as part of its collective strategy. The approach is particularly
important in the achievement of competitiveness in the
marketplace and building a sustainable business that will thrive
irrespective of the intense market competition it will encounter.
3.4 Discussion and Findings
The study has established that McDonald's has implemented a
wide range of operational excellence approaches that have
enabled the firm to remain competitive in the market in order to
enhance service delivery and product innovation. This indicates
that the management at McDonald's has been keen on
implementing operational excellence standards to enable the
firm to remain competitive. These findings are in line with
those of Carvalho et al. (2017) who established that
implementing operational excellence in the form of Six Sigma
facilitates an enterprise to conduct continuous improvement of
all its operational areas to achieve both financial and
nonfinancial performance. Operational excellence has been
noted to play a strategic role in effective decision making,
facilitating sound investment decisions, and ensuring that the
company remains profitable with low employee turnover.
McDonald's high market share and competitiveness in the
industry has been attributed to its operational excellence
strategies that have enabled the firm to conduct continuous
improvement of its operations and products to not only meet the
demands of the clients but also build a solid business network

that is renowned for its quality products and efficient service.
Again, the findings of the research show that McDonald’s has
been implementing a number of operational standards such
employee development and inclusion, emphasis on continuous
improvements, efficiency in delivery, visionary leadership and
building of partnerships as part of its strategy as defined in its
strategic goals. The strategies have been effective in achieving
customer engagement and ensuring all stakeholders are aware of
the company's strategic goal in order to make a positive
contribution to the company and success as well. Largely, the
findings regarding the operational stands implemented by
McDonald's based on the research coincide with the findings of
Belekoukias, Garza-Reyes, and Kumar (2014), who noted the
importance of lean operations in maximizing company profits
and providing customers the right value so that they remain
loyal to the business. Through the implementation of these
strategies, McDonald’s will continue to remain competitive and
control a large market share in the fast food industry.
4.0 Conclusion and Recommendations
The study has established that McDonalds’s has to a great
extent put into place operational excellence strategies that have
enabled the company to attain a competitive edge in the fast
food industry through effective customer service delivery and
continuous enhancement of its operations. Mainly, this implies
that the company has been keen on implementing operational
excellence standards with the goal of enhancing the company's
operations. The operational strategies that McDonald's has been
implementing have been centered on employees’ development
and engagement, continuous learning and innovation, focus on
customer satisfaction and putting into pace efficient service
delivery systems.
Recommendations have been put forward for McDonald to
replicate the operational excellence standards across its fast-
food network across the globe as a way of realizing competitive
advantage. In the wake of new market entrants joining the fast

food industry and existing companies implementing operational
excellence standards, McDonald’s can only thrive amidst the
competitive environment if they integrate operational
excellence into their overall strategy. In effect, the company
needs to formulate effective policies that ensure that are in line
with operational excellence in all their processes to promote its
brand across the globe.
References
Belekoukias, I., Garza-Reyes, J. A., & Kumar, V. (2014). The
impact of lean methods and tools on the operational
performance of manufacturing organizations. International
Journal of Production Research, 52(18), 5346-5366.
Carvalho, A. M., Sampaio, P., Rebentisch, E., Carvalho, J. Á.,
& Saraiva, P. (2017). Operational excellence, organizational
culture and agility: the missing link?. Total Quality
Management & Business Excellence, 1-20.
Costas, J., Ponte, B., de la Fuente, D., Pino, R., & Puche, J.
(2015). Applying Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints to reduce the
Bullwhip Effect through agent-based modeling. Expert Systems
with Applications, 42(4), 2049-2060.
Flick, U. (2014). An introduction to qualitative research. Sage.
Oakland, J. S. (2014). Total quality management and
operational excellence: text with cases. Routledge.

