Day 188 - 15 Nov 95 - Page 37
1 quietly, hoping they would not throw me out.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Very well. That is all I wanted to know
4
5 MR. MORRIS: Right. He says something, that: "A fingernail
6 being found in a Big Mac was undoubtedly a case of food
7 sabotage, because we know this sort of thing does not
8 happen in a hamburger operation."
9
10 That is something that you heard him say, is it?
11 A. That is, which is in quotes, is what I heard him say,
12 because I wrote it down. If it was in quotes, I would have
13 written it down. Anything in quotes is what I would have
14 written down.
15
16 Q. From what somebody actually said?
17 A. What somebody actually said. So it would be a direct
18 quote of his.
19
20 Q. Can I just ask you a general question about your impression
21 of the Hamburger University, about what the purpose of it
22 was, or the impression that McDonald's got from this?
23 A. Well, I mean, my main impression is that it was --
24 I mean, its basic purpose was to teach managers who were
25 going to manage quite big operations and large numbers of
26 staff in a quite hectic organisation, basic management
27 techniques. So it used a very standard approach of
28 management techniques. I think it is called transaction
29 analysis, or something like that, which is a very common
30 management process -- which, you know, on a personal level,
31 I find a rather entertaining process. So that is what the
32 whole purpose was of the Hamburger University.
33
34 I mean, I did not see a full week of the Hamburger
35 University; I only saw an introductory session and what
36 have you. So I could not say what the whole Hamburger
37 University course is like.
38
39 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But people who are fortunate enough to work
40 for themselves or work freelance often may find people who
41 work in, as it were, larger armies working in a way which
42 -- you say you find amusing -- but would not particularly
43 like to work themselves. Is there anything more to it than
44 that?
45 A. Not the Hamburger -- I mean, the specific -----
46
47 Q. You are being asked about the university now.
48 A. The specific thing about the Hamburger University was
49 that it was a very ordinary training, I mean, a standard
50 management training course; it did not seem to me
51 specifically different to any other training course that
52 people might have engaged in, apart from the phrases which
53 were McDonald's own, like "big furries" or "warm furries"
54 or "fuzzies", or whatever they are called, that kind of
55 thing. But I think it was, as far as I can see, it was
56 very similar to the standard management training courses
57 that I have seen elsewhere.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: How would the managers treated by on those courses
60 (sic)?
