The Founder is a movie that tries to tell the story of Ray Kroc, a role played by Michael Keaton. First, Ray Kroc is on the roadside trying to sell milkshakes to a local owner of drive-in restaurants. Despite the numerous achievements of the restaurant, no single individual had sprouted to such levels for many decades. The first scene looks at how the two brothers established the first food in the 1950s within San Bernadine in California (5-15min). The two brothers then go ahead to explain their process to the two brothers. When Kroc realizes that the drive-in restaurant has the intention of buying six machines, he moves to Route 66 to see what the McDonald brothers are doing in order to understand what is required of such a massive output.
The movie tells the origin of the golden arches. This is one of the most popular trademarks in the world. The role of Keaton in the movies is that of a stellar. The belief of his firm that he has discovered the future of fast food meets huge resistance. However, he goes ahead to mortgage his house and franchises that the two brothers had already created. Sited at one end of a motel room, Ray Kroc pulls out an LP of a business plan and places it on a portable surface which he packs in all his trips. It is convincingly a plan that he has reviewed more often. However, the message of striving hard and persevering is very clear from the film. The business starts to get some momentum, thus making Kroc believe that he is close to success. However, after partnering with several country club members, he discovers that the initial consistency of various sections of the business goes down. Some part of the business is selling corn and chicken while the other is selling trash.
Kroc’s first wife supported him through his dream and planned even when the business was at risk of crashing (40-45min). The fate of other key players is also revealed, leaving the viewers with a sour taste when thinking about the origin of one of the biggest American businesses. The production of the film mainly captures the feelings of Americans in the mid-1950s. Some of the progressions within the film are disconcerting, but that can be viewed as a minor quibble. The art of building a business is much like the art of job searching. After all, in both situations, you have something to offer to others. While we are not all natural business people, we can all benefit from keeping a few up to run the empire.
The movie is very clear; just like job searching, building a business is all concerned about compromising in order for both sides to feel like they are triumphant. When Kroc indicates that establishing a business is all about letting the customers have their way, he tries to tell us that, it is up to the business owner to get the customers through what they want. Rooted in the principle used by Ray Kroc, the movies demonstrate that being a leader on issues affecting customers is vital (Olins,145). This is an evident philosophy in the movies where Kroc establishes his business in different communities. This strategy helps him to corporate and extend his image beyond just entertainment but also social responsibility.
Environmental Strategy
One of the clear business strategies in the film is a strong environmental policy that declares Kroc’s organization to be committed to protecting the surroundings for the coming generations. Moreover, we see that Kroc believes that all business leaders must lead in environmental conservation. Every organization has the responsibility to have an environmental commitment to various actions. To accomplish environmental strategies, it is important for any organization to enforce adherence to the placed standards. Moreover, it is important to seek advice from environmental experts in order to improve environmental performance (Schoenherr, 116-122). As part of reducing waste, the movie shows that Kroc is committed to reviewing various service products to identify opportunities for source reduction. Kroc discovers that in order to accomplish his goal of reducing waste, he must with his suppliers and develop a coherent framework that would see the suppliers oriented.
Source Reduction
Another key framework under the environmental strategy is that of source reduction. The movies display Kroc as an entrepreneur who initiates various strategies for reducing the wastage of resources, especially when he calls for the creation of a framework that has a systematic approach to source reduction decisions (Ribaudo,156). The waste management strategy becomes the foundation for his efforts. Source reduction is a framework that takes an even framework that recycling.
Reuse
It is important for organizations to identify feasible opportunities for reusing some of the materials. This would positively impact the ability of an organization to provide volume and faster services. Moreover, the film shows that the opportunities usually vary between the behind-the-counter and the over-the-counter services. Some of the options are limited since McDonald’s clients expect efficient and faster services any time of the day. The operations of organizations should be designed in such a way that they anticipate the needs of the customer and prepare everything before the client arrives (Teece, 112). However, Kroc seems like he does not feel he can anticipate all the needs of the customer, and therefore he feels he must reuse some of the options in order to accommodate all the needs of a customer. He also feels that repackaging some of the orders after the arrival of the customer might lengthen the process much further. The film is a very clear depiction of how business should be operated. As the film evolves, we get a presentation that metamorphoses from the commentary of capitalism into entrepreneurial drama (Gabor, 112).
Conclusion
The movie emerges as a reverting portrayal of Ray Kroc. He is presented as an intelligent man, but at some point, he can be ruthless when he wants things to be done his way. The McDonald brothers are displayed as sympathetic guys. For instance, they place a huge premium on quality ingredients. They find themselves stuck in a rut. The way we think is an outmoded entrepreneurial model that can determine whether one succeeds or fails in a big way. Did Kroc exploit the geniality of the two brothers, or was he more visionary that he saw new opportunities that he didn’t see? It is an entertaining film, and the screenplay has motivated that. What could have been a complex work that ended up as a neatly packaged disposable film with numerous educational ideas? It is a thin gruel that clearly sums up Kroc’s Journey from a Milkshake business to a global corporation. The film is a fast-food biopic –a few minutes after viewing it, you already feel like watching it again.
Work Cited
Gabor, Andrea. The capitalist philosophers: The geniuses of modern business–their lives, times, and ideas. Times Books, 2000.
Olins, Wally. Corporate identity: Making business strategy visible through design. Harvard Business School Pr, 1990.
Ribaudo, Marc O., et al. “Least-cost management of nonpoint source pollution: source reduction versus interception strategies for controlling nitrogen loss in the Mississippi Basin.” Ecological Economics 37.2 (2001): 183-197.
Schoenherr, Tobias. “The role of environmental management in sustainable business development: a multi-country investigation.” International Journal of Production Economics 140.1 (2012): 116-128.
Teece, David J. “Business models, business strategy and innovation.” Long range planning 43.2 (2010): 172-194.