Meaning of Problem Statement in a Research
A problem statement refers to clear description of issues(s) such
as the vision, issues statement as well as approach that is
needed to solve a particular problem (Bryman, 2008).
A problem statement is used to help an individual or a team to
remain focus on research efforts so as to solve a given problem.
A problem statement should be designed to address the
following questions:
*
Cont’
What is the problem? - In this sense the focus is on boundaries
of the problem such as customers or work flow among others
Who has the problem? – Focuses on the person or group that is
affected by the problem. For instance, it can be customers or
particular groups among others.
Why- Relates to the reasons that indicate the importance of
solving a particular problem?
*

Cont’
When- Relates to particular time when the problem occurs.
Where- Relates to specific area that is affected with the problem
such as certain places or process among others.
*
Cont’
The purpose for writing problem statement is as follows:
Introduce the significance of studying particular topic or issues
to readers
Put the problem is a given context to make it easy for carry out
study on it
Gives information concerning the tools that will be needed to
display required information.
*
Description of a Background
The main issue in the background of the problem is the ability
to reflect on facts related to problem so that other readers can
understand the problem well.
Background description enables researchers to have better
understanding on how to design the experiment (Schindler &
Cooper, 2014).
In order to have a good description of background information

the researcher needs to consider answering the5W’s.
*
General information in a Background Search
Wide view of the subject of study (root of the problem)
Definition of the topic
Major dates as well as events in the study
The key words and specific concepts concerning the study.
*
Problem Description and Research objective
Description of the problem includes particular important points
such as the hypothesis concerning the research, main
treatments, and explanation of the location and scope of the
study. Problem description should be done on specific terms
other than general terms.
Research objectives are the descriptions what researchers expect
to achieve at the end of the study (David, 2011). The objectives
in this case are determined through looking at the kind of
research that needs be done as well as information that should
be obtained by the study. The kind of questions and subjects of

study are the important factors for determining the research
objective
*
Examples on How Samples can be used
Samples are used when collecting data to represent the entire
population. For instance, collecting sample data through
observing a particular group of people so as to help in making
inferences concerning the general population.
Some of the information such as individual opinions can be
obtained through sampling (opinions of college students) to
give a bigger picture concerning the popularity of particular
political candidate among the youths among others.
*
Definition of Limitations of Research and Example
Research limitations refers to shortcomings or influences that
put restriction to the methodology and conclusion of a research
yet the researcher has no control over such issues (David,
2011).
Some of the areas that can be used to identity limitations
include the analysis, choice of date collection methods, nature
of self-reporting, nature of the samples (scope) used in the
experiment as well as the time limit.
An example of a research limitation is on a study that is done

in a particular city involving men is subjected to limitations
such as gender, sample size as well as the location.
*
Example of Diagram and Chart
The percentage of new students who joins different sports in
their school each year
Example of number of cars sold within particular period
*
Chart1FootballRubgyTennisOthers
Sales
0.4
0.2
0.25
0.15
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resize chart data range, drag lower right corner of range.
Chart1week 1week 1week 1week 2week 2week 2week 3week
3week 3week 4week 4week 4
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0
7
8

3
10
5
7
7
4
4
3
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corner of range.
Conclusion
Most of the research studies have gaps which need to be
foundation for conducting other studies in the future.
When mentioning limitations the researcher should state the
choices
*
Recommendations
Every researcher should strive to reduce the scope of limitations
during the study.
Every researcher should follow all the necessary steps when
doing a research in order to have a comprehensive research

study.
*
References
Bryman, A. (2008). Social research methods, 4th edition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
Schindler, P., & Cooper, D. (2014). Business research
Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.
David, S.(2011). Qualitative research: Issues of Theory,
method and practice, 3rd edition. New Delhi: Sage
Publications.
*
Running head: THE EFFECT OF OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON PERFORMANCE 1
THE EFFECT OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
ON PERFORMANCE 2
Research of the Effect of Operations Management Practices on

