Mcdonald 's And The Fast Food Industry

About everyone at some age, at some point or another, and in some country has gotten a sample of American's symbol for fast food through the golden arches of McDonald's. This report will attempt to analyze the external and internal sectors that affect the company's success. The external analysis will provide opportunities and threats while the internal analysis will show indicators of strength and weakness. It will then follow up with critical issues, strategic alternatives, recommendations and implementation. The case studied is found in Appendix 2 of Mary Coulter's "Strategic Management in Action" book.

McDonald’s has been in business since 1955. Through many years of great strategic and financial planning, it has become one of the most successful food chains in the world. In order to continue its great success, McDonald’s must continue to adapt to change. In this paper we will discuss the strategic and financial planning that would be necessary to keep McDonald’s on top of the food chain.

McDonald’s has been in business since 1955. It has positioned itself in the market as a low-priced, fast food restaurant focusing on hamburgers and other convenience foods. The company is currently faced with competition from Chipotle, a restaurant which offers fast and healthy Mexican food in the fast-casual dining segment. Both restaurants are competing for customer dollars and while they both offer fast convenience there are differences in their food offerings. McDonald’s has always offered a fast, basic meal at a low price. In comparison, Chipotle offers fresh, quality Mexican food fast at a low price. Analyst have suggested that Chipotle would bring an end to the fast food burger chains that have long dominated the industry. McDonald’s must determine if Chipotle is a competitive threat and if so how to address the threat in the market.

REFERENCES•www.mcdonalds.com, accessed on 18 July, 2008•www.mcdonldsindia.net, accessed on 18 July, 2008•en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's, accessed on 19 July, 2008•http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/263943/mcdonalds_strategic_marketing_mix.html?cat=4, accessed on 19 July, 2008•www.kfc.com, accessed on 25 August, 2008

There are changing societal trends in the areas where McDonald’s operate. There are changes in consumer preferences and also in some communities they culture different as compared to other areas in the market. To remain relevant in the market, they have to deal with these issues by conducting market research that will help them be knowledgeable of the needs of the market. They also need to adjust their menu to suit the needs of the consumers.

McDonald is a fast food franchise based in the United States and has various food outlets in other countries like India, United Kingdom, China, Japan, Canada and Australia. McDonald has been termed as the ‘World`s Local Restaurant’ because of its affordable take-out and sit down meals. The economic recession in the US in 2010 greatly affected businesses especially fast food restaurants whereby most small restaurants had to temporarily close their businesses. However, McDonalds remained afloat amidst tough economic times in the American market because of specific strategies which will be discussed.

In the article “The Franchisees Are Not Lovin’ It,” the authors, Gruley and Patton, discuss the difficulties of the McDonalds franchise, the struggles of the franchisees, and the inability to solve these problems. The article goes on to talk about how McDonalds needs to get back to basics, just as they say themselves. Yet, they continue to make the menu more complex by the constant introduction of new foods. They are getting away from their identity as a burger joint. As a result they are closing restaurants and are continuing to experience declining revenue. McDonalds isn’t what they used to be and something needs to be done to improve the well-being of the company, the franchisees, the employees, and most importantly the customers.

The McDonalds Corporation has to be continually aware of its consumer behavior, their eating habits, as well as the situation and the trends in the market in order to understand if there is a need of any changes in their marketing strategy. Any important modifications in the marketing activities of the company have to be backed up by legitimate research. The introduction of new products, decisions on whether to invest more in certain channels of distribution, change of features of the product, advertising or pricing strategies have to be backed up by evidence based on the results of continuous marketing research. In the case of a big corporation like McDonald’s, the marketing research reports should answer lots of consumer

McDonalds is by far one of the largest and most influential fast food chains in the world. This one corporation can change and influence a very large amount of the United States economy all on its own. If McDonalds were to go bankrupt and close all of its restaurants then millions of people would lose their jobs. McDonalds provides health care and other basic benefits to all of its full time employees, and without these benefits then these people would go uninsured and could not make it. McDonalds also makes up a very large amount of capital put into the United States economy by its customers. Many people who cannot afford to go to a nice sit-down restaurant opt to the much cheaper alternative and decide to go to McDonalds to buy food. A large

