Mcdonalds Case Study

Project analysis essay - reflective essay (25%)

Prior to undertaking Business Report as a major unit, a lot of thoughts and ideas had surrounded me onto the challenges I will face during the semester with this particular unit. At the start of the semester I felt a bit uneasy and overwhelmed by the structure of this unit, and its free flowing and research and group type of nature. The unit is based on producing a business solution in the form of a report that will aid a company in a particular issue that needs to be addressed. At first, I found this concept very interesting and very broad, and many ideas flowed around as to what my group and I would base our business report on. During the mid and closer to the end of the semester I have now come to understand the true complexity of such a unit, and producing this business report throughout the semester has definitely not been an easy task for my group members and I. Nearing the end of the semester I have greatly enjoyed this unit and all it has to offer and it is a good change from many units I have done throughout my degree. I have found it challenging, invigorating and different to most units I have completed and this unit has helped to discipline my group skills and report writing skills.

One of the most challenging aspects of this unit has been the criticalness of strong and consistent group dynamics. Without this any group project would be a failure, and I have found it quite challenging to meet the demand of being in a busy group. My personal preference for assignments/projects is individual work over group work and hence this has been a great challenge for me to face. I have come to learn and grow from regular meetings with group members for this unit and it has disciplined not only my schedules and deadlines, but that of my group members accordingly as well. Initially, the process of group formation overwhelmed me and I was not quite fond of the idea of constantly working in a group right throughout the semester for this unit. This notion of mine has now been diminished and this whole group process throughout the semester has actually been quite enjoyable and a real eye opener that has tested my skills in group dynamics, which is obviously an important skill to possess in any real life business situation. I also felt the actual process of group formation was very fair on the class and allowed students to work with those individuals they seemed to get along with best. This way, there was no pressure in arranged group formations and we as students at a university are now at that stage where we should quickly and easily be able to get into groups and sought out any group formation dilemmas quickly and easily. Working in any team is a big responsibility and I have felt a great deal of responsibility and self worth towards the project right throughout the semester. Any issues with working in a team and not particularly enjoying group work has been diminished greatly throughout the semester and my group and I have become real close during the production of the report, and this has allowed us to help each other and constantly meet up and solve any problems we may be facing, even the most minor of problems. Working in a team for Business Report has been rewarding and fun throughout the semester.

The process of choosing the project topic presented a certain degree of dispute among group members and each group member had their own visions and ideas for a project topic to pursue throughout the semester. My group and I each had our own plans for the project and it was a bit difficult at first to all agree on one project topic. The process of finally choosing a project topic that we would all agree with took us as a group around two weeks, and this consisted of bringing forth ideas and information from each group member around the topic of interest they would like to pursue for the report. From this, each group member analysed each others ideas and the topic that presented the most interesting issues to be solved and the most amount of information that could be obtained for it was the one that was chosen. My group members and I all agreed to do Hudson warehouse at rouse hill, which is where Mark is currently employed and therefore has access to a plentiful amount of lower and higher management that could guide us through the project. The agreement was settled and the project topic was finalized upon after this with little to no problems after choosing it between group members.

Each group member had different roles and responsibilities in the project. My role in the project has been to do research and analysis on academic material such as journal articles, textbooks, interviews with various Hudson customers on site as well as visiting competitors of Hudson and other distribution type centers in other industries. I have also had the role of editing the project along the way to make sure it is legible and in line with our project objectives as a group. I have been keeping a diary and a log during this project with a list of events such at meetings we have had, and what was discussed. Another role I have had for the project is to come up with various strategies that could help solve the problems that lie at Hudson rouse hill. This project hasn't been split up into sections as much but rather my group and I have been helping each