Performance of SMEs Operating in United States Market
Former Student Research Paper
Table of Contents
Background 2
Description of the Problem 4
Main Research Objective 6
General Research Objective 6
Specific Objective 6
Literature Review 6
Research Methodology 8
Research Design 8
Study Population 9
Study Sample 9
Data Collection 9
Limitations 10
Findings 10
Conclusion & Recommendations 11
References 13
The Effect of Operations Management Practices on Performance
of SMEs Operating in United Background
Today, businesses are operating under environments which are

highly dynamic because of uncertainties, changing
technological trends and scarcity of critical resources. However,
demand has increased significantly due to increased
concentration on the customer needs during production.
Additionally, advancement in technologies has impacted the
production of goods and services significantly where some
operations are being automated to reduce the operational cost
and increase productivity among others. The growth in demand
and increase and advancement in technology has resulted in
needing for firms to ensure careful optimization of their internal
resources in order to established sustained competitive
advantage. To achieve these standards, it is important to
develop quality control systems and measures to provide the
organization with improved feedbacks relating to the operations
and use the feedback in management of operations.
Since 1990s, a number of empirical studies has been conducted
to help business managers and economists understand the
financial performance variance when factors such as
corporation, industry, firm and country effects are considered.
Additionally, whenever it is assumed that organization’s
internal factors are responsible for the performance variation,
considerations are made on whether changes undertaken as per
the best practices on the infrastructural and structural elements
of an organization to help in achieving the set goas. According
to Sadikoglu and Olcay (2014), businesses are of performance
curves due to the number of resources available for use in
production including technologies such as Total Quality
Management (TQM), and Joint (JIT) among others can change
performance curves of an organization.
Globalization has resulted in the emergence of new business
models and techniques which can be used by a corporation to
increase their performance to establish a sustainable
competitive advantage. The global market has imposed
standards that can be considered as being highly efficient and
firms that are unable to meet the standards are marginalized
quickly. Due to this reason, careful optimization of internal

processes and resources is essential for businesses operating in
the modern market due to the need to maintain a competitive
edge (Sadikoglu & Olcay, 2014). Additionally, achieving the
standards has been accompanied by continued enhancement of
internal routines. Some of the areas which businesses are
concentrating on to achieve the internal routines includes skill
enhancement and knowledge management which is essential for
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises entering the global market.
According to Zeng et al., (2015), Operation Management (OM)
is one of the concepts being used by businesses in the
manufacturing sector to create an environment which can help
in planning, development, and improvement in the processes
essential in the product manufacturing and provision of
services. The term Operations Management refers to
methodological solutions or procedures which are undertaken by
an organization to help in the improvement of efficiency in
logistics and production processes for businesses operating in
the good manufacturing industry. Additionally, operations
management is important not only for businesses operating in
the manufacturing sector, but also improvement of functions
such as logistics, and creation of new products. The importance
of OM in businesses has resulted to acceptance of the concept
through creation of new and careful managerial culture which is
demanding for integration of operation management in all
business practices in order to enhance business performance for
SMEs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe the
relationship between some optimization methods used in
Operation Management and their effect on the performance of
SMEs in the global manufacturing sector. To effectively
understand the relationship, the researcher will analyse a dataset
containing information of about 50 SMEs operating in the
United States market. Additionally, using survey, an in-depth
study of different subsets of the databases will be undertaken so
that a model will be developed based on Structural Equation
Modelling (SEM) approach (Zeng et al., 2015). The method will
be used due to its ability to create and validate theoretical

models in Operation Management. Description of the Problem
Organizational performance has been a major issue when
establishing sustainable businesses in the dynamic political and
economic factors, technological innovations and changing
trends in customer demands. Businesses operating in the modern
business world are forced to come up with different practices to
ensure they achieve high efficiency hence affecting the
performance of the businesses. The SMEs operating in the
United States of America (U.S) market has shown a major
potential of growing into multinational corporations hence
creating major competition in the manufacturing sector (Parnell
et al., 2015). Innovations within these organizations have
become key due to the growing number of consumers who
expected the producers to not only supply goods and provide
services but also understand their needs and expectations.
In the United States, SMEs find it difficult to adapt and identify
innovative technologies and operational methods due to major
weaknesses in their internal resources. Some of the most
common internal resources contributing to this issue include
low human capital and lack of proper involvement in managerial
networks. Due to this reason, it has become so challenging for
SMEs operating in this market to effectively improve their
performance by establishing a sustainable competitive
advantage. For example, most SMEs operating in the U.S
market are operating in localized markets and smaller scale
hence holding them back when trying to pursue best practices
which are essential for the improvement of organizational
performance. Under this perspective, it means that if the return
to the best practices is universal to such organizations, it means
that less intensive use of current management practices may be
utilized as sub-optimal.
For SMEs operating in the U.S manufacturing industry,
effectiveness in product improvement and Total Quality
Improvement are some of the issues resulting in increasing in
failure in these businesses. For example, operation management
in the manufacturing sector in an important activity where it

