My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons in Leadership
Dr. Jerry Newman
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Chair, Department of Organization and Human Resources, School of Management
June 25, 2008
UB Reporter Article on Lecture
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 “McJob.”
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