Once upon a time, a Ph.D. went to work at Mickey D's...
And what he found was illuminating. Jerry Newman, a college professor who has taught business courses for nearly 30 years, went undercover as a bottom-rung worker for the biggest names in fast food, including McDonald's and Burger King. Newman found that fast-food chains were the perfect petri dishes for covert research: High-pressure, high-volume businesses with high-employee turnover. The pecking order was also crystal clear, from fry cook all the way up to store manager.
Of the seven restaurants where Newman worked, some were high-morale, high-productivity machines. Others were miserable, misplaced circles of hell. Yet one common trait stuck out from them all: Each restaurant's respective manager determined the climate of the work environment.
Go behind the fast food counter with Newman and see what happens on an average day on the “McJobâ€â€¦
how the restaurants are run (for better or worse)
how managers reward good employees when raises are impossible (believe it or not, bosses give 'em more hours-and it works!)
how morale and motivation spring directly from the manager's office
and how a few simple adjustments to your own management style-the “Supersized Management Principles†in this book-can transform and invigorate your workplace