plays a significant role in the enhancement of productivity
ratios. Therefore, operations management will be related with
the overall management process and functions due to its role in
the improvement of production efficiency in SMEs (Parnell et
al., 2015).
Conversely, Total Quality Management is considered as one of
the most critical practices for improved performance for SMEs
operating in the manufacturing sector where it helps in crisis
management by determining which part of production will be
improved in order to increase organizational performance.
SMEs operating in the U.S manufacturing sector can improve
their performance through ensuring there is operational
effectiveness in the present, and ensuring there are capacity and
foresight to help in preparation and anticipating for the future.
Lastly, SMEs operating in the U.S market face major challenges
when establishing strategies to enhance their performance due
to lack of effective models to guide the managerial function in
the management of different operations (Vivares-Vergara et al.,
2016). This is because, SMEs operating in the manufacturing
industry require enhanced care in various operations and
processes starting from outsourcing of raw materials, until the
goods are sold to the consumers. Therefore, for these SMEs to
improve their performance, there is a need to ensure customer
needs and demands are addressed at all time, and establishing
operations management strategies which will involve common
management tasks such as motivating, staffing, controlling,
planning, directing and organizing (Zeng et al., 2015). This
means that establishing appropriate operations management
practices in SMEs operating in the U.S manufacturing market
will benefit the businesses in enhancing their performance and
establishing competitive advantage due to effectiveness in
resource utilization and addressing customer needs and
expectations. Main Research ObjectiveGeneral Research
Objective
The general research objective of this study is to assess the
effect of operations management practices on the performance

of SMEs operating in the United States of America
manufacturing sector.Specific Objective
The specific objectives of this study are:
i. To find out whether operations management practices affect
the performance of SMEs operating in the United States
manufacturing industry
ii. To find out whether designing effective operations
management practices will affect the performance of SMEs
operating in the United States manufacturing industry
iii. To determine the relationship between system operations
management and performance of SMEs operating in the United
States manufacturing industryLiterature Review
The purpose of this section is to discuss the some of the related
kinds of literature addressing the effects of Operations
Management on the performance of SMEs operating in the
United States manufacturing industry.
According to a study conducted by Krajewski et al. (2015),
businesses operating in the modern business world can increase
their performance through the use of the ten areas of Operations
Management when making decisions on differentiation,
feedback and cost reduction in their manufacturing processes.
Some of the ten areas of Operations Management which can be
considered by managers when making decisions to increase the
organizational performance includes product and service design,
which is essential in determining the outcome due to the
conversion of an input. The importance of product and services
design occur where the cost of production, capacity and quality
requirements are determined at this level of operations
management. The second areas are capacity and process design,
an area of Operations Management where volumes are combined
to achieve market demand. At this point, the decisions made
entail identification of required technologies, selection of
processes, expertise, quality, maintenance and systems which
are the primary determinants of the basic cost structure in the
manufacturing process (Krajewski et al., 2015).
Supply chain management is another areas of Operations