I, Tayneata M. Starr, decided to discuss McDonald’s for this strategy report. McDonald’s began in the 1940’s as a “mom & pop” bar-b-que diner in San Bernardino, California by Dick and Mac McDonald (“McDonald’s History,” n.d.). In December of 1948, McDonald’s was rebranded as a self-serve drive-in restaurant (“McDonald’s History,” n.d.). The original menu was comprised of nine items, with the staple product being the “15-cent hamburger” (“McDonald’s History,” n.d.). Today, McDonald’s is a publicly traded organization that operates in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, and Latin America (“MCD Profile,” n.d.). As of December 2015, McDonald’s has 36, 525 restaurants in operation, offering products such as soft drinks, hamburgers,

McDonalds has been around since 1940, when it was created by Nick and Mac McDonald in Bernardino, California. Since then McDonalds has only grown around the world in popularity and business. There are currently more than 33 thousand restaurants around the world in 119 countries. The chain has remarkably gone form offering just a few items on its menu to a wide range of over a 145 diverse items on its menu. Needless to say McDonalds has embedded itself within the world’s society. The way McDonalds runs its business has many different components. These different items include geography of a location, Weber’s model, development, and mass consumption.

From drive-through restaurants, to Chicken Mc-nuggets to a hamburger joint, McDonald?s has come a long way. It?s the leading chain of fast food restaurants in the world that serves more than 55 million clients on the daily basis. In 1940, the corporation was established by two brothers from California, Maurice and Richard McDonald. However, directed by Ray Kroc, the current McDonald?s business times its establishment to the inaugural of a licensed restaurant on 1955, in Illinois. Later, the McDonalds expanded globally after Kroc bought the brothers? capital in the company. Today, McDonald?s runs about 32,000 restaurants globally, in about 115 countries (Eric, 2001). The restaurant provides its clients with great tasting and cheap food; dealers with a mutual obligation to deliver the highest quality products and ingredients; and franchisee and staff with opportunities for growth. Through its growth into numerous worldwide markets, the company has become a figure of globalization and a great supporter of how Americans live. It has become a common public debate topic about consumer responsibility, company ethics, and obesity, due to its fame (Eric, 2001).

First we could say that McDonalds is an American icon, but now it’s safe to say that it’s a well know iconic company around the world. With over 30 different names for McDonalds here are a few interesting ones, and in which part of the world these names are used. McDonald’s is also known as the Golden Arches, Mickey-D’s,  Macca’s (Australia), Mackey-D’s, Placcy-D’s and McDog (Britain), McDo (France), MacDoh (Quebec), Mekkes, Mekki, McDoof [literally McStupid] and Der Schotte (Germany), MacDee (Indonesia), McDonaldos and McDonas (Mexico), McCancer (U.S).The nest few parts of the analysis we will breakdown McDonalds structure and go in detail. First we will start with the financial analysis and company’s health; second we move to external analysis and porters 5 forces, third we will discuss internal analysis, fourth we will identify what kind of strategy McDonalds implement and follow, and lastly what I think will be beneficial and how to implement certain changes.

Since McDonald’s is the most well know fast food chain in the world with a market cap of 69.35 billion, brand recognition is their biggest strength. The secret of McDonald’s success is its willingness to innovate and maintain consistency in the operation of its many outlets. In recent years McDonald’s has introduced Premium Salads, Snack Wraps, fresh Apple Dippers in the United States, and Corn Cups in China. Also, McDonald 's products are priced so low that economic conditions are almost insignificant.

Marketing strategy is the outcome of certain principles and the principles involves various concepts and systematic approaches which are important in making decisions for the company. On the other hand the processes define the ways to achieve organizational objectives. It is necessary to identify the overall objectives, goals and mission of the company in order to devise the ways to achieve these objectives. As defined in the vision of McDonalds, the company wants to be the largest fast food provider across the globe and the mission of the company is customer centric. Two of the important principles that are necessary to be kept in mind while developing marketing strategy are: