CHRISTINA M. COMBS

McDonald’s Hamburger University: A Case Study

Context

            It is no secret that in order for companies and organizations to be successful, they must invest in the education and development of their most valued asset, their people.  McDonald’s has done just that in opening Hamburger University.  Since its founding in 1961, McDonald’s Hamburger University has grown from an annual class of 15 students to a graduating class of 5,000 (McDonald’s, 2010). As the premier company to develop a global training program, McDonald’s has invested well over $40 million dollars into their Hamburger University. Starting in the basement of a McDonald’s located in Elk Grove, Illinois, Hamburger University has grown to include a 130,000 square foot facility located on an 80-acre campus in Oak Brook, Illinois (McDonald’s, 2010). Along with this picturesque campus, McDonald’s Hamburger University also consists of 22 regional training centers, as well as six other global campuses located in Sydney, Munich, London, Tokyo, Brazil, and Beijing (Galagan, 2011). With an acceptance rate of less than one percent, Hamburger University has become harder to get into than Harvard (Weinner-Bronner, 2011). Students are seeking out the opportunity to attend Hamburger University to take advantage of the classroom instruction that is paired with hands-on training, goal-based scenarios, and e-learning modules.

 

Who is HU?

Hamburger University schools are located around the world including the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Brazil and China. Over 275,000 owners, managers, and suppliers have been through the program since 1961 when the school opened. About 5,000 students per year attend (www.aboutmcdonalds.com).  The purpose of the school is to teach business and social skills to managers. The classes are similar to business school classes in that they focus on operations, service, quality, sales, growth and more. The curriculum offers career paths for restaurant managers, mid-management and executive development.  The school also develops the distance learning courses that train crewmembers in the stores.  HU has always had support from top management and down, starting with McDonald’s founder Ray Croc (Meister, 2011).

HU employs a blended learning technique of self-study, e-learning and classroom training.  The university has developed a suite of 19 e-learning modules for lower-level employees and as pre-learning for future HU candidates.  Besides basic customer service skills, these modules offer mid-level managers instruction on leadership skills and development. Modules aimed at these mid-level employees address leadership development and functional skills specific to job roles (Weinstein, 2008). Training follows a Constructivist approach using “a combination of classroom instruction, hands-on lab activities, goal-based scenarios and computer e-learning modules” (www.aboutmcdonalds.com). Managers are trained in mock scenario settings, giving them real-world experience in a controlled environment. Student collaboration is supported through such facilities as a cyber café. There are 19 full-time professors around the world delivering the training. Training is offered at the McDonalds corporate offices, through 22 regional teams within the United States, and seven campuses around the world.

Hamburger University provides a number of support services to its students.

• Students are coached and offered peer support to help retain what they have learned and apply their knowledge once back at work. (Galagan, 2011).

• Hamburger University has the means to track and report on the student’s “progress, completion rates, and assessment scores” (Galagan, 2011, p. *).

• To accommodate the many international students, course materials are translated into the student’s language (Schaaf, 1994). Also, Hamburger University provides translators so students can learn in their native languages while in class (Schaaf, 1994).

• McDonald’s regional training centers offer orientation to students prior to their journey to Hamburger University, for example, how to navigate through Chicago’s O’Hare airport (Schaaf, 1994). Also, the University will address any special conditions required by the student, such as dietary preferences (Schaaf, 1994).

• Hamburger University provides its own onsite hotel to house its students (Weinstein, 2008).

 

Resources

McDonald’s Corporation provides $1 billion in annual training for employees and students attending Hamburger University (Tegan, 2007).  Hamburger University (HU) employs 64 full-time global instructors, with 19 of the instructors located at the main campus in Oak Brook, Illinois (Hary, 2011). Each classroom has 24 students (“Hamburger University”, 2005).  

HU has a partnership with the American Council on Education (ACE) to assist students with applying HU course credits toward college degree programs (Galagan, 2011).  HU is currently the only restaurant that gives college credits, collaborating with 15 universities in the United States, connecting HU students with local and national colleges through their College Credit Connection website (Galagan, 2011).  McDonald’s is also one of only 11 Fortune 500 companies to participate in ACE, making them a leader in corporate education (Galagan, 2011).

HU utilizes several blended learning technologies in order to meet the needs of learners.  The Oakland, Illinois plant recently upgraded its audiovisual equipment and installed a cyber café (Galagan, 2011). HU has eight virtual classrooms.  With a focus on designing better physical class spaces that enhance learning through increased interactions, HU works closely with Steelcase University, a company that studies how people work in different settings (Galagan, 2011).  Classrooms are designed to promote collaboration and interaction using laptops, monitors and whiteboards, unlike the auditorium-style classrooms used by the University almost 20 years ago (Kalman, 2012).

 

Learners

The Hamburger University provides training for crewmembers, managers, and franchise owners.  Students who do not have prior crewmember experience must possess a high school diploma or GED, with one year of management experience or an associate’s degree (“Qualifications & Tips”, n.d.).   While crewmembers do not need a high school diploma or GED, store managers must make the recommendation for crewmembers that have management potential to attend HU (Gregg, 2011).  HU develops course materials for store managers who provide on-site instruction to managers and crewmembers seeking promotions.  After completing the training manuals, crewmembers and managers become eligible to attend HU (Leidner, 1993).  On average, the majority of students attending HU’s first course have two to three and a half years of store experience (Leidner, 1993).  

In order to build successful managers and franchise owners, HU focuses on building commitment and motivation, as well as extending knowledge on McDonald’s policies and procedures (Leidner, 1993).  Learners require instruction that builds upon McDonald’s uniformity of services and products (Leidner, 1993).  Managers and management trainees must learn to communicate and deal with crewmembers, managers and customers from diverse populations.  Once completing the HU program, learners may also need assistance with applying credits to two or four-year degree programs.  Lastly, learners need guidance in career planning, as there are different career paths with McDonald’s.  By meeting these needs and more, students will be able to climb up the ladder and possibly become owners of a multi-million dollar McDonald’s restaurant.

 

Learning Outcomes  

HU’s primary training mission is to create managers that deliver outstanding Quality, Service, Cleanliness & Value (QSC&V) (About McDonald’s, n.d.).  Crew members receive 32 hours of training within their first month of employment, primarily through e-learning in their first month with McDonald's (About McDonald’s, n.d.).  Crewmembers access e-learning courses to learn skills in carryout out tasks such as assembling hamburgers, in addition to life skills that can be applied throughout their careers (“McDonald’s Prospectus, n.d.”)

HU’s training program teaches students learn how to manage a multi-million dollar restaurant.  Learners participate in McDonald's Management Development Program (MDP) in four phases. Successful completion of each phase promotes students to the next management level, ranging from trainee manager to restaurant manager (About McDonald’s, n.d.).  After each phase, students must be able to demonstrate newly acquired skills in the restaurant in order to move on to the next phase.   At the end of each course, students take assessments to measure learned skills (Weinstein, 2008). 

These learners will build on their leadership and consulting skills in order to effectively operate a restaurant.  At this learning level, they will be able to consult and coach entry-level managers.  Then, management may continue on an owner’s track where their leadership skills are reinforced and built upon in order to support other managers, employees, and sales expansion. 

 

Challenges

McDonalds has broken records with one of the oldest corporate universities in the world; however, that does not mean that there were no challenges and obstacles for HU to overcome.  One such challenge for training institutions such as HU is globalization.  With locations in 118 countries, McDonald’s has developed a program that defeats those barriers.  Considering the opening of its most recent Shanghai campus in 2010, budgetary restrictions are of little concern to McDonald’s as they may be to others.  Not only do geographic locations place physical barriers in the way of training, but cultural differences, language barriers pose a threat to the success of the institution as well.  The facilitators must be able to accommodate the needs of the learners and understand the global markets that they will be serving.  It is for this reason that satellite campuses have been built to help accommodate its 5,000 graduates each year (McDonald’s, 2010).  A customer-centered focus is adopted by the University to ensure learner satisfaction.  Learner satisfaction is a key challenge that many training institutions struggle through often due to reductions in training budgets, lack of accreditation, and facilitator incompetency.  While there have not been documented accounts of dissatisfaction, students’ needs are ever-changing and thus students HU must change to meet those needs.  Hamburger University has been fortunate enough to be able to address many of these issues to continue to educate and develop its talent.  There is also no information provided as to the learning support offered by the company to its students outside of the classroom setting.  As Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s once stated, “If we are going to go anywhere, we’ve got to have talent.  And, I’m going to put my money in talent” (Meister, 2001, pg 48).

 

Opportunities

Because of the selective nature of the school, McDonald’s University does not have to recruit students and is an opportunity reserved for only the most high-speed and promising employees.  McDonald’s could have opportunity in accepting and educating more students.  Selection is left up to the local management, which could be an unfair advantage to some candidates and a hindrance to others.  More McDonalds employees could benefit from being true graduates of Hamburger U and McDonald’s could benefit as well.  Additionally, McDonalds does not currently engage in much virtual education, preferring the face-to-face interaction that they offer at their Oak Brook, Il. facility (Meister, 2011).  While Hamburger University has embraced technology in the forms of blended learning, combining e-learning with on-the-job training, coaching and performance reviews through the store managers (Propokeap, 2011), it is safe to assume that because of the customer-service orientation of the business in general, the company likely has no plan to take the university entirely virtual at any time in the near future.  With most learning institutions taking a turn towards virtual and blended courses, McDonald’s learning model may not compete in the future.  It would not be surprising, however, if McDonald’s was planning to follow this movement as they have been pioneers in corporate training in the past.  Given the accreditation of the school, McDonald’s could even expand to offer “Bachelor Degrees in Hamburgerolgy” for all fast food managers no matter what restaurant.  The possibilities for growth at McDonald’s Hamburger University are endless.    

 

Conclusion

            Hamburger University has set the precedent for other corporate universities, leading the way in quality education.  As a large international company with physical campuses located in several companies, the company has found a way to reach its diverse group of employees.  Millions of dollars are invested into the company’s leaders and future leaders, which is one of the reasons why McDonald’s has proven to be a successful and longstanding institution that people around the world have grown up loving.

 

 

 

References

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Propokeap, M. (2011) Serving up learning. Chief Learning Officer, 10(6), 60. Retrieved from http://www.clomedia.com

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