Management which can impact the performance of an SME
operating in the U.S manufacturing industry either positively or
negatively. According to Vivares-Vergara et al. (2016), supply
chain management decisions entail determining the movement
of raw materials from the suppliers to manufacturers and
distribution of finished goods to target consumers. Some of the
decisions which can be made using this area of Operations
Management practice to ensure there is improved performance
include the cost of supplying goods to the consumers, ways of
reducing holding cost, and availability of raw materials which
are also essential factors in increasing production in the
manufacturing sector.
In the last few decades, businesses operating in the global
manufacturing industry have continued to form set of quality-
related methods, procedures, and techniques aimed at enhancing
the performance of their organizations. Various studies have
shown that the higher the number of techniques or methods
deployed by businesses in enhancing their performance the
greater the variable of the firm. Some of the quality practices
that can be used in enhancing performance using Operations
Management for businesses operating in the manufacturing
business include Just-In-Time (JIT) which including
understanding the internal JIT and the external JIT. Secondly,
the use of ISO standards in the improvement of organizational
performance is achieved through the application of ISO 9000
and ISO 14000 in performance improvement for business
operating in the manufacturing industry (Vivares-Vergara et al.,
2016). Lastly, service outsourcing level is the last quality
practice under Operations Management which can be used by
SMEs to understand the level of spending in purchasing raw
materials from the third party. Research Methodology
The purpose of this section is to describe the choices made by
the researcher relating to the cases to be studied. This entails
some of the methods used in conducting a survey, the
information selected for research design, the selected
population and reason for selection, sampling methods that will

be used, the selected data collection method, data analysis, and
interpretation. Research Design
The research study aimed at developing new theoretical models
hence survey design was used for this scientific research. There
are two main categories of surveys which can be distinguished
including descriptive or explorative and relational or explicative
survey. For this research study, a descriptive or explorative
survey will be used to understand the current state of the
operation management among the SMEs operating in the United
States manufacturing industry. It will be the first step of the
study, and it will entail collecting data to describe the result of
the phenomenon under study. For example, a descriptive survey
may be used to determine the effect of operations management
and its relationship in the improvement of performance of
SMEs. Conversely, the relational or explicative survey will be
used to determine the relationship between different variables
which are under investigation. The use of this surveying method
will help the researcher prove the existing relationship between
operations management and performance of SMEs operating in
the United States manufacturing industry. Study Population
Population in research study refer to the people or organizations
which will be researched during the study. The target
population for this study includes SMEs operating in the United
States manufacturing industry. Some of the fields of U.S
manufacturing sector which will be studied include
manufacturing of rubber goods, metallic products, general
machinery and equipment, ceramic products, garments tailoring
and footwear, furniture, and automotive parts and accessories.
Study Sample
In the research study, a sample refers to selection of a unit from
the target population so that the sample can be studied and
fairly generalize the result back to the population they were
selected from. For this study, the target population was 3, 000
SMEs operating in different areas of U.S manufacturing sector.
The study sample included 50 SMEs which were selected based
on size, field, and location among others. The random sampling

method ensured the researcher gather facts and record data from
each unit of the target population. Data Collection
In the research study, data collection refers to a process of
gather information from all relevant sources in order to find
answers to the problem under research and evaluate the
outcomes. For this paper, the data collection process will utilize
both the primary and secondary methods. For the primary data,
a structured questionnaire will be sent to all the operational
managers of the selected SMEs using email. The questionnaires
will contain two parts with the first part including the general
information while the second section will address the effects of
operations management on the performance of their enterprises.
Moreover, the questionnaire will use both open and closed
question in order to offer the operational managers opportunity
to offer personal experiences relating to the phenomenon under
study. Conversely, secondary data will be gathered through the
review of different kinds of journals, case studies, and papers
offering supplementary information relating to the study topic.
The collected data was cleaned and reviewed for consistency,
completeness, accuracy, and uniformity. Limitations
Several limitations which may be addressed in future were
identified during the study. Some of the limitations include the
use of secondary databases for data collection instead of the
research at hand. The use of research databases provided
contradicting information with some scholars concluding that
operations management practices have a major effect on the
entire performance of an organization while others were
claiming that only manufacturing sectors are affected by
operations management practices in a given organization. The
second limitations experiencing affecting the effectiveness of
the findings of this study include concerns over the stability of
the performance in SMEs due to effect by other internal and
external factors. For example, whenever a given practice that
provides a competitive effect, early adopters will benefit more
than the pioneering firms. This makes it challenging to
determine the effect of operations management practices on

organizational performance. Other limitations included
inadequate time and resources required in the collection,
sorting, and analysis of research data to ensure accurate results
are obtained.Findings
The study results have found a major relationship between
Operations Management practices for SMEs operating in the
United States manufacturing industry. When carrying out the
analysis, the researcher used the maximum likelihood technique.
The technique allowed the calculation of coefficient on the
causal links. Additionally, the different areas under study were
valued based on standardized weights obtained from the SEM.
Additionally, the statistics for the goodness of fit for the
collected data were as follows: x2 =56.0 where a p-value of
about 0.007 was allowed, CFI=0.70 and RMSEA=0.075. After
the analysis of the collected data using SEM, the good fit of the
study model was able to confirm for all the reported sets of the
statistic. With performance and Operations Management
practices being the essential casual links in the study, the study
found that the significance of Operations Management on
performance may not be high because of some specific
indicators utilized in determining the performance of a given
industry including direct connect of performance with sales and
production. However, when other aspects of the supply chain
management are not considered, the study indicated that
Operation Management has a significant impact on the
performance of SMEs operating in the United States
manufacturing industry at the level of 0.05. Conclusion &
Recommendations
The research study has depicted the importance of Operations
Management practices on SMEs operating in the United States
manufacturing industry. According to the study, Operations
Management are essential indicators for the performance of
these firms. The results indicated that the value of the positive
effect of Operations Management and performance of SMEs
operating in the U.S manufacturing industry should be taken
into account by the management so that it can be possible to

implement best practices that will influence the internal
efficiency and revenue of the organizations. Consequently, the
findings offer a clear input on the diffusion of Operations
Management practices culture during the introduction of new
policies in the organizations and also in business clusters. This
means that our results are consistent with the previous studies
which indicated that Operations Management has a significant
impact on the performance of SMEs operating in the United
States manufacturing market although most of the previous
studies concentrated on the specific context of the industry.
Lastly, the study has revealed that system operations practices
have no significant effect on the performance of SMEs
operating in the U.S manufacturing industry. However, the
findings have indicated that there is a positive relationship
between the performance of an SME and systems operations
practices. Therefore, the businesses operating in this sector are
expected to improve the inspection and maintenance of products
and service delivery in order to benefits from Operations
Management practices. Additionally, the SMEs operating in the
United States manufacturing industry also need to improve their
supply chain management practices, inventory management
practices, and scheduling practices in order to increase
performance. Based on the findings, the researcher also
recommends the SMEs operating U.S manufacturing industry to
invest more on innovation and technology as a way of
eliminating some of the constraints in the supply chain
management and operations management practices.
Additionally, the researcher recommends utilization and
restructuring of operations management practices so that they
can improve the performance of their organizations through
effective employees and reduced wastage of resources during
manufacturing.

References
Krajewski, L. J., Ritzman, L. P., & Malhotra, M. K. (2015).
Operations management: processes and supply chains. New
York, EEUU: Prentice Hall.
Parnell, J. A., Long, Z., & Lester, D. (2015). Competitive
strategy, capabilities, and uncertainty in small and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs) in China and the United States.
Management Decision, 53(2), 402-431.
Sadikoglu, E., & Olcay, H. (2014). The effects of total quality
management practices on performance and the reasons for and
the barriers to TQM practices in Turkey. Advances in Decision
Sciences, 2014.
Vivares-Vergara, J. A., Sarache-Castro, W. A., & Naranjo-
Valencia, J. C. (2016). Impact of human resource management
on performance in competitive priorities. International Journal
of Operations & Production Management, 36(2), 114-134.
Zeng, J., Phan, C. A., & Matsui, Y. (2015). The impact of hard
and soft quality management on quality and innovation
performance: An empirical study. International journal of
production economics, 162, 216-226.
Discussion Question Rubric
DISCUSSION QUESTION RUBRIC

Primary Question--20 points
Excellent
Good
Not Acceptable
CONTENT
5
4
3 or below
GRAMMAR AND FORMAT
5
4
3 or below
REFERENCING AND CITING
5
4
3 or below
WORD COUNT (250 words)
5
4
3 or below
TOTAL -- 20 POINTS POSSIBLE

Secondary Response--10 points
Excellent
Good
Not Acceptable
CONTENT/GRAMMAR/FORMAT
5
4
3 or below
WORD COUNT (125 words)
5
4
3 or below
TOTAL -- 10 POINTS POSSIBLE

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